AKG K-712 Pro Reviews

comfort, sound and design

The trusted design of the AKG headphones produces a comfort second to none. It is night and day in comparison to my Grado. The leather headband was smooth day one, and did not produce any discomfort. Earcups are larger than my ears, perfect.

Sound quality is perfect for me. Even with Spotify, details are heard that were totally invisible through my Sony MDR-7506. The stereo scene is truely great, not pressurized as in the closed back Sony. They of course leak a lot as every open back headphones do.

Curled cable is a bit stiff, but nice and feel sturdy. Straight cable with 3m is a bit long for my use, but feels smoother.

As usual for headphones, be sure to feed them with a source impedance around 8 times less than the impedance of the headphones. These, at 62 Ohms, are rather stringent regarding this. Check your headphones output or source impedance on your interface/amp/portable before committing. Sadly, this info is seldom given in the figures. Power output is not everything here.

Mine are fed with a homemade headphones amp that has a source impedance of 0.015 Ohms, plenty of power, and incorporates a crossfeed filter for good measure ;-). The sound is amazing through that one. I didn't took the time to test it directly on the Macbook output.

Next step will be an SPL Phonitor x, so as to be able to switch between headphones and monitors easily, with the best quality possible on both use.

Avoid: Amazing sound, let down by build quality

I bought a pair of K-712s just over two years ago, the sound quality is impeccable. The comfort is brilliant especially for extended listening sessions, I would forget they were even on my head.

Sadly after two years of use the elastic, which is the one thing that manages the extension of the headband and how the headphones sit on your head, has deteriorated and become next to useless. The headphones used to sit comfortably around my ears, but now they are held on by the tops of my ears and will slip down to my jaw.

After looking around online there are other users who have had similar problems with their pairs of K-712s. Given that headphones can have very long lifespans if cared for properly it is a massive disappointment to have these become so loose that they slip off my head after only two years of use. They were stored safely in a hard case when not in use which wouldn't lead to over extension of the elastic.

In summary I would avoid these as they have one single point of failure which is known to fail over time.

Just like monitors!

I was pretty confused when I tried these the first time. Plugged them in an swapped output from monitors to headphones and had to double check several times that my monitors were actually muted.

I don’t know how well they can go really low cause my current monitors are only flat down to around 40-80 Hz, but for mixing in a small home studio with sub-optimal acoustics and huge dips in room response they really great.

I would buy them again in a heartbeat.

Good

Cant compare with other headphones because its my first and ive been using MDR-XB55AP before. I can hear a new instrument after switching to this while playing Genshin and listening to other. Also the Sound Stage is good that i thought the sound was coming from outside but it was from the headphones instead.

The only downside is i need to pay extra for the delivery because the UPS in my area somehow cant deliver it and using Yamato Transport services instead. Theres even a UPS logo on my package. But I think the problem is on the UPS side. To anyone who order from Japan, i suggest spend some extra cash just in case the delivery courier is changed.

Worringly Cheap!

I like them

feels super good!

worries me they are from 500 euros to 195 euros... gives me a strange feeling in the belly something should be off... something should go wrong, or it'll break after some months... But am satisfied with the product, for now.

My friend tried them and complained, mentioned the typical AKG problem that its too wide, you miss a bit the middle/centre, feeling it strong and safe for your critical mixing.

I think that its a matter of taste... if you understand relativistically with what headphones you are working then you can work well with any headphone. But of course these headphones actually make me want to try the Sennheiser HD 650... couldn't afford the extra 150 euros though.

Ridiculously good.

I prefer it to the sundara. What more is there to say. The sound is spatious and neutral, and you can EQ it very well if you want it to be more v shape for example. Build looks like it will last forever. The pads are a bit annoying to me, on one hand they don't touch my ear but on the other hand they maybe should, I believe there are better aftermarket pad options out there.

Also, surprisingly there is some isolation here,.it does block off some of the outside noise, not a lot but a bit of the high frequencies at least.

Deserve the 5 star

Sound great airy, spacious perfect for orchestra music, very clear. But if you like bass this is not the one, its not heavy on bass.(no strong boom)

The headset is light to wear very comfortable, clamp force good. Its not so strong that you feel like its squeezing your head, perfect clamp force for me, light and stays on my head.

For quality is good, very solid comfortable ear pad, solid design specially the leather band helps with not getting your hair stuck. I think its great for desktop users.

5 stars all around

I got what I paid for, a genuine pair of studio headphones at half the price, in perfect condition. I fell in love with the clarity and soundstage right away. Never has music been so enjoyable.

Great sound for rock and metal music

I decided to get the AKG K712 Pro headphones after doing an extensive amount of research. I mainly listen to metal and rock music so I wanted a pair of headphones that would compliment those genres, giving me detail and clarity to make out all the little details while also having a feeling of impact. The K712 is great for this as it has an incredible soundstage, giving me a feeling of listening to the music live. The slight boost in bass response compared to the other options I was looking at (such as Sennheiser 560S and AKG K702) gives me the impact that is needed for my music.

The comfort on these headphones is also great, and the self adjusting headband means that there's no need to worry about the fit.

Build quality feels light but not cheap, but I am still a little careful with them as some parts look like they could be fragile (like the clear plastic in headband adjustment mechanism).

Overall, am very satisfied with these headphones.

Airy, spacious and detailed sounding

I read mixed reviews on this, mostly positive with some negatives. Some said the bass isn't heavy despite the additional 3db in the "low end performance". And granted when compared to my Sennheiser HD650, the bass doesn't seem as pronounced. But this is marketed as a reference headphone so I don't expect this to be the type of headphones for bass heads.

Initially on the first day when I listened to it on my Marantz PM 8006 paired with my Marantz NA6006 as the DAC, it was underwhelming. So I went to sleep and started listening again. It's been almost a week and the details, clarity, airiness and spacious quality to it is something I've come to love, compared to my Sennheisers which has already burned in for sure. I like how the vocals seem to be brought forward while other headphones either has pronounced bass or trebles or just flat sounding which allows everything to just blend together into 1 big musical dish.

Nothing wrong with a flat frequency response, nothing wrong with pronounced bass and trebles. But it's more of a "right time, right tool" kind of situation. Will I listen to an EDM song this with this? Probably not, I would use my Meze Noir or Audio Technica ATH-M50x for it. Pop? Orchestra? Live albums? Yes I would! Also super comfortable for long sessions!

In summary, would I recommend this? Yes! Especially to own a piece of history! Would I say it has flaws? Yes, cause nothing is perfect, but again, I think you'll have to consider the type of music you're listening. I would use this for pop, orchestras and songs where I want to pay attention to the lyrics. But I won't use this for songs that are bass dependent as it'll probably won't suffice. Looking forward to getting a cable approx 30cm/1ft long and 3D print a holder to put my Fiio BTR5 to use it as a bluetooth headphone around the house. It's light feeling to do that and sometimes, you just don't want cable getting in your way, even with the included cable being long as it is

The best option for this money

Very good open headphones. The sound is not yet top level, but at the price-quality ratio is the best option for your money.

They're ok.

Built quality; plastic, with a leather strap.

The sound quality is okay.

They have no bass what so ever and muddy sound... not really recommended for anything other than gaming.

The only plus these have is that they're big and light...

If you want headphones or IEMS that have bass and good quality, i recommend Truthear x Crinacle Zero, pretty bassy with good sound.

These headphones are just brand, you're paying for brand here. K371 are good headphones. These are not, I regret buying them... Too late for a refund i recon at this point... also too lazy, they fit my needs anyway.

(Mostly) Excellent

I always had a bit of interest in trying out some better known reference headphones, to see how they stack up to some of my other choices throughout the years, and to see what all the fuss about the sound stage was.

Sound - Really nice. Some frequency range differences were noticeable and overall was clearer than before, but the big difference was the wider sound stage. Going back to other headphones after a few days of listening, I kept thinking on wanting to come back to these because of it.

Running these from a Scarlett 2i2 headphone jack was completely fine, but an amp should be considered if you want slightly better clarity.

Comfort - 5 Stars without glasses, 4 stars with. The headband is really comfy with it's quick adjustment without much thought put into it, and the leather band takes away all parts where hair can get stuck into and pulled out.

The pads were a lot tougher than I expected, but still soft and spacious enough for my ears to be snugly fit, while having plenty of breathing room.

Because of that toughness though, I could still feel some pressure against the frames of my glasses, which got a bit uncomfortable at times. Also, the huge amount of space caused the pads to rub against my glasses and make creaking noises whenever I moved my head around. In comparison, a friends K550 had far softer pads that felt really nice to put on.

Quality - Solidly made, but some of the design choices make me question its long-term durability. Some parts are thin enough that they could easily break when carrying it around in the provided pouch. I'd look into a solid case that's smaller than the box these headphones came in.

The strings on the sides that stretch to fit your head, while convenient, are going to become weaker along the years, which will affect comfort.

Overall though, I'd still give it 5 stars since the comfort and quality issues can be modded around, while the sound itself is really good.

Perfect

Recommended by a friend who does all her mixing in headphones, and her mixes are 100%. This is a game changer.

Great headphones for the price

I own many headphones ranging from 100 eur, to over 1500 eur. AKG K712 is one of the latest additions to my growing headphone collection. I work as sound engineer in live/studio/broadcast environments. I have used the AKG K712 for the past few months mainly working from home, mixing different material in home studio. These headphones are very comfortable to wear. You can use them for hours without any fatigue. The sound is very good. Lows are very good and detailed, midrange is good not muddy, soundstage is great, dynamics is good. When I got them I found the highs a bit harsh but after a few days of intensive use the highs improved quite a lot and I don't find them harsh any more. Like any other headphones AKG K712 need some time to get used to. I use them for occasional listening and for professional work together with my other headphones. AKG K712 can stand up to many headphones way above their price range, but can not compete with headphones in 1000+ eur range. Do not expect that from them, be realistic. AKG K712 benefit greatly from sonarworks reference and with correction applied can be easily the only headphones you need for mixing and mastering. Give the AKG K712 a try, you won't regret it.

very good

Not bad at all for it's price. You can get better than this but you will also have to pay much much more. So for me, with the help of some calibration software, this is an excellent option!

Comfort and clarity

I'm using them with Audient iD22 for making music, critical listening and general use.

I dislike wearing headphones, so comfort was the priority and they are great. Large, so they are not even touching my ears. Open, so my ears dont get uncomfortably hot. Padding is ok, more firm than on other headphones, but not bad in any way.

The sound is great, clear and flat across the spectrum. Before K712, I ordered HIFIMAN Sundara, which were well recommended , but I found the sound to be quite dissapointingly dull sounding (and 100€ more expensive). I have to say that they would easily win a visual beauty competition, because I find K712 quite ugly, but thats ok.

I returned Sundara and ordered K712 and now I'm happy.

Open back for the win

I was previously doing a lot of production on closed back sennheisers, due to baby sleeping etc. After being recommended to get studio grade open backs, I took the plunge on these. Aesthetically wonderful, the audio quality is just outstanding and I could happily wear them all day, as they are so comfortable

Very good product!

Pros

Natural sound

Comfortable

No need for correction

Cons

Open-back

These are my go-to headphones for anything other than live tracking (just because of audio bleed). BIG sound - very full and true to tone, and has an amazing room feel.

On top of all of that - these are arguably the most comfortable headphones that I've ever used. Love my K-712 Pros!