An open-back, 62-ohm studio reference whose one near-universal strength is an unusually wide, out-of-head soundstage — reviewers, forums and owners agree it is the standout at its price — backed by resolving detail, a clean and slightly forward midrange and quick, snappy dynamics. It is light, gently clamping and comfortable for most people for hours, though the unpadded headband bothers a minority, and it isolates nothing by design. Nearly everything else splits the room roughly in half. Tonality reads as flat reference to one camp and bright and thin to the other; the bass is either tight and honest or simply too lean; the treble is crisp and airy or bright and fatiguing; imaging is precise to some and vague behind the huge width to others. Build is the most one-sided of the splits: reviewers call the plastic frame sturdy, but a large owner tail reports worn-out elastic bands, broken headband parts and earcup wiring whose factory solder fails after a year or two. Measurements agree it rolls off in the sub-bass (a little less than an HD 600 does) with a lift around 6 kHz; they disagree by rig on how hot the 2–5 kHz presence region is. It wants a real amp for volume, and it is widely seen as very good value at sale prices and a much harder sell near its list.
About this product
Open-back, 62 Ω — the 2008 detachable-cable (mini-XLR), angled-pad successor to the K701. Measured near-identical to the K701 and Q701; the K712 PRO is the warmer, bassier sibling and the Drop K7XX is less bright. Early made-in-Austria units had a bumpy headband strap; later China-made units have a flat one. AKG's own store now lists it at $214.50 against a $429 list, and sales well under $150 are common.
The AKG K702 is the open-back that taught a generation what a wide soundstage sounds like. A 2008 refinement of the K701, it added a detachable mini-XLR cable and slightly angled pads and otherwise kept the 'AKG house sound': airy, analytical and light in the low end. It has spent well over a decade on mixing desks and in mastering rooms, moved from Austrian to Chinese production along the way, and now sells for a fraction of its old list price.
Almost nobody disputes the stage: it is huge, out-of-head, and the thing owners keep them for. Almost everything else is argued. Is the tuning a flat reference or a bright, thin one? Is the bass tight and honest, or just missing? Is the treble crisp or fatiguing? Is the all-plastic, elastic-suspended frame light and sturdy, or a repair job waiting to happen? The measurements help with some of these, and they show the answers depend partly on the unit and the test rig.
