I replaced the pads on my AKG Q701 headphones today for the 4th time. It made me realize that I’ve used these headphones for at least 40 hours a week for 14 years straight. I’ve had to repair the left side speaker solder joint a few times, but they’re designed to be easily torn down and repaired. Truly BIFL headphones.
I’ve heard that the newer AKG K702 headphones are identical but I can’t vouch for that. They go for around $250.
I recently treated myself to these Hifiman Arya Organic headphones along with a balanced cable and a proper audiophile DAC. Really hoping they last as long as yours, because I’m so extremely happy with them.
As a fan of Hifiman headphones… good luck. Their reputation is more or less the opposite of AKG and Beyerdynamic for this sort of thing. I baby my HE-6 because they are irreplaceable.
Any headphones without a replaceable cable is just trash.
Usually the phones last forever. Its the cable that’s the weak point
For sure, I’ve replaced the cable on this set a few times due to getting tangled in chair wheels or my kitten chewing on the cord
Little bit of dremeling and most headphones can be changed.
Stock K550’s didn’t have a detachable cord. Later variants did. I usually recable them so I can use them with all my amps.
Not the prettiest cause my hand slipped and made a gouge and time has scuffed it from plugging/unplugging but it’s been fine for 10+ years.
I also swapped out the 3 pin for 4 pin on a similar set as the OPs as well.
Pardon my ignorance, please.
What are those connectors?
They are 4-pin mini-xlr on my headphones. The Q701 had a 3 pin variant originally. Most headphones wire the ground wires from both drivers together. 4 pins instead keeps them separate. I can then use different cables to either keep them 4 pins or merge them again into three pin.
The reason for this is I have certain amps that only work with them being separated.
I replaced the pads on my akg k371. I don’t listen much anymore but they’re still ok
That’s awesome. I’ve had my AKG K371s for about 5 years now. I replaced the ear cups once because they were in such bad condition. Otherwise, they’ve been the best headphones I’ve ever owned.
It’s crazy how good headphones can be when you just buy a good set from a good audio brand. I am ashamed of how much money I spent on “gaming” headsets that wouldn’t even make it a year and had shit microphones and audio quality in general. About 10 years ago I bought a pair of AudioTechnica open air headphones and I love them so much, and they still work exactly like the day I got them. Comfortable to wear all day too.
TIL that you can replace the pads. My AKG headphones pads are worn out and I thought I must buy new ones. Where is the best place to do it?
I got these pads for under $10 on Amazon. You just rotate the pads counter-clockwise and they pop off, no tools needed.
Thank you! Have to try that with mine 😊
I’d had a pair of K702s, and yes, the whole family is more or less just slight tweaks (K701, K701, K712, K7XX, Q701). I did have a part that kept wearing out though, the little elastic bands that let it auto adjust. They sell the part cheap, but since you need to order them from AKG, the shipping was killing me. I ended up modding them to not longer auto adjust but just fit my head specifically.
Edit: I’d like to shout out to Beyerdynamic for also being on this “headphones that just won’t die” train. My DT-770s are easily as old as OPs.
Bad news: Beyerdynamic was purchased by another company this year, so that may change.
The faux leather on my Beyerdynamic DT770 started chipping off the moment the Chinese bought Beyerdynamic. Go figure
Oof. The headband on mine isn’t stock - it came with a bumpy headband that wore down over time. I swapped to this leather headband made from a scrap of recycled leather a few years ago and it has held up perfectly.
Yknow you can just say the specific company that bought Beyerdynamic that caused the quality dip and not “the Chinese”
I’ve got some Audio-Technica ATX-M50 headphones that are probably about that old. I’ve replaced the pads a couple times and the cable once but they’re still going strong.
I got my wife a pair of the newer ATX-M50x about a month ago because she got tired of her cheap sets dying all the time. We’ll see if the quality is still there on current models.
I got the M50x after my M50s broke, the plastic that holds the ear cup snapped. It’s been about 7 years and they’re still doing great, haven’t had to replace the foam yet.
AKG K702, $600 Canadian. Too bad. 🤷♂️
You can order them from thomann but you’d have to pay for international shipping. Probably still cheaper though.
https://www.thomannmusic.com/akg_k702.htm
There’s also the k712 if you like more bass:
As a Canadian, I can say with certainty: check eBay, they’re usually listed for a lot less.
Damn. Maybe snag a used set on Ebay?
I left consumer gamer headset world when the new steel series replacement wanted to use software to do what hardware did on a previous gen where no software was required. I got a pair of these for $250 years ago. Absolutely the best move.
Wow, that’s a lot of time listening. Some headphones can be fatiguing, but these must not be!
Do you listen to music mostly?
AKG has fantastically comfortable headphones.
It’s a toss-up between music (almost entirely Lofi Hiphop), ASMR, podcasts, movies, and gaming. I originally got this set specifically for ASMR because I figured the soundstage would be great (it is) but found them to be well-rounded for every use case.
Impressive
AKG 553 MKii checking in. I’ve had mine for years. Just replaced the pads and they’re good as new
I have a set of K553 PROs that don’t die. I’ve had to epoxy the audio cable back into the can and replace the foam twice, but they’re still going after 10 years. Love these things.
Those are basically a closed-back version of mine, right? They look badass.
Yours have that sweet leather strap and a different connection. I am not sure if the drivers are the same. Either way, I got these off of MassDrop before it was enshittified.
Damn, those look sick! Are they over the ear or on-ear? Hard to drive? I might pick up a pair to use at the office since open-back isn’t a great choice for that environment.
Btw the leather band on my Q701 isn’t stock. It’s just scrap leather that I cut to shape when my old headband wore out. Got the scrap for free on a recycling group.
These are over-the-ear monitors for studio recording. I use them in conjunction with standard desktop monitors and a few other things to mix audio. They’re not hard to drive, but they do have a lot of headroom and clarity. I have also used them with my cell phone occasionally without issue.
The band looks sweet. Good work.
Holy shit I completely forgot about massdrop. Man. What a throwback.
They are still around as “drop”. massdrop.com redirects to their new site, but they aren’t what they used to me IMO.
I have a set of nearly-10 year old Q701s (same headphones, just lime green and branded Quincy Jones)
Other than the elastic suspenders weakening (looks like yours did the same; they all do!) and the plastic sliders cracking, they’ve been great. I replaced the elastics and the pads, but I wish the sliders were easy to do.
I have those ones too! Complete with the broken elastic and clips. We need someone who’s into 3d printing AND audio to make a batch of clips.
Do you happen to have a link to the replacement elastic? I had no idea that it could be replaced
I used hair elastics, based on a repair tutorial I found on Youtube; let me see if I can find it.
