AKG K812 Review - This is a Flagship?

[antunkatona]

Hi!

I think what happened with the K812 project was that the „bean counters“ from Harman stepped in and altered the design in the last minute which had a dramatic and inevitably, a catastrophic impact on sound.

The K812 uses optimised neodymium magnets and very stiff self-damping materials for the diaphragms so on all accounts, this should have been a stellar headphone. What I think happened was that everyone in the engineering department in Vienna did their job well so the headphone was high impedance and high sensitivity design which is an ideal engineering approach. Near the release date, someone from Harman said „It sounds good. Now make it iPod compatible.“ Of course, sensitivity is ridiculously difficult to achieve. So they decreased the impedance instead.

I've had investors come in the last day and demand a change in design, something that's small in their view. But surely, nothing in engineering is ever simple and this meant doing everything all over again. Of course, if a headphone sounds terrible, no one dies from it. But if a bridge fails, lives might be lost. The point is, ad-hoc solutions never work. Never.

In the case of K812, you have the same diaphragm weight and diameter controlled by a the same powerful magnet assembly and the critical component, the voice-coil itself, is now not even applicable to this design.

One wonders how much is enough for the megalomaniacs over at Harman. The AKG brands stands for engineering and integrity. Even their „triple cardioid“ logo signifies one of their most significant accomplishments.

Cheers!

[bernhardtorsch]

Yeah, it IS a Flagship. And also yeah, it IS as good as the HD800S or the Focal Clear or any other flagship. I am into high end audio for over 25 years now and I trust my ears. The AKG K812 are absolutely among the best headphonesx you can buy, and for the current price (800 Euro in Europe) maybe amond the thee beste cans in the world. To my ears, they play two or three leagues above the Beyer T1.2 and there is are "better" dynamic cans out there - only different ones. The Sapce on the AKGs is just incredible, but still manages to keep the music together better than the AKG 712 or, for that matter, the Sennheiser HD800. The K812 are the most reveiling and detailled Cans I know that still manage to make the audio sound limke audio and not like some autopshy of dead music.

[metal]

Intro 0:00 Build 0:34 Comfort 1:47 Sound 3:41 Bass 3:59 Midrange 5:23 Treble 6:32 Soundstage 8:07 Isolation 9:18 Genre Pairing 9:32 Amp Needs 10:08 Conclusion 10:40

Correction: K271, not K701 at 3:05. Not even including an EQ profile here as this isn't something that can be fixed with EQ. This is just another example of why brand loyalty is ridiculous, because AKG has some great cans out there, but not this one.

[andreasbehrens]

i am using this thing since years. And it looks like new. It is in use every day. I never saw more quality like this before. And i had them all here in my office.

[shookstylez]

I don't agree with your opinion but respect it. I have used the K812 for a long time now, and been mixing albums professionally with them. Great detail, open sound, very good stereo image. I am looking forward to your review of the K872 love to see your opinion about that one!

[goodfodder]

Question is, what were you pairing them with?

[daveharkin]

thank you for your honesty, it's hard to find a reviewer today that doesn't give a biased opinion. I think you have saved a lot of people a lot of money.thank you

[fphoto]

There's nothing more refreshing than an honest opinion ! Your reviews are the most grounded, thoroughly explained and conspicuously free of any profit led agenda . . . hats off to you sir ! I bought the B&O H6's after hearing your comments in the Q&A - I think they sound excellent, thank you !

[stephenchandler]

Thank you for your great reviews. Would you recommend going from the AKG 550 mk2 to the AKG k712pro? Thank in advance.

[NonPremiumID]

AKG AKG K872, Metal571, is the 872 AKGs best? (Sonically, deep bass, articulate mid range, airy, silky highs)?

[jim]

I usually have similar preferences regardig headphones. I love the LCD but K812 is also great. What I noticed is that it can sound muffled, especially in the bass& treble if not given proper amplification. But when paired properly, they sound extremely clean. They beat the K712 in all areas. For 750€ I think its a good deal. I think this is the first time I don't agree with your review.

[KeithC_]

Your reviews are very useful. Keep it up.

[saptezsapte]

Tested with some preamps. The k812 emphasises brutally the lack of precision in preamps. Tested with RME UFX 2 - decent but K701 sounded better in this setup. Tested with Focusrite Red4Pre, same thing. Tested with Audient id14, unlistenable, foggy and harsh, sounded exactly like a faulty or cheap chinese headphone. With lesser preamps sounds so cheap that You wonder if it is a fake headphone. Tested with Audio Technica AT PHA-100 - precision at it's best. Not musical, but out of this world professional precision and tightnes. Fog gone, harshness gone, etc. One shot mix and master done, translation just perfect. Perhaps with a RME ADI 2 Pro or Dac they would exhibit the same precision.

[annders]

Wow, they cost 1500$ overseas? You can get them for about 800€ in europe.

[sasanikic]

Hey Metal571! Which would be your pick for classical and acoustic music? Open back headphones, for 300 dollars max?

[nanao.]

With some profs praising them (in direct contradiction of this review of yours and that other reviewer) and mentioning specific amp combinations, could it be that these are in some way finicky about amplification? What amp setups did you use these with, or did you try various setups, or why don't you include basic information like this in the review?

[wii]

So happy i bought the 712 Pro's love them to death

[ubacow]

My only issue with the K712 is that its not really so much a studio headphone that I wanted it to be when i jumped from the k701. I really liked the K701 sound, it was much lighter, airier and while less detailed was more neutral for the purpose that it was meant to be used for which was studio monitoring.

[divinecurrent]

I definitely dodged a bullet here, was considering buying them but you stopped me lol.
I did try the K712 with EQ recently, but I wasn’t getting a good seal for whatever reason with my head shape, so I prefer the 58X. But I have been looking for a comfortable all around headphone for longer listening sessions with still excellent technical performance. Would you take the DT1990 over this? I assume so. Only thing I’m worried about is the 9 kHz peak but I use EQ regularly so probably not an issue.

[samuellee]

Honestly these get the most head time between the hd800s, t1.2 and lcd2c and my other 40+ headphones... but mostly listen to classical and jazz.. I’ve noticed the hd800s have wider soundstage but these have a better 3d soundstage and more bass. Mainly run them off my schiit jot/Valhalla II stack but I’ve run them off other amps as well