They say that most people judge headphones based on a split of 30% sound quality, 30% comfort, 30% looks, and 10% magic. Audiophiles like to think they devote 100% to sound quality but in reality it’s closer to 70% sound quality, 10% comfort, 0% looks, and 20% magic. 😉
Regardless headphone choice is far more personal than speaker choice. Not only do your own sound preferences matter, but the sound for any given headphone is influenced by your own physiology. Certain frequencies will be emphasized or suppressed depending on ear and head shape and whether a seal is maintained. One of the reasons I’m concentrating on open back headphones now is because their sound generally isn’t as sensitive this as closed backs. Earphones even more so.
And then there’s comfort. Obviously everyone’s head is shaped differently but also ear size can play a big factor. Having your ear merely touch the headphone driver cover or the pads can get very uncomfortable over time. How much clamp pressure there is as well as how that pressure is distributed is also a big influence on your perception of comfort. Even weight and breathability is a consideration. You position speakers but you wear headphones, and just like clothing one size does not fit all.
With all this in mind I decided that since the comfort of my Sennheiser 58X headphones was their biggest drawback, I would address this shortcoming with my next purchase. I still think the Philips Fidelio X2HR could have been perfect in that regard if I’d taken the time to stretch them out to reduce the clamp force. So something similar in design but with better sound quality would be ideal, and to get both I’d have to go upscale a bit. Enter the AKG K712 PRO:
If I designed a headphone, it would have:
- Huge circular open back ear cups
- High quality, velour covered memory foam ear pads
- Soft, genuine leather head strap
- Very low clamp force
- A single cable from the left ear cup
- Orange accents and cable
If I designed a headphone, it would be the AKG K712 PRO.
The premium comfort commands a premium price: $500 retail. Honestly, that’s too much for these. The build quality is very good but it is all plastic. And while I now know that quality ear pads can be $100-$200 by themselves, it still doesn’t quite justify that price. Luckily you can find many sellers well below that. I found my pair for about $330 shipped on Amazon, which is fair.
Uncorrected, the frequency response is a bit odd looking with a hug dip around 1500hz. Most purists are not big fans of this. In practice, I think they sound different but fine. However I didn’t do a lot of listening without equalization as I prefer to use it to correct their frequency response to the Harman target. Using my preferred source for this correction, the K712 still have a some of that dip but also a tad more bass extension than my 58X.
Corrected, the overall tone of both headphones is extremely close. I had to switch between the K712 and the 58X several times over many listening sessions to make sure my impressions were consistent enough to be certain they were reality. For one thing the 58X play louder than the K712 and even slightly louder is generally perceived as better. I didn’t realize how sensitive I was to this until after a few listening sessions. During those sessions I was matching the level between the two headphones by ear. And the impressions I came away with included that the 58X have more punch and clarity, but the K712 have a bit more bass extension.
Then I remembered my trusty Radio Shack SPL meter that I’ve had since… well sometime after DVDs replaced VHS and before there wasn’t a Radio Shack. When I listened to both after using it to level match them I wasn’t sure of those conclusions. Back to the drawing board. We gonna science the shit outta this! 🤓
I used the Room EQ Wizard (REW) software to generate pink noise through the headphones and then used my miniDSP EARS headphone jig fed back into the SPL meter in REW. This level turned out to be significantly different than where I got with the hand held meter, but I can be pretty assured it is more accurate since the EARS rig allows for a seal and maintains a consistent distance from the microphone to the driver.
After determining the proper levels and adding them to the EQ settings, I started all over with my comparison. As usual I often concentrate on the sound of the drums since I pay close attention to the drumming when casually listening and I’m very familiar with how they sound in real life. It didn’t take any particular track to tell that the 58X sound a touch more open and dry.
Dynamics and punch feel the same. Blow for blow, I’d give an edge to the K712 but it could just as easily be my own bias. Punch is my favorite aspect to listen for in the drums and I can’t help but be biased towards the K712 since I designed them. 😜
Overall bass level is equal. I have the impression the K712 go a little deeper. but only on certain electronic music that contains frequencies lower than you would ever find in nature.
Clarity is maybe a fraction better in the 58X. I felt like it was a little easier to hear individual drum hits when they come fast. This is a really hard aspect to judge because you might hear something new in a song and think “clarity!”. Then when you switch to the other headphones you still hear it because now you are listening for it. It’s also a double edged sword as the 58X can be slightly grainy on problem recordings too. For instance vocals that are sibilant will be more so on the 58X. I have tried to address this issue by using higher quality sources of the same recordings, double checking my DAC sample rate, and turning off equalization but it is never diminished. Either it is a fault in the original recording or just how the 58X are interacting with my ears. Wherever it comes from, it’s pretty annoying. This same sibilance can be heard with the K712 but it is smoothed over.
That’s my subjective comparison. For an objective analogy, let’s throw it to REW for the replay 👉
This is a smoothed out graph of a sine wave frequency sweep measured into REW using my miniDSP EARS rig and applying its HEQ compensation data. In an oversimplified nutshell, the flatter it is the closer to the Harman Target the headphones sound. EARS is not actually accurate enough above about 4khz to conclude much in this regard, but that doesn’t matter here since I am just comparing the K712 (blue) to the 58X (green). It’s important to do this type of analysis only after completing your subjective evaluation so that what you see in the graph doesn’t bias your opinions. You can see that, while I can’t hear it, there is some variation of 1db-3db up to 1khz. After that the K712 have a dip at 1.5khz and another at 3khz. Score 1 (or 2) for the 58X. However starting at 7khz there is a steady rise in the 58X line which would correspond with my impression of additional clarity and upper treble grain.
So sound wise I think it’s a toss up for me but comfort wise the K712 has it all over the 58X. I can’t tell you how many times I’d forget how big the gap is in comfort. I’d be listening to the 58X and think “this isn’t uncomfortable” and then switch to the K712 and just think “ahhhhhhh!” Every. Single. Time.
The high clamp force of the 58X is not helping it here. I’ve reduced it significantly, but while I can get it down to where I want it temporarily, it seems to come back after a few hours of sitting on its hanger. Not nearly as high as it was from the factory, but still too high for me. It think that’s because the majority of the headband is plastic that does not stay stretched. I’ve found that if I keep the 58X on my EARS rig instead it’s about right for maybe 30 mins or so.
I never had to stretch the K712 at all. I just took them out of the box and put them on my head. They breathe better too. This can be an important distinction if you live in a desert and it’s the dead of summer. I do have two minor issues with their comfort: they tend to ride up just a bit over long listening sessions and this makes the velour kinda itchy because it is moving against the grain of my closely cropped hair. But overall the K712 are high luxury compared to the 58X. And they stay that way over time too.
Is the additional comfort worth double the price for the AKG 712 PRO? For me and my 50/30/10/10 split I’d say yes. I like sitting in my “chair that really fits you”, listening to music that really fits me, through headphones that really fit me. And I like doing that for an hour or two without needing to break my visage by futzing with my headphones periodically when they become a distraction. I also like to think “ahh, better!” when I put my headphones on — not when I take them off.
But then again I’ve already spent the money so…
