AKG Studio headphones

AKG K240 Studio headphones, semi open back, detachable cord, very flat response. When I bought these I brought my ipod into Guitar Center. I sat down with 3 pair to pick out my favorite. Among these were Shure SRH44's, Sennheiser HD280s, Audio Technica ATH-M50's and a few others. Prices ranged from $100 to 200, open back to semi open to fully closed. On my ipod I have ranging from CCR all the way to Machine Head so I had a good variety to hear. I also had master tracks from MetallicA, Alice in Chains, and Randy Rhoads so I could hear how individual instruments sounded. I chose these because the SRH's weren't very comfortable, had a lot of bass, and had a sort of compressed feel to them (they're fully closed back). The ATH-M50's had ice picky highs, weren't comfortable, and just didn't sound nearly as good. These are semi open back so they don't let as much noise in/out but there is still some bleed. They sound very natural, highs are smooth and don't hurt your ears at higher volumes. Bass wasn't overwhelming but even when turned up it didn't get farty. They are very comfortable. They sit around your ear instead of on them and have very little push against your head, the SRH's felt like a clamp. Basically everything sounded very balanced and what I'd imagine everything SHOULD sound like. Must be a reason most studios use these headphones. Cool little things like the detachable cable are just a big plus. Overall these are great headphones. May not be the best when tracking because of the bleed but out of the ones I tried they had by far the best sound and were most comfortable which is ideal for mixing and just overall listening. For tracking I’d recommend a closed back headphone like the ATH’s or the SRH’s, but for mixing it’s all about open or semi open back.

How long have you been using the product? I've been using them for almost two years to do "home studio" recordings. I have tested them with different amps (Luxman, Kenwood, a Line 6 interface, etc...) and I have never been disappointed. Did you try any other models before buying it? Yes, lots, some Sennheiser and other low-end models. Which feature do you like the most / the least? I think they have a well-balanced and, especially, not muffled sound. Good frequency range for headphones at this price point. The earcups are swiveling and they adapt well to the ear for a comfortable use. You won't have the idea of having your ears inside a sauna after two or three hours of listening!!! They stay in place when I play guitar. The cons: After wearing them too long (all day), my ears ache a bit. What about the value for money? To me they are a good value for money. Based on your experience, would you buy this product again? Yes, for what I use them, they work very well. I already recommended them to a friend who got the K-141 and he is very satisfied with them, even if they demand monitor speakers for recordings...

The AKG K 55's are a set of studio headphones for uses of all types. I'll just say up front that I'm not a huge fan of these headphones, as they feel cheap and don't have a great sound. AKG apparently agreed as they are no longer making these headphones, although you can probably find used ones. The headphones are only suitable for one application, and that's for listening during recording. They don't have a great sound at all, but will be fine for this kind of use as you don't need to get the fullest picture possible when monitoring during recording (although it can help). They do encompass a good amount of bass response, but it's not a tight sound to me at all. You could also get away with using them for general listening purposes, but do you really want to be walking around out there with these on your head? Not only are they huge but they're really cheap feeling. The outside is made out of some kind of plastic and it really adds to the tackiness of them both in handling of them and look. I'm not sure when these headphones were made or for how long, but there's also an AKG K 220 which is essentially the same set of headphones under a different name. I doubt that these are going for too much in the used market, but they weren't as cheap as they should have been while they were still being made. We have a pair of these K 55's around the studio that kind of float from room to room as needed, but for me they're always the last pair off the shelf and only used on a must needed basis. Obviously, I'd suggest staying away from the AKG K 55's and looking at something else that's a bit sturdier in make up and has a better sound.

I've had these headphones for a few years. They were on sale at the music store, and I wanted to get a few extra pairs of headphones for the studio. I tried them out there, and they sounded great. They look very stylish and high-tech, which is something I do enjoy. They are very comfortable to wear. They have a lot of padding since they are a closed-ear design. They don't press on your head very hard if you set the headband to the right size. The response on these is 18hz to 26khz, so you're going to hear every bit of the spectrum and then some. Since they are closed-ear the isolation you can get is pretty good, so details will definitely emerge. They aren't super isolated, so they may not be the best choice for something like recording drums or a really loud guitar where you need total quiet in the headphones, but they work well for pretty much everything else. A nice feature is the detachable cord, so if something happens to your cord you can get it replaced instead of having to get new headphones. The cord connects with a mini-xlr connection, and then there is a standard stereo jack for the actual end of the headphone cable. They also give you 2 cable choices, one is straight and one is coiled, and they are of different lengths. This is convenient because I hate coiled cables and you usually don't get that choice. New, these are around $200, but I got mine on sale for half that and it was a total steal. Even at their normal price I think that these would be a good investment. They stack up very well to the other headphone types at this price range, and they look better and are more comfortable than a lot of them. I would get them again.

I've used these headphones for 2 years now, they are comfortable, good-looking and, more important than all, they DO sound really good. They helped me make better home studio mixes through revealing some frequencies that usually remained hidden with "usual" (non-professionnal) headphones or speakers. The impedance is very high (600 ohms) compared with most other headphones, so with the same settings the general volume will be lower on these ones than on most other headphones. They also tend to saturate early in the lower part of the sound spectrum (DeeJays, stay away! ;) ), which may help if you have a tendency to overload your mixes with low frequencies. Listening to (and rediscovering) some old records with them can be a real pleasure too... It is a pity this model is no longer available (it was replaced by the K 240 Studio which has a lower impedance seems to favor low frequencies and thus shall be less trustworthy for mixing purpose).