HeadphoneOverreview

AKG K240 Studio

The studio fixture that owners love and measurement rigs don't — light, cheap and comfortable, with no sub-bass and a scooped, peaky top end.

26 sourcesUpdated
$99Typical US price

Score aggregates reviewer opinions across topics.

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AKG K240 Studio

The short version

What to know.

A light, semi-open studio headphone whose measured response is not neutral: four measurement rigs agree it loses sub-bass (about 10 dB less at 20 Hz than an HD 600 on the two GRAS rigs), dips at about 1.5 kHz and again around 3.5 kHz, and then peaks narrowly between 7 and 9 kHz. What listeners make of that splits close to down the middle. Budget-gear reviewers and most owners hear a natural, mid-focused, comfortable tool with clear vocals and a surprisingly open stage, and buy it on price; Audio Science Review, DIY-Audio-Heaven, Crinacle and a stubborn minority of owners hear it as dull, compressed and bass-shy, with a gritty top end. Nearly everyone agrees the deep bass is missing, and that it leaks sound both ways — it is no headphone for a noisy room or a quiet office. Comfort is mostly praised (light, low clamp), though the shallow pleather pads press on larger ears and run hot. Durability is the other split: many owners report years of studio use, others report flimsy plastic, peeling seams and failed cables. Best treated as a cheap, comfortable monitoring and tracking tool — and worth EQ for anything more critical.

About this product

The current 55 Ω semi-open, over-ear K240 Studio (30 mm Varimotion transducer, 240 g, one detachable 3 m straight mini-XLR cable, pleather pads), black with gold trim. Not the K240 MKII, which shares the driver and chassis but adds velour pads and a coiled cable (oratory1990's measurements put the MKII 2–3.5 dB fuller below 100 Hz and otherwise within about 1.5 dB), and not the 600 Ω K240 Sextett, Monitor or DF of the 1970s–90s, which only share the look.

The K240 name goes back to AKG's 1970s studio headphones, and its self-adjusting twin-rail headband and gold-ringed semi-open cups have hung in recording rooms ever since. Today's K240 Studio is the low-impedance version: a 55 Ω, 30 mm driver that a phone or audio interface can run, a detachable mini-XLR cable and replaceable pads, at a price AKG lists at $99 and retailers routinely cut to $50–70.

That made it one of the most-bought studio headphones there is — over 12,000 Amazon ratings — and one of the most argued about. Owners and budget-gear reviewers call it comfortable, natural and great value; the measurement crowd calls it coloured, bass-shy and not much of a reference. Both sides are describing the same headphone.

A good fit for

  • Tracking, voice work and podcast monitoring in a quiet room, where comfort and a mid-focused sound matter more than bass extension
  • Long editing sessions on a budget — it is light, low-clamp and easy to drive from an interface or phone
  • Studios buying several pairs, or anyone who wants replaceable pads and a detachable cable at a low price
  • Listeners willing to EQ — the response responds well to correction at sensible volumes

Think twice if

  • You mix bass-heavy music or need to hear the sub-bass — it isn't there
  • You want a neutral reference without EQ — every rig measures a coloured curve
  • You need isolation for a noisy room, a commute, an office or a nearby microphone
  • You are sensitive to treble grit or a dull, closed-in top end — listeners hear one or the other
  • You have large ears or run hot — the shallow pleather pads are the common comfort complaint

The reviewer consensus

Agreement &
disagreement.

10 / 12topics divide opinion
isolationcomforttonalitybassmidstreblesoundstageimagingdetaildynamicsbuildvalue
1 Strong agreement1 Mostly agree10 Divided opinions

Common ground5

  • The deep bass is missing — every rig shows the sub-bass rolling away, and reviewers on both sides call it unsuited to bass-heavy mixing.
  • Four measurement rigs agree on the shape: dips near 1.5 kHz and 3.5 kHz under narrow peaks at 7–9 kHz — not a neutral curve.
  • It leaks a lot of sound and blocks very little: a quiet-room headphone, not a commuting or shared-office one.

Points of contention8

  • Tonality: 'natural, accurate studio balance' vs 'coloured and dull — EQ is mandatory' — an almost even split.
  • Bass: 'lean and rolled off' vs 'full, even boomy' — different octaves of one curve (no sub-bass under a fuller upper bass).
  • Mids: 'clear, natural vocals' vs 'lower-mid heavy with a recessed presence region'.

A closer listen.

12 topics · 10 divided
Left: criticalRight: positiveTighter lines: more agreement

Tonality

No overall leanDivided opinions
Reviewer sentiment24 supporting sources
CriticalNeutralPositive

Band: opinion spread · Dot: weighted average

Sources split almost evenly. Budget-gear reviewers and most owners hear a natural, broadly neutral, mid-focused balance that is easy to work on. The measurement-led sources — ASR, DIY-Audio-Heaven, Crinacle, Sonarworks — and a persistent group of owners hear a coloured, dull and bass-shy sound that needs EQ before it is any use as a reference. The rigs say the second camp is describing the curve; the first is describing how inoffensive that curve is to live with.

Measured

Against an HD 600 on the same rig (normalised at 500 Hz), oratory1990's and Crinacle's GRAS measurements agree almost point for point: about −10 dB at 20 Hz, −3 to −4 dB at 100 Hz, level from 200 Hz to 1 kHz, a dip of −7 to −8 dB near 1.5 kHz, −9 to −11 dB near 3.5 kHz, and a +5 dB peak near 7 kHz. listener's and Side Salad's rigs show the same two dips and a 7–9 kHz peak. Against the Harman over-ear target, oratory1990's sheet sits −21.5 dB at 20 Hz and −7 dB at 3.5 kHz. Crinacle ranks it C (tone C, technique C+).

vs. listeners — No rig shows a neutral curve, so 'accurate' and 'flat' aren't literal. The camps agree on what they hear — mid-focused, light on deep bass and sparkle — and differ on whether that is a usable studio voicing or a fault.

Where it splits
Natural and close enough to neutral — an accurate, inoffensive studio balance, especially for the price.52%

“The semi-open design promotes accurate sound reproduction.”

SoundGuys (Lil Katz)
Coloured and dull — no sub-bass, a scooped presence region and a treble peak; EQ is mandatory.48%

“Equalization is absolutely mandatory for good sound.”

Audio Science Review (amirm)
Link to this topic

The hardware

Specifications.

Checked

Design

Type
Semi-open-back over-ear
Drivers
1 × 30 mm driver (XXL transducer, Varimotion diaphragm)

Electrical

Impedance
55 Ω
Sensitivity
104 dB/V≈ 91.4 dB/mW
Frequency response
15 Hz – 25 kHz

Connection

Cable
Detachable, single-entry, 3 m
Connector
3-pin mini-XLRcommunity-sourced
Plugs supplied
3.5 mm, 6.35 mm

Physical

Weight
240 g

Manufacturer-published figures, not measurements · from akg.com, akg.com, thomann.co.uk. Connector not published by the maker — community-sourced from hands-on reviews: diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com, kopfhoerer.de.

Follow the evidence

Sources 26

1–6 of 26 sources

Read with context

Limitations & method.

As of

What to keep in mind 6

  1. This is a read of where opinion and measurements land as of October 2026. The K240 Studio has been on sale for decades, so some of the reviews behind it are years old — though the measurements and recent owner reports tell the same story.

  2. Owner star ratings skew positive, and many buyers are new to studio headphones; the written low-star reviews are mostly about the sound being dull or muffled rather than about faults.

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