K 240 MK II Stereo Studio Headphones

The short and sweet of these phones is they are a really solid cheap option for studio grade flat response phones that are well worth the money and where you should be making your entry into the studio grade space with AKG. Read on for a more detailed review Testing performed on an SMSL DAC using Optical Windows 10 at 24 bit 96000Hz Studio quality no enhancements of any kind Tested using Spotify Premium Quality, Youtube videos, and MusicBee FLAC music, and some Bluray Movies Compared against Sennheiser HD598 and Pioneer HDJ-1000(for distortion purposes) So these headphones were a very pleasant surprise for me to give a review. The last “cheap AKG” phones I’ve had any experience with were the K70. Those phones were flat just on the edge of tin like and overall a massive disappointment. I might be considered an “audiofile” by some and would consider my setup to be at the bottom of premium. I normally listen to things on a set of HD598 that I love with everything and an S.M.S.L. DAC connected via SPDIF(optical). So coming into these phones at this price point I was not expecting good things to say the least given my last experience. Turns out I was way off base as these are really solid phones. So first things first the sound is very neutral which is something I look for in studio grade phones. No bass boosting or extra crystal in the highs. Just nice neutral sound to appreciate the original source material. The sound stage is large but The highs are nice and clear with a little cut off at the peaks. The bass is nice warm and clear if a little flat. Giving a listen to a bass boosted version of Invincible I would have to crank my DAC to a level that on my HD598’s would have my ears bleeding. However there was no distortion or muddling so I would more likely chalk it up to gain hunger for bass than I would weak output. Switching over to a song I know has a lot of highs as well as bass I gave a listen to Ignoring My Heart Bass Boosted. The story was the same. No real distortion happening I could discern a clear difference between the highs and the bass on the drops. I think the lesson here is if you’re wanting a rich thick bass signature out of these phones then you’re going to have to be listening on a dedicated device like a DAC or Audio Interface and not a phone/tablet. Highs I listened to a couple songs that give me a good impression of the highs and their qualities. First off I listened to Jolie Coquine by Caravan Palace. DAC was at the normal level I keep it at this time around and everything from the lyrics to the violins were nice a clear if a bit lacking in the peaks. Next up a gave Beauty Beats by Beats Antique a listen which has the highs more muted but still present in the foreground. It was a much better listening experience here the violins are more in the background while the fiddles are more foreground. Next up I gave Carmina Burana a go particularly the version performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. It’s one of the best versions that really shows off highs as well as giving you a solid idea of the sound stage of the phones. This was outstandingly good in terms of the highs but the sound stage was quite lacking here.I would say it's about half as wide as my HD 598's. Last I gave Madame Coquette by Tape Five a listen and noticed the slight cut off in the highs once a gain compared to my 598’s. It’s nothing an average listener would notice or someone who’s more a casual listener would notice but it’s definitely there in the highs Mids songs are always really hard to pick out because I think a huge difference in peoples listening experience comes in at the Mids. So I would use my track list here to find where your listening defaults lie. First off I gave My Kind of Town by Sinatra a listen because with the lyrics and the woods section I think this song has a really solid mid presence throughout. Here’s where I noticed the first bit of the corner cutting that I think gets these phones into the price point they are in. There’s a flatness that isn’t obvious but very pronounced. It sounds like you get to right where a mid would fill your sound stage and it stops just before that. Next up I gave In The Air Tonight by Collins a listen. I think this song is a good choice because the Mids are what I would call the essence of this song. No real issues here this time around and the flatness isn’t as big of a deal here. Moving on to movies and general video content from the likes of YouTube, Netflix, etc I think this is where the phones really shine. The overall neutral sound signature gives any spoken word content a perfect balance. Everything form YouTube videos to movies to Netflix sounded as good as I expected it to sound. With no real issues or noticeable drops offs of any kind. Everything sounds just right in my book. So conclusion time is upon us and it’s important that you remember that sound in general is a very subjective medium and it’s hard to just outright say something or give a person a conclusive yes or no answer to a question. All that taken into account are these good headphones? Yes I think the neutral studio sound signature and level detail in the sound is perfect for this price point. If you’re a streamer, gamer, or video watcher then these headphones are hard to beat. If you’re a big music listener or expect booming thunderous sounds then I think you should look elsewhere. I don’t honestly believe you can get a set of headphones that are this comfortable and this quality at this price without a major sale going on at the time. These are a solid buy and a solid 5 star from me.

I love these things. I've gifted several to friends. They're comfortable, durable, sound great and have a solid enough after market to change out the cups, cord etc. if needed. They're easy to drive and fit a wide range of head sizes too. Probably one of the best starter headphones there is.

Do not get these to listen to music, podcasts, watch movies, tv shows, audio books, or any kind of audio entertainment. And especially don't get this for porn! I'll explain why further down. This device is for professionals only. If you're not mastering or producing audio projects from music to podcasts etc, then you have no business here. Put it this way. I have the AKG N60, which is way more expensive than the AKG K240s. I use the AKG N60 to listen to music, because music sounds way better on the AKG N60 than the AKG K240. When I make beats beats, I use the AKG K240. Because the sounds are more clear. It is easier to know how to pan and how to EQ sounds and their frequencies using the AKG K240 than on the N60. The N60 is meant for entertainment and chill. The AKG K240s is meant for work. Plain and simple. So if you're looking for entertainment headphones use the money you were going to use for this and buy headphones made for entertainment. If you're a producer, and you're here to WORK with professional studio/monitor headphones under $100 or under $80, this is for you. If you've made the mistake to get these for entertainment purposes, you will be disappointed and find the audio quality to be cheap. And that's your fault for not listening to the pros or doing your research. So if you're here for entertainment no need to read further, move on with your life and find something else. If you're here to WORK, please read on. Now that we have that out of the way and the civilians are gone, let's get to WORK. If you want great fantastic studio/monitor headphones that gives you musical orgasmic experiences, you want something that costs hundreds and hundreds of dollars. But if you want to get the job done and are under a strict budget, you're going to fall in love with these guys. Especially if you buy fluffier ear pad replacements like I did. Its so fluffy! And made the sound a bit more roomier, but also less punchy, and less pronounced, because the little speakers are further away from your ear. But somehow it makes the sounds clearer if you will, I'm guessing because its roomier with fluffier ear pads. Now, there's nothing wrong with the default ear pads. They are comfortable giving you hours of play. I mean WORK. I just took that extra step. Fluffier ear pads allow you to play even longer. I'm sorry, I mean WORK. Though not sure how healthy that is, breaking night because you cant stop creating, exploring and perfecting sound. These headphones are def! ;) A few things to keep in mind as an audio engineer. These are no good for LIVE recording, or wearing these as you record vocals or instruments like a guitar or piano, etc. The reason being is because they are semi-open. Which means the sound purposely leaks out of the headphones and will leak into the mic, totally messing up your recording! For those you want closed studio headphones, not the AKG K240s. Now if you're making beats, mixing tracks, mastering audio projects, editing a podcast/interviews etc, these are perfect! Let me explain this leakage in terms most can understand. If you want to listen to >>>PORN<<< privately without disturbing people next door, like your parents or other family members, these are a very poor choice! You can hear the noise leakage outside of your room from the other side of the door! So in short, if your place in making music is recording in a sound booth, stay away from the AKG K240's! The K240 is for those who work outside of the booth. The noise leakage helps in making the sounds clearer because it gives the sounds more room rather than trapping the sounds. Helps in panning, EQueing, etc. It's also helpful in hearing a potential attacker like Jason, Pennywise or Michael Myers stepping up behind you, giving you a chance at survival. But since you'll be working so hard, the chances of you falling asleep on your chair and falling prey to Freddy Krueger are very high! So if you feel tired, do the right thing. Turn everything off and go to bed. Your head will be more clear for the next time you tackle your audio projects. And Freddy isn't really into responsible audio engineers. Or is he? One other thing I want to share, that I didn't know about these babies. This is no baby!! These headphones represent the birth of Generation X. Disco, Rap, Heavy Metal, House, Punk etc. The AKG K240s is basically a remix of the original 1975 K240 Sextett. And its exact look and golden colors make it a replica of the 1984 K240M. These were used by producers who worked for many legends who came to be during the birth and revolution of digital music. Let that sink in, for all of you 808 Trap heads out there. Yup. One thing to think about for Trap beat enthusiasts. People who know more than me, say these aren't that great for listening to bass music. That's kind of redundant information being that these aren't meant for chilling to music. They're meant for real work. Anyhow, imagine perfecting the most righteous 808 kick bass sound with the K240 and then mastering and mixing everything together so it all sounds perfect. Then imagine how that would sound to people listening to it through hifi speakers or headphones meant for listening to music and how insanely extra bass heavy it will sound while still sounding clear with all the sounds in place and arranged. That's what I'm experiencing right now. Results that go boom-boom with quality clarity. Something to keep in mind. Do I recommend this for people who just want to listen to music? Seriously? Didn't I tell you to get lost already? You do not belong here! BEAT IT! Do I recommend this for audio engineers who edit and master audio projects of all kinds trying to get professional studio headphones for under $80? Hell yes I do. And while you're at it, go get the fluffiest ear muffs you can find.

The AKG K240 headphones are one of six or more headphones I've recently tried and tested. (I am not an engineer or an audio geek or fanatic. I worked professionally developing audio, PC and other electronic equipment for over 25 years, designed many such devices, and have used headphones fairly extensively for over 30 years. With extended work and experience come certain standards for performance and a decent level of common sense judgement on quality. I hope my unique viewpoint may help or benefit you.) The K240's have been in popular use by professional audio technicians for decades with minimal changes and strong reputations for consistency, accuracy, quality and reliability. All of these factors are hard to earn and difficult to maintain without considerable continued care and real effort. That gives AKG a few bonus points from the start in my mind. Upon receipt, the K240's were more professionally packaged than any of its competitors I tried. Packaging doesn't prove quality, but its a good sign of care, effort and pride in a company's product... a couple more bonus points scored. Although made in China (like virtually all semi-affordable consumer headphones today) the fit and finish of all product parts seemed to be very good, solid and above par of its competitors. They give a definite impression that the K240's will last a long time with reasonable care and minimal maintenance. Solid build quality adds 10% toward total points. The K240 has a detachable cord with an industry standard connector at the earcup end. AKG offers several length and types of cables and source connections, since their products are popular with many different types of professional sound technicians. Other sources also offer compatible cord accessories. This makes the K240 more likely to survive cord or plug catastrophes. For likely extra longevity add 10% to total point score. When I took the headphones out fo the box, unwrapped the cord, and put the professional wire frame headset on; it immediately felt solid, perfectly placed (without any conscious effort by me to position or adjust it in any way), and was remarkably comfortable. I was surprised to find the earpads so precisely, solidly fitted to my head with notably less pressure anywhere on my head or ears than 8 or more other headphone brands I've owned or tried. Contingent upon a test to assure these factors lasted through an extended, continuous period of use, this is a major factor. (The extended test was a pleasure and took no points away from the initial impression, perhaps added a few points to the score.) Added 25% toward total points. When plugged into my laptop, which has a very minimal sound system in both power and technical qualities, the k240's produced good volume and a surprisingly flat*, even and wide frequency response. I heard sounds in medium and high quality recordings that I could not detect in any of the other headphones I had owned or tested. I could distinguish different instruments or elements of sound in recordings that I didn't recognize before. High, middle and low frequency sounds all seemed noticeably crisper and cleaner than I recall with other headphones or speaker systems. (Same for music from my smartphone.) Some reviewers warn that you hear so much sound detail that some recordings made from low quality sources or with low sound resolution settings may become unusable, but I've listened at length to recordings made at settings from 56kbps/32kHz (low-end ringtones) to 320kbps/48kHz (better than CD's) and found all but recording already known defective to be perfectly usable. In fact, the extra clarity allowed me to run some marginal recordings through some cleaning software and upgrade them to virtually perfect quality, thus saving some favorite scarce titles. (*=NOTE: People who are used to, or who prefer, headphones and speakers that boost bass sounds heavily for hard-rock or other bass-beat-centered music may find this different, or even unsuitable to their taste in music. Those with a wide music collection and/or widely varied taste should find the even response a definite advantage.) The sound envelope I sensed around me was lightyears better than closed-chamber (aka ''Sound Isolation'') headphones, which make sound and vibrations seem to be coming from somewhere in the inside rear of your skull, and seemed much bigger and broader than any of the open-back (non external-sound dampening) models. Rather than a sensation of having small sound chambers on each side of the head, the impression was more like being in a small club or small theater where sounds could develop more fully. I thoroughly appreciate this luxurious, broader sound stage sensation. Overall for what I regard as great sound quality and a superior sound presentation, add 40% to point score total! All summed up, the AKG K240 Headphones earn about 90% of total possible score. No competitor I've owned or tried comes even remotely close to that level. So, at least as far as I'm concerned, the K240 is the clear winner within my budget range. I've bought it, and find more to reinforce my choice daily as I use this product. I urge everyone to set your own analysis values for product comparisons. Using defined values for different significant factors that are important to you, use reliable reviews and your own test of product(s) of most interest to you. Draw your own conclusions about the products, assign the values to each product, and a definite winner should pop up from the crowd, as it did for me. That makes your final choice quicker, easier and surer. Good luck!

I bought these for my partner, but she ended up not needing them, so I’ve been using them for guitar practice out of my effects processor. Overall, the quality is nice enough. A little cheap feeling, but that could just be due to the wire head band design. They sound clean, not EQ’d to all hell, are comfortable, and have a detachable cable, which is nice since I keep the cable plugged in and just bring out the headphones for practice. Used a proprietary cable in the headphone side, which is annoying, but acceptable. One thing to note: for those that do not know, these won’t be good for just listening to music and chilling. These are essentially “monitoring” headphones, so you’re going to hear a rather raw sound from them. This is ideal for studio and instrument work, not so much for leisure.

Absolutely unbeatable for the price. I got these after my ATH-AD700X’s broke, and I am honestly more impressed with the K240’s than I was with them. The fit is perfect, beyond comfortable. They’re extremely lightweight, and the self-adjusting band is very stable. The cable is more than sufficient in length, and connects with a simple 3.5mm jack. They’re super simple to run, you don’t need an AMP, but they would benefit greatly from one. If you don’t have the money for an AMP, check out FxSound so you can at least adjust EQ to your liking. The audio is very clean, I’d say on par with the AD700X’s in everything except for bass. The bass is a little on the low end, however, this can be easily mitigated by editing your EQ to boost it a bit. The soundstage isn’t going to be as grand as the AD700X’s, or HD600’s, since those are open-back, and the K240’s are semi-open; I personally prefer the semi-open design as it allows for more ‘pure’ audio whilst still providing a sufficient soundstage, in my opinion at least. I caught these on sale for $49.99, but I’d easily pay full price.

... if you understand that they are excellent STUDIO or detailed listening headphones. They are not light on bass, but also they do not unrealistically emphasize bass like consumer headphones do. I've been listening to these for about six hours now, and as they settle in and get broken in, they keep getting better and better. I've thrown all kinds of music at them - a LOT of classical piano, some orchestral works, cello, brass, a drum improv, 0-Daiko (huge Japanese drums), female and male vocals, rock incl metal, and more. They do a fantastic job on all of it. If you want smooth and accurate bass, the way it is being performed, recorded or produced, the K240s will do the job nicely, without overstating or understating anything. Mids are detailed and clear, so is the treble. They sound very similar to my studio monitors, which is exactly what I was hoping for. I don't want my headphones to alter the sound in any way. I want them to accurately reproduce it. These are NOT noise-canceling or noise-isolation headphones. You will hear noise from the room, and the room (and any open mics) will hear whatever you are listening to on the headphones. That is just an instrinsic feature of open-back (or partially open-back) headphones. No bluetooth either. This is a wired-only headset. The cord has a female mini-XLR connector on the headphone end, and a 3.5 mm plug on the other (plus a 1/4" adapter). The headphones don't appear cheap or poorly made. I plan to treat them with respect, hanging them up when not in use and that sort of thing. I've ordered replacement memory foam ear pads (Brainwavz) and a 3 meter cord. The provided ear pads and cord are more than servicable, however. The cord has a nice rubbery texture and is a good length. I just needed a little longer. I recommend the use of a headphone amp or audio interface with these headphones. I'm using a DAC amp I got on Amazon for $50 (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07XJ89KV6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1) and I have found that I need to feed the K240s quite a bit more gain with it than the Philips headphones needed. If you have an underpowered audio section on your phone or tablet, it might not be enough for the K240. Most higher-end smartphones and laptops will be fine. However, still consider a headphone amp. Not just for volume, but for dynamic range, for signal to noise. You don't want your headphones to be starved for oomph when it matters most, and I think these could be underpowered and struggling in the wrong setting. The best feature of these headphones is that they disappear. They are very light, and the sound is very clear and airy. As a result, I find myself forgetting that I am even wearing them. It's just me and the music. And that is a good place to be. These are very tough to beat in the open headphones category, unless you are prepared to spend $400 for a pair of Sennheiser HD-600s and even then it's a bit of a horse race. Perhaps consider the Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro for $150. But you can buy the K240s AND a decent small headphone amp for $100. Then sit back and enjoy them. That's what I plan to do.

They're okay... They have very balanced audio, crystal clear to the point where you hear things in songs you've never heard before. Also decent for gaming, very light. However they don't fit over the ears well, kinda feel like they're just floating over your ears. And they are not very loud when at max volume, plus the bass is very subtle which isn't a huge problem for me but can be for many. So far the durability is good very flexible which is cool.