NEW! AKG K812 flagship reference headphones.*

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by HiFiGuy528, Sep 26, 2013.

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  1. HiFiGuy528

    HiFiGuy528 Formerly Dj_AmTraX Thread Starter

    Location:
    Bay Area
    I'm trying to get more details and photos. Stay subscribed.

    <Moderator note: Thread initially entitled: "NEW! AKG K812 flagship studiomastering headphones." AKG changed it's marketing words since the leak. >

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 6, 2013
  2. HiFiGuy528

    HiFiGuy528 Formerly Dj_AmTraX Thread Starter

    Location:
    Bay Area
    sorry for the dealy guys. Here' more info on it.

    http://www.akg.com/k812-1308.html

    The retail price of the K812 in the will be approx 1,000 GBP ($1,593 USD) The Omega headphone stand is included.

    One of the best headphone amps on the market @LehmannAudio #LinearPro paired with the best headphone from @AKGaudio #K812pro

    Photo credit: Lehmann Audio

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Oct 9, 2013
  3. ROLO46

    ROLO46 Forum Resident

    Possibly.....
     
  4. SixtiesGuy

    SixtiesGuy Ministry of Love

    At that price I would expect an erection that lasts more than four hours.
     
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  5. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    No mastering engineer in the world would master with cans unless he or she had to by circumstance.
     
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  6. Ham Sandwich

    Ham Sandwich Senior Member

    Location:
    Sherwood, OR, USA
    Indeed. Using headphones instead of speakers would make for inconsistent and very probably incorrect results, unless you were mastering for something headphone specific like a binaural recording or something done with 3D60 or some other headphone specific processing effect. Headphones are far too wonky in tone and presentation to be a consistent reference for things mastering engineers are listening for. Even the $1000+ headphones have their issues with tonality and presentation. I'm not sure how the new AKG K812 will do in this area. I'd hope that headphones like this don't get marketed as being suitable for mastering. It seems AKG is marketing them more for recording studio use.

    For home listening these higher end headphone can be pretty awesome listening. Especially for people who can't accommodate a high quality speaker setup at home. With headphones I have better listening (for certain aspects of better) than I can afford or accommodate with speakers. Though I know I'm living with and dealing with wonky tonality and presentation.
     
    John Buchanan likes this.
  7. My guess is that the "studio mastering" nomenclature is marketing speak.
     
  8. Dougr33

    Dougr33 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Twin Cities, MN
  9. Metralla

    Metralla Joined Jan 13, 2002

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    It says "Reference He [adphone?]" in the posted photo.
     
  10. kevinsinnott

    kevinsinnott Forum Coffeeologist

    Location:
    Chicago, IL USA
    AKG is among my favorite headphone designers. I have multiple models. While most/all of my AKG phones are power hungry and specific models are maddeningly revealing of flaws other phones seem to sweeten in comparison, I generally respect their intentions and consider them a worthy innovator, on par with their microphones.
     
  11. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US
    Ever since Sennheiser broke the headphone- price cherry with their $1K plus HD800s (the Orpheus doesn't count), every manufacturer has been pushing their high-end headphone prices where they never dared to go in previous fifty years. One thousand dollar leap for mankind, one hundred leap in sound. It's vaguely disgusting. Sort of like gas companies finally getting us to swallow $4 a gallon as the norm.
     
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  12. Echo

    Echo Forum Resident

    $4 a gallon as the norm? Wow, I wish! It's here almost a liter! :)

    Back to the real subject.
     
  13. Ham Sandwich

    Ham Sandwich Senior Member

    Location:
    Sherwood, OR, USA
    It does seem that way. But the $1K headphones have been around for a while. The headphones like the old AGK K1000 and the Sony CD3000 would retail for about $1000 in today's dollars.

    The price of the HD800 does make the price for headphones like the LCD-2 and HiFiMAN HE500 seem quite reasonable in comparison.

    The $1500 headphones like the HD800 and now the AKG K812 do make it seem like the price is that high just because they can. And because they want to be able to have a $1000 price point available for a slightly lesser headphone and other future headphones planned for the product line. At least with the new AKG K812 you're also getting a $200 Omega headphone stand for "free" with the headphone. I got a "free" wood display box with my LCD-2.
     
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  14. HiFiGuy528

    HiFiGuy528 Formerly Dj_AmTraX Thread Starter

    Location:
    Bay Area
    Here are some Key Specs. More to come.

    Type: Open back, circumaural, dynamic headphones
    Sensitivity: 110 dB SPL/V
    Frequency range: 5 Hz - 54,000 Hz
    Rated impedance: 36 Ohms
    Max. input power: 300 mW
    Cable: 3 m / 9.85 ft, 99,99% oxygen-free with genuine LEMO connector
    Connector: 3.5 mm (1/8”)
    Adapter: 3.5 to 6.3 mm (1/8” to 1/4")
    Net weight:
    390 g / 13.8 oz (without cable)
    Premium wooden stand for proper storage included

    [​IMG]
     
  15. Metralla

    Metralla Joined Jan 13, 2002

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    Thanks for the photo. Now I can complete the above - Reference Headphones. They do look very well made.
     
  16. motownboy

    motownboy Senior Member

    Location:
    Washington State
    Well, in the 21st Century... so many more people are listening to their music through some sort of headphones or in-ear buds - and that is likely to increase as the decades go by - that it would make sense to include headphones as part of the mastering process...
     
  17. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    Took the words out of my mouth. There was a famous mastering guy in the 1990s that I casually know who appeared in a Sony ad saying that these were the first headphones he thought were good enough to use as a reference for mastering, and I emailed him and asked, "really?" Never got an answer.

    I bet if I cornered him at a trade show, he'd say, "hey, we only master on speakers, but there's no harm in checking it on headphones at the end of the process just to see how it sounds." Which is not quite the same thing.

    I like using headphones for editing and de-clicking, but not mastering. Uh-uh.
     
  18. ssmith3046

    ssmith3046 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Arizona desert
    Very nice but I'll have to stick with my 701 headphones. I think I could spend $1600.00 on other items.
     
  19. A completely nonsensical measurement given that a) it's below and above the frequency range that any human can hear, 2) there is no +/- 3dB (or any range of deviation) to gauge what the useable frequency range is, 3) it doesn't matter anyway because a flat frequency response is not desirable in a headphone anyway (read the miles of technical literature on this for the reasons why).
     
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  20. HiFiGuy528

    HiFiGuy528 Formerly Dj_AmTraX Thread Starter

    Location:
    Bay Area
    got them a few days ago. Here's my unboxing and first look video.

     
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  21. MLutthans

    MLutthans That's my spaghetti, Chewbacca! Staff

    If you peel off the "studio mastering" sticker, there's an old "digital ready" sticker under there.
     
  22. fitzrik

    fitzrik Forum Resident

    Location:
    dublin
    These are currently on massdrop

    Can anyone comment as to how they sound or how they like them?
     
  23. wgb113

    wgb113 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chester County, PA
    The drop is limited to the U.S. only but I'll comment. I'm an admitted fan of the AKG sound. I preferred the K701 over the Sennheiser HD650. I had comfort issues with it's central headband bump so I jumped on the K712 as quick as I could.

    The increased bass response was welcome, though I never found the K701 as anemic as most suggested. Comfort was again an issue however, as from day 1 they always seemed to sag on my head and cause pressure points at the earpad where they touched my neck just below my earlobes.

    I bought another pair of HD650s, this time with a balanced cable since I now had a balanced amp to drive them, hoping that would lift some of that Sennheiser veil/sweetness/darkness from the sound. Nope. I was ready to give up on headphones but tried the HD700s. They were even more of a mess than the HD650s but man were they comfortable.

    I was willing to go up the price ladder and give the Oppo PM-2 and Audeze EL-8 (open and closed) a shot but began watching out for deals on the K812. I auditioned the Oppo and Audeze. Neither really did it for me as I felt both were just too colored and polite, though I slightly preferred the closed Audeze to both much to my surprise.

    Then I scored a pair of K812s for $850. From the very first note I was wowed by them. Seriously, that was the first word out of my mouth 10 seconds into first hearing them. I've continued to be wowed by them and do not hear the tizzy ness that some describe. They've solved the comfort issue as they're even more comfortable than the HD700s. IMO they're well worth the $850 I paid, let alone the slightly lower Massdrop price. That said, I think I would have a hard time justifying their MSRP of $1500.

    Bill
     
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  24. Jim T

    Jim T Forum Resident

    Location:
    Mars
    -----------------------------------
    If I thought those 812's could do that I might consider a pair. My AKG 701s and 271s have not helped that a bit. Not even my new Focal Spirit Pros worked that kind of magic. Dang. There ought to be some byproduct out of all this money I've spent on cans.
     
  25. JonP

    JonP Active Member

    I heard the 812 earlier this year, along with a number of other premium quality headphones from other brands, such as the Fostex TH900, Sennheiser HD800, Oppo PM-1, etc, etc (about 12 different phones in all). I am also a very experienced headphone listener.

    I was extremely impressed with the 812. It was completely unlike anything else in the AKG range I had heard before and I remember thinking that this was one of the very, very few headphones I had ever listened to that I could remotely like in lieu of speakers. And that says a lot because when all is said and done, I hate headphones (everything about them is just so wrong) and only use them out of necessity and circumstance (and for editing purposes). But the 812, along with the Oppo PM-1, Oppo PM-2, Fostex TH600 and TH900 are currently the only headphones I have ever heard that cut the mustard for serious listening, at least for classical and acoustic music. All of them sound different to each other but all of them do a very good job. I would be happy with any of them, but probably the 812 more than any of the others. It was just a pity that the price was about $300 out of my range - about $1500 AUD from memory, even though I remember thinking they were worth it.

    But in the end I agree with what the pros on the forum have said. There are only two types of people who use headphones. People who simply have no other practical option and mad people ;) My excuse is a lack of space to house any decent speaker system. And even if I didn't lack the space, cats plus speakers constitute a hazard. It's for this reason I have always had a keen interest in state of the art, flagship headphones, hoping that some day someone might make a headphone that actually sounds normal.
     
    Last edited: Oct 2, 2015
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