We finished up with the 702s plugged into a 15GB iPod, and the sound was excellent. The iPod doesn't have the oomph we got from the Onkyo receiver, so the sound balance was more mid-range and the bass didn't feel as deep. The 702s' size might rule them out for portable use, but they're still one of the best-sounding set of headphones we've ever heard with our iPod. Our Ultimate Ears Custom UE 10 Pro in-ear headphones can make more bass and have a warmer mid-range, but the 702s' clarity, and open, out-of-head sound staging gives them the edge over the UE 10 Pros. It's worth noting that the UE 10 Pros can play much louder over an iPod than the 702s can.
Conclusion
The AKG K 702s are an expensive set of headphones, but the sound is near state-of-the-art, and only bettered by much more expensive headphones like the soon-to-be-released Sennheiser HD 800s. The 702s' creamy soft ear pads are so comfortable it's easy to forget you're wearing headphones at all. We highly recommend this sweet-sounding set.
Additional editing by Charles Kloet
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anonymous 4 January 2010
Good: Style, Build, Comfort, Clarity Of Sound.
Bad: Treble can be a little brittle on certain tracks.
Comment: The first impression one gets of these headphones is of a well built product with great retro styling , they ooze class. When you put them on you immediately feel the comfort with no undue pressure and a nice soft velour ear cushion that holds them firmly in place.
Then you come to the sound and here I have got to say I was initially disappointed. Compared to my UltimatEar super fi 10's it seemed thin and uninspiring although there was great clarity. It was also more remote but not ever , as some reviewers have claimed , to be confused with speakers. That idea is laughable but I suppose if you earn money writing reviews you are tempted to dip into the realms of fiction.
The superb clarity can lead to problems, I noticed some sibilance on Katie Melua's album Piece by Piece which previously had gone blissfully unnoticed and Kate Bush's Running Up That Hill can sound brittle.
My initial disappointment with the AKG has been replaced by a growing bond after many listening hours and now the Ultimatears sound indistinct and have an unsatisfying lack of clarity in comparison.The precision of the AKG's is supreme.
I did a week long comparison of the AKG K702 against the Sennheiser 650, at home with my own music. At first I was seduced by the Senn's warmer tones but then I played Jack Johnson's Bushfire fairy tales and the Senns murdered it ! The music is largely light vocals accompanied by acoustic guitar. The Senns made it muddy and dull. It was so marked that I thought my source was to blame. However swapping to the AKG's restored Jack to his excellent best.
I t was obvious that the Senns have been tweaked to give extra bass but this can colour and ,in some cases, ruin the whole track or indeed album. If I hadn't heard it myself I would have found it difficult to comprehend such poor a rendering coming from a headphone I had previously liked
I have mentioned that I am liking the AkG more and more. Some would attribute that to burn/break in with use but I am not sure I go along with that concept. I think I have adapted more than the headphones, but whatever the reason, I now love my AKG's and would defiantly recommend them.
Would I change anything ? Well yes , if I could remove that brittleness and tendency to sibilance on some tracks I would but only if it could be done without affecting the crystal clarity and detail that are the hallmark of these great headphones. The Senns did reduce the offending fragility but the smear of mud was too high a price to pay.
If you are considering the AKG then go for it, allow time to adjust and then really enjoy your music in all it's detail. One note is that these take some driving so are probably best not used with a portable player without extra amplification. That's where my Ultimateears come in.
Juan Miguel Barron 5 June 2009
Good: Natural sound
Bad: White colour
Comment: I have got a pair of AKG Reference Headphones K701 and a pair of AKG K1000. The K701, similar to the K702 but with a white finish, has the most natural and atmospheric sound I haver ever listened, better than my Sennheiser 600 and 650. I use a Musical Fidelity amplifier (X-CAN v3) but with my Onkyo Compact Disc Player DX-7555 the sound is as good as with the X-CAN or even superior.
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