[DaveNote]

But the bass? What about the bass? Starbuck Blues, The Ray Brown Trio. I have not heard the other versions of the 701, but the Q is not the least bit bass shy or deficient. If any music can produce the bass goods, it is Ray Brown playing this song with his well-known fat acoustic bass. It reaches far down, reverberating as it goes. Sure the LCD2 goes deeper, but no cleaner or more accurately. Many systems produce low, very low sounds, including acoustic bass ones. But they can give me low frequency, not accurate bass. For example, the Grado RS1 has lots of bass extension, but the acoustic bass is a stringed instrument. The RS1 pretty much misses this on Starbuck Blues. Unlike the LCD2 and the Q701, it doesn't give me the sense of a bassist plucking strings. Of the three, the Q701 does this the best.

In an InnerFidelity dialogue, Steve Gutenberg said: "Regarding bass response: I think there is technically justifiable reason for people to want more bass on headphones than would normally be considered flat. When listening to speakers, we get a good proportion of our perception of the low notes from bone conductions, and chest and nasal cavity compression. The sound ends up in our inner ear, but it’s not coming through the ear canal. With headphones we don’t get any of that, so to compensate we bump up the bass."

I think he has a point about wanting headphones to compensate for the loss of the visceral effect of bass from a speaker. I often have been lured by headphones with lots of bass. The LCD2 surely did. It and the Q701, however, do give a physical conduction with the bass they produce. I certainly can feel it. It isn't literally visceral - too far away from the chest - but because it's there in the skull, there is no need to bump up the bass. And, once more, the Q701 does bass better, in my view, because while not being as rich as the LCD2, it is more controlled, tighter. Srajan Ebaen of 6Moons reviewer called the K702 bass "just right." Once more, this is how I would describe the Q701's bass.

Get Here, Oleta Adams: Vocals. The LCD2 makes vocals sound very appealing. Rounded and mellow. But I don't think this accurately captures Oleta Adams' beautiful voice, which, like an alto sax, has an edge to it. The Q701 makes her voice sound clearer, more distinct.
 
On all vocals, the Q seems to put the singers' voices in the right place. By this I mean, that they are not too forward or recessed. The Grados seem to throw them aggressively into the middle of your head. 

In fact, it is on vocals that I find the Q701 to be distinctly different from the other headphones I've heard. For some reason they are more articulate. Singers, such as Mark Knopfler on The Planet of New Orleans, are more readily understood, as if the Q701 has taught rock singers to enunciate better, which for rock can be quite a feat. For my aging ears, this is most welcome.

Life's Been Good, Joe Walsh and High Hopes, Pink Floyd. There are passages in both these songs where there are walls of sound. They allow listeners to judge soundstage characteristics since the music seems to be coming from all directions with many instruments playing simultaneously. The Q701 soundstage is wide, but with pinpoint imaging. Often in the systems I've heard, and especially with headphones, some instruments, like bass ones, get diminished or lost in wall-of-sound passages. Not so with the Q701. Great tonal balance.

I've always have difficulty finding a completely satisfying system when it comes to playing classical music. I think it is because, especially in pieces for large orchestras, it requires wide dynamic range - very soft to very loud. I usually have to crank up the volume, but doing so can mess up the soundstage. It is with orchestral classical music that it becomes a closer call, or more precisely a closer choice, between the LCD2 and the Q701. The Q701 does better, as expected, in the high end, but does not bring out the bass instruments as well as the LCD2. The Q701 has the wider soundstage (wider, airier) and better imaging, but strings are sweeter and more pleasing on the LCD2. If I had to choose, by a hair, I would take the Q701.

Tyll Herstens has discussed "blackness" in headphone performance as how "'black between the notes' a headphone will sound, or sometimes how 'confused' they sound." I have found this also to be true of speaker-based system. The M80 is very black this way. I believe that the Grado soundstage seems muddled to me because is is not very black in this sense. The Q701 is very black, which is why I think it has great definition. 

The width of the Q701 soundstage can be startling. Using it to hear the first part of Fareed Haque's Deja Vu introduction track, which is a door opening on the left, the sound is well beyond the limit of the headphones themselves. I swear I thought it was my wife coming into the room! And I've heard the same effect even listening to Internet radio stations. If a headphone enthusiast demands a wider soundstage, he will have to find something that let's him think he's hearing not just beyond the borders of the ear cups, but beyond the walls of the room.

To the degree that a headphone can provide layering, the Q701 has the edge over any of those I have owned. I hear this particularly on Airto Moreira's Nevermind from Stereophile's Test Disc 3. The piano is forward of the powerful bass and drums. And the microphone placement on this cut shows off something else that highlights another merit of the Q701. When produced with microphones properly positioned during production, listeners can hear the progression of piano notes moving across the soundstage, almost key by key. This often is done poorly on a headphone. It is done remarkably well by the Q701.

I could cite other examples, but so far my description has failed to mention what clinched to deal for me, why overall I like the Q701 more than any other headphone I've heard. 

Steve Gutenberg has written that "obsessing about sound can go too far and lead to what I call the 'audiophile disease,' so the music starts to play second fiddle to the sound, and that's a truly pathetic situation. The audiophile is so distracted by sound quality, or neurotic concerns about the lack of sound quality, that he, audiophiles are almost always men, can't just listen to music for pleasure."

I confess. I am undeniably guilty of having a bad case of the "audiophile disease." 

On the one hand, I am unapologetic that I have this disease because audio is a hobby. Listening to the sound as opposed to the music is part and parcel of the hobby. I compound the effects of the disease by my normal listening mode, which is to play music as a background to my reading. If a system is very good, the sound, rather than music, draws my attention away from my reading. Those moments tell me I've got a special piece of gear. The Q701 keeps doing that to me, over and over again. It's very good at drawing my attention to its sound.

On the other hand, I also love music and especially jazz. My audio hobby, to be sure, most of the time overshadows my attraction to the music. However, there are times when the two come together in a powerful way, when the system not only draws me away from my reading but then draws me into to music and keeps me there. And it is during such times that the audio equipment - audio as a hobby - disappears altogether, leaving me with only the music and being carried away by it. When this happens, I have come to the end of my audio journey, as it has with the Q701.

I have a lot of marvelous audio equipment and sometimes it has had this laudatory effect. But it doesn't happen often or for very long.

The AKG701 has taken me to this place and so far I'm still there. Will I change my mind? Maybe. It's happened before and might again; perhaps, for example, when I buy the Bryston Model T speakers later this year. But right now I'm in an audio Nirvana.

Others seeking headphones based on different desiderata, different preferences and tastes, will take a different journey. They will come to a different place, and no doubt a different headphone.

But here is where I stand at this moment. With apologies to Quincy, until I change my mind or preferences, the "Q" in Q701 means I have found my Quintessence in a headphone.

Dave

[saisunil]

Interesting essay ...
Are your 701's re-cabled?

If not you are for a nice surprise ...

[DaveNote]

Interesting essay ...
Are your 701's re-cabled?

If not you are for a nice surprise ...

The answer is I am using my Q701 with its original ugly lime green cables. I know a lot of headphone users are into re-cabling. But I haven't re-cabled any of mine. The reason is that while I like headphones and am willing to spend some money on this part of my audio system, they are not the primary part. So I don't have the same motivation to pursue the headphone experience to the nth degree as others do. I don't have the interest; therefore, I don't want to spend the money for recabling, which often can exceed the price of the headphones themselves. And I have always been rather conservative in spending a lot of money on any kind of cabling above and beyond good basic stuff.

Dave

[saisunil]

I might have overlooked reading your extensive impressions, but how did you find Q701 better than AKG701

BTW With AKG701, re-cabling them made a huge difference ... For most phones the cables hold them back - one exception probably is the upper level new Grados ...

Example 702 are considered marginally different from 701 ...
You have my attention on Q701 ...

Cheers

[DaveNote]

I might have overlooked reading your extensive impressions, but how did you find Q701 better than AKG701

BTW With AKG701, re-cabling them made a huge difference ... For most phones the cables hold them back - one exception probably is the upper level new Grados ...

Example 702 are considered marginally different from 701 ...
You have my attention on Q701 ...

Cheers

I didn't hear the K701. I had no way to demo it, but as I explained, I did hear the K702, which I understand is identical to the K701, except with a removal cable. My demo was flawed, as I wrote, and the K702 was more than I wanted to pay. So I looked more closely at the Q701.

I appreciate your good experience with re-cabling, but it's not my thing. I don't go in for pricey cables even in my main system, and have dismissed the practice for my headphones. It's another personal preference. Based on my own experience, I have concluded that I agree with the objective technical guys most of whom say that anything beyond basic well-made cables are not needed.

Dave

[ajzepp]

It's hard for me to get my head around a $240 headphone besting the LCD-2s....for that price I'll probably just pick up a pair next month and give a listen for myself.

[DaveNote]

It's hard for me to get my head around a $240 headphone besting the LCD-2s....for that price I'll probably just pick up a pair next month and give a listen for myself.

I hope my review made it clear that I think that the LCD2, like the HD800, are great headphones. The Q701 "bested" them for me. The Q701 gives me what I want, but that won't be so for others. In fact, I think the underlying theme of the piece is that I have changed my mind before and could in the future. It may be worth your while to try the Q701, but it is altogether possible that it might not be a headphone that you like. If that happens, and you like the LCD2, the Q certainly won't best it. 

Another theme of the article, especially for those who jumped to my posting on the PMC MB2is comparing them to the Axiom M80, is that price and performance are not necessarily synonymous. The PMCs are something like 20 times more expensive than the Axioms, and believe me, I wanted them to sound better to me than the Axioms. The PMCs too, are great, but I had to admit after a lot of careful listening, reluctantly I assure you, that the M80...to me ears...is more accurate, more neutral. The Schiit Lyr cost me 4 or 5 times the price of the O2, and, again for me, it doesn't hold a candle to it in terms of what I want. This experience is why I now am prepared to keep my ears open to the possibility that lower priced gear just might compare favourably to high priced equipment. After more than 40 years pursuing this hobby, surprisingly I'm still learning. Wish I could say the same about life in general. 

[adydula]

I have the LCD2's as well....

I often find listening to my lowly Grado 325is over the LCD2's...the main reason the treble and those missing sparkling highs...

OMG!

 

Alex

[adydula]

Ok Dave I am now very close to pulling the trigger on some 701's in that wonderful Lime Green!!

Alex
 

[DaveNote]

Ok Dave I am now very close to pulling the trigger on some 701's in that wonderful Lime Green!!

Alex
 

Some people, I imagine younger ones, like the lime green, but I don't. I understand why AKG fell into the fashion of having a signature line. It's trendy especially for users into current music for younger folk who like heavy bass. But neither the headphones nor the endorser, Quincy Jones, should be attractive to this market. Quincy Jones is probably not well known to consumers who are into electronic dance music. And the Q701 is never going to win the heart of bassheads.

So, what was the ugly green thing about? Was it meant to lure young people into buying these cans? Was it meant to make the likely target market for this kind of headphone, who would know Quincy Jones, feel younger than they are? Very confusing.

The Q doesn't make me feel younger. The line green, the only advantage of which is to help me see where the long cable is so I can avoid stepping on it, clashes with everything in my audio room, not to mention my life. And I just don't recable headphones. But because these are outstanding headphones for me, I'm prepared to tolerate this trivial flaw. Kind of like being married to the perfect woman, and learning to live with her small foibles, like her being psychotic 

BTW, I use the Q literally all day long, hour after hour. Totally comfortable. No listening fatigue. 

Dave

[randytsuch]

Hi Dave
So I'm an AKG fan, I have the 501's and the K1000's (the infamous head speaker).

Now you have me curious about the q701.  I have spent too much recently on hifi, but maybe when my budget recovers a bit.

Randy

[DaveNote]

Hi Dave
So I'm an AKG fan, I have the 501's and the K1000's (the infamous head speaker).

Now you have me curious about the q701.  I have spent too much recently on hifi, but maybe when my budget recovers a bit.

Randy

Randy, if you're an AKG fan then maybe, just maybe, a Q701 demo might be worth your time.

The AKG K141 is one of my oldest headphones, but until the O2 I just couldn't get much out of it. In fact, based on my (unfair?) use of, I was the opposite of an AKG fan. I felt I'd never buy another AKG.

But the K550 really impressed me. In fact, except for the Q, I enjoy it more than any other headphones I have or have owned. Its bass is slightly exaggerated when compared to the Q, and naturally not as airy sounding or with as good a soundstage. But still, terrific with my iPad and O2. I know this is sacrilegious in the headphone community, but I enjoy it on my iPad more than I do my LCD2 on my main system. And better looking than the Q. Nice to look at and hold. And no damned lime green anything!

Dave

[DaveNote]

Just a bit of a footnote to my OP. The comment to Alex about the target market for the Q701 got me thinking I hadn't yet given a good listen to real driving rock.

Been listening to my ZZ Top Greatest Hits. Discovered the continuing merits of both neutral headphones and the O2...and ZZ Top.

The only members of our species who aren't compelled to get up and dance, or at least want to, when ZZ Top is playing are no longer breathing. I can't resist this driving Texas rock. All guitar, bass, percussion, with lyrics, while good, usually buried in a wall of good old fashioned rock and roll.

The Q701 does this ZZ Top justice. All the bass is there and, to mix my metaphors, with bells on. But as always with lots of accuracy and control. That leaves the guitar to squeal and screech, just as I like it. The O2 does rock very well, but I find using the gain control adds to the excitement of hard driving rock, more than simply cranking up the volume.

The neutrality of the Q, especially with the gain engaged, does something else I mentioned in my OP.  ZZ Top isn't about lyrics and singing. In other equipment I've used understanding the lyrics, a secondary amusement in any case, is a bit of a challenge. Not with the Q and the O2. So you hear everything on a ZZ Top cut, including, what these bearded rockers are singing about.

Excellent!

Dave

[ajzepp]

If we all get a pair of Q701s and hate them, let's all show up at Daves house and raise some hell!!! 

The fact that Tyll likes them a lot is bad news for me....the ONLY headphone he and I have ever agreed on was the Beyer 1350....both of us love it. I just took his advice recently on some Philips Citiscape downtown phones for my lady friend....aside from the fact that they are comfortable and isolate well, the sound is pretty underwhelming. He has them on his wall of fame...huge disconnect there. His review of the Q701s is very positive...I guess we'll have to see if I agree for only the 2nd time, or if it's more of the same sort of opposite taste.

[adydula]

I am 90% there to ordering a set of Q's...and yes if we do and dont like them we will have
to visit Dave for a beer or two!!

LOL
Alex

 

[DaveNote]

I am 90% there to ordering a set of Q's...and yes if we do and dont like them we will have
to visit Dave for a beer or two!!

LOL
Alex

 

Alex, this sounds like a threat more than a self-invitation. Would the beer be for throwing at me? 

Maybe I should have put a disclaimer in the review saying that I would not be responsible for any purchasing decisions that might be made by readers.

Or that I would provide a money back guarantee, meaning I'd give such purchasers back the money they paid for the review. 

Dave

Dave

[adydula]

Dave....its over.

They are on the way.

Alex

 

[mboxler]

Hi Dave...

I recently bought a gently used pair of K701's.  They sound wonderful to my untrained ears  !  I read somewhere that they require a "long" break in period.  Since I believe they are pretty much the same as the Q701's, I was wondering if you found this to be true.

Thanks, Mike

[adydula]

Dave...they are hear and I am listening!!

Listening to Designs in Music by Ben Vaughn...

With the 20ft lime green cable in my lime green listening chair!!

Alex

[DaveNote]

Hi Dave...

I recently bought a gently used pair of K701's.  They sound wonderful to my untrained ears  !  I read somewhere that they require a "long" break in period.  Since I believe they are pretty much the same as the Q701's, I was wondering if you found this to be true.

Thanks, Mike

In my review I said I needed no break in. That's because I knew the sound I wanted, and they had it right out of the box. If you are used to a different kind of sound from your old headphones, then it can take time to get used to the Q701.

Dave