K371

To preface this review, audio is always subjective, especially when listening for fun. I prefer neutral headphones. I like to hear the whole track in a very analytical and detailed way. That means the lows, mids and highs are all evenly represented without any washing out, muffling or muddying of any piece of the song. My daily driver for all kinds of music is the Audeze LCD-X, a high end reference headphone that is considered by many to be too analytical and detailed for casual listening. I've been in the market for closed back headphones for a bit now. I initially was planning to get some Meze 99 classics/neos. They are phenomenally light and comfortable and exceptionally well built. but after trying them I found that they tend towards being heavy in the bass which I found muffled the mids and left the highs with something to be desired. The other thing I didn't like was that the Mezes will "woof" leaving the enhanced bass muddy and fuzzed out, which is something a lot of people enjoy. I'm not one of them. Now, onto the AKG 371s. These headphones are neutral. Not quite as neutral as the LCD-X. But comparing these AKGs to a pair of headphone that cost more than five to six times as much is unfair. But I think it's warranted since they punch up extremely well given their price tag. The 371s trend towards neutral sound, leaving the bass tight and clean, not overpowering the mids while leaving the high clear enough to listen to without becoming fatiguing or painful. Playing games with them is great, I can hear everything from the booming explosions of grenades and tank shells to the high pitched crack of gunfire while hearing footsteps all at once without it becoming muddled together or painful to listen to. Music is fantastically clear and enjoyable to listen to, they are easy to drive so you don't need a dedicated amp to get them to that comfortable volume you want. Even when I'm sitting six feet from a noisy swamp cooler that clarity sticks around making it easy to listen to what I want without damaging my hearing in the process. They are light, but sturdy. They don't feel cheap, and have metal in the right places. They also have a removable cable, meaning they're way more likely to hold in the long term. They also fold up for easy storage or transport. The pads are leather and very plush, but big enough to accommodate my elephant ears. And on that note I've worn these for upwards of ten hours at a shot and they haven't gotten hot or uncomfortable to wear in that entire time. The only real negative I have is if you have long hair, the hinges and pads might grab it if you're lazy when taking them off leading to a bit of pulling. But two handing them on and off completely mitigates that issue. In short I love these headphones, and they're the best ones I've bought in this price bracket in a long time. They're not bass cannons, but they also weren't meant to be. If you want that bone shaking bass, look elsewhere. But, if you want to hear what's really going on in that booming bass note. Or even just pick out some new bits of detail in your favorite song, maybe give these a shot. They'll be different to your classic gaming headset or Beats. But different can be fun.

Where do I even start with the AKG K371. When you listen to these, it's like everything disappears, leaving nothing between you and the music. It's arguably the best closed back headphone that you can easily drive with mobile devices, like cell phones. The only closed-backs (headphones that don't leak sound everywhere) that are a significant improvement start at around 900 dollars, and you can only get the most out of them with a bulky amp, which cost a few hundred. For most people, this is as good as you'll ever need. And once you consider the price of around 150 dollars, it's arguably the best overall. Now the sound. Oh lord the sound. These are quite frankly, beyond words to describe. If you're going from crappy earbuds or even mid tier headphones like the ATH-M50, it feels like listening to your songs for the first time all over again. It feels like there's nothing between you and the music. As for the actual sound signature, it's one of the best tuned headphones period. The slight bump in the sub-bass adds a subtle but fun kick. The bass is impressively detailed and controlled. The mids are well balanced without being reduced into the shadow realm. And finally, the treble is detailed and fun but without being too bright. Overall, it's very detailed and the tuning is to die for. Soundstage is rather impressive, and although it's not quite the best in that regard, it's nonetheless great. Noise isolation is okay, not great but "good enough". Imaging (left-right differentiation) is very solid. These headphones excel at pretty much whatever you throw at them. I listened to a mix of Pop, Hip-hop, classic rock, metal, classical, electronic, jazz, synth, you name it. It's not just a jack of all trades, it masters then all. Gaming with these is also pleasant. I played Minecraft and Team Fortress 2 with these, and you have a pretty easy time discerning the direction of in-game sounds. Finally we get to the overall physical build of the headphones. This is where the only real flaws show up. Some people online reported QC issues, but they seem to be resolved at this point, and indeed my pair is fine. The top of the headband has some soft plastic imitating leather. This is actually a good thing, since it feels like it probably won't start flaking off in a few years. The inside of the headband is some sort of padded silicone material, which should make it real easy to clean. The headband adjustment mechanism is odd. It combines the function of adjusting the headband and letting the earcups rotate inward for storage. It's a little more loose that I'd like, making it hard to get an exact position while holding it, but it holds in place flawlessly once on your head. Fortunately, there's an easily accessible screw once you remove a soft pad on the inside of the pivot, so tightening the whole thing is no problem. the bottom part of this mechanism is made of metal. The earcups are hit and miss. They're comfy leather, but can have trouble sealing, especially with glasses. Furthermore, AKG does not seem to offer replacements on their website. I've found that Shure SRH1540 earpads function as a suitable replacement, albeit an expensive one. But I could not perceive any difference in sound between different earpads, other than an improved seal using the Shure earpads. The included accessories are nice, including the drawstring carrying bag. The cable is slightly microphonic (noise gets transmitted through the cable when you touch it), but you don't notice it at all with music. The cables themselves though (you get three, none with mic, just a 1m, 3m, and coiled cable, with a screw-on 3.5mm to 1/4in adapter. Having detachable cables is a very nice touch. So despite all the minor issues with the build, you might wonder why I'm still rating it 5 stars. Well, it's because they just sound that good. I couldn't recommend these enough. And for 150 dollars, it's a no-brainer.

I was choosing a new pair of headphones and immediately ordered a dozen models. Including several from AKG, namely the K612, K712, K701 and K371. Let's start with the K371. Although they are the cheapest, they are a very decent device. They don't press on the head, and the soft ear cushions allow you to wear the headphones for a long time. The device stays on the head very securely, you can easily take it outside for a run, a bike ride or just a walk. The rather strange design raises some questions. It's unclear how fragile it is. Judging by many reviews here: very fragile. The headphones sound decent for their price, a little bassy. The K612, K712 and K701 headphones are of a completely different type: they are open-back and significantly larger, you can't take them outside, and there's no point. A detachable cable is only available on the K712, and that's a shame. I believe that absolutely all headphones more expensive than ~$100 should have a detachable cable. But there are detailed photo instructions on the Internet on how to add and solder a connector yourself. They all sit on the head perfectly, albeit with slight differences. The K712 is the "older brother" of the K612, so the ear cushions are slightly improved. They are a little thicker, softer and made of a different material (memory foam, it seems). So the K712 is a little more comfortable than the K612, but that doesn't mean that the K612 themselves are uncomfortable. There are practically no differences between the K612 and K701 in terms of comfort. Sound. Personally, I liked the K612 the most for its clean, "unbiased" sound. In them, you can focus on all the instruments or vocals, and none of them "stick out" too much. The K712 are generally considered a more bass-heavy version of the K612, but I only partially agree with this: there is a difference, but it's very small. At the same time, it seemed to me that the K712 lost some clarity and purity compared to the K612. The K701 are a completely different pair. They have very strong high frequencies, and the low frequencies are, on the contrary, weakened. While the K612 and K712 are easily suitable for simple and enjoyable music listening, the K701 might seem "boring" due to the unexpressive bass, but they are very detailed! You can hear all the nuances of the composition, and that's really cool. I also think they would be well suited for FPS games. Regarding reliability. Things are bad here. There are many bad reviews with photos of the K371 regarding the reliability of the construction. The K series headphones have known problems with the quality of soldering of the thin cables inside, which often leads to the sound disappearing in one of the headphones. I personally encountered a similar problem twice: the first pair of K701 I received had a non-working left earphone, and in the K712, during testing, the sound started to cut out. Also, in the K series, the black headband is held by four thin elastic threads, two on each side. They constantly pull the headband down, allowing people with different head shapes to wear the headphones comfortably. However, over time, these threads degrade and deteriorate, like office rubber bands, which means the headband will always be in the highest position, making it difficult for people with smaller heads to wear the headphones. One of the pairs I received had exactly these worn-out elastic bands, and I could only wear the headphones because my head is quite large. In the end, I returned all the AKG headphones and kept a pair from a completely different brand, but if it weren't for the build quality issues, I would have kept the K612 for home listening, I really liked them. Or the K371 for the gym and cycling trips. I hope this short review will help someone make a decision and find their favorite pair of headphones.

Judging by the majority of audiophile reviews of these on YouTube, these are well tuned, reasonably "detailed" with very average for the price "technicalities", mediocre build pair of headphones. I disagree. First, materials are awesome - great plastics, great headband, very hygienic, 7/10 comfortable. Pads are almost great - they lack like maybe a couple of millimeters of depth for my ears, though they're sewed smartly, and plush, and easy to clean. The adjustment and folding mechanism looks junky on videos, while in the real life it's sturdy, clicks are very precise, controllable, the joint seems sturdy. And these are very, very compact when folded - I carry them in my fanny pack, this is ridiculously convenient for a full size headphones. Cables suck, all three of them, they're like kings of microphonic effect, you need a replacement. Btw, choose Hart Audio cables, they're awesome. If it's hot, you need an AC in the room, since in 2-3 hours K371 will become hot and sweaty. Plus, since they slightly touch my pinna, I can wear them like 4 hours tops. And no amp is needed, you can drive them out your finger probably. Sound isolation is mediocre - I found it worse compared to Elegia and DT770. Ok, now sound. Out of the box AKG K371 sucks. Like a lot. It's like really bad. It's dry. It's low bass. It's shouty. It doesn't make any sense at all. But give them time. I don't know if that's pads burn-in, your brain's burn-in or driver burn-in and it doesn't matter actually. The fact it - that you need to run them on your head for quite a while to get to the point when they start to sound good. And OMG they change. I do have DCA AEON Open Flow RT, DT770 250Om and Focal Elegia, plus I have experience with many other cans and iems in very different pricing brackets. AKG K371 shocked me. I couldn't believe my ears. They're very balanced overall, mids are tight, natural, vocals are distinct, natural and well placed - not too far, not too "intimate". Brass instruments and electric guitars got some very pleasant bite. Bass is just how I like it - it's neutral. And yes, there is a very, very notable rise in sub-bass, but that's really much closer to how speakers sound in real life. Highs do not attract much of my attention, they're balanced. You can hear hits on hi-hats, you can hear a pretty ok decay on cymbals, there is nothing bothering me at any volume level (I'm looking at you, almost every other headphone I've heard). They're reasonably wide, way outside your head and there is a perceived soundstage depth, not to Elegia's level, but K371 is not flat at all in this department. Just place them kind of slightly forward on your ear and you're fine. Regarding the detail - I don't know, really. I don't feel that my planars or Elegia, both EQed to Harman and non EQed, are like more or less "detailed". I'd say I stopped listening my DCA AFO RT, that's for sure and I LOVED that headphone. Now AKG spoiled them for me and just can't. Elegia is still a thing of it's own and makes a lot of sense compared to AKG still. Elegia is the punchiest headphone I heard ever, it's textured and "physical" and no one else is close (I never auditioned 900MK2 or first gen HE-6). K371 is not flat, they're also reasonably textured, and that bite on brass is not available on Elegia, not to speak of light weight and portability of AKG. And the price. AKG K371 is better that Beyerdynamic DT770 250OM in almost every aspect. DT770 still got a ton of spare parts, a bigger comfy earcup and the stock cable is significantly better. I apply Oratory 1990 EQ to K371, but only up from 1KHz, changes are minor, but improvement is noticeable. With no EQ they actually do not sound "close" and with Oratory's EQ up from 1KHz they disappear slightly more. I know, right? No one was telling me that in any review. To sum it up. AKG K371 broke my 15+ years of audiophile experience. I'm puzzled, pleasantly surprised and don't know what to think. It looks as neutral FR is almost everything, with some place for speculation in punchiness and soundstage topics. I don't know. Like, buy these, try them out, give them time, be open minded, don't listen to overs, don't look at the price, be ready to change your opinion and accept that your previous experiences, opinions and spending stopped making any sense. I had a dream, that a perfect sound will become available to anyone sometime far in the future, but apparently that future is now.

I've had these about a week now and I'm thrilled with the sound quality, whether I'm listening to pop, jazz, or a half dozen other genres. Sound is exceptionally clear with a very good sense of space and immersion in the sound. I've seen some criticism of both from people who prefer open-back headphones, so be realistic about what you can get from closed-backs, but from the perspective of someone who only uses closed-back headphones (with an under $200 budget) this is an amazing soundstage. Also blocks ambient noise pretty decently - they're obviously not noise-cancelling, but it nearly mutes the sound of typing on my keyboard, for example. (Note that from poking around at reviews, it seems there's been a quality control issue, so if you get these and the sound is fuzzy/muffled it's likely a production flaw, not how these were meant to sound) People seem divided on whether the bass is "too much" or "non-existent"... I find the bass a lot less punchy than I've had from some other phones, and in a song with subtle bass or mostly mid-bass the result is... subtle. It's not pumping it up at all. But if a song has substantial sub bass, you'll be feeling it. Instead of punching you in the eardrums, it surrounds you and makes you feel the rumble through your skull. And yeah, on some songs it can be pretty intense, but that's been rare for me. But it does also vary depending on the placement on your head, and that's my biggest criticism: the fit. So, these are HUGE earpads. I feel like I can slide them around a full inch and they still easily contain my ears. If you have a small head, they can extend far enough down your jaw that the seal is iffy. Clamping force isn't great - if I'm wandering around, bending over to pick stuff up, these will slide around a fair amount, and I worry about them falling off. And depending how far forward or back I have them, and the angle they're sitting at, I get very different sound quality. I seem to get the richest, bassiest sound when the headband is resting far back on my head and the earpads pretty far forward, but the weak clamping means that they feel like they're about to fall off in that position. Which is frustrating, but I find the sound quality very satisfying even in different positions, so I can deal with it. At least my ears aren't cramped and the earpads are very soft and comfy, and the fit might not be as much a problem for people with larger heads. The build feels very sturdy to me, with and the cables provided are honestly thicker and sturdier then the cord that came with my laptop. The padding is very soft, feels luxurious. Overall very pleased with this purchase.

I wanted to wait a few months after purchasing to really give my thoughts on these headphones. It has been about 5 months since I've purchased this pair, and I've been fully fleshing these things out for the entire time up until now. Before you read, I want to issue a TL;DR for those looking for a simplified version of this review: It's good, but at the same time it's objectively quite bad. Highlights include the overall sound being decent (in my opinion), while the build quality is absolutely abysmal. Everything within me wants to say that you should avoid these at all costs and just go for something else, but despite its flaws, I will admit that this is good for someone stepping into the world of studio headphones. If you're really interested, I recommend you use these cans all the way up the point it breaks (which in most cases will not be long), and then immediately move onto something else. Now here's the real review: Words cannot express my disappointment. I am fighting tooth and nail to be as fair as possible for these things because I do almost no justice if I slander these things for the entire review. Let's get into the advantages. The AKG K371's sound quality is very good for its price point. Its fidelity especially is incredible. I personally find these to be very comfortable to wear. For anyone who is entry-level, these are a good choice. Now for the disadvantages. The build quality is not very good in any degree; it just simply sucks. The headband begins to wrinkle even from light-moderate usage. The wiring used inside of the headphones are notoriously delicate, making it very easy to break on you. Almost all of the cabling that ships with the headphones are fragile and unreliable. There is a severe lack of soundstage. There is lots of bass activity, but not much bass impact. The whole thing is almost entirely made up of cheap plastic. The earpads that come with the headphones can be easily worn down. The drivers degrade too quick, and in my experience, the left driver began to degrade first until the right driver followed suit, overall making things crackle, muffle, and distort. The mini-XLR cable that you would connect from the male port at the bottom of the headphones can easily touch one's shoulder, which is bad given the fact that this jeopardizes the durability of the cable as the thing could constantly bend against your shoulder. In a sense, you are getting exactly what you pay for with this price point, especially in the context of studio headphones. This pair is cheaply made and lacking in several aspects. For some of these problems regarding sound, you can attempt to equalize certain frequencies as a neat patch. I must warn you however, that equalization has a give or take: you are getting a clearer or more enjoyable sound at the cost of more soundstage being sapped away. Replacing earpads with another brand's (say Brainwavz) provides only a minor fix to a major issue. Due to the pair's overall sound, it requires a lot of referencing to make mixes sound good, otherwise things will sound murky, sterile, and cold. These have loads of potential to be truly great, but its cheap execution is its own undoing.

After doing some internet research I found the K371 to be the right headphone for me, but curiosity got the best of me when I was researching replacement pads for it. Some reviewers claimed that the pads were different between the BT and none BT models, however Dekoni claims the same pad works for both devices as well as the K361. Turns out the pads are exactly the same, though the felt experience is a bit different on the BT models because of the thicker ear cups. Other differences to note: (1) Sound - if you weren't doing a side by side you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between how the two sound, however the K371 seems slightly more rich in classical and folk music and the bass is cleaner to my ears. It also sounded like there was a click or very brief rattle in the BT model when heavy base hit, such as in Vaishiyas song "Arped". This may have been a defect, or it may be the BT module adding to the dynamic sound environment in an unpleasant way. Additionally, I had a weird channel separation sensation in my ears with the BT model that went away after a few hours of play time. (2) Cable/Connectors - The K371-BT uses a 4-pin XLR connector for the cable whereas the K371 uses a more common 3-pin XLR. The 4-pin cable having more conductors in the wire is also more stiff and unpleasant, as you may be able to see in the picture. FYI - the K361 uses a smaller aux connector, probably a 2.5mm, which actually makes more sense for the BT model since the 2.5mm female end takes up less space than a 4-pin XLR. (3) Usability - The BT model is really convenient, and I must say I feel hesitant to return it, however I think I would take the cost savings on the K361 and the convivence of the smaller cable connector. If you're shopping for the wireless option between the K371 and K361, go for the K361 or save for a higher end BT headphone. For the wired, I must say I am enjoying the K371 and see no need to try the K361, which is a bit cheaper. Other notes on BT--the range is great and I can walk 50ft to the breakroom or bathroom from my desk at work and still have good connection. The touch controls are fine, not perfect, but I found them better than not having any. Sometimes it seemed like the BT connection would randomly degrade after listening for over an hour or so and when connected to Windows 10, but I didn't have that issue on Android.

I'm tempted to return these, simply because they have a channel imbalance, the right side is notably louder and slightly clearer than the left. This is inexcusable, the headphones sound great, but having audio tilted towards on side is painful and such an easy catch for the manufacturer. First and last AKG headphone I'll ever try, if they cared about QC at all this'd be a great value of a headphone, but lack of driver matching throws away their value and performance and its arguably the only change needed to make this an exceptional pair of headphones. I recommend AKG now owned by Samsung should stick with this headphones but jump on fixing the quality control issues, it's a great pair when everything goes right, or so I've heard. *edit* So I did return these, and the next pair sounded great. No noticeable problem. However, just a few months later, and after only using these a handful of times on walks, the hinge on the right side came loose so the adjuster doesn't work anymore and the clamp angle and force is messed up with the headband. I like these headphones but I can't really even use them now. AKG really needs to address the QC, maybe modify this headband design but keep the rest as is?