Massdrop X Akg M220 Pro Headphones Gaming Review

The AKG K7xx is a Massdrop sectional limited edition headphone based on the AKG K702 65th Anniversary Edition. Information technology is a very pop headphone right at present, known particularly for its value, boasting a modest price of $199. Information technology is an open-dorsum, over-ear/circumaural dynamic transducer headphone.

Massdrop is a fairly recent, pop store that does grouping buys. This is how they get lower than average prices. The K7xx demonstrates this with its $199 price tag; the K702 65th Anniversary which information technology is based on used to cost substantially more, and the K712 Pro which is also based on the K702 65th Ceremony ordinarily goes for nearly $400. To read more about these AKG models and more, see this thread.

Although the K7xx is limited edition, thousands have been sold then it's not quite the rarest headphone in the earth. It is in very high demand at Massdrop.

In this review we will evaluate its build quality, music performance, and gaming performance.

Packaging and Specifications

The K7xx's box has an affluence of advertising, but too lets you lot become a peek at the product itself.

The box likewise includes a specs table. We've copied it below.

Type	open-back, dynamic headphones
Sensitivity	105 dB/5
Frequency range	10 Hz – 39,800 Hz
Rated Impedance	62 ohms
Max. input power	200 mW
Cable	iii m single-sided (99.99 % oxygen-free)
Connector	golden plated stereo jack plug 3.v mm (ane/eight″)
Adapter	gold plated convertible jack plug 3.5 / vi.3 mm (1/8″ to 1/four″)
Cyberspace weight (without cablevision)	235 one thousand/8.iii oz

The only thing that stands out really is the weight. That's very light for a full sized over-ear headphone. It's not easy to tell from the graph, merely the K7xx is somewhat current hungry. They list the sensitivity in dB/Five, but if they chose to practise the usual dB/mW the value would accept been lower. An amplifier is pretty much required to drive the K7xx adequately. We have it on good authority that the K7xx scales with higher end equipment. We may find out one of these days, just for this review we're using a rather pocket-size Maverick Audio Tubemagic D1 with opamp upgrades.

The K7xx comes propped up on this stand in the box, with clear plastic wrapped effectually the border of the ear cups (hence it looking so glossy in the picture below).

The cable is included in a plastic bag. Having a detachable cable is nice, since information technology means you can upgrade the cable or replace it if it ever wears downwards. It is a single entry cablevision terminated in a gold plated 3.5mm jack, with a half-dozen.35mm adapter included. We'll talk more nearly it later.

That wraps up this page. Very typical packaging for a $200 headphone, although oddly enough I didn't find a manual. I suppose plenty of the specifications are on the box anyway.

Closer Await

I have to say, the supporting headband immediately reminded me of the Audio Technica ATH-A900X. Also, like the A900X, the K7xx is mostly plastic. In fact, even the mesh over the open-back grills is plastic: this is a shocker, as it'southward nearly always metal on high finish headphones. The plastic isn't very sturdy feeling either. It looks far more durable in pictures than it actually is, although so far it hasn't proven to be extremely flimsy.

Some other affair that immediately stands out is the size. This headphone is very wide, and has huge ear cups/drivers. I like this, since information technology results in bigger pads that won't touch my ears at all. The pads themselves are made out of retention cream, and they're very soft, although non quite as soft as Beyerdynamic velour. They are however deeper than Beyer pads, which is great. The suspension headband is real leather, a groovy addition and a rare sight in a $200 headphone.

The cups don't fold all the mode or have full-range hinge movement, which isn't much of an effect since an open-back headphone similar this is not adept for listening on the go. Having such flexibility is a bonus though, in case you ever demand to pack it into a case and take information technology somewhere.

So, we have a lightweight headphone with huge, soft retention foam circumaural pads, and a suspension headband to farther lighten the load on your caput. The result is one of the most comfortable headphones I've ever worn. It'southward a feather, much lighter on the head than the Audio Technica ATH-A900X (which also has a sort of pause headband) and Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro, with less clamp than both. The headband on the K7xx is non adjustable; information technology uses an auto-adjusting organisation, just a much better one than Audio Technica'due south wing system. I have an boilerplate sized head, maybe slightly smaller than average actually, and the K7xx is supremely comfortable. Those with larger heads should find information technology comfortable as well due to the auto adjusting intermission headband and the clamping force present. However, the K7xx won't fit small heads very well; information technology's non a good fit for younger teenagers or lots of women.

Each and every K7xx is serialized. The series number tin exist found on the inner-left side of the headphone, just below the L driver mark (on the opposite side is a Massdrop logo). On that note, the headphone thankfully has obvious 50 and R markings so you know which manner to wear it, although every headphone with a single entry cable has the cable entry on the left side to my knowledge. Speaking of which, the cablevision connects to the headphone using some iii-pin connector. It's straight forward; it just goes in ane way, and you lot only push information technology in. Note it'south a flake stiff to button in. It has a press-down locking mechanism which is bang-up. No stupid screw-on connectors here! Single entry cables are a bit more convenient, simply sound quality is more limited. I would take preferred a dual-entry design, but at least the cable is removable and easy to utilise.

The cable itself is straight, three meters long, has very typical sheathing, and it's noticeably thinner than the cable on the Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro which we reviewed here. Like the DT 880 and many other headphones, the cable terminates with a gold-plated iii.5mm jack and has a half-dozen.35mm adapter screwed on past default.

So that pretty much wraps up our concrete inspection of the AKG K7xx. Information technology'south very comfortable and ergonomic, the cable design is nice, but the build quality is disappointing. It's all lightweight plastic that doesn't experience terribly sturdy. It feels like a toy next to my Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro, but on the other mitt it's lighter and more comfortable. Real leather headband + retention foam pads is a plus. Now onto the most important part of the review, the sound.

Listening Impressions

Every bit nosotros mentioned earlier, listening is done through an upgraded Maverick Sound Tubemagic D1 functioning as our DAC and amplifier, connected to my computer's Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD via optical toslink. A diverseness of music was listened to; many genres, and of many formats. Some were fifty-fifty worse than 320 Kb/s MP3, but we went all the way upwards to top quality uncompressed FLAC, and many 320 Kb/due south MP3s were used as well. The media player used is Foobar2000 with the ASIO plugin, running ASIO4ALL drivers.

Music listening impressions were gathered after burning in the K7xx with both music and pink noise for well over fifty hours.

The Practiced

• Detail : The AKG K7xx presents quite a lot of details, even more than the Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro to my surprise, and despite having a smoother overall sound and despite existence more forgiving. This is partly due to the in a higher place average decay. So, one time once more, I'm hearing things in music that I never heard before. It's fairly forgiving when information technology comes to bad recordings; on some really bad ones, there may be a piffling bit of sibilance and treble may sound a bit harsh, although other headphones like those from Beyerdynamic will sound much more harsh.
• More often than not Neutral : While not as neutral as the DT 880, the K7xx aims for neutrality. Overall its sonic presentation is fairly neutral, with slight mid centric character and a very minor amount of added warmth. Withal, it has some peaks and dips in the upper mid range and treble, and information technology's noticeable compared to very neutral/linear headphones like the DT 880.
• Bass : The bass hither is tight and focused, with nice texture and decent extension. Using the bass exam listed here, the bass extends down to effectually thirty Hz. It is bested by the DT 880 in this regard, which extends down to 20 Hz. Merely the overall quality is adept, quantity is similar to the DT 880 Pro although with less slam. This headphone has basically no bass slam. Obviously this is not a good selection for bassheads.
• Sound Stage : The sound stage hither is very big indeed, living upward to the reputation of this headphone lineup. It offers substantial width, depth, and height. The DT 880 Pro for example has decent width only lacks top and depth, and overall information technology sounds closed in compared to the K7xx which is very open up and far more three dimensional. Too bad the vast majority of modern music is and then poorly recorded that this can't e'er exist appreciated.
• Imaging : The K7xx has good imaging, taking advantage of its large sound stage. You tin can determine where sounds are coming from fairly well. It's non perfect though; a few times I've noticed that when vocals and guitars are playing at the same time, information technology's very difficult to focus on the guitar properly every bit there is too much overlap.

The Bad

• Lacks Transparency : Unfortunately this headphone is not impressively transparent. The Stax SR-30 is more transparent than this. Transparency is about the aforementioned as the Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro. Of course, one tin only mutter about this if they've listened to truly transparent gear earlier, which generally costs much more this.

On the Fence

• Mids : This is a slightly mid-centric headphone, with mids more often than not overtaking the treble slightly. The mids hither are by and large good, similar in quality to the DT 880 but more than detailed and too more than dry. The K7xx renders pianos better than any other headphone I've owned. The dryness makes this headphone not ideal for rock or electronic in my opinion. Also, the upper mids are less linear than I'd like, and sometimes don't integrate with the lower treble particularly well. Again, this can be seen on frequency response graphs for all of the AKG K7** series headphones, and it manifests in the audio occasionally. Female vocals are a flake more than forward on the DT 880 Pro; sometimes the K7xx places acoustic instruments in front of female vocals, not that this is inherently a bad thing.
• Treble : The treble here is very well extended, going beyond my hearing range (I can't seem to hear by 19 KHz). It's a fairly smooth presentation that seeks to avoid being harsh, without sacrificing extension. Unfortunately the treble here is uneven and non perfectly balanced. Information technology has stiff peaks and dips that tin can sometimes be heard. While the DT 880 Pro has more forward treble overall, between it and the K7xx, the K7xx has reached the record high peakiness although this isn't heard very frequently. Treble sensitive people should avoid the K7xx, and it should benefit from parametric EQ which didn't help the DT 880 much. These peaks and dips make the treble audio uneven and unconvincing at times. It'southward not a particularly airy presentation, and the dryness can sometimes (not always) make cymbals sound less authentic than possible. As well, sibilance and some general treble harshness can be present on some actually bad recordings, although the harshness is not as bad as the DT 880.
• Decay : Note decay is significantly faster and more realistic than the DT 880 and everything else I've heard around this price range. This helps bring out details more, and information technology makes the background audio blacker. However, I believe it's also responsible for the slightly dry sound that's noticeable in sure types of music, namely stone and electronic.

This headphone was very impressive at first, until I heard some tracks bring out the worse aspects of the upper mid range and treble. Information technology's not always noticeable, but sometimes it is. Also, the K7xx exhibits AKG's signature dryness, making me hesitant to recommend it for stone and electronic. However, it'due south too impressively detailed, open, and iii dimensional. I recommend the K7xx for classical/orchestral in particular.

One thing to annotation, with my amplifier the K7xx is more open to volume changes than the DT 880 Pro, which gets noticeably distorted at lower volume levels. This will change with different amplifiers though.

Gaming Impressions

For these tests, I enabled X-Fi CMSS-3D and EAX (when applicative) on my Artistic Audio Equalizer X-Fi Titanium Hd, simulating virtual 5.1 environs or, when applicable, 3D HRTF. The following games were used to evaluate the K7xx's gaming performance:

• Metro: Final Low-cal : Probably uses XAudio2 as the sound API, so virtual surround was used.
• Killing Floor 2 : Uses Wwise, so virtual surround was used.
• The Vanishing of Ethan Carter Redux : Uses XAudio2, so virtual surround was used.
• Neverwinter Nights 2: Complete : Has multiple APIs, just DirectSound3D was selected, and was then converted to OpenAL through Creative ALchemy. This was the game we used to see how the K7xx sounds with 3D HRTF and EAX furnishings.

The first game tested was Metro: Last Light. It but so happens that I was in the middle of replaying it, using my Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro, when the K7xx arrived. And then the K7xx stepped in as a replacement. My first impressions were pretty unproblematic: "WOW!" I had actually played this game before listening to whatever music, since I don't actually listen to music on a headphone before burning information technology in. The sound phase of the K7xx is very big indeed, it makes the DT 880 seem cramped in comparison. It was non just wider, but much taller and much, much deeper. It's easier to pinpoint where sounds are coming from, thank you to the superior imaging. Voices were clearly coming from all around me with the K7xx.

More of the same in Killing Floor 2. This is a multiplayer (co-op) survival shooter, so positional audio functioning is in demand here. The K7xx delivers, and information technology leaves the DT 880 in the dust. Using the K7xx in a PvP shooter would be cheating!

The K7xx's operation in games won't merely help you climb the ladder on your leaderboards, it also increases immersion. This was most noticeable in Metro: Final Light, and likewise 3D HRTF enabled games. Listening through the K7xx in Neverwinter Nights 2 with 3D HRTF and EAX enabled is a real treat. Even with virtual environment, the K7xx puts me in the game and seems to render a 360 degree sound field, but Neverwinter Nights 2 hits it out of the park. EAX effects through the K7xx are incredible, with echoes/reverb traveling from in front of me to behind me.

Truth be told, I was taken by surprise by how good the K7xx is for gaming. I didn't think it would be a big improvement over the DT 880 but boy was I incorrect. Positional awareness and thus immersion are so much better with the K7xx. For this reason, I volition recommend the K7xx (when bachelor) and Q701 to people looking for gaming headphones.

Conclusion

The AKG K7xx is one of my summit picks for a $200 headphone. Although the build quality is disappointing, the comfort, ergonomics, and audio quality are improve than one would expect for the price. The K7xx is most impressive with regard to detail and producing a iii dimensional sound. It is a mostly neutral headphone, with a modest amount of mid range accent and a tiny fleck of added warmth. But it has the same shortcomings as many other mid-fi headphones, namely with regards to transparency and treble presentation. Even so, you won't find much ameliorate audio for the cost. Yous may find something you lot like better in one category or genre, simply probably not all. The K7xx is 1 of the top contenders for its toll, get it earlier they disappear forever!

• Build Quality : In one word, disappointing. While the real leather headband and soft memory foam pads are very nice, and the cablevision design is good, the headphone torso is all plastic and pretty thin plastic at that. Even the mesh/grill over the drivers is plastic, which I didn't remember was a thing anymore. I really wish everyone followed Beyerdynamic'south example when it comes to mid-fi headphone build quality. 13/twenty
• Comfort : The K7xx is 1 of the most comfortable headphones effectually, not just for me just for many people because of its actually well designed auto-adjusting suspension headband, and considering of the clamping forcefulness. The clamp is such that information technology will be too large for many teenagers and women, only fine for most adult men. The ear pads are soft and made of memory cream, and are truly circumaural as they don't touch on my ears at all unlike some so chosen over ear headphones. 20/20
• Music Performance : Beingness the most important category, the K7xx does some things very well and other things not as well. It is a mostly neutral headphone with slight mid range accent and a hint of warmth. Transparency is typical for $200 headphones, meaning it's slap-up merely not great. It is impressively detailed, with surprisingly fast decay. Despite being and so detailed (for a $200 headphone), it is somewhat forgiving, although treble harshness and sibilance tin can be found on some actually bad recordings. It has an awesome 3D sound phase with good width, depth, and height. Imaging is generally good and overall the all-time I've heard in this price range, although there is some overlap when female vocals and guitar are playing simultaneously, making it hard to focus on guitar in such scenarios. The upper mids and treble aren't as linear as I'd like, and thus they (mostly the treble) don't e'er sound 100% convincing. At the end of the day, the K7xx seems adept for monitoring, and it's a pretty good all effectually headphone, although information technology excels primarily with classical/orchestral music. 17/20
• Gaming Performance : This headphone truly deserves a perfect score here, and that's what it will get. The sound stage is very large, the imaging is above average, and the outcome is amazing positional awareness in games, increasing immersion. The bass is such that guns and explosions are punchy and exciting, without being overwhelming. 20/xx
• Value : At $199, the K7xx represents a tremendous value. While the build quality is similar to a sub $fifty AKG headphone I've held, the sound is what matters the most at the finish of the day. At this cost, proficient luck finding a headphone with a bigger sound stage (aside from AKG's ain K701 and K702), better imaging, faster/more than natural decay, and more particular. Information technology's not a perfect headphone but it definitely hits above its price range, beating the well-nigh $300 Beyerdynamic DT 880 in many aspects (only of course losing in some every bit well). 20/20
• Overall : 90 /100

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Source: https://gnd-tech.com/2016/01/akg-k7xx-headphones-review/

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