AKG 702 Headphones Review

AKG 702 Headphones Review

The K702 is a new addition to the Austrian manufacturers’ Pro line, though it is basically an improved version of the much-loved K701, the main purpose of which seems to have been to change the color so it shows less studio dirt. In the high-quality headphone market, the K702 claims uniqueness in its use of flat wire technology along with a patented Varimotion 2-layer diaphragm driven by neodymium magnets. In keeping with modern marketing practice little suggestion is made by AKG about how these things might impact the sound delivered by the K702s, other than to make a nod to accuracy, agility and spaciousness. One understandable feature is the easily removable cable, allowing upgrades or length changes as needed. The K702 also has several features aimed at ensuring comfort, an area where technology often offers more hope than reality–but which work in this case, as we shall see.

Like many other headphones, the K702 is an open back design - a feature that clearly makes them less suitable for use on airplane or in an office. Some listeners, however, insist that open-back headphones are consistently more natural sounding.

AKG 702

The K702 offers a sound that manages to seem almost faultless to the casual listener. This is an important achievement, and one that bespeaks smart design choices that may work well for many listeners. Like every headphone we’ve heard, the K702 has its limits, but first let’s catalog some of its superb performance attributes.

The core strength of the K702 is the artful frequency balance that AKG’s engineers have delivered. The K702 sounds very flat from about 150hz up to around 10khz, which means that instruments in a band or orchestra are consistently reproduced in proper relationship to each other. Not only that, but also most instruments sound natural on an individual basis.

Just as important, the K702 seems to roll off the upper treble very slightly. This characteristic might at first glance seem a drawback, but in practice it may in fact be a blessing in disguise. Let’s face it; a lot of music signals are a bit distorted or noisy in the treble region, so that it is not necessarily a bad thing for a headphone to de-emphasize those flaws. AKG’s choice fits well with the realities and quality limitations both of modern recordings and of some D/A converters. In short, the K702s reproduce treble problems in music or associated equipment, but without rubbing your face in them.
In addition to their slightly warm upper frequency balance, the K702s sound very well controlled and damped on transients. Cymbals or guitars rarely sound ragged or splashy, while vocals sound unfailingly smooth. This could be characterized as low distortion (that's certainly how it sounds), an important quality made even more important because it yields excellent instrumental separation. That sounds kind of analytical and geeky, but it means complex music doesn't get all congested and muddled.

At the same time, this smooth, well-controlled transient behavior also points, at least indirectly, toward two limitations of the K702. First, micro-dynamics, while not exactly MIA, are less vividly reproduced than they are with some competing headphones, such as the similarly priced Grado 325is or more expensive Sennheiser HD800s. The result is that the sense of the acoustic space in which the instrument or band is playing can get lost, as can the small but significant sonic details that give music its character and life-like feel. It is tough to say whether this loss, or the gain from the sense of low distortion is more important. Ideally one would like both, though over the long haul - assuming one has to choose -- the AKG approach makes sense.

Next, when we come to macro-dynamics, we’re also in an area where the K702s are good but not great. On drums, power guitar and vocal swells, the K702 sound reasonably lively judged against reproduced music we often hear, but they don’t quite capture the punch of the real thing (and there are other headphones that get closer). The 702s can sound reticent in the bass, which may be the reason for these observations.

These limitations are mainly subtractive, so without direct comparison to other headphones you might not notice them. That’s because the even tonal balance and smoothness of the K702 sounds realistic, and the K702s lack the obvious distortions that shout, “This isn’t real music.” Given that many headphones do have additive or distracting distortions, this fact alone might make the K702 a top choice for many listeners.

Another example of information loss comes on the Brandi Carlile track “Turpentine” [Brandi Carlile – The Story, Columbia], which opens with an acoustic guitar (a Collings 01SB) that is rendered clearly but with the emphasis mostly on string sound. In short, the AKGs give you less body sound than you would hear from a real guitar, meaning you miss out on some of the resonance and the ringing sound of the top of the instrument. Later in that song a cello enters and once again we hear more string, with fewer low-level body and overtone components than you’d hear with live sound (or than you can hear on this recording through some other headphones).

Competitive Comparison

Assuming you are looking at the K702 as a reference headphone, my comments, below, may help to place the AKGs in context with respect to higher, lower, and similarly priced headphones:

• The Shure SRH840 is less expensive, and offers a similar sound (in terms of basic smoothness and level of information retreival) . The K702 is a bit more evenly balanced, but slightly less dynamic.
• The Grado 325is is similarly priced (on the street), but sounds rather different. The 325is has a mid-range emphasis that means it is less evenly balanced than the K702, but offers more micro-dynamic detail and macro-dynamic punch.
• The Sennheiser HD800 is substantially more expensive. It offers more micro-dynamic detail, deeper bass and similar smoothness. But the HD800 can sound a little uneven in the treble.
• The K702s are very comfortable. The ear cups are big and the clamping force is low. The headband adjusts the earcups automatically to fit your head - a feature that worked well in our tests.
• The K702s come with a ten foot cord and a phone plug/mini-plug.

Note: The K702s are relatively inefficient. This is a headphone that simply must be used with a high-quality amplifier to get the best results.

Bottom Line:

AKG’s K702 is a very well balanced headphone that delivers admirable smoothness and warmth without obvious artifacts.
Specs & Pricing
AKG K702 Headphones
Accessories: mini-plug to phone plug adapter (screw on)

Weight: 8.3 oz.

Sensitivity: 105dB@1V

Impedance: 62 ohms