AKG K-271 MKII 4-stars Reviews

great mixing and mastering headphones

if you are into music production you will like the product especially for the price i paid for at the time.

you can hear a lot of details

for listening to music it can be enjoyable but its not the loudest but loud enough,

but its main purpose is for mixing and mastering and it does it quite well

on the negative side, the quality isnt the best, although it is durable, one of the speaker pads fell with time after 1 year of usage, but nothing that affect the sound to be honest

Beware of the impedance

I have to be honest... I'm an AKG guy. I love their headphones since a decade or so. I did try Sennheiser, Audio Technica and other "classic" but always came back to AKG. It might be ear-dependent : I spent a lot of time listening to various style and mixing with the MKII series. Maybe my ears have got used to ? Plus, as a bass player, I don't expect bass / sub frequencies to be super pumped but "at the right place" and those headphones don't fail to kick them in the mix where they belong. It's all about BALANCE. Take that Bose and Beats.

The only reason I bought a new one is because of the the previous generation of "headset" (or headband, whatever you call it) : it used to be stiffer so it cracked here and there before splitting in two after 5 years of intensive use. The new headset is softer and looked like it'll last longer.

The only downfall : the output impedance doesn't match the industry standard. That's where Sennheiser models shine brighter. It's a bit frustrating because it sounds like AKG headphones fail to show their full potential.

So turn the knobs up to 11 and don't forget those precious Lemmy's words of wisdom : if it's too loud, you're too old !

Great for beginners!

I bought them as I was needing something to monitor on and mix on. I know mixing on headphones is sketchy, but when you can't afford real monitors it is okay. This is my first pair of more expensive headphones and I am blown away. They work really well and give enough clarity to the sound. If you are looking for headphones for your beginner home studio, you won't make a wrong choice with these.

Good heaphones, if you have the right-sized ears

The K-271 MKIIs are a nice pair of cans, but only if you've got ears that fit inside the inner circumference of the pads. My ears are not round in shape, and are more suited to a headphone pad that's shaped like the Cloud II pads - elongated top-to-bottom.

So, a lovely pair of cans, nice and light, with good sound when driven from a decent DAC, but not comfortable for me to wear, since the over-ear design was on-ear.

Satisfait !

Bon rapport qualité prix, il est robuste et remplit parfaitement sa fonction. Petit manque de basses que j'ai vite réglé avec un EQ. Après 6/7 heures d'utilisation, le casque commence à être inconfortable.

Well priced

Quality at a good price. Comes with a range of accessories. Would be good if there was a bag for them for field work. However, the headset seems to leak a bit of sound when listening and recording at the same time. Also doesnt mould itself to my head and "seal off" at my ears as well as some other headsets do.

Quality Studio Headphones

I just finished mixing a new sound for our group and was truly happy with the audio and comfort of these headphones. They felt well built and the connectors for the cables seem strong. During a recording session with our guitarist, he felt that he was able to hear exactly what he was looking for in his monitor mix. I think the price was worth every cent.

lacks low register

I have a k702. Decided to try k271. I was a little disappointed with sound. I find it be lacking lows. Overall sound is thin to my ears. I mostly compare it to my K702.

Other than that the phones are alright. Feels good on the head, the quality is very good.

As expected, Very good

AKG are hard to beat for the studio, these are excellent, only one thing bugs me its the noise they make as the headband moves, apart from that just what i wanted.

Good audio quality

The audio quality is good and a detachable cable is very handy.

Only the cable not being in a coil-like form is a bit annoying when moving around a lot from your desk.

Great headphones, just be sure to check your mixes( if you are using this for mixes), if you didn't put too much bass.

Good sound and quality, you will not regret it.

AKG, you get what you expect

Mostly using these in a open-office environment at work to not bother co-workers with rocking out. Sound is rather neutral; some complain lacking bass, but I would call these as "open" sound and well balanced; something you'd expect from a headphone that is targeted for recording use.

Also I have some experience in these headphones from studio use, recording *loud* rock guitars, hence these were my go-to choice when purchasing. Nicely isolating, yet not feeling too boxy.

Loud!

In these you can play LOUD without them cracking up. Off course depending on the power of your headphone amp. A very nice feature is the way they cut out the sound when they're not on your head since then there won't be any phones lying around at full blast leaking into overdubs etc.

Soundwise they are a bit on the honky side for vocal recording but for drums they are perfect because of the serious isolation.

Not really to use for recording vocals because of a slight lack of high frequencies compared to the AKG 240's , for example but when you need volume they's da shiit. ;-)

Weird to get used to but overall very good

I got this pair of headphones for my home studio to use when recording vocals. A common issue I was having using any other set of headphones was that every singer (including myself) was a bit out of pitch although while recording you think you are bang on. This is common when trapped frequencies in closed headphones alter the perception of tone.

A friend of mine recommended these headphones because they are designed exactly for this purpose. They free the range of frequencies that confuse singers and help stay on tune. At first I found them awkward because you get a very different sound than what you are used to, like middle range from 800 Hz to 1500 Hz missing or something, but after I used them for a few sessions I got used to them and now I can record vocals perfectly.

I like the switch feature on the headband, they turn off when you take them off. Only downside is that they are a bit low on volume but my mixing desk has a preamp so I don't have a problem.

Good headphones

Bought these a few years ago and still using them. Have done alot of demoing and a few albums and there holding up to studio life. Automatic shut off is handy when left in the recording room. Will be using them for the forseeable future

Good sound, not so good material...

I am a drummer and i bought these to use as monitor headphones when recording in studio and use them for mixing especially for the effects (reverb etc). Right out of the box, the plastic material and ear pads look a bit poor quality at first, but the extra telephone type cable and the golden plated screw-head jack extension is pretty cool. It doesn't fit tight on the head, it's pretty loose, so it's a bit uncomfortable when playing drums; but it won't be a problem for a guitar player, a pianist or a singer. It's also very poor at sound isolation. This becomes a trouble for especially drummers, you hear all the acoustic sound when playing. Again, i don't think it will be a problem for other musicians. The sound quality is very good. Very detailed, clear and crisp highs & mids, and stunning performance at lower frequencies. These babies give you lowest end your ears are able to hear, without distortion... The impedance is so low that it blows your head with the volume and still no (or very little) distortion. Very good choice for vocals, wind instruments, guitars, keyboards etc; drummers better look somewhere else though...

Magnifier glass

For judging my sound on location, I use this headphone in addition to Beyerdynamic DT770. The AKG K-271 MKII does not sound "pleasant" but it will give you the tiniest details of what your microphones hear, especially transient information.

The transient detail density also makes it very useful for narrators and voice-overs, as they will immediately hear their own lip smacks and saliva noises, resulting in a much better behaviour of the mouth.

I love the automatic switch in the headband mechanism. Some artists have the tendency to take off their headphones near a microphone and the switch will avoid feedback ruining anything in the chain. The only problem is with hipsters who want to hold the headphone in their hand with one speaker to an ear. Or when they want to protect their valuable hair dress and keep the headband in their neck. In these cases no sound will come out of it. Much to my enjoyment, as I despise behaviour with an "attitude". Let's just get the work done and put it on your head properly! This headphone is very good for that.

In comparison to the Beyerdynamic DT770, I should say that the 770 has a much more easy to listen to sound with fewer detail accentuation. So in case I need to reassure an uncertain musician when they want to hear back their playing (violinists especially), I prefer to hand them the DT770. The AKG K-271 MKII would be a bit too honest in such a situation. Also: the DT770 is better suitable to judge low frequency rumbling when you do a location recording. It's overblowing the lows, but that can be helpful if you want to find a good setting for your HPF.

All in all I think the AKG K-271 MKII and the Beyerdynamic DT770 make a very good addition to each other, in both studio and location recording.