What do you think of the K712? is it worth 350$
I think at under 300 itâs worth it, itâs pretty nice
FWIW, I bought mine off Amazon UK for 168 gbp, shipped to US fast and no issues.
Yes they are a fair bit cheaper in europe. The K712 did drop in quality when they moved production though, which was unfortunate
Do you mean from Austria? Yea, mine are made in Slovakia, wonder what the OG ones sound like.
Just thought Iâd mention as option for US folks.
Yes, the og ones sound more refined to my ears, the new ones are still pretty solid, but the older ones just had more to offer imo, hopefully with the release of the k371, they will make a 712 replacement that is just as good as the rest of their newer lineup
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Ah, got it. Thatâs a shame.
Unrelated, did make sure to get Irish HD600s, as opposed to Romanian. Donât know if thereâs a difference though. /shrug I assume once upon a time, there were German ones as well.
With the senns it doesnât really seem like there were any sonic changes, and just differences in build but nothing to worry about, akg as a company really had just gone down hill when they were bought out by samsung, most of their audio products at least
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Can you elaborate how the sound can be different when just the manufacturing has moved? I mean, itâs the same driver and same design, right?
The ones sold on Amazon.co.uk are apparently made in China, not Slovakia. Am confused
Different materials used, different tolerances, also different tooling perhaps. I donât know exactly what was changed, but I do know the older ones sound different from the newer ones
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Small differences can change the sound a lot on some headphones. Changes in tolerances that move the driver to another position relative to your ears, pad materials that can change the way they reflect/pass sound, soldering and other material that may change the driver frequency response. I would like to see some batch measurements to know if there are differences beyond normal manufacturing dispersion between Austrian and Slovakian made K712.
I never heard the old ones, but mine are apparently made in Slovakia and I am very happy with them, 100% worth it IMO. If you can hear them before pulling the trigger is always better. You can also buy then and send them back if you donât like them. Ultimately, your experience will be yours alone, so trying them out is the best way to clear things up.
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Personally I think these are a better headphone than the much more expensive K812. I find nothing objectionable in the K712 and the sound signature/tuning is one that I suspect most would enjoy. I love the industrial design and build of the K812 but find something odd about the highs. I wouldnât go as far as to call them âbadâ but theyâre not cheap and I find the K712 to be more enjoyable with no real vices for a lot less.
The K812âs arnât my favorite either, they have some strange things going on tuning wise. They do have good technicalities but the tuning and presentation is strange. They are very amp picky though so perhaps on the right amp they would sound correct
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Now Iâm wondering how the Chinese K712 differ from the Slovakian lol
I bought these adapters from Modhouse (as well as Sennheiser adapters). Theyâre pretty handy for pad swapping K712s.
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Just a quick update: been listening for them in the FX Dac/Amp for about 2 weeks now and I can clearly see the befit. To some degree, I think the sound-stage got a little wider and the separation between instruments get to a incredible level. I also fell less the impression on both multi-vocals and electronic music, so mostly benefits.
I did begin hearing some of the strange âtreble peaksâ I heard about in some string songs. Itâs like a half a second of âouch, is this to loud?â and then itâs gone. Definitively not enough to offend me in any way, but maybe for a treble sensitive person this may be relevant.
I also recommend a specific music to try them out: Bamako - Chamber version, by Ballake Sissoko and Thibault Cauvin. I swear I teared up a little hearing this on then, it was a freaking experience to say the least.
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Hey, I am looking at buying the IFI HipDac asap and am thinking about these as well. If anyone has experience with the combo I would greatly appreciate your opinions/insights.
I have that combo. Itâs sounds pretty good. The extra bass button works well too. It powers them great with the power match button. I reccomend it instead of buying something more expensive. Ive used the enog and Dark voice wich sounds a bit better but the hip dac does a good job
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Thanks man, appreciate the insight!
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