AKGPro Audio K702 Over-Ear, Open-Back, Flat-Wire, Reference Studio Headphones,Black

After having owned the Grado RS2e (with upgraded "G Cushion" Over-Ear pads............when I mention the RS2e, just know that I am referring to them WITH these pads on, not the smaller On-Ear stock pads they are boxed with), I thought I had come to the conclusion that the incredible "neutral but fun" sound the RS2e offers is what I'd always wanted. Are they the best headphones I've owned yet? Yes, because after going through so many mostly closed-back and a few open-back headphones, these took things to the next level for me that even the open-back Sennheisers I'd owned (HD 598 & HD 598 SE) in the past couldn't match. But there was always something appealing about the AKG K702 to me (as I've had it on my headphone list for a while now), based on info & advice from others, pro reviews, and its looks as well.You see, the first time I was ever really "blown away" by a pair of headphones was back when I listened to some songs in the Magnolia section of my local Best Buy on the closed-back AKG K550 they had on display there using a cheap portable amp (not even a DAC/amp really, just an amp). Besides a wide selection of rock songs, including some Meg Myers, one of the songs I listened to was Fleetwood Mac's "Crystal" (using my phone as the source), and the first chorus of that song, and even more so the outro part (3:15), just had a really "epic" sound to it. For the most part what I mean there is, the soundstage seemed really wide (especially for closed-back 'phones), but also, the drums had such a "punch" to them...........weighty, but very lively! Almost like they were being played on and amplified from outer space. It was so cool...........but over the years, I wanted to be open to other kinds of sound signatures, so after owning the K550 for months, I sold it, and went on to own many other headphones thereafter.This leads me to now. For 6 months now, I've really enjoyed the Grado RS2e, but I wondered if maybe the also open-back K702 could somehow match or beat it, at least to me. I knew this wasn't all that likely given the RS2e runs for $495 (not including the $45 upgrade pads), while the K702 just recently went down in price from around $220 to $162 here on Amazon. But seeing that price drop made me think "why not"? So I did.................and here is my short review:Design/Layout/Comfort:Where normally I would talk about the unboxing experience here, I'm just going to forego that. The experience for both was satisfying though. No complaints.The RS2e's ear cups can be rotated to make the headphones lay flat, while the K702's can't (which means the K702 needs the bigger box). While I would prefer it that the K702 could lay flat, I'm really fine with how it is. The RS2e comes with beautiful wooden ear cups, and the standard on-ear pads, which are not all that comfortable really, especially for long periods, which is why I got the G Cushions. The G Cushions offer more treble and a wide soundstage, as well of course as added comfort.The K702's ear pads are labeled as "comfortable, specially shaped 3D-foam ear pads", which feel like velour to me. They are super comfortable, definitely more than even the Grado G Cushions are, which are more like a regular upgraded styrofoam. The headbands on both are fine, but I prefer the K702's because it adjusts to your head, where the Grado's are manually adjustable, but don't lock into place like many of the Sennheiser ones do. They just kinda slide into place, but the problem is, they can easily slide out too sometimes. So I find myself constantly re-adjusting them. Many won't mind this, and I didn't really for the most part, but it's still something to note.Sound Quality:**Note: These headphones both have neutral enough sound signatures to where a custom EQ for either pair would be highly unnecessary. Therefore, please read on knowing that the EQ setting in my Poweramp app was turned off.The amp/DAC used was my trusty iFi xDSD, which utilizes a semi-wireless setup. Also, this comparison was done over a period of 2 weeks, and was comprised of 4 separate listening sessions that lasted at least 1-2 hours each time.**Bass - While the Grado and the AKG both render bass very well, they DO handle it differently. The AKG offers a more powerful and "present" bass sound than the Grado, yet it doesn't sound bloated or bleed out over the mids and treble at all as far as I could tell. Both have much bass detail though. For me, I preferred how the AKG rendered it, especially on "Crystal" during the outro section, which features that great sounding drum part.Mids - Both headphones were fantastic with the mids. Hard to say which one was better. For me, I'd say it was equal. Every detail I heard regarding vocals etc on one headphone I could clearly hear on the other as well.Highs - This is where I have a minor issue with the Grado. Using the G Cushion Over-Ear pads for the added (and for me, necessary) comfort, I noticed a slight spike in not only soundstage, but also treble too. This wasn't an issue when I first bought them really, but later on it slowly became so. At times, this would also add in a bit of unwelcome sibilance to the sound (aka, that high-pitched "sssss" sound), which can be somewhat fatiguing after a while. The AKG however didn't have this issue at all. Though both generally sound great and this is more of a minor issue which doesn't happen often at all really, I still prefer how the AKG rendered the highs in this case.Soundstage - Both headphones offer an incredibly wide sounding soundstage. It's POSSIBLE the AKG's might be slightly wider, but honestly, to me, they were both equal here as well like with the mids.Volume - Due to the K702's impedance/sensitivity rating vs. the RS2e's, I found that the K702 required a little more power to hit the same volume that the RS2e does at a lower power setting. But it wasn't much of a difference really.Conclusion:This had to have been one of the toughest of my MANY headphone comparisons that I've ever done. Where in the past I've had some real easy comparisons to judge, these two headphones really DON'T mess around! Based on the comfort, and more pleasing (to my ears anyway) sound signature of the AKG headphone, I have decided to keep the K702 and sell off my Grado RS2e and the upgrade pads as well. Maybe it's not all that surprising, given how much these remind me of the AKG K550, though these are definitely on a higher playing field!Though this wasn't an easy decision, in the end, it made the most sense. The fact that the K702 is only a fraction of the cost of the RS2e + the G Cushion Over-Ear pads made it even more impossible to merit keeping the Grados. Again, I really believe though that if you generally prefer a more "fun" sound signature, that perhaps the Grados with those pads would be better suited to your musical taste actually. But if not so much, though you still want a very enjoyable and more "epic" sound signature like I apparently do lol, then the K702 is the one for you!

I personally have very sensitive hearing (obviously not like, professional-level or anything), and using AKG headphones for years have spoiled my little ears to the point that I pretty much refuse to use anything else. I've owned and tried quite a few headphones, but none really give you that soundstage that these have.Some cons I have that don't really affect my review:- What happened to the 20 ft cord? I can't seem to find it, but it's not a gripe bc I use 5mm extension cables anyway.- VERY quiet. I almost always keep my computer volume at max for these, and sometimes I'll use 3rd party programs to boost it even further if I'm watching an extra quiet movie.- You do need to break these in. I'd blast loud music through these whenever you're not using them for the first few weeks, since the audio quality doesn't actually shine until you've used these a while.- Not comfortable. It's getting better, since this current model doesn't pinch my temples like the AKG Q701 did. However, don't expect the lush feel you'd get from leather or memory foam earpads. However, you can switch out these pads for better ones if you choose to. For my head shape, I find that wearing these for hours on end don't really cause any trouble.- Leaks noise like a speaker--this is important for the soundstage aspect of these headphones, so I don't really consider this a con. I'm buying these headphones for the SOUND, not the portability or privacy. However, if you listen to anything other than a quiet volume, chances are the person next to you can hear it, too. So remember that before you blast something inappropriate in the presence of others. It's no problem in the privacy of your own room, though.- Lacks fancier features like Bluetooth or noise cancellation. If you use this for gaming, expect it to be bare bones. There's not microphone attached, no Bluetooth compatibility or wireless function. There aren't wireless verisons of this since it relies on its cord for some of the sound quality.- Finally, THE WIRING INTERNALLY IS FRAGILE. THIS IS IMPORTANT IF YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO SOLDER. Every single pair of headphones from AKG I've owned CONSISTENTLY fails after about a year. This personally isn't enough for me to knock off a star since I know how to solder, and I usually just go in and repair it. It's honestly pretty easy to learn how to solder, and these headphones are pretty easy to take apart if you have the right tools. The quality of sound doesn't suffer post-repair, either. It's just that the thin wires in the actual headphones (not the cord) tend to come loose after about a year if you're not OCD about handling it. I drop my headphones pretty regularly and kinda just dump them on my table after use. I'm not gentle with them at all. Regular wear and tear generally ends up knocking a wire loose. HOWEVER, if you're not tech-savvy or just plain don't own a soldering kit, EXPECT this to stop working after about a year or two, which SUCKS. Repairs are about the price of buying a used version, so I'd recommend either DIY or straight up replacement.Okay, after that huge warning, here are the pros and why I don't really use anything else:- The sound. I am PHYSICALLY soothed by certain noises, and these headphones bring out all the best (and worst) properties of every noise. It doesn't buy into the bass fad, and instead has very balanced sound that doesn't prioritize any frequency. You can still hear the bass! Yes! But you can't expect it to shake your body or anything. You're just listening to the true sound of every audio track. It's caused me to stop pirating music (seriously!) because I can actually hear differences in compression, and it's just not worth sorting through files anymore to find the highest quality version of what you want to listen to.- Oh my god the soundstage. The soundstage is vast, like you can feel the sound extending farther outside your head than the sound of all the other headphones I've tried or owned. If I plopped in some Apple buds right after listening to music with these, I almost feel claustrophobic with how limited of a space earbud sound occupies. Am I sounding crazy? I'm not even talking about the quality of it, just how far of a physical space the soundstage seems to occupy. The soundstage in these headphones is like actually having a small band play right next to you. It's fantastic. Gamers, rest assured. These will not only help you hear where other players are, I find that I can actually hear how far they are and even their exact POSITION up to a certain extent JUST from their in-game footsteps. I can tell if a player's above me, below me, in front of me, or even behind me--they all sound different and these headphones really help bring out the differences in those sounds. I honestly kind of feel cheap whenever I guess correctly someone's exact position--wallhacks, anyone? Seriously--I don't get the same precision in other headphones. The soundstage is just too small for me to accurately pinpoint distance.- Easy to repair. The biggest issue with these headphones that I've mentioned above is easily cured in like half an hour with these. If you get an issue with the cord (which is usually just a problem with the cord's connection to the headphones), it's a lot harder to fix, but certainly not impossible. There's a lot of forums with people who mod these headphones, too, which isn't surprising since these can ostensibly just pop open with the help of a needle. This is a great advantage if you're pretty good with technology, since you can always mod these headphones for louder bass (if you love that shake), Bluetooth compatibility, and more, essentially negating all the drawbacks. I know virtually nothing about this stuff past just soldering wires, but even then when my cord failed, I just melted off the part where the cord was supposed to attach and instead resoldered the cord directly to the internal wiring. Sure, I can no longer detach my cord, but I never really did that, anyway. Now my headphones can last another few years.- The price. These are reference headphones, and the price (kinda) follows suit. I say kinda because these have actually 1. dropped in price over the years (the old Q701s were about 500 MSRP so I used to just get them used) so now I can afford a new one since they're only about 200-300 now, and 2. this isn't really that bad of a price for THE headphones of your life--considering that every other high-end pair of headphones is around the same price range (think Bose or Beats, which don't nearly have the same sound quality). The 1k pair is obviously not for someone like me, who doesn't professionally work in music, but the $300 pair has jaw-dropping quality that makes me surprised it's not already the highest quality pair.Every pair of headphones has its upsides and downsides. I make sound quality and price my only priorities, so these are the best for me, personally.