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Post by PinkFloyd on Jan 8, 2010 23:52:21 GMT
Hi Ian Mike sent me a pair, and on suitable material they are quite exciting listening.(e.g. "Yello-Touch" etc.) However, for normal listening to Audiophile CDs and high resolution material, I much prefer my ATH W1000 headphones from my own design Class A HA. Alex Alex, with respect, the HD-681 shit all over the W-1000 from a great height sonically.... they are much more faithful to the recording and don't suffer the boxy colourations of the W-1000.... I've sold my "two" pairs of W-1000 because I get more performance out of my HD-681. That's not to say that your ears are wrong..... if the W-1000 do it for you then it's all good man ears are like fingerprints, all unique, and we all hear things in a different way.... there is no one size fits all when it comes to audio. May I suggest that you try your HD-681 on the end of an MP3 player or maybe lower the OP impedance in your SCHA a bit more..... you will also find the HD-681 benefit from recabling with a shielded cable (stock cable is basic 3 core / unshielded)..... They are worth persevering with mate.... take your time, no rush..... remember that they are a £14,99 GBP buy and, with a few EASY tweaks, are up there with the best of them. I couldn't go back to W-1000 now..... they were lacking in too many areas...... HD-681 (IMO) trounce them in every respect. Mike.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 9, 2010 0:20:32 GMT
Hi Ian Mike sent me a pair, and on suitable material they are quite exciting listening.(e.g. "Yello-Touch" etc.) However, for normal listening to Audiophile CDs and high resolution material, I much prefer my ATH W1000 headphones from my own design Class A HA. Alex Alex, with respect, the HD-681 shit all over the W-1000 from a great height sonically.... they are much more faithful to the recording and don't suffer the boxy colourations of the W-1000.... I've sold my "two" pairs of W-1000 because I get more performance out of my HD-681. That's not to say that your ears are wrong..... if the W-1000 do it for you then it's all good man ears are like fingerprints, all unique, and we all hear things in a different way.... there is no one size fits all when it comes to audio. May I suggest that you try your HD-681 on the end of an MP3 player or maybe lower the OP impedance in your SCHA a bit more..... you will also find the HD-681 benefit from recabling with a shielded cable (stock cable is basic 3 core / unshielded)..... They are worth persevering with mate.... take your time, no rush..... remember that they are a £14,99 GBP buy and, with a few EASY tweaks, are up there with the best of them. I couldn't go back to W-1000 now..... they were lacking in too many areas...... HD-681 (IMO) trounce them in every respect. Mike. Mike With all due respect, that is complete and utter bullshit ! You are getting too close to the subject. What next ? Becoming a Distributor ? Telling fanatical AKG K701 owners to throw away their AKG 701s and use these instead ? Have you been reading Russ Andrew's handbook ? Each type of headphone has different strengths and weaknesses with different musical material. You like your music warm and with toe curdling bass. I prefer to hear my music as close as possible to what the artist intended. Whatever floats your boat . We both know that almost EVERY pair of headphones will benefit from a good recabling job, not just the HD681. As for listening with a MP3 player, have you been recycling those late night bottles of Scotch through charcoal filters or something ? I think the filters may need replacing ? ;D Alex
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toad
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Post by toad on Jan 9, 2010 10:29:51 GMT
IMHO the HD681 is a cracking headphone but it doesn't resolve details to the level of my other cans. My Sennheiser HD595s are way better at resolving detail and have a more spacious airy sound. They are also IMHO more musical than the 681s however the HD681s are often still the cans I reach for when I want a damn good heavy rock session.
As for my AKG K701s there is no comparison. They deliver so much more detail, space and separation than the HD681s that the difference is night and day. However that doesn't stop me enjoying the HD681s when the mood, or music choice is right.
They are a very good headphone but IMHO they are not quite giant killers. That extra 10% or 20%may cost a lot more but it's money well spent IMHO.
EDIT: Just for info I do think that the HD681s when connected to the output of a stock MP3 player or CD player etc ( i.e. Unamped) sound better than any other headphone I've heard.
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leo
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Post by leo on Jan 9, 2010 10:44:25 GMT
Thanks Toad, thats very interesting regarding your thoughts how they compare against the K701
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toad
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Post by toad on Jan 9, 2010 10:56:00 GMT
Thanks Toad, thats very interesting regarding your thoughts how they compare against the K701 Just telling it how I hear it Leo. However these are just my opinions ;D
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leo
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Post by leo on Jan 9, 2010 11:02:06 GMT
Thanks Toad, thats very interesting regarding your thoughts how they compare against the K701 Just telling it how I hear it Leo. However these are just my opinions ;D Good man, its what we like to see
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Will
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Post by Will on Jan 9, 2010 11:03:53 GMT
Funnily enough, I've received a run in pair of 681's this morning (Thanks Mate, you know who you are ) and my initial thoughts match Toads. They do rock very well, but the K701 still offer that bit extra. Still, the vfm of the 681 is astonishing.
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Post by leo on Jan 9, 2010 11:16:09 GMT
posting opinions is very helpful, the more the better
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Post by PinkFloyd on Jan 9, 2010 11:51:47 GMT
I have cleaned this thread up, I got a bit "passionate" last night and ended up insulting Alex (I am sorry mate) I should have remembered that my examples of HD-681 have been recabled, ringed and leather padded and, thus, may differ slightly from the stock HD-681..... I wrongly assumed everyone who owns a pair would be hearing the same things as me from them, my mistake and I apologise for being so outspoken. Mike.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 9, 2010 12:21:10 GMT
My 2 pence worth then!! My 701`s are my favourite phones, great mid-range and top end detail, but a little lacking bottom end, can sound a little bright, but get them fed by the correct amp, superb to my ear, with about 200hrs on them, great phones,and at arround £200 good value, with excellent build quality. The 681`s, very good tight bass, mid range very good, top end a little bit brittle, but easy to live with and enjoy, but overall phones that can be used with very good SQ, straight out of an ipod classic, and at £18, the Headphone bargain of all time, the likes of which you will not see again at this price. I think "Sandyk" has it right "horses for courses" different phones are suited to different music, but the two above "float my boat" and cover my taste in music.
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Nigel
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Post by Nigel on Jan 9, 2010 12:21:55 GMT
We both know that almost EVERY pair of headphones will benefit from a good recabling job, not just the HD681. Alex Hear, hear. 100% agree.
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Post by PinkFloyd on Jan 9, 2010 12:41:23 GMT
The recable seems to have really opened these 'phones up and I don't think it's the "quality" of the conductors but the fact that it is shielded..... the stock cable is simply 3 cores / unshielded. The "one piece" 6.3mm Neutrik jack should also help matters, I've never been keen on these two in one 3.5mm to 6.3mm efforts. The leather pads have also changed the SQ slightly, as have the aluminium rings. I'll be trying the filter mods the next opportunity I get.
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leo
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Post by leo on Jan 9, 2010 12:56:56 GMT
K701's standard cable is pretty high capacitance
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Post by Deleted on Jan 9, 2010 13:39:03 GMT
My 701`s are my favourite phones, great mid-range and top end detail, but a little lacking bottom end, can sound a little bright, but get them fed by the correct amp, superb to my ear, with about 200hrs on them, great phones,and at arround £200 good value, with excellent build quality. My favourites too. (Currently!) The bass thing is weird though and doesn't seem consistent. I've listened to pieces on the 701 where I think the bottom is thin so I change over to HD650 to put the bass back. Then going back to the 701 on say, another track, doesn't actually have much less bass than the HD650 for some reason. It's very strange in that some recordings seem to show no real bass on the 701's whereas on others, it's quite deep and has impact. With HD650 and the Superlux 681, the bass is there on most stuff I listen to. The thing is, is it consistency or is it the 'addition' of bass sounds that makes recordings have bass (superficially) which isn't necessarily there? Does that read as gobbledygook? I have real problems describing sound ........ Ian
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robertkd
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Post by robertkd on Jan 9, 2010 14:03:48 GMT
For what it's worth I seriously can't fault the k701's. I really don't find them lacking in bass at all, TBA they may be a little to honest in terms of the rendition of the sonics. I guess to qualify that for me bass below 30hz in headphones is a nonsense, besides anything below that needs to be felt by the body ;D
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Post by FritzS on Jan 9, 2010 14:30:14 GMT
My 2 pence worth then!! My 701`s are my favourite phones, great mid-range and top end detail, but a little lacking bottom end, can sound a little bright, but get them fed by the correct amp, superb to my ear, with about 200hrs on them, great phones,and at arround £200 good value, with excellent build quality. The 681`s, very good tight bass, mid range very good, top end a little bit brittle, but easy to live with and enjoy, but overall phones that can be used with very good SQ, straight out of an ipod classic, and at £18, the Headphone bargain of all time, the likes of which you will not see again at this price. I think "Sandyk" has it right "horses for courses" different phones are suited to different music, but the two above "float my boat" and cover my taste in music. My favorite is the D7000 and a little behind the K701. IMHO the 681 could not have the same qualities of manufacturing as the D7000, HD800, T1, K701, etc. with this price. I mean the variation of data and quality of each sample. Next I want to get a Beyer T1 for testing too Some differences coming from us self - each one have other auricles and the headphone sitting very close to (or on) it. The influence between form of the auricles and the pads are great - more influence if you hear with speakers!
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Sol
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Post by Sol on Jan 9, 2010 14:49:38 GMT
I keep coming back to the 701s ... for me they are neutral, and give me me mostly what I want from a headphone. As for bass, they don't seem to beef up the mid bass like other headphones do ... but actually play bass tunefully. That send if I want a bass lift I reach for the HD650 - but what I get in bass impact I seem to lose in bass tune fullness - if that makes sense!.
It's when I listen to acoustic or voice lead music that the K701 excels .. it's ability to tirelessly resolve the upper spectrum seems to support the mid range and gives a natural and uncoloured performance.
As for plugging directly into an ipod or some such (iAudio A3 playing wav for me) I like the grados 325i ... as I normally can't be bothered to carry a portable amp ... they pack flat ... and work well at the lower impedance. I also throw in my Shure IEMs for the plane if the travel involves noisy cabins ...either way these three give me the best combination of storage capacity, practicality, and sound. If I had the money and could find the right products I'd have a portable amp being fed from a portable dac, being fed direct digital from a battery player (which doesn't seem to exist in any price range I'm interested in) playing through a set of K701s ... but you can't have everything!!!
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Post by PinkFloyd on Jan 9, 2010 14:50:07 GMT
All of a sudden this seems to have become a "K-701" thread ;D I thought we were discussing the Superlux "HD-681" here?
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Post by PinkFloyd on Jan 9, 2010 14:51:09 GMT
K701's standard cable is pretty high capacitance I was referring to the Superlux HD-681 cable Leo ;D
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Post by leo on Jan 9, 2010 15:06:52 GMT
K701's standard cable is pretty high capacitance I was referring to the Superlux HD-681 cable Leo ;D I know that, I mean't to have quoted Alex's post , cable capacitance can affect an amps output, I know the K701's happen to have higher than normal capacitance (I did measure it) , I was just using it as an example for a pair where changing the cable should make a difference sonically, I can't see any posts on here (may have missed it) which mentions if the 681 capacitance is high or low
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Post by Deleted on Jan 9, 2010 16:03:10 GMT
Have owned the K701 for 2 weeks. Not my cup of tea ... too 'straight' and therefor lifeless to me but very likely NOT for someone else.
BUT as I said before there isn't just ONE best can. There are several BEST cans and for every different person/taste/mood whatever there is a BEST headphone. Your best headphone may not be mine and vice versa. I kept an HD650, HD681, SRH840 and KSC75 and sold all my other cans that have been in my possession for longer or shorter times. And had a lot of.. AKG, Beyers, Sennies, AT, Ultrasone, Koss, Grado, Shure, Creative(Foster) and some other cheap things. No stuff above 300 Euros though. But DID listen (sometimes extensively) to most of the expensive ones (except for Denon, really hard to find in a shop)
If you take each one of these headphones, be it a Sennheiser, Beyer, Denon, AKG, Superlux or whatever.. you can find all sorts of opinions on each and single one varying from 'the best there is' to 'total crap'. The fact is all of the better headphones are great and 'the best there is' ... They are just not the same for everyone.
The HD681 is a great can in its own right, extremely cheap (highest value I have EVER seen, I.M.H.O.) and highly mod-able. That's simply what it is. Sure.. the build quality of cans that cost 10 to 50 times more is better.. no doubt and no debate about that. But who cares.. it's all about the sound !! O.K. and the fit/comfort, but when you change the original pads for the velours AKG pads that is fine too. Find the HD681 too sibilant ? ... do the filter mod. Find it O.K. as it is ? keep it that way. Want to change the cables or anything else on it ? go ahead, have a blast !
As long as you can enjoy music in the most pleasing way you can, who cares what someone else thinks of your cans.
Just DON'T think your best can also HAS to be THE best can or someone else's best can.
Solderdude
(the no-nonsense audio guy)
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FritzS
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Post by FritzS on Jan 10, 2010 7:37:10 GMT
Have owned the K701 for 2 weeks. Not my cup of tea ... too 'straight' and therefor lifeless to me but very likely NOT for someone else. You must give the K701 a change - and spend a lot of time ... more than 100 hours burn in, and they sound great IMHO the SuperLux HD681 is a pice headphone for experimental - cheap and if he destroy it's not a problem ;D
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Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2010 8:54:18 GMT
I got the K701 secondhand from another headphone freak here in the Netherlands.
He was pleased with it first but after hundreds of hours of break in he didn't like it. I thought I would like it and traded it for an Ultrasone (which I found to be terrible !!!). Really spend time with it (amped with 3 different and excellent amps) but just didn't like it. But as I said... that's just my opinion. It's an excellent and very flat can ... but not my kind of can.
I shipped a filtered HD681 with velours pads to the same guy and he hated it. (He owns D7000 and HD650 and Corda Move). He found it to be far too bright (even with my mod, go figure) He said it totally lacked bass (which it doesn't) And he said it wasn't a comfortable phone (as wasn't the K701 for him for the same reason, namely an extremely huge noggin !) the HD681 was pulling on his ears. That's why he also didn't hear the deep bass and found it to be bright too because I suspect the pads were slightly lifted by his ear lobes creating a 'hole' (just lift your cans a tiny bit so it isn't totally closed anymore and you'll know what I mean). He send the HD681 back the same day.
Not so for the other 6 I sold ... everyone is quite happy. None of those guys are headphone lovers as everyone in RG is.
BUt this is not an K701 thread so let's leave it at that. All about the HD681 which IMHO is a dream come true.. But I ADORE huge SQ/price ratios and this aspect is of great importance to me. Not just the build quality and brandname. In this respect I couldn't care less. But the HD681 will most certainly not be to everyones liking. Only to those who like forward sounding, not boomy but with clear deep bass, open and detailed sound (and not like paying huge amounts of money for it)
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Post by rainforth on Jan 10, 2010 11:32:05 GMT
I bought a pair the other day and agree with everything Mike and others say. They sound astonishing out of the box and will probably sound even better in a week or two. Red rings don't bother me - cheap headphones and I can't see myself devoting too much of my life to marginal improvements (expect a slap in the face now!). As a professional classical pianist I find myself listening to a good deal of music through my cans - listen to the demands the Busoni or Rachmaninov concertos place upon headphones/speakers and these beauties ride the torrent of ff climaxes beautifully with intricate, delicate detail evident elsewhere. No match (yet) for my venerable old Sony MDR CD-1700s (the best cans I've ever heard) but they knock Senns HD650s out of the water
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Nigel
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Post by Nigel on Jan 10, 2010 11:39:02 GMT
Anyone tried a pair of these out of a Graham Slee Solo?
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