A total of 25 reviews of this product on Reddit.
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In your recommendation list the AKG K612s are mentioned, i currently have these in a amazon basket but they are listed as “AKG K612 PRO” is this the same model or a new model, if so what is the difference? (They are also listed on amazon for £91 under the $200 recommendation Here ) Also, Would i need an amp or dac for these, if not, how would they pair with my mother board? (sorry for all the questions lol, i appreciate what you do man :)) (i’m op just on a diff account :))
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Que tan pobre y que tan “buenos” buscas? Tienen que tener microfono? es importante aislarte del mundo (cerrados) o que tengan una mejor reproduccion espacial del sonido (abiertos)?
En caso de que sea esto ultimo, tenés un minuto para charlar de nuestro amo y señor AKG K612 Pro? (ojo que son de 120ohm y depende de que tarjeta de sonido tengas te haga falta un amplificador para domar a la bestia)
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I’m just about to pull the trigger on some AKG K612PROs that will primarily be used for gaming. I’m wondering though if them being open will mean I can’t use them while on discord without the sound bleeding into the mic? I plan on attaching a zalman zm-mic1 to the headphone wire.
Has anyone any experience with using these or similar headphones in that manner? Thanks!
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Ah, if you want competitive gaming and maximum soundstage is a must, then you want the AKG K612Pro (the HP50 have good soundstage, these have amazing soundstage).
Please note that these are open headphones, so you need to use them in a quiet environment. Also, no ability to plug a mic.
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I recommend this one. Very light, affordable and comfortable. The sound is really good as well. Been using this one for the past 1 1/2 years and I never had a more comfortable Headset. Plus its cable has a length of 3m.
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http://www.amazon.com/AKG-Pro-Audio-K612PRO-Reference/dp/B00DCXZY1W
I’m planning on getting the K612 or the Q701 because both seem to be really great headphones within my budget. I read that the K612 has an impedance of 120 ohms. Does this require an amp? My current earphones, that I’m assuming have a much lower impedance can get REALLY loud if I turn up the volume all the way. Same with my M50x. If it does require an Amp, I might go for the Q701 because that has half the impedance. Or does 62 ohms also need an amp anyways?
I’ll post some of my PC specs, but I don’t know if that has much to do with how good the Amp in there is.
*AsRock H81M
*GTX 960 Asus
*i5 4690K
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Budget – £100 or Below with very little wiggle room if you think it is worth it
Source – My PC
Requirements for Isolation – Don’t need a lot of Isolation, I still want to here whats going on around me if that makes sense.
Preferred Type of Headphone – Full Sized
Preferred tonal balance – I will be using it for gaming mostly, some TV and music too. So I guess a balanced pair?
Past headphones – Cheap bad Gaming Headsets that keep breaking
Preferred Music – I listen to a little of everything, if its in the top 50 on Spotify its probably something I would listen too. (Mainstream music?)
What would you like to improve on from your set-up – Something that is going to be significantly better than the gaming headsets I keep getting told are terrible.
From what I seen in the link for gaming in the OP these look pretty good for me: http://www.amazon.co.uk/AKG-K612-PRO-Headphones-open/dp/B00DCXZY1W
But before I buy them I thought I would see what else people recommend 😀
Edit: Also something extremely comfortable with glasses would be nice, these will be worn for several hours a day.
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Oh sorry, another question, I’ve seen you put the AKG K612 as good option, what do you think of this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/AKG-Open-Back-Over-Ear-Reference-Headphones/dp/B00DCXZY1W
Its a AKG K612PRO, I don’t know if its comparably good.
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Thanks in advance!
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Ah OK ! THX ! 😀
Here is the best choice IMHO !
Headphone : The AKG K612, it is very neutral but lack a little bit soundstage compared to flagships. But at this price, it’s the best one I think. It has less distortions in the bass region than the Sennheiser HD600. If you want to add more bass, it will be harder to hear the distortions than the HD600.
https://www.amazon.com/AKG-Pro-Audio-Reference-Headphone/dp/B00DCXZY1W/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=K612&qid=1630871708&sr=8-3
Amp : The Douk Audio U3 Mini, it does 18 to 600 Ohm headphones.
https://www.amazon.com/Douk-Audio-Headphone-Amplifier-Desktop/dp/B08C2MKBGN/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3QW458V1E2R1W&dchild=1&keywords=douk+audio+u3&qid=1630871654&sprefix=douk+a%2Caps%2C276&sr=8-3
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Here is my suggestion. I went for a clean, silent and easy to work in PC. Wich got a lot of expandability in terms of watercooling and storage.
As for peripherals. As I don’t have enough information. I went with what I think would work for you, but obviously I do not know for sure. More on this down below!
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
My rationale for the chosen products:
- CPU: Intel quad-core unlocked CPU. Clocked at 3,5GHz with a boost up to 3,9GHz. This is more then enough for gaming very likely a long while.
- CPU Cooler: Went for the Be Quiet Dark Rock 3. This is a very solid air cooler. Great tempatures and silence combined. Here is a review.
- Motherboard: Gaming mothboard with the Z97 chipset. This is intel’s latest chipset for mainstream boards. Went for this board because it got a good amount of features that you will like. Improved on-board audio with high quality audio capacitors and a great amp-up on a seperate PCB, meaning cleaning sound. A killer NIC wich allows you to prioritise games and streams over other random internet stuff, meaning a better connection to servers and SLI ready, wich we need. It as well is able to OC the CPU very well. Wich is basicly the same for most motherboards nowadays.
- Memory: RAM is RAM, the only thing that matters is capacity, wich for gaming equals to 8GB. So I went for 2x4GB, 1600MHz, CL9 kit from A-Data. It’s low profile as well so the CPU cooler will fit no problem. This leaves room to expand to 16GB later if need be. I do suggest to buy the same kit if you upgrade how-ever.
- Storage: Went for a 512GB SSD instead of a 1TB. This MX100 how-ever is very solid for the price. Here is a very detailed review about this SSD. I think this is enough space, but up to you of course if you want more. A 1TB SSD is $400 how-ever, so it’s a good amount of money for storage. Here is a review of the MX100.
- Video : Went for GTX970 in SLI for one simple reason. You are waisting money by going for GTX980 in SLI. I know this is very brute from me, but it’s in my opinion the truth. Here is a review of GTX980 in SLI (2/3). Where you can see the GTX970 in SLI in the benchmarks, being very close behind the GTX980 in SLI. Even 3 GTX980s don’t really stomp the 2 GTX970s. Now this should explain it very well, as a single GTX980 is only $100 less compared to 2 GTX970s. I went for this GTX970 in particular because it’s a beast. Here is a very solid review about this card.
- Case: As you stated that you don’t want a “gamer” case and no window. It was very simple for me to get a silent optimized case. The Fractal Define R4 is a very populair case under many builders and only recently got some competition. But the Fractal Define R5 just came out and really is remarkable. Here is a great review.
- Case fans: The stock fans are more then adequite (spelling!) and of great quality. Aftermarket fans can be slightly better for air flow and silence. But it would be really minimal, so not worth it in my mind. Also, you could always later invest into this if you do find the stock fans to loud.
- Power Supply: Can re-use the TX750 as this is more then enough power for our setup. No real complaints here. I only had my TX650 die on me after about 3 years, it was just in the warrenty period. So Corsair is awesome in that regard. They got me a RM650 in return. Wich was awesome.
- Keyboard: Went for a populair well rounded gaming mechanical keyboard from Logitech. The G710 got a lot of great features that gamers want and it also does not break the bank. The price is actually amazing on this right now. Last time I looked at this keyboard it was above the $100 mark. Here is an unboxing and overview.
- Mouse: For the mouse I stayed with Logitech. As I personally love them. They have great quality products and as well awesome customer support. I had the G500 where the left click started to malfunction on after about 3 years time (I suppose lots of league of legends caused this!). I contacted Logitech and within a week I had a new mouse the G500s was offered to me as replacement, but I asked for the G400s instead. Wich I now use and love. The G402 how-ever is a step up and is pretty awesome. The G502 is also an option, but I think that you don’t really need all these extra features. Here is an AWESOME review, wich as well got the G502 in it as “comparison”.
- Headphones: I did a lot of research on head-fi.org a forum that I prefer for my audio guidance. I had a look at this list of "gaming" headphones. This one is in the B tier; $150/300. And I did some more research and then had a look at this unboxing. I skipped forward as he only tells how he got them on a low price and that he got a lot of headphones allready. Blabla. But to just give you the impressions of the headphones. You might not prefer the headband. But I used this style before and my head is relatively small, so it worked very well for me. But it all depends on personal preference.
- Mousepad: Just get this. It’s cheap and simple, but amazing quality. I’ve been using steelseries mousepads for over 7 years now and really like them. Here is a smart trick on how to get it straight after you get it.
- Microphone: Here is a great review. How-ever there are other options if you don’t like this. You can get a microphone that just stands on your desk.
Peripherals are all very hard to suggest, if we don’t have enough information. If you got the time to answer the questions, I will have a better idea if what I to suggested will work for you.
- Mouse: How do you grip the mouse? How many buttons do you want? I personally use 0 when I play any game.
- Keyboard: I recommend to go read about Mechanical Keyboards switch types first. Then after you know wich switch would be for you, you can give me that information. Then my other questions would be, do you want a TenKeyLess? Basicly a smaller keyboard. If you don’t want a TKL, do you want any “macro keys“?
- Headphones/Speakers: What music do you listen? Where will you sit when using the headphones, will it be in a loud room? Will you be on your own? Do you need a microphone?
Hope you like it and If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.
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Ah, fantastic! That’ll make this loads easier, then.
Given that you have a relatively highly-powered (albeit high-impedance) source, probably the single strongest choice for your preferences would, in my opinion, be AKG’s K612 ($115~ at the moment on Amazon). The K612 is actually my single favourite budget headphone (well, wherein “budget” is “<$200”, which it is in this weird world of high fidelity), and its FR is actually kind of stark in similarity to the original revision SRM450 – even has the same little wiggle around 2khz. The main difference would be more lower midrange and midbass, where the K612 is a little on the forward side, but depending on your room, it’s quite possible that your SRM450s were a fair bit bassier than anechoic measurements in real practice. It biggest problem for most new people is that it’s really insensitive – between fairly high impedance and low sensitivity, it takes about 3Vrms to drive to the peak SPL most people want for more dynamic music and louder volume levels, but that’s right about where your Alesis is (or possibly slightly higher, as it appears to be current limited on its lower-impedance power rating), and the K612 is high enough impedance that the Alesis’s output impedance shouldn’t be too huge in its impact on frequency response (and since impedance mostly rises in the very high treble for the K612, it’d probably just add some air-level treble and push up the midbass hump a little).
Another very compelling option in your price range would be the classic Beyerdynamic DT880 ($140). The DT880 is a real classic, one of the oldest headphones in constant production, and it was pretty cutting-edge when it was released (and quite a bit more expensive). In the old days, the real hardcore people debated about whether the DT880, AKG K701, or Sennheiser HD600 was a better pairing for their $1000 amplifiers. Nowadays the DT880’s a bit more humble in its position in the headphone world, but it’s still a very robust headphone, and in my personal opinion, it has the most accurate mids of any headphone under $400. It has a bit less bass than the K612, as well as more linear upper mids, though some people find its treble a bit spikier (though an overlaid comparison shows them to be around the same level in the upper treble), and is to this day a pretty popular headphone for studio use. The DT880 250 ohm linked is even more resistant to output impedance variation than the K612, so you’d be under less threat of not getting the same result in practice as in theory due to your interface’s output, as well (and, personally, I find the Beyers rather fetching, though that’s deeply subjective).
Those two are, however, both open-backed designs, and so you get literally no noise isolation (and quite a lot of noise leakage as well). In general, you’ve historically got more money for your dollar buying open, but there are a few modern designs that are pretty compelling in that same-ish price space that are closed-back and isolate noise. The main ones that come to mind are the NAD HP50 ($100~ used) and its somewhat more treble-heavy brother the PSB M4U1 ($120~ in theory, though the only listing I can find is "best offer", so your guess is as good as mine). They’re actually the result of some rather interesting research on what people prefer in headphone tunings, which indicated that contrary to previously-held theories, people prefer a mild boost to the lower bass, and slightly recessed highs. As a result, the HP50 cuts the spike off the treble vs. the Beyers, and has substantially more subbass, with the brighter M4U1 is a bot more restrained in cutting treble, and mostly boosts the lowest bass toward the target. In general, both could be expected to have fuller bass and sound smoother than the K612 or DT880, and some argue that they’re closer to how humans perceive a spectrally flat speaker in a well-treated listening room. As an additional positive, both are very efficient, requiring only a tiny amount of power to get very, very loud, so even your iPod would be fine. Now for the caveats: due to their atypically low impedance, neither is really suitable for your audio interface or, quite possibly, your piano – a high-impedance output will boost their upper midranges due to the particularities of their impedance curves, which is likely to make them honky and overly forward-sounding. Some also find their somewhat…creative physical designs a bit unergonomic, I know a fellow who ditched his well-loved-by-sound-alone HP50 just because it didn’t quite fit him right.
There are other options out there which might also meet your criteria – among closed-backs, KRK’s KNS6400 and Sony’s MDRV6 are more neutrally-tuned options, albeit pretty shoddily built and somewhat unergonomic, and in open-backs, there’s stuff like the Sennheiser HD598/599/558 – but these are 3-4 (depending on how you count the Harman-tuned closed-backs) of what’re probably the most robust options around where you pointed me for price-wise. I’d be happy to discuss relative pros/cons and additional options if wanted, but I think I’ll cut it off here to leave it at under the character limit for one post 😛
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Mic leakage with an open back depends a lot on your mic positioning and what headphones you’re talking about. Dipolar designs like electrostatic and planar magnetic headphones, in my experience, leak pretty noticeably. Conversely, a fair number of professional streamers are using open-backed dynamic headphones these days, without apparent issues.
I wouldn’t recommend that particular microphone – those bargain basement Chinese condensers tend to be pretty mediocre, IMO, with a few exceptions – but yes, a condenser would be an option. With $100~ to play with, you could get a used AT2020 (a quite nice analog condenser) and a budget or used audio interface. A USB condenser would make for a much smaller pool of options (note that the mic on your link is not USB, as evidenced by the phantom power supply that’s paired with it), and probably cost more than an interface would with a used mic, so I probably would not go that route. Note that an interface would also function as a DAC, so that’s some extra value for your dollar.
If you were willing to go the open-backed route, my baseline recommendation in the budget-to-mid-end region is AKG’s K612. It’s an extremely solid pair of headphones for what it costs – $130 on Amazon/$100 used at the moment – with better than average (albeit a bit boosted – probably not an issue in by your lights) bass for an open back, and a flatter frequency response than 99% of headphones you’ll see in that price range. Its main caveat is low sensitivity, meaning that a relatively high voltage output source would be required for high volumes – most amplifiers would be sufficient for >110dB peak volumes, and many audio interfaces would be sufficient for >105dB here.
Another robust option in this general price space would be Beyerdynamic’s DT880, which has historically been quite cheap for its performance. Sadly, at the moment, the only version I can find new for <$200 is the DT880-600, which is quite high impedance and thus even less sensitive than the K612. Once upon a time, the 250 ohm variant was quite cheap, but sadly that seems to have passed.
A third option would be the classic Sennheiser HD6x0 series, most recently and cheaply incarnate as the $200 Massdrop HD6XX. These are real living classics of headphones, and among the reference points for the high end. They fall down a bit in bass extension compared to the K612, and their treble is laid-back compared to the Beyers and AKGs, but some people strongly prefer this, and it’s inarguable that the HD6XX is a robust value for the money. Best of all, it’s relatively sensitive, so an interface for a condenser mic should have no trouble driving it, likely putting its net price pretty much on par with the AKG if you’re a loud listener.
So let’s look at some potential combinations that could fit in budget. The first one that jumps out at me at a quick scan of the used listings is a used AT2020, a used Presonus Audiobox, and the aforementioned HD6XX. That would, after accounting for perhaps $30~ more for cables, mic stand and shock mount, etc, ring up to about $340, which meets your more tolerant target here, and would definitely give you solid sound both coming in and going out. The Audiobox should be a perfectly functional source for the HD6XX, and as said, it really is the classic definition of higher-end sound in the headphone world.
However, while snuffling around, I happened to see a Focusrite Scarlett Solo around the same price as the Audiobox. Now, the Solo is mostly less featured than the Audiobox – only one mic input, fewer output options, etc – but it does have one major differentiator: per its specs, it has markedly higher maximum output voltage, probably enough to happily run the K612. That would allow for a markedly cheaper route using that – the K612 is $100-130, the Solo is $50, and that brings you to perhaps $240-270 with the aforementioned AT2020, less with a Chinese condenser if you really wanted to cut cost (I’ve heard okay things about the MXL990).
Personally I’d go with the second – both because I’m a skinflint and because I find the HD6xx/650 a bit too warm/treble shy for my tastes – but both would be good options if you’re alright with going the open-backed route.
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I havnt tried the Hifiman 400I. But i have the X2 & K712 Pro sitting to my left. Theres alot of Depends what your after i need to attach to what i can say on both. X2 are good but not neutral, bassy & excell with bass boost Also treble can shine through at the same time, hence V shaped, K712 Pro don’t need an amp but without one they are harsh/bright & all you will hear is cymbals which literally gives you headaches. the (Far cheaper in EU & also needs an amp) K612 Prowould be more neutral compared to the K712 Pro since the K712 is slightly boosted bass & treble by comparison I wouldnt say V shaped personally though (slightly means slightly! don’t be expecting more!). Its also more often Left/Right imagaing with the sounds climbiing up & down than the 3d positioning you get with the X2.
My 2c Especially concidering you menchion rock/metal (including female lead) & no amp/Dac would be look at the Audio-Technica ATH-AD1000x (unfortunately overpriced in EU look for second hand) it’ll blow your socks off for that, its not neutral its warm, right mids, right bass, treble is a bit veiled Which you will find is GOOD for that type of music after using the K12pro & X2. I even prefer it over the 500x~2000x. (zeo’s sound demo for it does no justice on many headphones i listened to it on! except the ATH-AD line).Another to concider would be the Massdrop X Sennheiser HD6XX (hd650) which just Re-Dropped, I have no experiance so you’d need to ask around, Z Review, but have ordered them due to people saying there gods gift to music. We’ll see. I think its the HD600 which is the neutral one? & this was the more mids & Wider sounding?. As i said no experiance You need to ask around on this Or wait until until mid Oct when i get mine. Even with VAT import B/S it should still be in your price range at a guess (NZ not EU here)
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The gist of it is if you want high quality audio, buy a quality headphone and add a microphone to it. Avoid gaming headsets as they’re trash for the money you pay.
Don’t know what your budget is. But this is a solid combo for anyone who wants to get more serious on audio. There are plenty of options that won’t break your bank. I’d start with AKG, Audiotechnica and Sennheiser.
Here’s an example of a nice headphone + mod mic. This combo smashes the audio quality of $300+ gaming headsets.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DCXZY1W/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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Hi.
I currently own a pair of AKG K612 Pro , and i have no external dac or amp. (Very basic knowledge of those)
My motherboard is an Asus M5A97 EVO R2.0.
I am considering getting a pair of Sennheiser HD598, and maybe even a Xonar DGX or DX/XD
Is my mobo integrated sound card already good enough or are those sound cards going to enhance my quality enough to be worth the cost? Thanks
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Whoops sorry about that typo
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DCXZY1W/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_WbmTxbZBTNS94
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AKG K612Pro is available for ~100€. If you add another €10 to your budget you can also get a FiiO K1, which will bring out the best in them.
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AKG K612Pro and an FiiO E10K DAC+amp are ~175€ together on Amazon UK.
I prefer the AKG sound to all the Senn HD models below HD600, I find it’s more on the neutral side, clear, crisp, and detailed. Compared to the DT990 they have slightly less bass, but also less treble (which I prefer, because the Beyer treble is too much of a good thing.) The E10K can boost the bass for you if you need it, but I prefer having the on/off option, since too much bass can drown out details in gaming, but it can be good for music.
All of them are excellent gaming headphones so you can’t go wrong there no matter what you pick. The HD598 won’t need an amp, so it can save you the most money.
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Maybe the AKG K612 Pro. Here’s a detailed review.
Or the Sennheiser HD598. Here’s a detailed review.
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Budget – Anything between 100€ – 160€
Source – PC
Requirements for Isolation – Not much, just enough so the sound doesn’t leak through my Blue Snowball mic. I’ll be using them at home mostly.
Preferred Type of Headphone – Full-sized.
Preferred tonal balance – Balanced I guess, I’ll be using them for gaming mostly although I listen to music and watch movies every once in a while.
Past headphones – Steelseries Siberia V2.
Preferred Music – Anything really, mostly Hip Hop, Funk, Disco.
What would you like to improve on from your set-up – Everything, I’ve done some research myself and I think any of the options I’m considering would mean an improvement over what I use right now.
Location – Spain
Additional info – I’m pretty new to this Headphone world, so even though I did some research I’m still a bit lost. After comparing options and reading for a bit I think my 3 best options are AKG K612PRO (goes for 122€ in Amazon Spain), Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro (goes for 153€ on Amazon Spain) and Audio Technica ATH-AD700X (on sale for $107 on Amazon US, that means about 140€, shipping to Spain included). Even though these are the “best” options I came up with, I’m open to any suggestion.
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Budget – Anything between 100€ – 160€
Source – PC
Requirements for Isolation – Not much, just enough so the sound doesn’t leak through my Blue Snowball mic. I’ll be using them at home mostly.
Preferred Type of Headphone – Full-sized.
Preferred tonal balance – Balanced I guess, I’ll be using them for gaming mostly although I listen to music and watch movies every once in a while.
Past headphones – Steelseries Siberia V2.
Preferred Music – Anything really, mostly Hip Hop, Funk, Disco.
What would you like to improve on from your set-up – Everything, I’ve done some research myself and I think any of the options I’m considering would mean an improvement over what I use right now.
Location – Spain
Additional info – I’m pretty new to this Headphone world, so even though I did some research I’m still a bit lost. After comparing options and reading for a bit I think my 3 best options are AKG K612PRO (goes for 122€ in Amazon Spain), Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro (goes for 153€ on Amazon Spain) and Audio Technica ATH-AD700X (on sale for $107 on Amazon US, that means about 140€, shipping to Spain included). Even though these are the “best” options I came up with, I’m open to any suggestion.
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> Ideally I’d like a balanced set of Headphones but I’d like a bit of bass
Unfortunately that is exactly what you’ll get from the HD558 and HD598 which you don’t seem to like 🙁
Given that you own an E10K, you may give theAKG K612 PRO a chance. Their sound signature is very neutral for such an inexpensive pair, but they’ll demand every last bit of current your DAC/AMP can push into them.
Volts RMS required to reach 90dB SPL: 0.352 Vrms
Impedance @ 1kHz: 125 Ohms
Power Needed for 90d BSPL 0.99 mW
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At $130, are the AKG 612Pro’s a pretty good deal? They are on sale at Amazon.
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So after hours of lurking and reading, I basically have everything lined up and ready to order. Just want to make one last check before biting the bullet. Anything here you guys would do different?
Headphones – AKG K612PRO $136
Amp – FiiO E11K $60
My Info
Budget – $200ish total
Source – Sansa Clip, Galaxy Note 4, Dell Chromebook 11
Requirements for Isolation – none
Preferred Type of Headphone – circumaural, velour pads, open
Preferred Tonal Balance – neutral
Past headphones – nothing myself but have tried friend’s HD598, loved how open and detailed it sounded.
Preferred Music –
Disclosure – Latch UK Garage/House
Peter and Kerry – I Don’t Know New Wave
The Mars Volta – Inertiatic ESP Progressive Rock
ODESZA – Bloom
Chillwave?
A$AP Rocky – Lord Pretty Flacko Jodye 2 Rap
Jamie xx – Sleep Sound
Indie
- What I’m looking for – A semi-portable set up that I can use for long commutes. General music listening and movie watching in my room.
Thanks for reading!
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