AKG K612 Pro Reference Headphone - some impressions.

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capetownwatches

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I'll keep this short and sweet - the AKG K612 Pro is a triumph of quality over cost, and with complimentary gear performs at a level that is simply astonishing.
Mine keep on surprising me the more I listen with them, which is a lot actually.



Criticisms to be found on the interwebs include lack of sub-bass, harsh treble, flat and uninvolving and that they are uncomfortable.
Bollocks to all of it.

Gear: i7 Win 7 Pro PC running MC23 into Audio-gd NFB-11 via AQ Pearl USB. Hi Gain (+12dB).

The Agd outputs 10v RMS thru it's headphone jack and 900mW @ 100 ohms.
The K612 is 120 ohm and requires 1mW for 90dB SPL.

Do the sums and you realise that the K612 is quite power hungry, and needs plenty voltage AND current.
The NFB-11 provides both in elegant sufficiency...

The reason the K612 doesn't perform for many people is simply because they ain't being driven right.

Listening to the semi-legendary Teutonic Guitarmeister Axel Rudi Pell's superb live set "Magic Moments: 25th Anniversary Special Show" (Steamhammer SPV267890 3CD, 16/44.1 FLAC)
reveals what this headphone can really do. Bobby Rondinelli's bass drum hits you in the head like a runaway Sherman tank. Repeatedly.
One can hear/feel the sound of the pedals hitting the drum head. This headphone extends WAY down.
Bass guitar is a bubbling, churning monster below the percussive theatrics, and is easily picked out in the mix as it underpins the rest of the band.

Solo guitar is just as impressively rendered -Pell's custom Strat can sound like a strangled cat at times through headphones that are treble-challenged.
Here his sustain is a freak of nature to be appreciated with due awe and respect, even though he channels Blackmore maybe a bit more than he needs to.

The K612s deliver spectacular highs with no harshness, and that are smooth and controlled.
Similarly are the energetic keyboard gymnastics of Ferdie Doernberg faithfully rendered across the spectrum.

This headphone's midrange is almost universally acclaimed, so I'll simply confirm this unequivocally.
Johnny Gioeli has one of the most powerful voices in Rock today - think a young Ronnie James Dio on Red Bull and amphetamines.
I could listen to him all day on these cans - 'nuff said.

The K612 takes the best parts of the K601, K702 and Q701 and makes it better than the sum of these parts. At a lower price.
It is highly accurate and punchy, smooth when it needs to be, and a pleasure to use for long sessions.

Yes, it could be a tad more detailed, perhaps, but with it's wide sound stage I feel more "detail" might equate to some treble harshness.
I think AKG got the balance pretty much spot on.

R2,700 odd at one of the online purveyors at the moment.

Run, don't walk - IF you have the right ancillaries.



 
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