AKG K702 dismantling and design review of this overly complex headphone

In this video I take a look at how the legendary AKG K702 is constructed in preparation for designing some mods for it.
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[@TheHulksMistress]

I didn’t know that about the headband, how the headband frame actually IS the wires. That’s genius, I’d love to see more headphones with that design.

[@scarecrow5848]

samson sr850's! they're beasically budget versions of these aswell.

[@GrumpiestKitten]

The most insane part about it is that this feverdream of a design was first realized with the AKG K500 in 1991. Imagine coming up with this without proper 3D-CAD. All of the junk in the back of the driver also causes the peak at 2kHz. There used to be some people who would run their K701 without the silver plastic grill and the holder for the connector/strain-relief and just 2 side direct wire to the drivers. If you enjoy this sort of thing I recommend looking at the K812 which is probably the most complicated headphone I have ever seen.

[@CustomCans]

Thanks for the info. I suspect the K812 may be a little out of my budget for the time being, the little lemo connectors they use or too thin to fit our cables so I can't justify buying some for the business but if we get some in for repair or something I will definitely have a good look at their construction

[@user-yz6xx2wl5d]

What is the relationship between the back grille and the 2kHz peak?

[@GrumpiestKitten]

@@user-yz6xx2wl5d The dome's cavity forms a neckless resonator. The more you close the back of that cavity the stronger the peak. Was another popular mod to remove the dome's chromed grill and the smaller foam disk.

[@chefsteve8381]

I own the 612 pro great headphone, thanks for the look inside. Cool channel.

[@CustomCans]

Thanks ;)

[@S.T.G.]

Interesting video; thank you! I wonder which parts are to be removed in order to replace the rubber ring. (I've got an old K240DF -- approx. 15-20 years old, and the elastics still work. However, the newer headphones I've bought (K701, K712pro) had worn out, loosened rubber rings in 3-4 years.

[@alouisschafer7212]

Certainly an unusual headphone and honestly not one that I would recommend unless you are familiar with EQ because they are so ridiculously bass light and overemphasized in the 2 or 3 khz region. So in short: You either love the sound or you hate it. But it seems like these headphones are very long lasting. Ive had mine for a year almost and the earpads have not compressed one bit while the DT990 I had before needed new pads at least once a year. Best value for money from AKG seems to be the K612 which is basically a K702 tuned to be more neutral and with no removeable cable.

[@MrEmotional33]

I love mine! Extremely detailled and spatial sound experience. And i would not say, that the bass frequencies are too low..they are just perfect for my taste. I can confirm the accentuation of the higher midrange frequency, but since i like present voices it is just right for me.

[@dk-sky3820]

I mean K702, K702 MKII, K712 and etc are all semi-professional studio headphones for monitoring purposes. Frequencies should be flat for studio headphones, no embellishments otherwise how are you mixing with those? Sound is not meant to be pleasant in mixing headphones, it designed to be honest and clear. If you want to enjoy music instead of producing it in home studio - buy Hi-Fi headphones, not studio headphones. Hi-Fi headphones boost bass frequencies ridiculously to sound "better", that's why you think these one have it on the light side.

[@Schutto]

For mixing and mastering, can you please tell which one between DT 990 Pro and K702 gives a flatter, more natural sound? At this point, I'm torn between the two. I heard that DT 990 Pro gives too much treble, which is the sound that bothers me the most.

[@AleksiJoensuu]

Lots of people have complained that the headband elastics wear out. I thought they were just crazy unlucky, since I've had my K240 Studio for years in daily use and it's still working fine. Then I bought a (very lightly) used, near pristine Q701 - Austrian made - and the elastics are already just two pieces of string, completely tired out. Doesn't really matter for me since my head is so huge the strap is at maximum anyway, but my girlfriends can't get them to hold at all.

[@CustomCans]

Yesm we have had a few pairs in to have the elastics replaced so I know it does happen

[@pablobzvideos3319]

my dream is to have a phone like that, and you taking it all apart, but anyway it was a great video.

[@CustomCans]

Thanks ;)

[@angelangelov2354]

You can try mirroring the CAD model of the left side to the right and making a dual-entry 3 or 4-pin XLR.

[@CustomCans]

Yep, will do

[@AleksiJoensuu]

I wish the ear pads were just slightly thicker, or that AKG offered a thicker replacement. The hard part of my ear touches the cup and it's the only part that's uncomfortable about these. With the old K240 Studio I ordered a set of Brainwavz and got rid of the problem, but with the K/Q 7-series the pads are asymmetrical, and Brainwavz doesn't offer any like that. Dekoni audio does offer pads for the Q/K 7-series, but they aren't angled either, and are more expensive than the Brainwavz.

[@CustomCans]

Sound's loke a gap in the market - we may look into making some kind of adapter rings in the future so you can use different pads

[@AleksiJoensuu]

​@@CustomCans Wow, that is interesting. It of course brings the next question of where would you find pads that are both angled and thicker. The classic hack is to use like a piece of old charger cable to wedge under the pad to lift it up, but AKG's design here doesn't have any "lip" under the pad where that would fit.

[@billviolette5274]

Is opening up the 560S in the cards? I'd love to know how it differs from the other 500 series

[@CustomCans]

Probably not... It is not a model we deal with so I would have to buy some, at the moment the youtube channel is not quite big enough to pay for that yet ;)

[@TheTemplarnight]

after buying a pair, i'm kinda having buyers remorse, the earcup material is itchy and bothers my skin and the elastic is headband retention is way to hard, it constantly keeps pulling the cans up on my ears till it squishes the bottom of my ear which requires readjustment every 3-5 minutes, been debating about cutting the elastic bands to let the headband just free move since when it's on my head it sits on the largest adjustment anyways

[@CustomCans]

Ah that is a shame. It is not I problem I found with them. I think cutting the elastic may cause them to slip down off your ears unless you have a big head. I have seen some DIY guides on changing the elastics so you may be able to bodge something with a less elastic piece

[@TheTemplarnight]

@@CustomCans yeah I went back to my by now 6 year old M50x even the sound quality on the K702s didn't impress me at all. I do have a fairly large head and have had more than a few issues with headsets that look huge but actually have really poor adjustability range. It's a shame but I think I'll just buy another pair of M50x or M60x when my current pair actually die

[@user-hs6sy3nn7r]

I think they changed the color from navy to black?

[@juaqui7565]

Tengo unos akg k702 desde hace 2 días 😉😉👍👍

[@CustomCans]

Enjoy ;)

[@juaqui7565]

@@CustomCans 😉😉👍👍

[@ferrograph]

What improvements are to be made wiring them balanced?

[@CustomCans]

The main advantage is that you can thn use them with a balanced output on a player or amp... when you use them with a balanced amp you should get slightly better Chanel separation and most balanced amps have more voltage slew .. That may also improve sound quality a little

[@Akirilus]

So that driver, do they sound different or special compared to just the regular drivers we see in most cheap headphones? I guess I'm wondering why not just buy a superlux knockoff cause the 681 seems to be rated higher than most of AKG's cans all over the internet.

[@CustomCans]

Every pair of headphones sounds different and a lot of it will be down to personal taste. From what I have heard, the superlux range offer good bang for your buck but I have not had a look at any of them yet.

[@mistersurrealist]

I have the Superlux 681 and the AKG K702 and you'd be nuts to compare them. The K702 is super refined in its sound signature, the detail retrieval is insane and the soundstage is the best I've ever heard. Put on a well recorded jazz record and it's like being right there in the studio with the musicians.

[@kittydukakis]

Is there actually a way to remove the elastic bands?

[@CustomCans]

Yes, I know we have replaced the elastic bands for a few people but it has been a while so I can't remember the procedure off the top of my head

[@towsifshahriarshovo]

Great, which is your favorite moded headphone so far?? 400se? Which one sound best to you?

[@CustomCans]

oooh that is difficult as I know I spent a good couple of months recently perfecting the HE400se so there is probably a bit of placebo or conformation bias going on but it is probably the modded HE400se or the Modded HD600.

[@towsifshahriarshovo]

@@CustomCans I don't have hd600 but have 58x, have any recommendations to mod??

[@nickybrown4266]

Disassemble AKG K275 Please...

[@CustomCans]

If i can pick some up on eBay cheep i will

[@dk-sky3820]

Sound is great, very comfortable on the head, but soldering is shit. Left cup wire detached in mine after 2 years for no reason (yes I used them extensively but carefully and they never left the house), hence why I'm watching this video. For some reason it's always the red wire in right ear (multiple people reported problem with this exact one lol) But as I saw myself soldering in general is very weak so no surprise it broke after awhile that easily. So if you want good home studio monitoring headphones - these are really great for that purpose but be warned that one day one ear may just stop working on you for this exact reason. If you're good with diy soldering then this shouldn't be a big deal of course.

[@CustomCans]

Interesting... It is probably because the wire is soldered to the headband. As it is a big chunk of metal, it will wick the heat away and would need to be heated up first to get a good solder joint

[@luizengrazia5169]

Jesus Christ

[@CustomCans]

walks into a hotel, he hands the inn keeper 3 nails and says..... Can you put me up for the night?

[@luizengrazia5169]

@@CustomCans So heavy though😹😹😹