AKG - Official Thread

AKG Acoustics (originally Akustische und Kino-Geräte Gesellschaft m.b.H., English: Acoustic and Cinema Equipment L.L.C.) is an acoustics engineering and manufacturing company. It was founded in 1947 by Rudolf Görike and Ernest Plass in Vienna, Austria. It is a part of Harman International Industries, a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics.

The products currently marketed under the AKG brand mostly consist of microphones, headphones, wireless audio systems and related accessories for professional and consumer markets.

AKG is a legendary brand with models like the classic K240, K1000 ear speaker, interesting K7?? series and the newer K3x1 closed back models. Also TWS like AKG N400.

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The AKG K141 was the first real pair of headphones that I bought with my long saved up pocket money during high school, sometime in the mid 90’s.

I had a pair of K371s for a while, they were decent enough.

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My 40 years old Sextett. Eat your heart out, Hifiman (and Focal). :grinning:

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Wha……!!??

How does the main AKG thread only have 3 posts :thinking::flushed:

Guess I’ll add to it…

The only AKG product I have is the N400nc that was recommended by @crinacle a while back

A great TWS, especially if you get them on sale. At one point they were under $50 :astonished: Sound really good and very sturdy build. The only reason they’re not my favorite tws is because of the fit… they’re pretty big/thick. They’re not bad, just not as comfortable as others I’ve tried (galaxy buds+)

….looks like they may be discontinued. Oh well, I tried ….AKG needs more love here :grin:

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Curious if anyone has experience with any of the higher end models…702, 712, 812 or 872s?

Would you say these are more purely pro use?

Pretty curious to try a set… the 712s aren’t too bad on Amazon. For whatever reason they’re more than double from AKGs website :man_shrugging:t2:

I have the K702. I bought them for the soundstage (like baby HD800) which is nice for tv/movies but to me they are not in the ballpark for music.

They just sound thin, the tuning/tonality doesn’t seem appropriate for any genre and I can’t see them being legit for any kind of studio work.

They also don’t take well to eq on the low end.

They are light and very comfortable.

I generally don’t post listening impressions due to my hearing loss (my impressions may not apply to other people) but seems like there are not many K700/800 users here.

Edit: The K361/371 get consistently good reviews. They are closed backs that are pretty close to Harmon.

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I still use the K712 Pro w/EQ as my daily driver. As in they are connected to my computer where I work all day. To me they are the best compromise between all day comfort and audio quality when I’m not focusing on the music.

I also picked up a pair of NC400 while on sale for $50. I prefer the sound over my Apple Airpods Pro, but in all other respects (comfort, noise cancelling, convenience, etc) the Airpods Pro beat them hands down. I use the NC400 for music when I don’t need ANC.

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K712Pro is a classic and still a great headphone. They are soundstage king at the price point and much, much higher. Great, clear sound, but to me EQ is mandatory for them. They are insanely light, breathable and comfortable. Easy to wear for 8h every day non-stop. And now in the hot summer months, they are my favorite option.

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Has anyone tried the AKG N5005? They were this originally $999 IEM that now goes on sale regularly for $200. It’s got cable or bluetooth, it’s 5 drivers (1 x DD, 4 x BA), it comes with 4 nozzles to tune the sound, and tellingly some people love it, some people hate it, and they’ve never been mentioned on these forums as far as I can tell.

Crinacle posted the FR for all four nozzles, and it seems like it’s not that far off the famed U12t. But these phones have never really gone anywhere. Sleeping giant? Unfairly passed over? Or just sucked?

So what’s the deal… tempted to pick up a pair just to figure out what I think. But I’ll feel like a chump if they turn out to be godawful given that the market seems to have spoken. Still, I’ve had multiple people tell me in PMs that these are their preferred headphones over, say, Campfire Audio Andromeda OG. They kind of died a quiet death on SBAF, there’s an active community of lovers on HF, there were a few reviews back in 2018. If I don’t get a pair I’ll always wonder.

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Ok, just received the N5005. They don’t sound like any of my other IEMs. Far more bass-heavy (even with default nozzles), but with good bass texture. Lots of detail in treble, not awfully crispy. Mids feel disconnected - vocals feel separated. But I can see why this would be a very very appealing IEM to someone who was listening and wanted very clearly articulated music in a place which needed good isolation. And they come with a bluetooth set-up. And cables feel very high quality. So, doesn’t feel like a bad use of $200. Would recommend others looking for a bit of an adventure pick up a pair of these when they’re on sale - which seems to be frequently enough. Kind of a cool sleeper so far. Acoustic guitar is great thusfar - Sally Go Round the Roses, Hazey Jane I, feeling pretty good about these. They don’t sound as organic as my Andromeda 2020’s nor my Monarch Mk2’s, but they are up there in fun with the Dunu Titan S or the Moondrop Variations, but with more sizzle / “wow” factor. To listen some more.

Edit - just put on the parametric eq correction i found on this forum via Roon, and much more natural already. But makes me realize just how “catchy” they are in their as-is tuning. Not saying it’s good. But man these are toe-tappers.

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Which brings up the question of what’s the purpose of listening to music?

If one product grabs you and makes your toe tap and one is “intellectually superior” - which brings more value to you?

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