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Massdrop x AKG K7XX Audiophile Headphones
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Massdrop x AKG K7XX Audiophile Headphones
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Product Description
Our first custom headphones ever, the Massdrop x AKG K7XX have been an enduring community favorite since they first launched more than two years ago. Since then, they’ve received praise from Head-Fi, Super Best Audio Friends, Z Reviews, and more for offering a rare value in the world of open-back cans Read More
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keyboard_arrow_downrichardgao
882
Feb 17, 2017
[Stickied] The K7XX FAQ
As Audiophiles ourselves, we believe that headphone choice and sound perception are deeply personal. We understand that there will always be people who will not like the K7XX or do not agree with the design choices that have been influenced by the community. That being said, the K7XX is a set we are proud to recommend to newcomers and veterans alike.
With over 11K posts and discussions, you can imagine that almost every question has been both asked and answered by the community. A big thank you goes out to all of the community members who, over the course of the past year, have been answering questions and clearing up misconceptions. Below are a few of the most common ones asked.
-------- What’s the quick summary of the K7XX? The idea and goal of the K7XX was to take the very best from across the AKG 700-series and create a definitive version designed by and for the audiophile community. Lastly, the goal was to offer this version at an incredible price to performance ratio. The following are a few of the key design features.
1. K702 65th Anniversary Edition Drivers: The K702 65th Anniversary Edition (“Annies”) drivers are considered by the audiophile community to be the best sounding driver in the 700-series family which was the reason it was selected for the K7XX.
2. Memory Foam Padding: Absent in the K701 and K702, the K7XX uses memory foam padding which was first introduced in the K702 65th Anniversary Edition. The impact of this choice is that the Annies and the K7XX maintain the same performance in the highs and mids that the 700-series are known for but with an improved 3dB bass increase.
3. Black Colorway: This one is new and unique to the K7XX and was a result of feedback from the Audiophile community during the design process. In general, there was a strong preference for a sleek all-black look. As project86 (a key contributor on Head-fi) puts it, “[the] K7XX is ninja black and gloriously free of any obnoxious accents. It's arguably the best looking variation in the history of the series.”
4. Same Build Quality & Manufacturing Process: The K7XX is built with the same quality and under the same manufacturing process as the rest of the 700-family. It’s made for audiophiles, and we know that everyone would expect no less.
-------- These seem to have a great price to performance ratio. Is it because the K7XX uses cheaper materials? No.
-------- Where are these manufactured? How is the quality? A common question that is asked is “where are these made?”. The entire 700-series family, including the K7XX, are produced in China. There is a misconception that AKG manufacturers their headphones in Austria and that there are still Austrian made 700-series available. As an additional point, even the K812 are now made in Slovakia (not Austria). But the broader point is around production processes, quality control, and manufacturing tolerances. These are all principles and concepts that are geographically agnostic and instead depend on the manufacturer and the factory who are the ones who make the decision either to be detailed-oriented or to cut corners. AKG has a history of being the former and has consistently delivered. Lastly, there is a 2-year warranty on the K7XX.
-------- Do you need an amp? The K7XX will work fine without an amp. That said, an amplifier, in general, serves to provide clean power and control of the headphone drivers to deliver sound. A supplemental amplifier may sound better than the one bundled in your phone, which is designed for long battery life or earbuds, for example. The AKG K7XX is not a headphone that is known for being especially "difficult to drive" (as they say). You may, however, find benefits in the characteristics of certain amplifiers and how they interact with your source and headphones. -------- Why is the MSRP “so high”? MSRP refers to the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price and is the price that the manufacturer recommends retailers sell the product. It does not mean the price that retailers will actually sell the product at and it does not mean the lowest price found online. While the last two examples may change based on sales and retailer pricing decisions, MSRP stays the same.
The MSRP for the K7XX reflects the MSRP of the K702 65th Anniversary Edition, the headphone that the K7XX can trace its ancestry too. -------- How do these compare to the other headphones? This is one we will expand on over the next week.
-------- What’s the quick summary of the K7XX? The idea and goal of the K7XX was to take the very best from across the AKG 700-series and create a definitive version designed by and for the audiophile community. Lastly, the goal was to offer this version at an incredible price to performance ratio. The following are a few of the key design features.
1. K702 65th Anniversary Edition Drivers: The K702 65th Anniversary Edition (“Annies”) drivers are considered by the audiophile community to be the best sounding driver in the 700-series family which was the reason it was selected for the K7XX.
2. Memory Foam Padding: Absent in the K701 and K702, the K7XX uses memory foam padding which was first introduced in the K702 65th Anniversary Edition. The impact of this choice is that the Annies and the K7XX maintain the same performance in the highs and mids that the 700-series are known for but with an improved 3dB bass increase.
3. Black Colorway: This one is new and unique to the K7XX and was a result of feedback from the Audiophile community during the design process. In general, there was a strong preference for a sleek all-black look. As project86 (a key contributor on Head-fi) puts it, “[the] K7XX is ninja black and gloriously free of any obnoxious accents. It's arguably the best looking variation in the history of the series.”
4. Same Build Quality & Manufacturing Process: The K7XX is built with the same quality and under the same manufacturing process as the rest of the 700-family. It’s made for audiophiles, and we know that everyone would expect no less.
-------- These seem to have a great price to performance ratio. Is it because the K7XX uses cheaper materials? No.
-------- Where are these manufactured? How is the quality? A common question that is asked is “where are these made?”. The entire 700-series family, including the K7XX, are produced in China. There is a misconception that AKG manufacturers their headphones in Austria and that there are still Austrian made 700-series available. As an additional point, even the K812 are now made in Slovakia (not Austria). But the broader point is around production processes, quality control, and manufacturing tolerances. These are all principles and concepts that are geographically agnostic and instead depend on the manufacturer and the factory who are the ones who make the decision either to be detailed-oriented or to cut corners. AKG has a history of being the former and has consistently delivered. Lastly, there is a 2-year warranty on the K7XX.
-------- Do you need an amp? The K7XX will work fine without an amp. That said, an amplifier, in general, serves to provide clean power and control of the headphone drivers to deliver sound. A supplemental amplifier may sound better than the one bundled in your phone, which is designed for long battery life or earbuds, for example. The AKG K7XX is not a headphone that is known for being especially "difficult to drive" (as they say). You may, however, find benefits in the characteristics of certain amplifiers and how they interact with your source and headphones. -------- Why is the MSRP “so high”? MSRP refers to the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price and is the price that the manufacturer recommends retailers sell the product. It does not mean the price that retailers will actually sell the product at and it does not mean the lowest price found online. While the last two examples may change based on sales and retailer pricing decisions, MSRP stays the same.
The MSRP for the K7XX reflects the MSRP of the K702 65th Anniversary Edition, the headphone that the K7XX can trace its ancestry too. -------- How do these compare to the other headphones? This is one we will expand on over the next week.
supaDean
0
Dec 22, 2017
I'd imagine you'd be dealing with the HST. So convert the price to $CAN and add 13%. Roughly.
Domaldel
23
Nov 23, 2017
Any chance of one of these becomming available *without* leather?
I don't purchase any products that has caused death or animal suffering.
linerror
66
Dec 30, 2017
No I was simply speaking that the harvesting, distribution and refining of said oil into plastic has a measurable detrimental effect to the environment and the the ecosystem as well as the wildlife. But please continue to do your best to hold the oil companies accountable...
Ares78
1502
Keyboard Club Member
Dec 30, 2017
Some 3 million years of evolution and this happens. We’re omnivores, deal with it. Nothing I say on this month old thread will change anything so please stop, no one cares.
Will
8470
Chief Product Officer
Oct 16, 2015
Hey Everyone,
Got some great news from AKG today. Rather than the 580 units we expected to receive, 1000 are on a truck to our warehouse right now! Given that, we're increasing the cap on this drop by 420 units up to 1000 pcs total.
Thanks for your support and interest in this drop, let me know if you have any questions.
Got some great news from AKG today. Rather than the 580 units we expected to receive, 1000 are on a truck to our warehouse right now! Given that, we're increasing the cap on this drop by 420 units up to 1000 pcs total.
Thanks for your support and interest in this drop, let me know if you have any questions.
Tigerstripedcat
Oct 21, 2015
ayyy
Everest
19
Oct 22, 2015
Tigerstripedcatlol,It's a fking idot.I'm just very curious,did you understand what I said in Chinese? :PP
Oneyedrunk
43
Aug 8, 2017
Locked
As a vegan, its a shame with the leather headband :\ Was just about to order, then I figured I should check for it in the specs and indeed saw that it is genuine leather :\\
Jackula
1743
Aug 10, 2017
OneyedrunkI have the same issue, not a vegan, only a lowly vegetarian tho. Although I try my best to avoid genuine leather products, sometimes it's just not possible or too much hassle. I think as long as you try your best, then you can take comfort in that :)
PigmonkeY
1082
Aug 12, 2017
OneyedrunkAh yes, can't have a forum thread without the "I'm a vegan" person. Couldn't have just said "dang i can't buy this", had to come and grandstand "I'M A VEGAN AND I CAN'T APPROVE OF THIS"
We get it. you're special and unique just like all the other kids.
We get it. you're special and unique just like all the other kids.
MsfExploit
5
Mar 14, 2017
Hello everyone, can anyone tell me how these compare to the beyer dt990? I was able to grab those cans for $100, would this be a decent upgrade? The dt990 do hurt after a few hours...
asymcon
30
Jan 14, 2018
I dunno, first impressions are most wavering. Especially when comparing old to new (or new to old for that matter).
I had K701 and K702 and both gave the ILLUSION (yes, read illusion) of wide soundstage and precise positioning, but it wasn't until K240DF and later DT-250 that I was able to appreciate truly precise instrument separation with all the spatial (and dynamic) information provided on a clean, perfectly neutral signature.
Sure, DT-250 aren't open and the spatialization isn't as wide as it's long - trait shared with K601 and K240DF - spherical soundstage, but its biggest advantage comes from precision, a word that should not be associated with any K7-- headphone.
Although unlike DT-880, K7-- type headphone isn't dangerous to human hearing unless pushed for volume.
Tompetz
52
Jan 21, 2018
I don't want to get involved in this discussion but when you start quoting Ken Rockwell, well, you just invalidate everything. The guy is an idiot. He doesn't know sound from cameras from anything. He just writes to hear himself talk... er....type?...er...say things...
Will
8470
Chief Product Officer
Dec 11, 2014
Hey Everyone,
Please read this carefully.
The K7XX drop concluded nine days ago and our first 2000 units were loaded on a ship bound for the United States. The ship experienced difficulties after two days at sea, forcing it to make port at a nearby dry-dock. From there we worked with AKG to have the K7XX container marked “high priority” with the freight company. After a couple days the K7XXs were transferred to another US bound ship.
Two days ago, that ship docked at the port of Long Beach. Unfortunately, the dock workers in Long Beach and other west coast ports have been working slowly in response to unfavorable contract negotiations. Luckily the K7XX container is off the ship and on it’s way through processing.
If everything goes smoothly the K7XXs should make it to our fulfillment center by the 15th. Despite circumstances beyond our control, it looks like your headphones will all ship by the original expected ship date of December 17th.
Thank you for your patience and supporting this drop, the largest in this community's history!
Please read this carefully.
The K7XX drop concluded nine days ago and our first 2000 units were loaded on a ship bound for the United States. The ship experienced difficulties after two days at sea, forcing it to make port at a nearby dry-dock. From there we worked with AKG to have the K7XX container marked “high priority” with the freight company. After a couple days the K7XXs were transferred to another US bound ship.
Two days ago, that ship docked at the port of Long Beach. Unfortunately, the dock workers in Long Beach and other west coast ports have been working slowly in response to unfavorable contract negotiations. Luckily the K7XX container is off the ship and on it’s way through processing.
If everything goes smoothly the K7XXs should make it to our fulfillment center by the 15th. Despite circumstances beyond our control, it looks like your headphones will all ship by the original expected ship date of December 17th.
Thank you for your patience and supporting this drop, the largest in this community's history!
OrangeFlavored
20
Dec 16, 2014
Well, worst case scenario we all just wait until February with the second group.
robakri
12
Dec 16, 2014
OrangeFlavoredSo worst case scenario, they were all destroyed and another batch needs to be produced? You sure are pessimistic.
The February timing is due to manufacturing. AFAIK this batch is already manufactured, even though they are delayed I highly doubt the shipping is in any way dependent on the second batch.
The February timing is due to manufacturing. AFAIK this batch is already manufactured, even though they are delayed I highly doubt the shipping is in any way dependent on the second batch.
Will
8470
Chief Product Officer
Nov 26, 2014
Hi Everyone,
Please read all of this carefully.
The last 36 hours have been incredibly exciting. We launched the K7XX at 6am PT Monday morning and you’re on track to eat through the first 2000 units by midnight tonight. As stated in the product description, we expect this first batch of 2000 units to ship out by December 17th with domestic orders arriving in time for Christmas.
That said, we’ve been getting lots of questions about the remaining 4000 units. When will they drop? When will they ship? Initially, the second batch of 2000 units (these are manufactured in lots of 2000) wasn’t supposed to arrive until mid-March with the final 2000 units arriving even later. Today we spoke with AKG and, given the aggressive demand, they were able to speed up their production schedule for the community.
When will the next 2000 units be ready to ship? Mid February 2015.
When will the next 2000 units be available to purchase on Massdrop? Tonight.
Once the 2000th unit is purchased, we will not close this drop. You will still be able to join the drop, but for all purchasers beyond the 2000th, your expected ship date will be February 17th 2015. To make this as clear as possible we’re adding a note in the product description and adding a drop down at checkout where purchasers will have to specify they accept the Mid February 2015 expected ship date.
While this is great for people discovering the K7XX, there is an unfortunate catch for our international members. Because of AKG’s exclusive international distribution agreements, we will be unable to continue shipping K7XXs outside of the United States. To be clear, current international orders will not be affected, you will receive your K7XXs. Going forward, Massdrop will only be able to ship K7XXs to addresses in the United States. I’m sorry it has to be this way and hopefully it will change as we grow.
All in, this is an incredible drop. It’s shattered every record already and we can’t wait to see what happens to the next 2000 K7XXs.
This drop would have never been possible without your support.
Thank you.
- Will
Please read all of this carefully.
The last 36 hours have been incredibly exciting. We launched the K7XX at 6am PT Monday morning and you’re on track to eat through the first 2000 units by midnight tonight. As stated in the product description, we expect this first batch of 2000 units to ship out by December 17th with domestic orders arriving in time for Christmas.
That said, we’ve been getting lots of questions about the remaining 4000 units. When will they drop? When will they ship? Initially, the second batch of 2000 units (these are manufactured in lots of 2000) wasn’t supposed to arrive until mid-March with the final 2000 units arriving even later. Today we spoke with AKG and, given the aggressive demand, they were able to speed up their production schedule for the community.
When will the next 2000 units be ready to ship? Mid February 2015.
When will the next 2000 units be available to purchase on Massdrop? Tonight.
Once the 2000th unit is purchased, we will not close this drop. You will still be able to join the drop, but for all purchasers beyond the 2000th, your expected ship date will be February 17th 2015. To make this as clear as possible we’re adding a note in the product description and adding a drop down at checkout where purchasers will have to specify they accept the Mid February 2015 expected ship date.
While this is great for people discovering the K7XX, there is an unfortunate catch for our international members. Because of AKG’s exclusive international distribution agreements, we will be unable to continue shipping K7XXs outside of the United States. To be clear, current international orders will not be affected, you will receive your K7XXs. Going forward, Massdrop will only be able to ship K7XXs to addresses in the United States. I’m sorry it has to be this way and hopefully it will change as we grow.
All in, this is an incredible drop. It’s shattered every record already and we can’t wait to see what happens to the next 2000 K7XXs.
This drop would have never been possible without your support.
Thank you.
- Will
shung
20
Dec 19, 2014
AKG has never even thought about the questions mentioned before any piece of shiit were made. that's great
larsjuhljensen
0
Jan 28, 2015
Well, there is nothing you can do about it. Unfortunately the only thing I can do is to not buy anything from AKG when they act like this.
richardgao
882
May 1, 2017
Reposting as the prior thread has become too long.
[Stickied] The K7XX FAQ As Audiophiles ourselves, we believe that headphone choice and sound perception are deeply personal. We understand that there will always be people who will not like the K7XX or do not agree with the design choices that have been influenced by the community. That being said, the K7XX is a set we are proud to recommend to newcomers and veterans alike. With over 11K posts and discussions, you can imagine that almost every question has been both asked and answered by the community. A big thank you goes out to all of the community members who, over the course of the past year, have been answering questions and clearing up misconceptions. Below are a few of the most common ones asked. -------- What’s the quick summary of the K7XX? The idea and goal of the K7XX was to take the very best from across the AKG 700-series and create a definitive version designed by and for the audiophile community. Lastly, the goal was to offer this version at an incredible price to performance ratio. The following are a few of the key design features.
1. K702 65th Anniversary Edition Drivers: The K702 65th Anniversary Edition (“Annies”) drivers are considered by the audiophile community to be the best sounding driver in the 700-series family which was the reason it was selected for the K7XX.
2. Memory Foam Padding: Absent in the K701 and K702, the K7XX uses memory foam padding which was first introduced in the K702 65th Anniversary Edition. The impact of this choice is that the Annies and the K7XX maintain the same performance in the highs and mids that the 700-series are known for but with an improved 3dB bass increase.
3. Black Colorway: This one is new and unique to the K7XX and was a result of feedback from the Audiophile community during the design process. In general, there was a strong preference for a sleek all-black look. As project86 (a key contributor on Head-fi) puts it, “[the] K7XX is ninja black and gloriously free of any obnoxious accents. It's arguably the best looking variation in the history of the series.”
4. Same Build Quality & Manufacturing Process: The K7XX is built with the same quality and under the same manufacturing process as the rest of the 700-family. It’s made for audiophiles, and we know that everyone would expect no less. -------- These seem to have a great price to performance ratio. Is it because the K7XX uses cheaper materials? No. -------- Where are these manufactured? How is the quality? A common question that is asked is “where are these made?”. The entire 700-series family, including the K7XX, are produced in China. There is a misconception that AKG manufacturers their headphones in Austria and that there are still Austrian made 700-series available. As an additional point, even the K812 are now made in Slovakia (not Austria). But the broader point is around production processes, quality control, and manufacturing tolerances. These are all principles and concepts that are geographically agnostic and instead depend on the manufacturer and the factory who are the ones who make the decision either to be detailed-oriented or to cut corners. AKG has a history of being the former and has consistently delivered. Lastly, there is a 2-year warranty on the K7XX. -------- Do you need an amp? The K7XX will work fine without an amp. That said, an amplifier, in general, serves to provide clean power and control of the headphone drivers to deliver sound. A supplemental amplifier may sound better than the one bundled in your phone, which is designed for long battery life or earbuds, for example. The AKG K7XX is not a headphone that is known for being especially "difficult to drive" (as they say). You may, however, find benefits in the characteristics of certain amplifiers and how they interact with your source and headphones. -------- Why is the MSRP “so high”? MSRP refers to the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price and is the price that the manufacturer recommends retailers sell the product. It does not mean the price that retailers will actually sell the product at and it does not mean the lowest price found online. While the last two examples may change based on sales and retailer pricing decisions, MSRP stays the same. The MSRP for the K7XX reflects the MSRP of the K702 65th Anniversary Edition, the headphone that the K7XX can trace its ancestry too. -------- How do these compare to the other headphones? This has been a hard question for us to answer. Although we have collectively tried and tested hundreds of headphones, it's a challenge to provide an objective opinion (an oxymoron when talking about a hearing experience) as any answer will inevitably include subjective views. We do recommend checking out the comparisons in this discussion and in others (for example on Head-Fi: https://www.head-fi.org/f/threads/the-akg-k7xx-massdrop-first-edition-thread.743280/) to get a sense of how the K7XX compares. What we will say though is, as mentioned, one the goals was to offer this version at an incredible price to performance ratio and we are proud of the result.
[Stickied] The K7XX FAQ As Audiophiles ourselves, we believe that headphone choice and sound perception are deeply personal. We understand that there will always be people who will not like the K7XX or do not agree with the design choices that have been influenced by the community. That being said, the K7XX is a set we are proud to recommend to newcomers and veterans alike. With over 11K posts and discussions, you can imagine that almost every question has been both asked and answered by the community. A big thank you goes out to all of the community members who, over the course of the past year, have been answering questions and clearing up misconceptions. Below are a few of the most common ones asked. -------- What’s the quick summary of the K7XX? The idea and goal of the K7XX was to take the very best from across the AKG 700-series and create a definitive version designed by and for the audiophile community. Lastly, the goal was to offer this version at an incredible price to performance ratio. The following are a few of the key design features.
1. K702 65th Anniversary Edition Drivers: The K702 65th Anniversary Edition (“Annies”) drivers are considered by the audiophile community to be the best sounding driver in the 700-series family which was the reason it was selected for the K7XX.
2. Memory Foam Padding: Absent in the K701 and K702, the K7XX uses memory foam padding which was first introduced in the K702 65th Anniversary Edition. The impact of this choice is that the Annies and the K7XX maintain the same performance in the highs and mids that the 700-series are known for but with an improved 3dB bass increase.
3. Black Colorway: This one is new and unique to the K7XX and was a result of feedback from the Audiophile community during the design process. In general, there was a strong preference for a sleek all-black look. As project86 (a key contributor on Head-fi) puts it, “[the] K7XX is ninja black and gloriously free of any obnoxious accents. It's arguably the best looking variation in the history of the series.”
4. Same Build Quality & Manufacturing Process: The K7XX is built with the same quality and under the same manufacturing process as the rest of the 700-family. It’s made for audiophiles, and we know that everyone would expect no less. -------- These seem to have a great price to performance ratio. Is it because the K7XX uses cheaper materials? No. -------- Where are these manufactured? How is the quality? A common question that is asked is “where are these made?”. The entire 700-series family, including the K7XX, are produced in China. There is a misconception that AKG manufacturers their headphones in Austria and that there are still Austrian made 700-series available. As an additional point, even the K812 are now made in Slovakia (not Austria). But the broader point is around production processes, quality control, and manufacturing tolerances. These are all principles and concepts that are geographically agnostic and instead depend on the manufacturer and the factory who are the ones who make the decision either to be detailed-oriented or to cut corners. AKG has a history of being the former and has consistently delivered. Lastly, there is a 2-year warranty on the K7XX. -------- Do you need an amp? The K7XX will work fine without an amp. That said, an amplifier, in general, serves to provide clean power and control of the headphone drivers to deliver sound. A supplemental amplifier may sound better than the one bundled in your phone, which is designed for long battery life or earbuds, for example. The AKG K7XX is not a headphone that is known for being especially "difficult to drive" (as they say). You may, however, find benefits in the characteristics of certain amplifiers and how they interact with your source and headphones. -------- Why is the MSRP “so high”? MSRP refers to the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price and is the price that the manufacturer recommends retailers sell the product. It does not mean the price that retailers will actually sell the product at and it does not mean the lowest price found online. While the last two examples may change based on sales and retailer pricing decisions, MSRP stays the same. The MSRP for the K7XX reflects the MSRP of the K702 65th Anniversary Edition, the headphone that the K7XX can trace its ancestry too. -------- How do these compare to the other headphones? This has been a hard question for us to answer. Although we have collectively tried and tested hundreds of headphones, it's a challenge to provide an objective opinion (an oxymoron when talking about a hearing experience) as any answer will inevitably include subjective views. We do recommend checking out the comparisons in this discussion and in others (for example on Head-Fi: https://www.head-fi.org/f/threads/the-akg-k7xx-massdrop-first-edition-thread.743280/) to get a sense of how the K7XX compares. What we will say though is, as mentioned, one the goals was to offer this version at an incredible price to performance ratio and we are proud of the result.
EdinNJ
271
Jun 16, 2019
The ONLY issue I've had with returns here was clothing. A number of clothing drops have been wildly off size - like I wear an XL shirt, bought an XXL, and it wouldn't fit my son in law who wears an L normally. MassDrop has (maybe had, I haven't checked if it's changed) a "no returns" policy for clothes. But... if these don't sound good then they're broken.
RayF
22218
Jun 16, 2019
EdinNJWell, I don't say shopping at MD is entirely safe, there are some drawbacks. For instance, I would NEVER buy clothing here,
A) because, of the cheesy, low-quality, trend-oriented, overpriced crap typically offered by the no-rep apparel merchants that frequent the joint and,
B) because as you mention, returns are inconvenient or non-existent.
Recently bought a pair of boots from Amazon and paid about fifty-bucks more than MD was selling them for. Know why?
Because easy returns are cheaper than eating a pair of boots I couldn't wear if they didn't fit well. Know what else?
They didn't fit well and I'm sending them back to Amazon, no-charge and no questions asked.
Moral of the story: buy your headphones from MD and your boots from Amazon ;- )
Will
8470
Chief Product Officer
Jan 9, 2015
Hi Everyone,
It’s been an exciting few weeks watching the community react to the K7XX. All the reviews, videos, and discussion posts are more than we could have asked for. You’ve got everyone involved with this project (and several other players in the audio industry) looking at the Massdrop community as more than consumers. They’re starting to understand you’re industrial designers, electrical engineers, people who purchase based on quality first and hype second.
It’ll take some time, but this the type of change we wanted to make by starting Massdrop and I can’t tell you how much we appreciate your support.
In that same vein, we put as much weight on your feedback as we do your support. Over the last few days we’ve been testing K7XXs, looking to replicate and determine the cause of the rattling sound some users have reported. Looking at all the posts it was clear that some members received defective units (pictures of wires where they shouldn’t be, etc), but it’s important to remember, any headphone driver will emit a rattling sound if you drive it hard enough at low frequencies (like the ~20hz figures being referenced in several posts). As we saw people posting rattle related experiences like this one: https://www.massdrop.com/buy/akg-k7xx-massdrop-first-edition-headphones/talk#!124009
It became clear some folks were in danger of overdriving and possibly damaging their headphones in an effort to test for a rattle. One member was running the K7XX (impedance of 62ohms with a maximum input power of 200mW) out of his motherboard equipped with a TI TPA6120A2 headphone amp circuit capable of output up to 1.5W, with the volume set to 80% playing frequencies from 10hz (human hearing doesn’t pick up until 20hz, 10hz is feeling air movement) up to 50hz. Pushing that much power through the K7XX driver at those frequencies will cause the driver to fold on itself and produce some kind of rattling/flapping sound (this is the driver membrane being collapsed and expanded rapidly, doing this damages the driver). If you were to play a song at that setting while wearing the headphones, the volume would be well over 85db and in the realm of volume induced hearing loss. After seeing a few posts like this, I decided to run a quick test today.
Using five different units we had in the office (mixed serials representing different parts of the batch) this is the process I followed. A quick caveat before we continue, I’m not an Audio engineer, I’m just an audiophile, feel free to post suggestions on how I can make these tests more exhaustive.
1. Open a new Audacity project and generate a sine wave at 20hz with an amplitude of 1. Set the time to 1 second, set the tone to repeat, hit play. Now you’ve got a perpetual pure 20hz sine wave. Pause the sine wave. 2. Power on Grace Design m920 (http://www.gracedesign.com/products/m920/m920.htm) and set the headphone offset to 0 3. Set the m920 volume to 0.0 and plug in the K7XX 4. Setup a new repeating one second sine wave at 440hz with an amplitude of 1. Let this sine wave run. 5. Turn up the volume until the volume reaches 85 decibels (the CDC’s threshold for sustained volume induced hearing loss, measured with a Tascam DR-44WL). 6. Turn off 440hz tone, turn on 20hz tone at the same volume and note any audible rattle. 7. Repeat step six, increasing the 20hz tone by 1hz until 50hz is reached.
Doing this, I experienced no rattle or flapping sound on any of the sets tested. It’s easy to play a test tone below 50hz on headphones and crank the volume because we don’t so much hear those frequencies as much as we feel them. There’s nothing obvious to stop you from listening at damaging levels when you’re in the 20hz to 50hz range but play a higher frequency (like 440hz) at the same volume level and you’ll quickly find the test your running is well beyond any volume you’d want to experience.
Hopefully that clears things up for all the folks running tone tests without an audible rattle at normal listening levels.
Now, for the people experiencing issues at normal listening volumes, there’s something wrong with your headphones and we’ve got an update from AKG on the repair process:
Domestic orders:
1. We have been assigned a specific AKG representative, Hector Hernandez, from the AKG USA California office who will handle all issues related to K7xx headphones. Contact him by emailing your request to service.us@akg.com with a full description of the problem. NOTE: Currently only issues relating to physical defects (XLR port, physical driver damage, etc.) are being handled. AKG is still reviewing the data (and sample units) on the sub-50hz “flapping” - we’ll have an update on that process in the next 2 weeks. For now if you email about that the request will likely be ignored/filed for future reference. 2. Hector will review the service request and will follow AKG service procedures to evaluate and correct any manufacturing defects. Units that are deemed defective will be repaired, not replaced.
International Orders:
1. AKG is not providing international service (we weren’t supposed to sell internationally in the first place). If you are an international customer, you will need to contact support@massdrop.com and arrange to have your unit shipped to our offices in San Francisco. We’ll then coordinate the RMA procedure with AKG USA, and when the unit is repaired and returned to us, we’ll ship it back to you at your international destination. NOTE: Currently only issues relating to physical defects (XLR port, physical driver damage, etc.) are being handled. AKG is still reviewing the data (and sample units) on the sub-50hz “flapping” - we’ll have an update on that process in the next 2 weeks. For now if you email about that the request will likely be ignored/filed for future reference. 2. Hector will review the service request that Massdrop submits on your behalf and will follow AKG service procedures to evaluate and correct any manufacturing defects. Units that are deemed defective will be repaired, not replaced.
For all repairs that involve swapping out drivers, AKG has guaranteed your drivers will be swapped with matched drivers. Turnaround time for repairs from AKG is 7-10 business days. AKG is shipping in K7XX replacement parts now and repairs will be able to start as soon as the necessary parts arrive. We’ll have a concrete ETA on the parts arrival early next week but we’ve been told their arrival time will have minimal, if any effect on turnaround time for the initial repair requests.
At this point, whatever your circumstances, you should know the correct next steps. If you’re still not sure, respond to this post and I’ll do my best to help you as quickly as possible.
Thanks for supporting this drop,
- Will
It’s been an exciting few weeks watching the community react to the K7XX. All the reviews, videos, and discussion posts are more than we could have asked for. You’ve got everyone involved with this project (and several other players in the audio industry) looking at the Massdrop community as more than consumers. They’re starting to understand you’re industrial designers, electrical engineers, people who purchase based on quality first and hype second.
It’ll take some time, but this the type of change we wanted to make by starting Massdrop and I can’t tell you how much we appreciate your support.
In that same vein, we put as much weight on your feedback as we do your support. Over the last few days we’ve been testing K7XXs, looking to replicate and determine the cause of the rattling sound some users have reported. Looking at all the posts it was clear that some members received defective units (pictures of wires where they shouldn’t be, etc), but it’s important to remember, any headphone driver will emit a rattling sound if you drive it hard enough at low frequencies (like the ~20hz figures being referenced in several posts). As we saw people posting rattle related experiences like this one: https://www.massdrop.com/buy/akg-k7xx-massdrop-first-edition-headphones/talk#!124009
It became clear some folks were in danger of overdriving and possibly damaging their headphones in an effort to test for a rattle. One member was running the K7XX (impedance of 62ohms with a maximum input power of 200mW) out of his motherboard equipped with a TI TPA6120A2 headphone amp circuit capable of output up to 1.5W, with the volume set to 80% playing frequencies from 10hz (human hearing doesn’t pick up until 20hz, 10hz is feeling air movement) up to 50hz. Pushing that much power through the K7XX driver at those frequencies will cause the driver to fold on itself and produce some kind of rattling/flapping sound (this is the driver membrane being collapsed and expanded rapidly, doing this damages the driver). If you were to play a song at that setting while wearing the headphones, the volume would be well over 85db and in the realm of volume induced hearing loss. After seeing a few posts like this, I decided to run a quick test today.
Using five different units we had in the office (mixed serials representing different parts of the batch) this is the process I followed. A quick caveat before we continue, I’m not an Audio engineer, I’m just an audiophile, feel free to post suggestions on how I can make these tests more exhaustive.
1. Open a new Audacity project and generate a sine wave at 20hz with an amplitude of 1. Set the time to 1 second, set the tone to repeat, hit play. Now you’ve got a perpetual pure 20hz sine wave. Pause the sine wave. 2. Power on Grace Design m920 (http://www.gracedesign.com/products/m920/m920.htm) and set the headphone offset to 0 3. Set the m920 volume to 0.0 and plug in the K7XX 4. Setup a new repeating one second sine wave at 440hz with an amplitude of 1. Let this sine wave run. 5. Turn up the volume until the volume reaches 85 decibels (the CDC’s threshold for sustained volume induced hearing loss, measured with a Tascam DR-44WL). 6. Turn off 440hz tone, turn on 20hz tone at the same volume and note any audible rattle. 7. Repeat step six, increasing the 20hz tone by 1hz until 50hz is reached.
Doing this, I experienced no rattle or flapping sound on any of the sets tested. It’s easy to play a test tone below 50hz on headphones and crank the volume because we don’t so much hear those frequencies as much as we feel them. There’s nothing obvious to stop you from listening at damaging levels when you’re in the 20hz to 50hz range but play a higher frequency (like 440hz) at the same volume level and you’ll quickly find the test your running is well beyond any volume you’d want to experience.
Hopefully that clears things up for all the folks running tone tests without an audible rattle at normal listening levels.
Now, for the people experiencing issues at normal listening volumes, there’s something wrong with your headphones and we’ve got an update from AKG on the repair process:
Domestic orders:
1. We have been assigned a specific AKG representative, Hector Hernandez, from the AKG USA California office who will handle all issues related to K7xx headphones. Contact him by emailing your request to service.us@akg.com with a full description of the problem. NOTE: Currently only issues relating to physical defects (XLR port, physical driver damage, etc.) are being handled. AKG is still reviewing the data (and sample units) on the sub-50hz “flapping” - we’ll have an update on that process in the next 2 weeks. For now if you email about that the request will likely be ignored/filed for future reference. 2. Hector will review the service request and will follow AKG service procedures to evaluate and correct any manufacturing defects. Units that are deemed defective will be repaired, not replaced.
International Orders:
1. AKG is not providing international service (we weren’t supposed to sell internationally in the first place). If you are an international customer, you will need to contact support@massdrop.com and arrange to have your unit shipped to our offices in San Francisco. We’ll then coordinate the RMA procedure with AKG USA, and when the unit is repaired and returned to us, we’ll ship it back to you at your international destination. NOTE: Currently only issues relating to physical defects (XLR port, physical driver damage, etc.) are being handled. AKG is still reviewing the data (and sample units) on the sub-50hz “flapping” - we’ll have an update on that process in the next 2 weeks. For now if you email about that the request will likely be ignored/filed for future reference. 2. Hector will review the service request that Massdrop submits on your behalf and will follow AKG service procedures to evaluate and correct any manufacturing defects. Units that are deemed defective will be repaired, not replaced.
For all repairs that involve swapping out drivers, AKG has guaranteed your drivers will be swapped with matched drivers. Turnaround time for repairs from AKG is 7-10 business days. AKG is shipping in K7XX replacement parts now and repairs will be able to start as soon as the necessary parts arrive. We’ll have a concrete ETA on the parts arrival early next week but we’ve been told their arrival time will have minimal, if any effect on turnaround time for the initial repair requests.
At this point, whatever your circumstances, you should know the correct next steps. If you’re still not sure, respond to this post and I’ll do my best to help you as quickly as possible.
Thanks for supporting this drop,
- Will
theupandcomingcorey
Jan 12, 2015
That seems to have fixed the issue for now.
rtoungate
100
May 31, 2017
MASSDROP - please look into the quality of the units you're getting from AKG. I seriously doubt you're getting the same quality units that do actually sell for $649.99. This is an excellent price, but at what cost. Quality.
I only had mine for two years. All my other headphones I've had for 10+ years. When the right side quit working, I wanted to repair them. I destroyed them because the housing is snapped together permanently, and not meant to be taken apart. Upon inspection, the soldering was done poorly, and the wire gauge being used on the inside is frail. Should be 24-30 gauge wiring, but appears to be cheap 36 gauge wiring. The wire ends were frayed, and only a few strands were actually making contact with the solder blobs. I can see how normal use will cause those few strands to eventually break loose.
I would appreciate taking a closer look, and report your findings back to AKG. If this is their B stock, tell us.
I only had mine for two years. All my other headphones I've had for 10+ years. When the right side quit working, I wanted to repair them. I destroyed them because the housing is snapped together permanently, and not meant to be taken apart. Upon inspection, the soldering was done poorly, and the wire gauge being used on the inside is frail. Should be 24-30 gauge wiring, but appears to be cheap 36 gauge wiring. The wire ends were frayed, and only a few strands were actually making contact with the solder blobs. I can see how normal use will cause those few strands to eventually break loose.
I would appreciate taking a closer look, and report your findings back to AKG. If this is their B stock, tell us.
Jlowd
2
Aug 20, 2017
Just got a reply back from them basically saying tough luck your warranty just expired. Looks like I'll be taking out the soldering iron soon.
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