K712PRO Open-Back, Over-Ear Premium Reference Class Studio Headphones, Sophisticated Open Technology, Revolutionary Flat Wire Voice Coil, Broad and spacious soundstage, Comfortable Design - Black

This product is more of a work of art than a piece of technology, AKG know how to build and present quality gear - every part of the packaging, aesthetic design and sound reproduction oozes quality. I've always been a 'studio monitors only' producer. After entering a relationship, moving into a two room flat (plus bathroom fyi) and having a bedroom serving as our place of rest and production studio I quickly came to the realisation that in order to allow my gf to get some sleep (thereby sustaining our relationship) I might have to change tact. As with all tech purchases the (seemingly endless) hunt was on to find a product that could fulfil my strict set of criteria - this time to find a comfortable pair of headphones that could give my HS80M studio monitors a run for their money. Challenge accepted. Unboxing the headphones is a special moment, kind-of a grand reveal, providing pictures would spoil the moment... so I won't. If you don't run in the headphones then the sound will be pretty flat. I left them on with white noise playing through them for about a week and resisted the urge to try out the sound until the end of that week. The first time I tried them on it was something quite amazing. I could hear a level of detail and clarity in music I'd never heard before. I ended up binge listening to songs I've heard many times before but with a completely near lease of context and articulation. For that alone (listening, not necessarily making music) I'd buy these - the experience is incredible. The same is true though for production, examining sounds and how they sit in the mix and stereo space with the 701s is an enlightening experience. The cable is very long (still haven't gotten to the point where I've forgotten I have them on, walked away, and yanked the audio interface off the desk) and the sound isn't confrontational or fatiguing, even after hours of use. That coupled with the comfort of the leather strap means you don't have to tear yourself away from these headphones for hours at a time. As open back headphones they're quite noisy to people nearby - being open back however is essential in producing sound at this quality. Just as studio monitors would suffer in a completely closed environment, these are no different. All in all I love these headphones and don't have a bad word to say about them, especially at this price point. Please hit 'yes' below if you found my review helpful :)

Ok, some will say I am just a AKG fanboy but I also own Grado RS2i's & the 'legendary' Sennheiser HD600's but the K812's are a really worthwhile upgrade over my AKG K702 65th Anniversary headphones. So they should be at £938. I have read every online & magazine review around on the K812's and ended up somewhat confused, the first lesson is to trust your favourite headphone manufacturer to produce a fabulous flagship headphone and not to get to get bogged down with the minutiae within some of the reviews. The headphones arrive in a simple but attractive box and AKG provide a lovely wooden headphone stand which is more useful to me than an aluminium box (I bought two sturdy but light headphone boxes from Amazon for £15 each and they accommodate any of my headphones for when I travel abroad). The materials used in the construction of the K812's are of great quality, they look prestigious and are very comfortable. I particularly like the larger than average earpieces which provide plenty of room for your ears and seal the earpieces to your head really well. I don't need a 3m cable so I will be ordering a 3ft cable from Double Helix Cables who make very high quality headphone cables. Lot's of headphone porn on their website... I resisted listening until the K812's had had 24hrs listening to songs on their own via my laptop, yes, I do believe that things like headphones & loudspeakers need running in but let's not get into that debate please! I only use headphones with my two digital audio players, Cowan Plenue 1 & Colorfly C4 Pro, so I welcomed the easier to drive K812's compared to my K702/65's although I chose both my DAP's because they have healthy power outputs, I'm using noticebly less than I was. The K702/65's produced enough bass for me but the K812's produce a much better quality of bass, better defined, more tuneful, doesn't become befuddled when put under pressure, goes nicely deeper so a real improvement in the bass. I started listening to Emeli Sande's wonderful 'Live at the Albert Hall' CD/DVD and the K812's reproduced her voice beautifully providing more clarity and detail to her voice than the K702/65's, more emotion was conveyed. I have written about the K702/65's that I would have liked a bit more treble bite & intensity & I'm delighted that the K812's provide this, I am listening to Arena's new album 'The Unquiet Sky' as I type this review and I am hearing more of Mick Pointer's cymbals and a more vivid version of John Mitchell's fantastic solo guitar work. Some of the reviews have talked about a treble bite as bad as a pit bull terrier's but I haven't found this but equipment partnering is very important and the Cowan Plenue 1 is described as an 'analogue' type of sound so isn't going to provoke an excessive treble bite from the K812's. I find the Colorfly C4 Pro less good with the K812's but it is an earlier generation of DAP & £200 less expensive than the Plenue 1. The other thing is that I'm in the 50-70 age group and my ears are less sensitive than The Child's (in her twenties) so I know she would have a different point of view but as most 18-30's either couldn't afford the K812's or are simply not nearly interested in music to spend substantial sums on music equipment, perhaps AKG tuned the K812's for the average buyer? Last year I visited Hi Fi Lounge, the top notch hi fi dealership run by Paul & Wendy Clark who have one of the very few dedicated headphone rooms, in fact it's not a dedicated headphone room nowadays, it is a dedicated headphone building adjacent to their hi fi building. I visited before the dedicated building was opened but I was able to listen to a variety of headphones in the £800-£1,700 range (good thing The Wife doesn't read my Amazon reviews!) and whilst one had nicer bass than my K702/65's, I didn't like its treble, another was more open in the midrange but lacked bass, another had too much bass but a lovely midrange & treble! On it went, sadly Paul wasn't an AKG dealer. So it ain't quite as easy as it might seem, regardless of budget, to find a 'perfect' pair of headphones anymore than my very substantial Hi Fi system is perfect either. The £££££ speakers are fabulously clear (a bit too so with some recordings), have beautifully defined and very quick bass (but could do with a bit more with most recordings). My last speakers (PMC) had lots of transmission line produced bass but on most recordings I could hear the bass lagging behind the rest of the music notwithstanding the high quality amplifiers powering each speaker separately. So as Arena's great new album demonstrates, the K812's give me what I personally wish from a flagship pair of headphones so I would encourage you to buy the AKG K812's if you are a music lover as I am. They give what my K702/65's were unable to produce and more besides, can't ask for more than that. September 2015 Update: My K812's are now well run in and sounding worth every penny (I see the Amazon price has gone up by £130!), I have listened to many of the albums on my Cowan Plenue 1 and I really love the sound. I have upgraded my USB headphone amplifier to an Audioquest Dragonfly v 1.2 with an Audioquest Jitterbug and this has made a useful difference to all laptop listening. The quality of the K812's has resulted in my listening to music far more than I did using my K702/65's which is a testimonial in itself. The 10ft cable supplied is annoyance and I am delighted my Double Helix Cables 3ft cable is now on its way from the States (DHC Elite 4 wire Fusion hybrid silver/copper OCC Litz). A cable of comparable quality to the K812's, can't arrive soon enough, why can't AKG also provide a 3ft cable?

I've been listening to my Grado Prestige Series SR325is Headphones for most of the year and have no complaints, other than the initial comfort factor. But I really wanted another mid-to-high end set to keep from moving the Grados from one room to another (I know, lazy, huh?). I almost went with the Sennheiser HD 650 Headphones , but I've already got a smaller pair of Sennheiser HD 238 Open Aire Stereo Headphones Optimized for iPod/iPhone/MP3/and Music Players and wanted to try the K701s because of the excellent reviews. On first listen, I wasn't impressed. The music didn't seem to have any depth to it, like it was all coming to you on a flat plane, if that makes any sense at all. I knew these headphones need some break-in time, so I kept listening. Mainly I plugged them into my home theater and played some Dead Space 2 on the PS3. Slowly but surely, they turned around, and now they're my go-to headphones (I still love you Grado, but you're going into a drawer for a little while). The detail and clarity is spectacular; the bass is just right (I don't find it at all lacking as some others have noted); comfort level is fantastic. My only complaint: I really liked the thick cord on the Grados and wish the cord on the AKGs felt as sturdy. That's more of a comparison than a complaint, though. As far as amplification goes, I don't know how these sound without it. I've only used them on a newer Pioneer 1120-K (late 2010) receiver and, in my bedroom, a Peachtree Audio Decco2, which is both a headphone amplifier and DAC in one (and a wonderful piece of equipment, I might add). I stream audio from MOG (supposedly 320 kpps, the highest rate available to my knowledge) to either an Apple TV MC572LL/A (NEWEST VERSION) or Apple Airport Express MB321LL/A [NEWEST VERSION ] and then into, respectively, the Pioneer receiver or the Decco2. Both have DACs, so I feel like I'm getting a good source going into a good output, and that truly makes these headphones shine. A quick word on DACs: I purchased a small portable DAC earlier this year and returned it. I could tell no difference in the sound. But the DAC in the Decco2 really fills the music out and makes it sound so rich and detailed. If you're going to invest good money into headphones, please consider the source going into them. I suspect if you simply plugged these headphones into your iPod with no amplification or conversion to analog, you might wonder why you spent so much money. But with the right equipment, you'll fall in love with your music all over again. And one last thing! If you're playing video games using a home theater system, i.e. you have a console hooked up to a receiver and surround sound speakers, these headphones are truly fantastic for gaming. I've mainly been playing Dead Space 2, and the detail and directional effects are amazing. I can't imagine any of the Ear Force or Astro headphones besting these AKGs. UPDATE JULY 2012: I've been back and forth between these cans and my Grados for the past few months, with most of my listening through Grado. But I m sitting here now listening to Scissor Sister's new album on my AKGs, and I often forget how great these sound, so detailed and full and lush. They're more impressive now than when I first purchased them. Highly recommended. If I had to chose between the AKG and the Grado 325, I'd probably still go with Grado, just because the build is so sturdy and they're Made in America. But there is nothing wrong with the AKG at all. Excellent stuff all around!

For the price these are a fantastic pair of headphones. Whether you just like listening to music whilst you play games or study, the open-back aspect, the lightness, soft ear muffs and leather makes it feel very comfortable and you can wear them for hours on end without getting sweaty or a headache. Open-backs make it feel a lot more spacious, almost as if you aren't even wearing the headphones, granted you hear background noise but for some depending on where you are it might be a desirable feature. Pair the headphones with a decent AMP or DAC and you will certainly get some banging tunes/audio quality. Personally I have the Topping L30 paired with a D50s and it goes very well with the headphones. So far after 3 years of ownership no dramas, I've dropped them several times and nothing has snapped or broken. All the components have shown barely any signs of wear and tear which is credit to the good quality materials used for the leather and other components. Pros: - Head strap is very flexible and automatically adjusts to your head size making it super easy for anyone to wear them - Ear Muffs easily come off with a twist and pull - Open Back - Super comfortable for long hours of wearing Cons: - MiniXLR adapter (not a common cable) I had to buy a replacement for $50 - You will accidentally forget that you are wearing them because of how soft they are :)

"Unicuique aures eius" Cioè "a ciascuno le sue orecchie"… Questa ironica premessa perché come sempre accade vedo pareri contrastanti su queste cuffie, però in maggior parte di apprezzamento delle loro qualità. E qui mi schiero io, insieme a quelli soddisfatti della resa sonora ed anche della costruzione delle cuffie. Come mio solito parto dagli aspetti progettuali: essenziali come struttura, non si può immaginare di usare meno materiali per delle cuffie, due archetti a filo ed una banda a collegarli, questo è tutto, la solita ben nota e ben affermata filosofia costruttiva storica di AKG. Poi quei due padiglioni enormi alla vista, ma essenziali per avvolgere interamente nel flusso sonoro (aperto) la testa del fortunato ascoltatore. Fortunato perché si ritrova un pregevole prodotto capace di riprodurre molto bene il segnale che riceve. Le plastiche sono di qualità e garantiscono robustezza unita ad una leggerezza così importante per una perfetta comodità nell'uso prolungato: per questo aspetto sono le migliori della mia collezione (paio n° 19). Prima promozione senza riserve dunque per l'aspetto progettuale e costruttivo, unito all'apprezzamento per la fabbricazione europea, senza sciovinismi di sorta in ciò. Riguardo alle prestazioni queste per me sono cuffie molto analitiche, come delle reference devono essere per ripetere il più fedelmente possibile tutto lo spettro audio, e rendono decisamente bene lo spettro, con soundstage ampio e dettagliato. Essendo un fanatico di basso innanzitutto e poi di batteria va da sé che apprezzo quei +3 dB di incremento rispetto alle sorelle "minori" K702, un guadagno che non rende i bassi "pompati" ma dà loro un risalto meritato che attenua la "freddezza" complessiva di molte reference. Esaminate coi miei pezzi preferiti conosciuti a memoria (vedere le mie altre recensioni per i titoli) ho ritrovato tutto ben reso ed esposto, con una soddisfazione complessiva elevata. Un esempio particolare è dato dall' album "Body and soul" di Joe Jackson, registrato e mixato magistralmente, con la sua impostazione jazzistica per strumentazione e stage costituisce un ottimo banco prova per apparecchi musicali, siano essi lettori, ampli, casse o cuffie (a proposito, da "Body and soul" in poi ogni album di Joe Jackson è un capolavoro per registrazione, mixaggio e incisione). Giusto per proporre un titolo accessibile ai più senza avventurarsi in esoteriche registrazioni certificate come audiophile, ebbene qui la libidine si scatena. Ecco, qui le mie orecchie si impongono, come detto… Devo dire che il mio precedente di riferimento per questa classe erano le Sennheiser HD 540 Reference di ben 30 anni fa (purtroppo tragicamente distrutte da molti anni) che con l'impedenza da 300 ohm erano una "bestia" da addomesticare col mio spettacolare Pioneer A-91 D ed erano assolutamente superbe come resa. (Altra parentesi, quell'ottimo ricordo sedimentato in me mi ha spinto, proprio dopo le AKG, ad acquistare in super occasione l'evoluzione HD 540 Reference II). Quindi per me dire che queste cuffie sono difficili da pilotare con discreta facilità non è vero, tanto che provate col notebook sia con scheda Realtek interna che Terratec Aureon esterna si hanno dei buoni risultati, fatto salvo che per avere lo stesso SPL percepito occorre raddoppiare verso l'alto la corsa della manopola del volume, ovvio. Addirittura provate nell'uscita cuffia del piccolo ampli Dynavox CS-PA1 che da "voce" al notebook, rendono piuttosto bene, con volume a fondo corsa, certo, ma la resa è migliore di quanto pensassi. La prova definitiva per chiudere il discorso è stata in due parti (vedere foto allegate): _abbinamento col lettore cd portatile Aiwa XP-205 con DAC interno a 1 bit (sì, un altro dei miei pezzi vintage) con cd "Celloverse" dei 2cellos: ottimo pilotaggio e col volume a fine corsa l'SPL è di tutto rispetto. _abbinamento col lettore digitale xDuoo x-10 con file wav (il vero "uncompressed lossless" !!) dell'album "Laughing stock" dei Talk talk: anche qui ottima resa sonora e col volume a manetta si rischia di perforarsi i timpani ! Comunque per nutrire questa "bestia" AKG prenderò un ampli perché le mie orecchie meritano di godersi tutto quello che può dare ed oggi vi sono molte valide opzioni per creare il giusto accoppiamento anche con cifre ragionevoli. Dunque, tutto questo per confermare che la spesa vale l'impresa, ora che i prezzi si sono assestati ben sotto i 300 € di non molto tempo fa. Ancora adesso purtroppo qualche appartenente alla Banda Bassotti ha il coraggio di chiedere 300 ed anche 400 €, f**k you lousy bast***s! Meno male che c'è Amazon, poi grazie ad un Warehouse Deal ho preso un articolo perfetto scontato del 10% per un piccolo strappo nella copertura della scatola rigida, davvero un super affare. Meditate gente, meditate. __E D I T__ Ho preso questo ampli/eq su Amazon: https://www.amazon.it/gp/product/B01IS81LVW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 L'ho subito recensito perché merita e finora sembra assente dagli acquisti su amazon.it. Strano davvero perché è un ottimo prodotto Inline, marchio di qualità che già apprezzavo, che garantisce il giusto pilotaggio delle cuffie con tutte le opzioni di intervento sul suono che cercavo, ad un prezzo assolutamente basso per la qualità offerta. Lo consiglio vivamente, una volta accettata la inconsueta struttura e provate le sue funzioni si capisce che è un ottimo acquisto. Con questo accoppiamento ora più che mai non riesco a togliermi le cuffie dalla testa… in tutti i sensi.

Hallo, Als ich den Kopfhörer ausgepackt habe war ich sehr erfreut wie angenehm dieser erst einmal in der Packung präsentiert wurde. Anmerken möchte ich, dass ich mir die Standschale aufgrund einiger Rezensionen billiger vorgestellt hatte. Schließlich habe ich den Kopfhörer an meinen Kopfhörerverstärker angeschlossen und sofort probegehört. Zu allererst war ich von der Räumlichkeit begeistert, doch dann viel mir auf, dass viele Lieder viel weniger Bass haben, als sie sonst abgespielt werden (Also erstes Plus: Exakte klangliche Wiedergabe). Da ich mir zuvor allerdings durch die - auch sehr schönen, aber nicht vergleichbaren bassbetonten - Koss Porta Pro (UVP 70€) die Ohren verdorben hatte, brauchte ich mehr Bass. Ich dachte an die Rezensionen, dass der Kopfhörer recht geringe Bassleistung habe und dachte daran, diesen Wunsch aufzugeben. Ich probierte es trotzdem und setzte in meinem Equalizer die Bassleistung ziemlich hoch, sodass mir vor lauter Wumps beinahe die Ohren weggeflogen wären, wären sie nicht durch die angenehm großen Ohrmuscheln festgehalten worden. Also das Gerücht "kein Bass" kann ich nur im vollen Umfang widerlegen. Meiner Meinung nach ist somit für jeden was dabei. Wer keinen Equalizer hat, der lade sich Winamp oder ein ähnliches Programm; vorrausgesetzt man hört über den PC. Hier erstelle ich noch einmal eine subjektive Liste mit Schulnotensystem, indem ich auf jede wichtige Eigenschaft des Kopfhörers eingehe: Verarbeitung - 1,0 (Alles sehr solide gebaut, Lederband perfekt angepasst. Vergoldete Kontakte - Passgenau) Design - 1,0 (Dies ist natürlich nur meine Meinung, doch ich finde das edle Weiß in Kombination mit dem braunen Lederband sehr ästhetisch) Bauweise - 1,5 Die Ohrumschließende Bauweise macht den Klang einzigartig. Schön wäre trotz HiFi-Kopfhörer ein wechselbares Kabel gewesen. Praktisch ist allerdings die einseitige Kabelführung, die Sennheiser beispielsweise häufig nicht anwendet. Komfort - 1,5 Der Anpressdruck fällt deutlich höher als die geschlossenen AKG K 272 HD aus. Diese sollten unbedingt einmal probegetragen werden. Klang - 1,0 Perfekte Räumlichkeit. Lieder enthalten urplötzlich viel mehr Details. Auf einmal höre ich eine Lache am Anfang von "The Passenger". Gesamt: 1,2 Anmerkung: I.) Angenehm finde ich die Kabellänge von 3 Metern und die 6,3 mm Standard-Klinke. Denn eine 3,5 mm Klinke hier zu benutzen, wie es mancher anderer Kopfhörer in dieser Preisklasse hat, finde ich bescheuert. Denn wozu stellt man einen perfekten Kopfhörer her, wenn der Klang niemals perfekt ankäme. II.) Dass ein Kopfhörer Zeit brauche, um sich einzuhören, finde ich doch sehr unwahrscheinlich. Leider geistert dieses Gerücht gerne im Internet rum. Daran, dass sich eine Person an den Kopfhörer gewöhnen muss, ist nicht zu zweifeln. Doch passt sich nicht der Kopfhörer an die Person an, sondern genau umgekehrt. III.) Probiert, falls ihr unentschlossen seid, unbedingt den AKG K 272 HD aus oder den Sennheiser 595, 600 oder 650. Bei Sennheiser gefällt mir die ovale Ohrmuschel nicht, aber das sei jedem selbst überlassen. Fazit: Dieser Kopfhörer ist sicherlich KEIN Schnäppchen, doch wer den letzten Rest Wohlklang aus seinen Liedern quetschen will und nicht große Geldprobleme hat, für den ist dieses Produkt meiner Meinung nach perfekt zugeschnitten. Ich selbst bereue den Kauf nicht, da mir dieses Produkt in nahezu jedem Bereich sehr gut gefällt. Danke für's Lesen!

The AKG K812 was introduced in 2014 as a professional headphone and marketed as such. AKG fumbled the ball here and may have brought about their own demise, as these headphones could have been marketed as a TOTL audiophile headphone as well, seriously competitive with Sennheiser's HD800 (now the HD800S) and Beyerdynamic's T1 (now at Generation 3). Unfortunately, this never happened and samples to listen to were thin on the ground. I took a chance with the K812 headphones and they remain my favourites, even more so with a little modernisation using Oratory1990 EQ to bring up the deep bass and take the edge off the treble. IMHO, they are about on a par with the Focal Utopia OG sound wise, and are better constructed than the Focals. Anyone thinking about a TOTL headphone needs to hear these. Buy one soon - they have never been cheaper than at Amazon currently (they were AUS$1546 when I bought mine). Hopefully, AKG will one day produce another masterpiece like this. Sadly their audio design team appears to have been retrenched at about the time of the move to Slovakia of their main HQ. The design team is still doing excellent work at Austrian Audio and Mysphere.