K712 Pro

For those of you looking to buy a really good set of headphones without breaking the four-figure barrier, these are a great choice.However, please be aware, these are neither noise isolating nor noise cancelling. Also, they have fairly high impedance and need an amp to really shine. For those of you folks who might be new to high quality headphones, I'll explain what those terms mean. For the rest of you folks, feel free to skip over this section. :)Noise Cancelling - this is a feature that is regularly touted as being desirable. To some extent it is, but it might not be what you want either. Noise cancelling headphones have hardware and programming that actively cancels out background noise. These tend to be desirable for a people who use their headphones in noisy environments. They tend to work best in high white-noise environments, such as planes, etc. They tend to be less effective when the noise is something like a lot of talking or yelling. But, there is a trade off. By using space and power to cancel noise, you sacrifice sound quality. So, while the Quiet Comfort line, by Bose, will provide decent sound on a plane, they will not cancel other kinds of sound (like yelling kids) very well. And while they might sound good to the average listener, to date, they are not capable of audiophile sound.Noise Isolating - this is a headphone that physically seals sound out. These headphones will completely enclose the ear and, generally, press fairly tightly against the head. They are completely closed in order to keep outside sound out. They tend to be less effective blocking white noise, but better overall at blocking outside sound. Again, with these, there is a sound trade off. Because they are closed, in a nutshell, there is some "echo" inside the headphone. Essentially, the sound of whatever you're listening to will bounce around inside the headphone and will result in some distortion. While noise isolating headphones can have very good sound, they will always have a lower sound ceiling than open headphones. (And lest I be misunderstood, I'm not saying that all noise isolating headphones have inferior sound compared to all open headphones. I'm saying that they will always have an inherent handicap that open headphones will not have.)Ok, the above said, the K712 Pro's are open headphones. I've probably spent about 40 hours listening to music on mine so far. As is true of most good headphones, they require some burn in time. While the sound was eye-openingly good right out of the box, they have definitely improved with use. (According to what I've read, they should continue to noticeably improve until about the 100 hour mark.) Now, I'm no stranger to good headphones. While I've never listened to cans that sell for the price of a used car, I own a pair of Sennheiser HD280's and Beyerdynamic DT770's that I've spent a lot of time with. Those are both well-respected, closed headphones. These are my first pair of open headphones, and, all I can say is wow. Big difference. No distortion at all, from Led Zep IV to Beethoven's 9th - the sound is totally clean, clear, and powerful. I'm not exaggerating when I say that, having listened to that particular Led Zeppelin album hundreds of times, I heard things I've never heard before - I could hear John Paul Jones plucking the bass strings on Black Dog. I could hear all the string sections clearly even with the choir singing at full volume during the Ode to Joy. It was unreal. It was sitting front and center at a live performance. You get the idea.Ok, so, a couple of caveats with the K712 Pro's. First of all, they need a lot of power to run at their peak. And because they're open, they're not ideal for mobile use. While this may turn off those who spend all day with earbuds jammed into their ears staring at their iphone screen, it shouldn't be a problem for those who use these cans as they're intended. That is, they're at their best when listened to in a setting where there is access to a power outlet (for an amp) and a small to minimal amount of outside noise. I am fortunate enough to be able to listen to them at work in my office as well as at home (when my young children are in bed that is!).Some of you might be wondering, if I'm spending this much on headphones, why should I buy an amplifier?! Well, like any good speaker, they need power. You wouldn't plug your surround sound system into an iphone and expect its battery to be able to power the speakers. Similarly, these headphones, while they will work plugged straight into a smart phone or tablet, they will not provide their optimal level of sound without a bit more juice. Never fear though. There are plenty of very good, portable amps that will boost these headphones for up to 8 hours on a single charge. Or, they can be plugged directly into the usb drive of your smart phone, tablet, or laptop and will charge as you use them to listen to music or watch movies. (See, eg., for $50, the surprisingly good Creative Soundblaster E1 portable amp. See also the outstanding $300 dac/amp the Meridian Explorer 2. If you're wondering what a dac is, well, the short answer is, it's an accessory that will decompress a digital signal, like an MP3, and will improve the quality of the sound that is sent down the line to your headphones.)Ok, the above said, I'll try to explain why I feel the above headphones deserve 5 stars.Appearance - no score. I, personally, think that these are gorgeous. Their looks reflect their quality (and their price tag!). But, this is a subjective category. Some people hate orange. Some people hate round shapes. Whatever. I like them. You might not. But I think that appearance is probably the least important factor to consider when deciding which headphone to purchase. Moving on . . .Build - 4/5 Ok, these are just a bit more "plasticy" than I would like. I think that high-quality plastic was substituted to keep the weight down (see comfort below). I don't know. I've had them about 3 weeks. I've dropped them a couple of times and they don't have a scratch (yes, I'm a huge clutz). They come with 2 detachable cords, as well as a real velvet carrying bag. The bag looks and feels great, but it's more of a dust cover than a protective device. One cord is a roughly 8 foot, straight cord. Another is a 3 foot, spiral cord. They both snap in solidly and require a button to be pushed to release. The nice thing about this is that, most often, it is a cord that goes bad first in a headphone. Both feel very solid - not cheap at all. But, if you want to upgrade cords (some audiophiles swear by super-expensive, silver cords) you can do so. Or if one goes bad, you can replace the cord, rather than the entire headphone. The earpads themselves are velvet covered memory foam (again, see comfort, below). They are also replaceable, as is just about everything else on these cans. So, again, rather than having to replace the whole thing, if a component goes bad, you can just replace that one component. However, I've read reviews written by people who have used their's every day for a couple years and never had a problem. Also, the headband is a really soft, but tough feeling leather.Comfort - 5/5 These are, hands down, the most comfortable headphones I've ever worn. The memory foam conforms to my head without pressure, and the velvet feels great and stays cool. The headband is self-adjusting. No, really, it is. They are incredibly light for their size. You put them on, you listen to your music, you forget you're wearing them. (Unlike my other two headphones the Senn HD280's and the Beyer DT770's. Because they're noise isolating, they put a pretty good amount of pressure on my head. I have a fairly large, but not a huge head. I still use the Beyer's. I don't use the Senn's anymore; they get downright painful after half an hour or so of use.) The K712's are marvelous.Sound - 5/5 Of course, the most important facet. This is also, possibly, the most hotly contested. Opinions about headphone sound are as common, and can be as extreme, as opinions about a political candidate. One person will think the sound is amazing while another person will think it's just the worst thing ever. I won't bore you with technical data. However, I have looked at the data provided by some very well qualified engineers who have run these through rigorous sound tests and have determined, basically, these are very, very accurate overall - much more so than any mass-market, celebrity-endorsed set of headphones that are out there right now. There are more accurate headphones out there. But, you know, to get a set of headphones that are noticeably more accurate, you'll need to spend a mortgage payment or two, depending on your neighborhood. ;) AKG's are generally criticized for being somewhat lacking in the bass department. These are AKG's answer to that criticism. While the bass remains tight and controlled, it is definitely present. I was watching the HD trailer for the upcoming Star Wars film with these plugged into my amp. I felt like I had a subwoofer strapped to my head - in a good way. It was pretty amazing. For the mids and highs, these are plenty accurate enough for my taste and budget. Maybe someday I'll be a more discriminating (i.e., snooty) headphone user. But for now, these are fantastic. They easily sound better than my Senn's or Beyer's. I am very, very pleased with them and would highly recommend them.Final Thoughts - would I buy these again? Absolutely! Are they the best for riding on a plane or a crowded subway? Probably not, because they'll let in some background noise. Are they going to wow and amaze every middle schooler who sees them because the company that markets them just spent about a bazillion dollars hyping them and paying for celebrities to endorse them? Thankfully, no . . . unless that's what you're into. I'm not judging; just saying. But, you know, they're comfortable enough to listen to all day while working at your computer or while you're at home, and the sound is just phenomenal.

TEST SETUP: AKG K712 Pro w/ original orange cable, source: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD (Game mode: Crystallizer 75%, EQ adjusted to boost mid-lower and mid-upper range), reference: Denon AHD2000DISCLAIMER: A recent visit to an ear doctor revealed that I have lost hearing in the most upper and lower frequency ranges and I am not even 30 yet, nor do I ever listen to loud music. Please, particularly audiophiles, protect your hearing and listen responsibly. The AKG K712 Pro (and any other high-end headphone) should be used at reasonable volumes.INTROIf you're looking at this headphone, you're probably looking for something near the best from a respected manufacturer but want to spend well under $1000. Since you've read this far, you're right on target with this one. With the current prices of the AKG K712 Pro, you'd be remiss not to have it near the top of your list. This is probably one of the best buys you can get your hands on, so without further ado, read on.SONIC QUALITYThe K712 is billed as a reference studio headphone and thus will be tested as such. We expect a straightforward sound that does not *sound* tweaked toward particular frequency ranges.Test music:-AOA Black - Get Out live at 2012/10/26 KBS Music Bank-AOA Black - Moya live at 2013/08/08 Mnet Countdown-Dalshabet - REWIND-Dalshabet - B.B.B.-IU - Good Day-Jevice - Don't Answer The Phone-Tiny-G - Minimanimo-T-ara - I Go Crazy Because of You-T-ara - Number 9-T-ara - Roly Poly (Back to the Future ver.)There's a lot of different music in there but after going through them, a few points are pretty clear:-The K712 really is a reference studio headphone. There is no 'coloring' of the musical quality - if you are looking for a special sound, you may want to look elsewhere. It is literally WYSIWYG (or rather what you hear is what you get). Bass-heads and soprano lovers will undoubtedly have the sonic equivalent of hunger. You may tweak the EQ a little bit but the fundamental sound will still be there. Consider your uses before you buy.-Because of this, the K712 works for all kinds of music - pop, rock, ballads, disco, dance, etc. - a jack of all trades.-Harsh sounds (like explosions or guitar distortion) are especially pronounced depending on the recording's quality.Now for the details:Some people will turn up the volume on their headphones (a bad thing) to hear details like whispering or lip-syncing during live events. There's absolutely no need to do that with the K712 because sonic details are rendered with astute clarity at reasonable sound levels. Female rock band AOA Black is dominated by lead guitarist Choa and keyboardist Yuna, and you can hear them singing at the top of their lungs right into the microphone in the live "Get Out" performance - and you can hear it all at low volume. Some AOA fans protested that bassist Mina only does air guitar, but using the K712 to replay the "Moya" live performance proves them wrong - the bass is evidently there and remember that the K712 does noticeably boost particular frequencies. IU's 3-note noisemaker in the final verse of "Good Day" deserves particular mention because, well, the 3 soprano notes don't seem as jarring as they normally do. The same sort of phenomenon appears in T-ara's "I Go Crazy Because of You" - a pretty bass heavy song that doesn't seem as deep as it normally does through speakers. In this respect, there's a little life lost in certain songs that push the upper and lower ends of the frequency scale. Lastly, the Back to the Future version of "Roly-Poly" is a disco homage with the DeLorean time travel boom at the 3:00 mark. This mix is a test of sonic quality, and on the K712 its sonic 'accuracy' makes the distortion is particularly harsh. Listeners should keep this in mind when using the K712 for certain music or action movies.BUILD QUALITYWhen you pick up the AKG K712 Pro (or any of its siblings, K602/K702/Q701), the headphone seems fairly simple. Non-leather pads, relatively thin leather headband, plastic here and there, no obvious adjustment system. However, once you try it on, you will realize that the design is quite ingenious if you're coming from another manufacturer. There is hardly any weight from the headband, which auto-adjusts based on the size of your head via elastic bands connected to the earpads. You quickly realize that having sturdy, non-degrading (read: environmentally-unfriendly) plastic headband will last a long time unless you purposely drop the headphone. The earpads are memory foam and, because they are fabric-covered, won't get shredded over time by my facial hair like my old Denon AHD2000 did. The round design means that if you don't have the headphones exactly perpendicular to your head, the sonic quality will not change as they might on other headphones. The K712 is provided with 2 cables, a straight orange cable and a coiled black cable, both of which connect to a 3-pin port on the left earpad. Whether you prefer single cable or Y-connector is personal taste, but practically the K712 has a simpler build. In the end, the light weight and comfort means that you can leave this on your head for hours; you will take it off first to do other tasks than you will from discomfort.AUDIO SOURCE AND POWER USAGEObviously, this and any other high-end headphone should be used with equally high-end sources, audio processor and music both. The K712 WILL pick up audio artifacts more noticeably than lesser headphones, so if the explosion you are seeing in the movie playing wasn't rendered in the highest quality, the sound will be considerably harsher and distorted. Any musical remixes will most likely suffer because the tracks weren't originally written with each other in mind regardless of the closeness in rhythm. Furthermore:-If you listen to music mostly from your computer, invest in the highest end soundcard such as the Creative X-Fi Titanium HD or Asus Xonar Essence STX, both of which can be found for ~$150-$200. Both have amps capable of driving the K712 plenty loud at low levels.-If you mostly use a home stereo, you can use an amp but it is only necessary if you are looking to change the sonic character (i.e., a tube amp) - the low impedance of the K712 does not require much power to drive.-If you mostly used your smartphone, nothing additional is necessary - you can try a USB portable amp but remember that you are limited the connection on your phone; in my experience, USB connections are never that great for audio.OTHER THOUGHTSKeep in mind that this is an open headphone: sound leaks to the ambient air for better resonance (i.e., increased sonic clarity). The K712 are best suited for a quiet environment where you are not concerned about disturbing others or being disturbed. Also, there is a burn-in time required, though they will already sound much better out of the box than lesser headphones. A few days (~100 hours) is reasonable.PRICE/PERFORMANCE AND CONCLUSIONAs of this writing, Amazon lists the AKG K712 Pro at $379 (MSRP $700). You can usually find most high-end headphones on Amazon at greatly discounted prices, but since the K712 regularly sells at ~$500, under $400 for this item is an absolute steal. Comparable headphones will cost ~$500, so if you happen to be strapped for cash but want something near the top, it is difficult to beat this price/performance ratio. Also recall that the top AKG model, the K812, is the only one above the K712 and provides a bit better sound at $1500...and is not on Amazon yet. So before this seller runs out of $380 K712's, and you happen to be in the market for a studio headphone, give this a good listen - you won't be disappointed.