Submitted by D3athCAP t3_126c5it in headphones
I went to a music store a couple days back and got myself the AKG K371. At the store they had it for demo and it does sounds pretty nice on their demo but I wasn't really doing any critical listening and it probably had a very EQ-ed song, smart selling technique I guess. Anyway, I thought it'd be a great pairs to add to my collection to rotate around and as a cans for me to use to practice my bass guitar.
For reference I currently own 4 pairs of cans. DT 770 Pro 250 ohms, AKG K701, Sony 1000XM3, HyperX Cloud II, and Jabra Evolve 20 UC, my favorite.
Okay, let's get down to the business. First of all it’s VERY boomy. Might be as boomy as the Sony 1000XM3 even. It's really bad, the bass is so muddy and I hear nothing but BASS. At the music store, the demo unit, the treble was actually incredible, again it's probably EQ-ed. I tested it through my Focusrite Scarlett Solo, a Schiit Stack, and a phone. It gets nothing but overwhelming amount of bass. Not in a good way, not like the 770 Pro or even 1000XM3, hell, even the HyperX Cloud II deliver bass so much better. Although, the K371 have great frequency range, from 5Hz-40kHz and I can certainly hear that wide range that it can offer. That does not translate to soundstage however.
The soundstage is horrible. It's almost like IEMs. It is a closed-back with leather cups, but my 3 other closed-back does better than it in this department, so there's no excuse. It managed to be the same level as the 1000XM3, maybe even worse can't say for sure, which if you just think about it you'd understand how bad this is. One is a noise canceling wireless 'fun headphones', and the other 'studio professional reference headphones'. Part of it is the boomy bass, it's so bad that it just muddy out everything making the soundstage feels very narrow, because it's just bass...
Now it does come with 3 cables and a cheap carry bag, for $170. If we talk value, the HyperX Cloud II blew it out of the water. For $99 or as low as $49 on sale, the clone of a clone of the 770 Pro is a budget audiophile grade phones disguised as a gaming headphones. Comes with 2 types of pads, detachable mic, a very high quality carry breathable bag, optional USB interface, very comfortable, and sounds amazing. The downside is its frequency range, it's very narrow and you can easily tell. The soundstage is okay, though, nothing fancy.
I'm not gonna bring up the 770 Pro because you can probably guess how it compares. To summarize it up, I am really disappointed in the K371. Having own the K701 and love it very much, I had hoped AKG could still offer.
On the ending note, I would like to bring up the good thing on the K371. I listen to all kinds of genre of music. The two genre that really stands out with the K371 are the old vintage 40s, 50s and 60s songs. Like 'It's Been a Long, Long Time' by Kitty Kallen, or 'Put Your Head On My Shoulder' by Paul Anka. Another one that I really enjoy on the K371 are the songs by Hokago Tea Time from K-On. Their songs can easily be described as the mid 2000s pop rock. The boomy bass of the K371 makes the songs sounds like it's coming out of a concert amp of that era. Very fun and interesting experience I must say.
blargh4 t1_je8mu19 wrote
>I went to a music store a couple days back and got myself the AKG K371. At the store they had it for demo and it does sounds pretty nice on their demo but I wasn't really doing any critical listening and it's probably had a very EQ-ed song
I'm wondering if they silently changed the pad design or something, to address the complaints about the seal
While it's got that Harman bass shelf, boomy is not how I'd describe it (on the rare occasion I can get a good enough seal to not leak out all the subbass), certainly nowhere near the XM3's. I got my pair at Guitar Center and they sound like the demo units I listened to.