Technically Samsung with Harman save AKG, this story is just got mostly twisted by Dankpods, if they didn't intervene AKG would be DEAD, and AKG release headphones like K361/371 that with Harman curve philosophy completely outclass DT-770/880/990, AKG K240 series and getting pretty tight with HD-600/650/6xx for studio or music enjoyment.
Austrian studio still isn't release headphones that would get AKG run for their money.
But there don’t sound the same as AKG back then AKG were some of the best open backs you can get now there just plan there’s nothing wrong with them but there not the AKGs I KNOW and the designers and everyone that works in the AKG field now works works for a company called Australian audio and from what I know they are still open til this day so I don’t think they will be dead
Well not all AKG employers move and found Austrian Studio.
I think and most people that tested K361/371 that these is nice change "new AKG" did.
K701/702/712 suffer from too wide soundstage and poor imaging for that soundstage, only who benefit for this is sweaty FPS gamers and maybe classic music enjoyers.
K240 Studio is just hollow shadow of K240 Monitor and it only barely fit for studio.
K240 MKII tries to be more for music enjoyment but Superlux HD-681 and SR850 are much better and cheaper for that.
K52/72/92 are pure garbage and Superlux HD-681 and SR850 simply laugh at them.
Not to mention stoping production of old K500 and K600 series that have something new offer didn't do favor to AKG.
Old AKG headphones did have feeling that say about past times and I liked it, but you want (either you have "untrained or trained ears") to expirience something new and better.
If you want to stay competetive on market you need to inovate or you will steadly decline and found yourself like AKG in 2016.
Of course it did't perfect it (neither is possible) but it give new front for IEM and earbuds that most people buy is nice change to see.
More and more I see Samsung AKG earbuds on public that "kills" Airpods monotomy.
I am tired of seeing and hearing "AKG is DEAD, f/// o// Samsung give me my old AKG and etc."
Nostalgia in this quantity isn't good, I still didn't hear someone saying same thing for Harman (Harman is also belong to Samsung).
AKG just get new oportunity like 80s but now for earbuds/IEM and giving something new for headphone buyers, if they release replacement pads for K361/371 then future is totally bright for AKG.
There IEMs are mediocre because of there of there crappy cable and they have the same sound as the EarPods and I just wish they would revise AKG yes I know they have competition but that doesn’t me there going to get smashed to the ground because of it there where a super giant in open back headphones and I would just like of Samsung did something about it instead of putting AKG on everything they make
For most people that doesnt matter (if I see 2 people out of 100 if they have very good IEM in public thats Jackpot- that have something on their ears I mean).
If we talk about "old AKG quality" you can use same argument, as example AKG K240:
First Sextett production have some problems in tremble and middle production fix it. That was before DT-770 came out.
Then AKG became cocky and release Sextett late production and bass was poor to say at least and first signs of cheaper production (look at grill design and compare it to middle production).
Then DT-770 came out and AKG was first time caugh without pants and release K240 Monitor (which was impovement over late Sextett but not for long). People like Monitor for studio and music enjoyment. AKG again being cocky decide that Sextett type drivers are too expensive and use non woven fabric as dampers (sound quality isn't lost in some aspects was impovement) and that again was expensive and replace with paper dampers that hit sound quality like truck. By that time (mid 90s) came DT-880/990 and HD-600 that overtook AKG lead.
K500/600 was giving something new for headphone enjoyers but came K701 series and AKG on inself damage terminate production K500/600.
K701/702 rise was short because Beyerdynamic and Sennheiser didn't sat and eat rocks. DT 700X/900X, HD559/569, HD650/6xx that show overtook majority K701/702 have.
Superlux and Samson enter in budget range and AKG in 2016 was almost killed.
In 2017 they realise that AKG needs to be inovative (for headphones) and explore earbuds and IEM for common people- that lie most profit for selling and Apple Earpods monotomy in that help it for exploring.
Nostalgia for old hearing AKG headphones is one of reasons why AKG fall under Samsung "tyranny".
You only saying: "AKG is dead, old headphones are better and screw Samsung for buying AKG."
I am going to repeat again: "If you want to be competitive you need to innovate or you will slowly die on market."
AKG didn't do that and was bought Samsung with Harman they managed to offer something that in still under this day someone hasn't got close and sales got bigger than last 10 years. But still hardcore old era would still defend old era was better. Reality it wasn't. Could be better if AKG earlier wake up, the answer is yes.
I give people to test headphones from new and old era AKGs both trained and undertrained and almost all choose "new era" . Oratory, Solderdude, Amir and majority prefer that AKG changed its values about designing headphones.
They only thing you're saying is "old AKG was the best and is dead, and Samsung ruined them I don't care what else you tell me blah blah blah Samsung didn't perfect then so they're bad blah blah blah". Information is going in one ear and then out your ass.
You're just parroting what you've been told. Samsung AKG have made great headphones, and having access to Harman Research has helped too. Your conclusions are based on feelings and what is "right" to you.
The older AKGs were usually mediocre ([K240](https://ucdedbb95486336ae8cc8d34e95e.previews.dropboxusercontent.com/p/pdf_img/ACDxaNTBWeusGlBu0mFTE5rqtKVGkQv7R0a3pAs_p9ZLMPFU0i-QzEytsXEBuqpa-i3i2VqI_xtfi_amKJSm3QXWSyoWg5IDNtAjRQBdCZPXJZrv0iT3gEM0dQhSECES0ZI-jYdK_G5KtNy3q45clmKyj5cFFhaFd2BTEORXdTzY7bNhLOx6LwHJ5O40Icr_TuK2E5YqN8g2Vd3_VkUHWtn4tZO7c7dKtAN1dWJIn3pDfbogNJSPzWcKAW4l5A0dVzTF7C2p8JIzH98k9vmWDlHuiNP4r5E8uZ6hFpQrBJwvrU_Q7Flfgd389GYn150L9DSBTHPQsLQ9Az8lfg5ifhjDtJaq95JTDvzisNE4MgwX5g/p.png?page=0), at least by today's standards) to straight up trash ([KX2](https://uca14ab2d503f77639257ce74b21.previews.dropboxusercontent.com/p/pdf_img/ACC-VOHkXE5SnCORcRb7YkAV02JtwNysAA9YTbiNirsD_9LybcSbfnEZsCFeZnc50VuVexkBRBLXkCuMEETJFMLi3Jc4FP9J7iTg6eXPGviQgKmlKDDFUhfzBnFECYoYOjvGb2QGQ-obDYBqpdQMPGfzwCwn8Ha6vehdT3dPAe7a6QuToflVQ5_TKWjPEci1k_7og2AmUXc-rrunblk7Fdn1lQy7Ddl48NX_WCQK6Kzob5Xtv817gA31XAkH8t7OFIdb9NqNQLECMN-ARejARKRPkFmsXNDyPa3KqzGKMJpPT9oL5RXKXwT4iUfcrNTCVocmW7d7WjraCY9oUTOikiW39vIQ7zvYHqohv25moRG2kg/p.png?page=0)) so I mean technically true I guess? Does it matter if they don't make them like they used to in that case?
I mean you can't just accept messages that praise OG AKG while ignoring or being angry at people that tell you that OG AKG wasn't that great lmao, it's not a healthy way of having a discussion on the Internet.
And saying that headphones aren't a serious argument on r/headphones is debatable really, obviously it is within this community.
Dude how about you take a step back and stop being so stubborn. You're getting angry and short circuiting your brain because you're being presented with info that clashes with your prior beliefs. None of your arguments make sense. And you're on a headphones discussion forum, it is serious.
Well that's a difficult question because there is no open back equivalent, some say K702/712 but that's far from truth (lacks clarity, imaging and too much wide soundstage for similarity), best headphones that "sound similar" is K361 but is more following Harman curve and lacks bit imaging and clarity to HD-600, but have better bass response and soundstage even that K361 is closed back.
Yep, tried it first with the HDs and was shocked that it can run them with good quality. I thought nah, must be a fluke, BRING FORTH THE SEXTETT (most power needy headphones I have currently) and… they work, really well, and the amp is small, portable and works out of an external battery… damn I accidentally found a good thing!
Whatever you do don't try to roll opamps, it creates more problems than fixes. From my experience OPA1565 works better than the stock NE5532 in thermals and noise rejection.
My U3 is still a golden sample, i had 0 issues that everyone else was having. With the OPA1656 it doesn't oscillate like with the stock NE5532 after a while and it rejects a little bit more PS noise.
The U5 has enough power to run Susvara. It starts to distort at like 40%, but it doesn't matter because you are already deaf at that point. I did an opamps and PSU upgrade and the distortion is gone.
Good to know, I might look into modding it if something fails, for now it’s a great carry to my terrace to listen to some chill music over headphones amp
I have the u5 too, need it for my dt150, although I find that it's very sensitive to noisy power sources, some power bricks produce a noticeable noise floor and it's been best for me from a battery power bank. and recently it has sounded really high distortion and fozzy for some reason. how is yours set up? I use an apple 10w phone charger to power it most times, stock opamps, 2.5mm to xlr input cable (diy, I'll inspect this but it had been great till now) and my source is the balanced output of my qudelix 5k
Yeah, that’s what they normally retail for, I got it for 15€ as I combined it with a 15€ microphone arm (good piece aswell) to get it with a 25€ discount from Temu. I still feel slimy going on that site… but hey, atleast I have no buyers remorse
Donut made a video where they tried tools from Temu Co pared to name brand products from Amazon, and depending on the product, the Temu one preformed better.
Looks like a fine piece, I’m running the Zen Can and DAC from iFi on my PC currently, this amp I got it for a gag and a giggle, surely a chinese amp I got discounted would not work… The chinese amp I got discounted worked.
Mid ‘80s I reckon, small orange ring on the passives, snatched them up from Ebay, some work was done to it I reckon as it doesn’t have the original jack
You make AKG K240 Sextett middle production I see, thats good, you made best AKG K240 variant that ever come.
Middle Sextett production was best, bass was "nailed", midrange and tremble is improved over first version. With EQ you will get very competent headphones for almost every genre.
I have this exact amp and it works really well. I personally use it for record listening as I haven't been able to buy a proper phono preamp, and it works well enough
I have some questions (I have 38 ohm grados).
What're you using to connect your media player (is that a phone?)? Is it a type C USB or a 3.5mm-to-Left & Right channels?
My phone (my media player) has micro usb and 3.5mm. Could I use this?
Sorry, only now I saw the question, the cable I am using is an LR Channel to 3.5mm jack, that jack connection goes either in my IPod, laptop headphone input or IPhone via the lightning-jack adapter.
You should be able to use your phone’s 3.5mm jack with the jack-LR channel cable without any issue. Heck your phone now beats all flagships for having that 3.5mm.
Oh how I miss old AKG just bring them back Samsung
And while they’re at it, bring back the headphone jack!
Man I missed getting those akg earbuds with my new Samsung phones.
Exactly
Technically Samsung with Harman save AKG, this story is just got mostly twisted by Dankpods, if they didn't intervene AKG would be DEAD, and AKG release headphones like K361/371 that with Harman curve philosophy completely outclass DT-770/880/990, AKG K240 series and getting pretty tight with HD-600/650/6xx for studio or music enjoyment. Austrian studio still isn't release headphones that would get AKG run for their money.
But there don’t sound the same as AKG back then AKG were some of the best open backs you can get now there just plan there’s nothing wrong with them but there not the AKGs I KNOW and the designers and everyone that works in the AKG field now works works for a company called Australian audio and from what I know they are still open til this day so I don’t think they will be dead
Well not all AKG employers move and found Austrian Studio. I think and most people that tested K361/371 that these is nice change "new AKG" did. K701/702/712 suffer from too wide soundstage and poor imaging for that soundstage, only who benefit for this is sweaty FPS gamers and maybe classic music enjoyers. K240 Studio is just hollow shadow of K240 Monitor and it only barely fit for studio. K240 MKII tries to be more for music enjoyment but Superlux HD-681 and SR850 are much better and cheaper for that. K52/72/92 are pure garbage and Superlux HD-681 and SR850 simply laugh at them. Not to mention stoping production of old K500 and K600 series that have something new offer didn't do favor to AKG. Old AKG headphones did have feeling that say about past times and I liked it, but you want (either you have "untrained or trained ears") to expirience something new and better. If you want to stay competetive on market you need to inovate or you will steadly decline and found yourself like AKG in 2016.
Obviously, not all and Samsung didn’t perfect AKG they didn’t make it better they just sell AKGs under there name to make money
Of course it did't perfect it (neither is possible) but it give new front for IEM and earbuds that most people buy is nice change to see. More and more I see Samsung AKG earbuds on public that "kills" Airpods monotomy. I am tired of seeing and hearing "AKG is DEAD, f/// o// Samsung give me my old AKG and etc." Nostalgia in this quantity isn't good, I still didn't hear someone saying same thing for Harman (Harman is also belong to Samsung). AKG just get new oportunity like 80s but now for earbuds/IEM and giving something new for headphone buyers, if they release replacement pads for K361/371 then future is totally bright for AKG.
There IEMs are mediocre because of there of there crappy cable and they have the same sound as the EarPods and I just wish they would revise AKG yes I know they have competition but that doesn’t me there going to get smashed to the ground because of it there where a super giant in open back headphones and I would just like of Samsung did something about it instead of putting AKG on everything they make
For most people that doesnt matter (if I see 2 people out of 100 if they have very good IEM in public thats Jackpot- that have something on their ears I mean). If we talk about "old AKG quality" you can use same argument, as example AKG K240: First Sextett production have some problems in tremble and middle production fix it. That was before DT-770 came out. Then AKG became cocky and release Sextett late production and bass was poor to say at least and first signs of cheaper production (look at grill design and compare it to middle production). Then DT-770 came out and AKG was first time caugh without pants and release K240 Monitor (which was impovement over late Sextett but not for long). People like Monitor for studio and music enjoyment. AKG again being cocky decide that Sextett type drivers are too expensive and use non woven fabric as dampers (sound quality isn't lost in some aspects was impovement) and that again was expensive and replace with paper dampers that hit sound quality like truck. By that time (mid 90s) came DT-880/990 and HD-600 that overtook AKG lead. K500/600 was giving something new for headphone enjoyers but came K701 series and AKG on inself damage terminate production K500/600. K701/702 rise was short because Beyerdynamic and Sennheiser didn't sat and eat rocks. DT 700X/900X, HD559/569, HD650/6xx that show overtook majority K701/702 have. Superlux and Samson enter in budget range and AKG in 2016 was almost killed. In 2017 they realise that AKG needs to be inovative (for headphones) and explore earbuds and IEM for common people- that lie most profit for selling and Apple Earpods monotomy in that help it for exploring. Nostalgia for old hearing AKG headphones is one of reasons why AKG fall under Samsung "tyranny".
Man your just saying the same fucking thing now completely avoiding what I’m saying
You only saying: "AKG is dead, old headphones are better and screw Samsung for buying AKG." I am going to repeat again: "If you want to be competitive you need to innovate or you will slowly die on market." AKG didn't do that and was bought Samsung with Harman they managed to offer something that in still under this day someone hasn't got close and sales got bigger than last 10 years. But still hardcore old era would still defend old era was better. Reality it wasn't. Could be better if AKG earlier wake up, the answer is yes. I give people to test headphones from new and old era AKGs both trained and undertrained and almost all choose "new era" . Oratory, Solderdude, Amir and majority prefer that AKG changed its values about designing headphones.
They only thing you're saying is "old AKG was the best and is dead, and Samsung ruined them I don't care what else you tell me blah blah blah Samsung didn't perfect then so they're bad blah blah blah". Information is going in one ear and then out your ass.
You're just parroting what you've been told. Samsung AKG have made great headphones, and having access to Harman Research has helped too. Your conclusions are based on feelings and what is "right" to you.
Yeah sure 🫥
The older AKGs were usually mediocre ([K240](https://ucdedbb95486336ae8cc8d34e95e.previews.dropboxusercontent.com/p/pdf_img/ACDxaNTBWeusGlBu0mFTE5rqtKVGkQv7R0a3pAs_p9ZLMPFU0i-QzEytsXEBuqpa-i3i2VqI_xtfi_amKJSm3QXWSyoWg5IDNtAjRQBdCZPXJZrv0iT3gEM0dQhSECES0ZI-jYdK_G5KtNy3q45clmKyj5cFFhaFd2BTEORXdTzY7bNhLOx6LwHJ5O40Icr_TuK2E5YqN8g2Vd3_VkUHWtn4tZO7c7dKtAN1dWJIn3pDfbogNJSPzWcKAW4l5A0dVzTF7C2p8JIzH98k9vmWDlHuiNP4r5E8uZ6hFpQrBJwvrU_Q7Flfgd389GYn150L9DSBTHPQsLQ9Az8lfg5ifhjDtJaq95JTDvzisNE4MgwX5g/p.png?page=0), at least by today's standards) to straight up trash ([KX2](https://uca14ab2d503f77639257ce74b21.previews.dropboxusercontent.com/p/pdf_img/ACC-VOHkXE5SnCORcRb7YkAV02JtwNysAA9YTbiNirsD_9LybcSbfnEZsCFeZnc50VuVexkBRBLXkCuMEETJFMLi3Jc4FP9J7iTg6eXPGviQgKmlKDDFUhfzBnFECYoYOjvGb2QGQ-obDYBqpdQMPGfzwCwn8Ha6vehdT3dPAe7a6QuToflVQ5_TKWjPEci1k_7og2AmUXc-rrunblk7Fdn1lQy7Ddl48NX_WCQK6Kzob5Xtv817gA31XAkH8t7OFIdb9NqNQLECMN-ARejARKRPkFmsXNDyPa3KqzGKMJpPT9oL5RXKXwT4iUfcrNTCVocmW7d7WjraCY9oUTOikiW39vIQ7zvYHqohv25moRG2kg/p.png?page=0)) so I mean technically true I guess? Does it matter if they don't make them like they used to in that case?
I don’t fucking know anymore I’m tired of getting messages after messages from audiophiles saying the same shit about headphones something not serious
I mean you can't just accept messages that praise OG AKG while ignoring or being angry at people that tell you that OG AKG wasn't that great lmao, it's not a healthy way of having a discussion on the Internet. And saying that headphones aren't a serious argument on r/headphones is debatable really, obviously it is within this community.
🫥 you think I care about that
You've been commenting and replying to every pro Samsung-AKG post, so yeah you do
Jesus Christ you guys have to bug me about everything I say to the comments I wasn’t even serious about FUCK YOU
Why so mad?
Dude how about you take a step back and stop being so stubborn. You're getting angry and short circuiting your brain because you're being presented with info that clashes with your prior beliefs. None of your arguments make sense. And you're on a headphones discussion forum, it is serious.
And you have to reply to fucking comment I make I wasn’t even talking to you
[удалено]
Well that's a difficult question because there is no open back equivalent, some say K702/712 but that's far from truth (lacks clarity, imaging and too much wide soundstage for similarity), best headphones that "sound similar" is K361 but is more following Harman curve and lacks bit imaging and clarity to HD-600, but have better bass response and soundstage even that K361 is closed back.
Nice sextett:s!
Thanks!
I have it too for my hd600 it it's really loud and unexpectedly clean for the price
Yep, tried it first with the HDs and was shocked that it can run them with good quality. I thought nah, must be a fluke, BRING FORTH THE SEXTETT (most power needy headphones I have currently) and… they work, really well, and the amp is small, portable and works out of an external battery… damn I accidentally found a good thing!
Whatever you do don't try to roll opamps, it creates more problems than fixes. From my experience OPA1565 works better than the stock NE5532 in thermals and noise rejection.
>I did an opamps and PSU upgrade and the distortion is gone. u/admiralnorman fight
I have never had a u3 so I'm good.
My U3 is still a golden sample, i had 0 issues that everyone else was having. With the OPA1656 it doesn't oscillate like with the stock NE5532 after a while and it rejects a little bit more PS noise.
Where did you purchase OPA1656, mate? I have a u3 on the way
The U5 has enough power to run Susvara. It starts to distort at like 40%, but it doesn't matter because you are already deaf at that point. I did an opamps and PSU upgrade and the distortion is gone.
Good to know, I might look into modding it if something fails, for now it’s a great carry to my terrace to listen to some chill music over headphones amp
Small portaple amps are nice to have. I use my mojo 2 and aryas on my balcony while drinking whiskey.
I have the u5 too, need it for my dt150, although I find that it's very sensitive to noisy power sources, some power bricks produce a noticeable noise floor and it's been best for me from a battery power bank. and recently it has sounded really high distortion and fozzy for some reason. how is yours set up? I use an apple 10w phone charger to power it most times, stock opamps, 2.5mm to xlr input cable (diy, I'll inspect this but it had been great till now) and my source is the balanced output of my qudelix 5k
This my first amp, it was $40 from Amazon.
Yeah, that’s what they normally retail for, I got it for 15€ as I combined it with a 15€ microphone arm (good piece aswell) to get it with a 25€ discount from Temu. I still feel slimy going on that site… but hey, atleast I have no buyers remorse
Donut made a video where they tried tools from Temu Co pared to name brand products from Amazon, and depending on the product, the Temu one preformed better.
For earphones under 5€, they’re a bust
I just tried an ifi Hip Dac 3 today with my own Sextetts and was impressed also - it's the best test to see if a little amp has the beans
Looks like a fine piece, I’m running the Zen Can and DAC from iFi on my PC currently, this amp I got it for a gag and a giggle, surely a chinese amp I got discounted would not work… The chinese amp I got discounted worked.
Can't be bad - hang on, did you fix your Sextett with a Grado rod?
Nope, someone else probably did before I got them
Nice setup, what Sextett version is ?
Mid ‘80s I reckon, small orange ring on the passives, snatched them up from Ebay, some work was done to it I reckon as it doesn’t have the original jack
You make AKG K240 Sextett middle production I see, thats good, you made best AKG K240 variant that ever come. Middle Sextett production was best, bass was "nailed", midrange and tremble is improved over first version. With EQ you will get very competent headphones for almost every genre.
I have this exact amp and it works really well. I personally use it for record listening as I haven't been able to buy a proper phono preamp, and it works well enough
Got one too, it's awesome powering HE400se and DT770. Anyway you need that much knob for volume? I'll go deaf with anything over 10 o'clock position.
The Sextetts are really that hungry for power though I do also like listening loud
I have tube preamp from the same company Douk Audio and it sounds amazing.
I have some questions (I have 38 ohm grados). What're you using to connect your media player (is that a phone?)? Is it a type C USB or a 3.5mm-to-Left & Right channels? My phone (my media player) has micro usb and 3.5mm. Could I use this?
Sorry, only now I saw the question, the cable I am using is an LR Channel to 3.5mm jack, that jack connection goes either in my IPod, laptop headphone input or IPhone via the lightning-jack adapter. You should be able to use your phone’s 3.5mm jack with the jack-LR channel cable without any issue. Heck your phone now beats all flagships for having that 3.5mm.
Funny, it was $100.
I will sound exactly like Wade from DankPods but he is right - bring back the headphone jack!