AKG K240: Great Sound in an Indestructible Package
Written: Jun 05 '00 (Updated Sep 19 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: good sound, extremely durable, comfortable
Cons: a bit ugly
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| qibo's Full Review: AKG K 240M Professional Headphones |
I've had the same pair of K 240 monitors for over ten years. They sound and feel as good as they did they day I bought them.
This was my first pair of good headphones. I was putting together a home studio in those days, and all of the reviews in the trade magazines were favorable. I auditioned a pair at a local hi-fi shop, connected directly to a CD player. Since I was accustomed to cheap Walkman-style headphones, the 240s were a revelation. It was clear that are good reasons why these headphones are in almost every major recording studio in the world. I waited until they went on sale and bought them.
These aren't my most comfortable headphones (that would be the Grado SR-60s), but they are comfortable enough and adjust easily to fit a wide variety of people. The pads are good, but if the room is very warm, one's ears may become uncomfortably warm and sweaty. It's nice that the cable attaches only on one side and doesn't weigh much. Despite its light weight, the cable on my 240s has survived an incredible amount of abuse without ever becoming noisy. Mechanically, these are also the least noisy headphones I've experienced (mechanical noise is my one major misgiving about Grado cans).
Sonically, these phones are fairly well-balanced. They have tight low-end which some might perceive as attenuated, and a certain quality of smoothness from mid-range to treble frequencies. Because of this, listening fatigue isn't a problem with these headphones. Because of their design, the speakers don't rest against your ears, and are slightly vented to the outside, which gives them a certain degree of air resonance you don't find in Grados or in cheap headphones. This makes them an exceptionally good choice for acoustic music, particularly solo instrumentals and ensemble performances, although they may sound confined to Grado fans. Also, they don't "vent out" quite as much as Grados or Walkman-style headphones, so other people in a room with you will hear less of these headphones than many others.
The 1/4 inch plug fits most home stereo equipment and pro audio equipment, but don't expect to adapt it down to 1/8 inch for use with portable equipment, like a Discman; the impedance of these phones is simply too great to work with portables. If you really want to use them with such devices, you'll want to try a headphone amplifier.
I sort of doubt that these headphones would be considered "audiophile quality" by today's standards, but they sound very good and are probably more durable than their audiophile counterparts, and they are certainly less expensive. The only cans in this price range with comparable sound quality are Grado SR-60s, which are a completely different type of headphone anyway.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
qibo
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Reviews written: 36
Trusted by: 19 members
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