AKG K-712 Pro

I always had a bit of interest in trying out some better known reference headphones, to see how they stack up to some of my other choices throughout the years, and to see what all the fuss about the sound stage was.

Sound - Really nice. Some frequency range differences were noticeable and overall was clearer than before, but the big difference was the wider sound stage. Going back to other headphones after a few days of listening, I kept thinking on wanting to come back to these because of it.
Running these from a Scarlett 2i2 headphone jack was completely fine, but an amp should be considered if you want slightly better clarity.

Comfort - 5 Stars without glasses, 4 stars with. The headband is really comfy with it's quick adjustment without much thought put into it, and the leather band takes away all parts where hair can get stuck into and pulled out.
The pads were a lot tougher than I expected, but still soft and spacious enough for my ears to be snugly fit, while having plenty of breathing room.
Because of that toughness though, I could still feel some pressure against the frames of my glasses, which got a bit uncomfortable at times. Also, the huge amount of space caused the pads to rub against my glasses and make creaking noises whenever I moved my head around. In comparison, a friends K550 had far softer pads that felt really nice to put on.

Quality - Solidly made, but some of the design choices make me question its long-term durability. Some parts are thin enough that they could easily break when carrying it around in the provided pouch. I'd look into a solid case that's smaller than the box these headphones came in.
The strings on the sides that stretch to fit your head, while convenient, are going to become weaker along the years, which will affect comfort.

Overall though, I'd still give it 5 stars since the comfort and quality issues can be modded around, while the sound itself is really good.

It came in a nice box, well-presented. It's light and feels light on the head. Hardly touches ears. The whole item looks and feels very high-quality, material-wise.
I intend to use these for listening to casual music. I need a relaxed listening experience and this gives me just it. It's amazingly detailed, with a very wide soundstage. If you want to focus on the music, you may do so but for that a Sennheiser HD650 might be a better choice, with relatively non-existent soundstage and in-your-face mids. The K712 feels more in the "front rows", rather than "on the stage"
Also, for immersive gaming (can't speak for competitive) these're amazing.
Don't let the 62 Ohm impedance fool you into thinking you'll be driving these just fine with your typical smartphone. You'll still get a good experience, but you'll most likely benefit a lot from a decent headphone amplifier.
For a casual gamer or listener, these might very well be the endgame.
If you want to get a similar experience, with cut corners in every aspect but mostly the cost,I suggest the fidelio X2HR. But if you have a good amp and can stretch your budget for the K712, you'll not be dissapointed.

Firstly I would like to add a little background. I own a pair of Austrian made AKG K601s for around 13 years and through the years I have listened to many other headphones (Sennheiser, other AKGs, Sony etc.), but to be honest none were more expensive than 200€. Sadly none came even close to the reference sound of the K601s. Although the K601s are still in perfect working order, I have decided to add the K712 PROs to my collection. I will therefore add some comparisons between the two.

I would describe myself as being very picky in audio quality, and can appreciate superb audio reproduction with low distortion and wide frequency response. The audio gear I am using is an integrated amplifier Denon PMA-1600NE+DCD-720AE and internal PC sound card Creative AE-5. Both can drive up to 600 ohm load.

It is without saying that I had very high expectations for the K712s, and oh boy do they deliver! I didn`t want to rush with my assessment too quickly when connecting them for the first time. I do believe in burn-in process from my past experiences with speakers and headphones. Listened to K712s for an hour and they were very good, but I let them play for about 20-25 hours before having a proper listen. I would say they needed about 50 hours to get to the point I stopped to notice further improvements in sound, so please have that in mind if buying. Just my humble opinion.

First thing that really got my attention is how much detail in sound these have. Compared to K601s, the detail in sound on the 712s is simply on a whole another level. Quality of the recording makes more difference and really pays off when it`s FLAC for example. Directly compared, the K601s now sound a tad more muffled. Soundstage is similar between the two and altogether phenomenal, but 712s are just slightly more intimate and less distant. I now see what they meant, when they said the K601/701 have a massive soundstage. I listen to a whole lot of genres, but mostly old rock, electro-house, pop, reggae, and the 712s can take on anything. They really do excel in electronic stuff, and if I`m really nitpicking, maybe being the weakest in classic rock in my opinion. Bass and treble being slightly better than mids, but altogether have a very natural and clean sound.

The 712s do have a less flat freq. response than 601s, but I do use the EQ for the 3-4kHz dip, which is noticeable if not corrected a bit. They respond really well to added lower bass on EQ. There is no sibilance in any music, so that is really nice when listening for longer durations. No ear fatigue for me. I was always impressed with 601s comfort, but 712s are even better. Clamping force si low and pads are really nice, so comfort is 10/10. Construction quality is maybe the weakest link for AKG brand, so I do handle them carefully, because the plastics on the headband can break and the elastic bands do stretch through years. I always hang them on the outer plastic part of the headband. They are Made in Slovakia.

In the future I will try to get a listen on Sennheiser HD600/650s for comparison. To sum it up, I would really be surprised if the K712 PROs would not be (one of) the best to at least 400€.

I read mixed reviews on this, mostly positive with some negatives. Some said the bass isn't heavy despite the additional 3db in the "low end performance". And granted when compared to my Sennheiser HD650, the bass doesn't seem as pronounced. But this is marketed as a reference headphone so I don't expect this to be the type of headphones for bass heads.

Initially on the first day when I listened to it on my Marantz PM 8006 paired with my Marantz NA6006 as the DAC, it was underwhelming. So I went to sleep and started listening again. It's been almost a week and the details, clarity, airiness and spacious quality to it is something I've come to love, compared to my Sennheisers which has already burned in for sure. I like how the vocals seem to be brought forward while other headphones either has pronounced bass or trebles or just flat sounding which allows everything to just blend together into 1 big musical dish.

Nothing wrong with a flat frequency response, nothing wrong with pronounced bass and trebles. But it's more of a "right time, right tool" kind of situation. Will I listen to an EDM song this with this? Probably not, I would use my Meze Noir or Audio Technica ATH-M50x for it. Pop? Orchestra? Live albums? Yes I would! Also super comfortable for long sessions!

In summary, would I recommend this? Yes! Especially to own a piece of history! Would I say it has flaws? Yes, cause nothing is perfect, but again, I think you'll have to consider the type of music you're listening. I would use this for pop, orchestras and songs where I want to pay attention to the lyrics. But I won't use this for songs that are bass dependent as it'll probably won't suffice. Looking forward to getting a cable approx 30cm/1ft long and 3D print a holder to put my Fiio BTR5 to use it as a bluetooth headphone around the house. It's light feeling to do that and sometimes, you just don't want cable getting in your way, even with the included cable being long as it is

AKG headphones have been lifelong companions to me. STarted out with a K-171 which served me well for 12 years, then moved on to K-240 MKII, which has been unbeaten so far... until now.

Unfortunately the first pair arrived with a manufacturing fault, but Thomann did a stellar job replacing the unit with a good one. Doesn't score good points for quality control on AKG's side, but I guess these things happen (hence 4 stars for quality instead of 5).

Build quality: flawless, as usual with their "pro" line. Ear pads are similar to other AKG cans, except under the velour you have memory foam that provides a better low-frequency insulation (without increased pressure on your head). You get two cables, an orange straight one, and the more practical coiled cable, both are of extremely good quality (I have one from my old K-171 that still works after rolling the office chair over it a couple of times).

Comfort: awesome. Light, but sits on its place well, even if you move around with it quite a lot.

Sound: these headphones need to be broken in (they start to sound better after 50 hours, really good after 100 hours of use). After that they really start to sound great. Spacious, incredible 3-dimensional sound stage, with fantastic separation between instruments. Since they are open, don't expect the kind of bass build-up / booming bass that is typical to semi-open and closed models, but in return you get a much more "effortless" sounding, precise low end.

All-in-all: I am using my AKG K-712 PRO for mastering and mixing jobs with great results.

I compared the sound with a beyerdynamic dt-990 and the better sound quality especially for spacial recordings (live concerts, field recordings) is obvious. Great.
My synths sound a bit too thin in the low ends, but thats fine.

My biggest problem with the HP is the sound the plastic shell produces when I move my head. It is made to shift slightly to adapt your head's position (why?) and that gives a terrible squeaking sound.
I thought it was a production mistake, so I send it back and got another one (thx thomann!), but same issue. My partner has the same problem with it, so it is not only the shape of my head.
Also, I read about it online already, (people suggested to add some grease to the plastic to make it stop...:) , so it must be a thing for some people.

Also, the long and stiff connection of the cable touches my cloth, when I wear hoodies or shirts with a collar, and that also produces a noise.

These headphones are highly recommendable for any studio mixing or mastering applications. The sound is totally flat, natural and neutral. I was surprised at the frequency response, even at extremely low sub frequencies. Upon running through a few of my multi-track mixes which are in progress, I picked up on a few bogus midi notes, several octaves down. These had not been detected by either my studio monitors or previous headphones. I feel confident in using these for the 1st step of mastering, followed up by cross checking with studio monitors.

They are extremely comfortable to wear, and after a 3 hour session, I felt no listener fatigue. Build quality is more than acceptable, though a hard carrying case would have been appreciated.

One word of caution:- These will not work very well if powered from a non-professional consumer product (ie, phone or portable mp3 player). They need some serious power to get them to a usable volume. Powered directly from the headphone output of a Scarlett, with a mix peaking at -3dB and with the headphone level 3/4, the volume was just about workable. But I will probably beef this up with a quality headphone amp at some point in the near future.

Footnote:- This was my first order from Thomann. The order arrived swiftly (Canary Islands), withing just a few days. Great service!

Built quality; plastic, with a leather strap.
The sound quality is okay.
They have no bass what so ever and muddy sound... not really recommended for anything other than gaming.
The only plus these have is that they're big and light...
If you want headphones or IEMS that have bass and good quality, i recommend Truthear x Crinacle Zero, pretty bassy with good sound.
These headphones are just brand, you're paying for brand here. K371 are good headphones. These are not, I regret buying them... Too late for a refund i recon at this point... also too lazy, they fit my needs anyway.

I decided to get the AKG K712 Pro headphones after doing an extensive amount of research. I mainly listen to metal and rock music so I wanted a pair of headphones that would compliment those genres, giving me detail and clarity to make out all the little details while also having a feeling of impact. The K712 is great for this as it has an incredible soundstage, giving me a feeling of listening to the music live. The slight boost in bass response compared to the other options I was looking at (such as Sennheiser 560S and AKG K702) gives me the impact that is needed for my music.

The comfort on these headphones is also great, and the self adjusting headband means that there's no need to worry about the fit.

Build quality feels light but not cheap, but I am still a little careful with them as some parts look like they could be fragile (like the clear plastic in headband adjustment mechanism).

Overall, am very satisfied with these headphones.