I replaced the pads on my AKG Q701 headphones today for the 4th time. It made me realize that I’ve used these headphones for at least 40 hours a week for 14 years straight. I’ve had to repair the left side speaker solder joint a few times, but they’re designed to be easily torn down and repaired. Truly BIFL headphones.
I’ve heard that the newer AKG K702 headphones are identical but I can’t vouch for that. They go for around $250.
I have a set of K553 PROs that don’t die. I’ve had to epoxy the audio cable back into the can and replace the foam twice, but they’re still going after 10 years. Love these things.
Those are basically a closed-back version of mine, right? They look badass.
Yours have that sweet leather strap and a different connection. I am not sure if the drivers are the same. Either way, I got these off of MassDrop before it was enshittified.
Damn, those look sick! Are they over the ear or on-ear? Hard to drive? I might pick up a pair to use at the office since open-back isn’t a great choice for that environment.
Btw the leather band on my Q701 isn’t stock. It’s just scrap leather that I cut to shape when my old headband wore out. Got the scrap for free on a recycling group.
These are over-the-ear monitors for studio recording. I use them in conjunction with standard desktop monitors and a few other things to mix audio. They’re not hard to drive, but they do have a lot of headroom and clarity. I have also used them with my cell phone occasionally without issue.
The band looks sweet. Good work.
Holy shit I completely forgot about massdrop. Man. What a throwback.
They are still around as “drop”. massdrop.com redirects to their new site, but they aren’t what they used to me IMO.
Yeah sorry I completely understood what you meant, I remember when you could find the best stuff there and then it went to shit. Like around ten years ago it seems.