AKG K612PRO Open-Back Over-Ear Premium Reference Studio Headphones

Product Information

My Top 2 choices are the K702, then the K712, followed by the K612, K701, and then Q701. I really don’t see a need to link all of them, so I will link the first 2 instead. What’s obvious is the resemblance above 5kHz to the K400/500 above. The K612 has a similar ‘bump’ around 2.5kHz followed by a small dip. The K612 doesn’t show the typical roll-off below 100Hz which the 400/500 series shows. In fact I would say it is rather flat. And yeah, that jam out got REAL spiritual. Like wow. I now know exactly where the Allman Brothers and Grateful Dead got some of their influence.

AKG K702 (The Classic) vs. K612 Pro (The Upstart) – Review AKG K702 (The Classic) vs. K612 Pro (The Upstart) – Review

The ‘sharp’ treble signature is completely gone and the headphone now has a warm character. I find it more pleasant, but the K612 still shows a ‘low quality’ treble which isn’t masked any more by it being elevated and sounds a bit ‘coarse’ as in not smooth. The 702’s 2kHz bump gives it much-needed energy and the treble sounds crisp and fantastic without overdoing it. Okay, now that my rant is aside, that IS a tough decision. I would lean towards K702 only because the 400i has a somewhat essy treble and can get fatiguing while I don’t experience any fatigue with the 702. Both are very comfortable. What you’ll find is that a planar does tend to have slightly better timbre than a dynamic, and the differences, while subtle, are still there. So yeah, HIFIMAN outperforms by a smidgen, but the essy treble at times may turn you off. This CAN be EQ’d down a bit.

Weight

Below the CSD for the K612. The ‘grass’ between 1kHz and 4kHZ shown in the GD plot above seems caused by resonances. It doesn’t always manifest, but can be problematic at times. A minor flaw in an otherwise amazing headphone. The K-612 shares the same headband and earpad design as the rest of the family, but features a smooth leather headband rather than the annoying padded bumps of the K-701. The earpads are soft, plush and highly breathable; The headphones are lightweight with minimal clamping pressure and are very comfortable to wear all day, even with eyeglasses (although the velour pads can be slightly squeaky against the arms of my spectacles). The cable is long and feels high-quality, and uses a proper screw-on 3.5mm-6.35mm adapter.

AKG Pro Audio K612 PRO Over-Ear, Open-Back, Premium Reference AKG Pro Audio K612 PRO Over-Ear, Open-Back, Premium Reference

K702 are flat with slightly more bass roll-off (low bass), and a bigger peak in the upper mids/treble. K612 have slightly more bass (marginal), remain quite flat, and don’t have quite the same peak in the highs (a little ‘more polite’). I’m loving the fact that I can listen indefinitely without feeling like someone’s holding me down on the ground while vigorously rubbing sandpaper all over my ears. Comfort: This headphone was comfortable from the beginning to me but the stiff pads did bother me after a bit. A few weeks of use and the pads soften up and become much more comfortable. I have no complaints about the leather headband, there are no bumps and is plenty big enough to distribute weight well.is not a basshead can by any means, but this is one of my top recommendations for EDM and many modern bass heavy genres, because this can render deepest low notes with exceptional texture. If you are used to heavy boomy, untextured bass presentations, 612pro will surely show you what you have been missing all these years, finally you can reinvent yourself as a real basshead who admires deep textured bass presentations. 612pro is surely is a fantastic option for vocals too. Vocals sounds very natural due to excellent neutrality of the mids, instrument timbre is very lifelike, very transparent, vocals can be upfront and can be very intimate sometimes. To me, this is a true all-rounder which can perform well in almost all the genres. It’s also great for pretty much all genres across the board but does excel with lighter compositions. The K612 being 120 Ω doesn’t mean it should be driven from a 120 Ω amplifier but it does change its sonic signature slightly on a higher output resistance. In my opinion slightly for the better. The output level drops about 6dB when a 120Ω adapter is used so it won’t play loud enough on portable players any more though. An amplifier with a 100Ω to 120Ω output R will bump up the sound quality. Nice leather and metal accents. The pads are velours and very comfortable. Seems to be similar material as used on the K240 velours pads.