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codlor
30
Aug 3, 2022
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jemeryI've been using EtherCX for about two years now for desktop music listening, HD6XX for other desktop use due to it being open, and for portable use either some IEMs, panda, or DT 177x. Mostly IEMs for portable as covid made most of my portable use long drives.
EtherCX are incredible at bass but for a bass head they need an eq boost for anything below 90ish hertz, which while nice makes me always need to have an eq present. I haven't tried the closed Aeons but they look like they might fit the bill without eq. I've come to grips that it's hard to have great bass on open headphones; open headphones may have a large bump that may work well for rock music but more and more music easily pushes down towards 20Hz and opens really struggle down there. I have also not heard the E-mu teaks but they appear to be similar to the fostex series but cleaner highs, so that is another one to look at. E-mus are semi-open just like the Fostex; they may say closed but I'd say they are closer to semi-open than closed.
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Comfort: An exceptionally comfortable headphone that breathes easily thanks to its open design and velour pads and could easily be worn for hours. The unique headband requires no adjustment. My head is on the smaller side and yet it still doesn't move around. The diameter of headphones, which uses a symmetrical design (including pads), is very large and some might have issue with it.
Build Quality: Pretty much the whole thing is made of either plastic or leather/fabric. The housing is made of plastic that seems like it will last for a long time, especially considering the headphones are not likely to be used in a portable configuration. The pads and the headband are the best parts of the headphone when it comes to quality materials. The cable is the worst, while not useless it doesn't live up to the rest of the design. Luckily the cable detaches. Uses mini-XLR like the other editions. The headband's unique design does use some elastic bands which I don't know what the life will be on them, but probably would fail before anything else.
Amp/DAC: I've run these out of my computer, out of my Pixel 2 (using it's USB C dongle), Fiio Q5 (through USB and Bluetooth), Schiit Magni/Modi stack (first gen), and my vinyl setup. My vinyl setup is Pro-ject Carbon Esprit -> Cambridge Audio pre-amp -> Yamaha A-S701. These headphones are efficient to run from just about anything. As usual they benefit from proper amplification and a dedicated DAC, but the law of diminishing returns applies here. As you'll see in the sound section they are not detailed monsters, so no need to go big here. The biggest difference between above setups is its ability to make use of the AKG's massive sound stage. I won't make recommendations on pairings as there are plenty of forums on this. I'm just going to say that additional equipment is recommended but not needed for casual listening, and that I don't recommend spending more than a couple hundred dollars on an Amp/DAC. I don't have any tube amps, but these headphones are on the warm side already.
Sound: If I was to put it in one statement it would be, "upgrade to my HD598." A note before continuing, these are the only headphones from AKG that I've listened to. Let's start with the soundstage, it's the widest I've heard apart from my ATH-AD900x cans, which I use mostly for gaming. Sometimes it comes off as artificial. However, the imaging almost keeps up with it, which I think is a positive. Example, the AD900x has imaging on par with it's soundstage which makes them always sound artificial (still love those headphones though). The AKGs effectively mask the excessive width it's imaging, which is probably from the roll off on the highs. The highs to me are similar to my HD598s, where they are present but tamed. Compared to my DT880s these are very warm. Basically the highs are there for adding detail and imaging. Now the low end on the AKGs are low and detailed, and perhaps a tad slow. I say that as my main headphone right now are the TH-X00 ebonys, so all headphones pale in comparison when it comes to bass. I feel like the bass on the AKGs is right where it needs to be, unless you're a basshead. Leaving the mids for last because this is what the AKGs do best. Very detailed mids that don't get bothered by the lows and flow nicely into the highs. Vocals are excellent, so get these or the HD6something if vocals are your thing. If i was to choose only one of the three classics, I would still choose my DT880s over the AKGs and the HD6somethings. However, I would take the HD650/HD6xxs if they were my only headphones I had. Well, maybe if I got a closed pair of cans as well (DT770s are great all around closed cans for the price).
Note: I don't own a pair of HD6something yet, but I've heard them many times. I'm currently in Massdrop limbo on the HD6xx. Bought a pair and the drop ended, someday they'll get here.
Music pairing: As with most headphones coming from the big brands and in this price range these will work with anything but really shine in a few genres. As expected from the wide soundstage and detailed mids, these cans work best with acoustic, jazz, live, alternative, etc. Rock, EDM, metal, and other bass heavy genres are not these headphones forte. Oddly I'm not super excited about classical on these headphones, especially works that are not chamber or solo works. I would say its from the soundstage again. I prefer my DT880s here.
Misc: Another thing that comes to mind when comparing these to beyers is fatigue and recording quality. Since these are on the warm side they don't fatigue as much as detail monsters. Same goes with recording quality, my DT880s are horrible with tracks that are recorded badly and the AKG's warm nature masks it (sadly, not completely). Won't mark anything off for this as I was expecting it, but don't expect anything fancy in the box or the packaging itself. Same goes with shipping times, it's months in waiting and two weeks in shipping, but I was expecting that and doesn't take anything away from the headphones themselves.
I would give this headphone a 4.5/5 if Massdrop allowed non-whole star ratings. The half star off would be for the included cable being sub-par compared to the rest of the design. I would give a review of 4/5 if these were priced higher (closer to the regular editions), due to its competition.