AKG K371 Quality Control Issues (UPDATE READ DESCRIPTION)

EDIT: AKG reached out to me to say that they are very concerned about what they saw in my video. They have escalated this to the highest level to ensure the QC process is improved. I believe these issues are related to early run production problems and that they will be able to correct this. I had no problems with arranging returns, replacements and refunds. This is all handled by the retailer.
EDIT: May 2020
My latest unit was received in November 2019 and is still going strong. From discussions I have had with AKG/Harman I am happy to say this is resolved now and that my previous issues were the result of early production problems.

This video documented some issues I had with the AKG K371. Quality Control issues I have experienced with 4 different units in a row.

To make it clear I do believe that AKG has resolved these issues now and I am happy to recommend the K371.

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[antunkatona]

HI!

I appreciate your speaking out loud about this. Ever since AKG has been taken over by Harman, quality has dropped significantly. Things have been even worse in the last two years, maybe three. There are two things you must realize though. 1) Harman has switched between several Chinese manufacturers in order to secure the absolute lowest price. 2) To Harman/AKG, you are not „the customer“. The customer is the distributor who purchases thousands of items at a time. They then resell the item to you through a network of dealers. If you're experiencing a problem, by the time the information you've sent gets to the production team at Harman/AKG, it will be so distorted that no one will know what the problem was in the first place. In short, it is best to avoid companies like these. There is nothing left of AKG any longer, only the brand name and some 60 patents in electroacoustics which Harman acquired so easily.

[___KS___]

excellent overview. I did not think that such reviews can be seen on YouTube. I'm just about to buy a 371. but after watching, I had a question what can you advise as an alternative to 371?

[FreetimeReport]

You’re a life saver. I had these in my cart to buy and just deleted them. I feel like I dodged a bullet by not buying this set. Even if I bought a pair and they were fine out of the box, I think I’d always be worried they were about to fail. Solid video, mate.

[WheezyTech]

EDIT: AKG reached out to me to say that they are very concerned about what they saw in my video. They have escalated this to the highest level to ensure the QC process is improved.
EDIT: May 2020
My latest unit was received in November 2019 and is still going strong. From discussions I have had with AKG/Harman I am happy to say this is resolved now and that my previous issues were the result of early production problems.

[EniemeXavier]

Thanks for this review. I have been the happy owner of AKGs and have been quite satisfied with their sound. Those were my first "good headphones" after my PortaPro broke down.
K242HD is still alive.
K619 broke because of bad mechanical conception.
K272HD broke several times, still because of weak parts, and after several gluings that did the job, it is definitely dead since yesterday.
Clearly they know how to make good acoustics for headphones, but do not know how to design robust mechanics and do not test them or stress them correctly.
I was looking for a replacement unit for a closed headphones, and was really hesitating to go back to AKG because of those mechanical issues.
Now you have convinced me to look somewhere else.

[hiallthr]

thanks for the review and your efforts to get the message across to akg. Another problem that many users have encountered is a crack in the headband of the headphones. the fact is that there is a steel strip inside the headband, which is responsible for the clamping force, and so, it is glued to the usual double-sided office adhesive tape ... adhesive tape, karl !!! after 3-6 months of use, it depends on how often you use them, this tape loses its properties and the main pressing force goes to the plastic part. therefore, it cracks at its weakest point - the point where the steel strip is pinned to the plastic. I really wanted these headphones because of the good and almost even frequency response, but because of these problems, now I'm thinking of taking the dt770. It upsets such an attitude to the manufacture of products and to the consumer ...

[motonomads]

so.. I actually went demo listening to the k371 last week; It got me curious how it sounds and the build... the unit I had in hands ( the salesguy at this pro musicians shop actually unpacked a fresh one, because he did not have a demo) looked absolutely fine, no quality issues, hinges ok, no rubbers or anything missing, you bought yours from ama..on right? I never buy electronic equipment from a.zon, learned my lessons few years back with high end cams. back to k371: the build quality overall is not the most astounding, did not not like the plasticy feel, even for that rather low price, but it had no QC issues . And it sounded pretty good, I have to say for the price tag, extremely balanced, nice sounding, nothing popped out, just I guess I could have this thing on my head for hours not fatiguing ( I also A/B/C/ D´ed it with the DT770, DT990, M50x, M40x, HDJx10 and some others cause they were all hooked up lying next to each other .. I preferred the k371 sound wise, even not being burned in at all.. . super nicely balanced; less enganging though, but it is studio monitor so thats expected.... subjective opinion, ;-).. cheerio

[motonomads]

I wanted to get this headphone, but now... ?? I do not want to bother with QC issues. The effort you went through to give this headphone a fair chance is impressive.. and you actually stay quite friendly. thumbs up, and seriously, many thanks for this video! ... obviously just totally unacceptable QC issues, even brand damaging. It needs to be pushed to AKG exec. level, whoever that is today - Harman, Samsung ? Original small company AKG based in Vienna actually cared about their products and their customers, I remember dealing with them... obviously things change.

[usernamedenied]

Saw this away from home, then as soon as I got home checked my pair, luckily mine don't currently have any of these issues. I bought them in Big Camera, Osaka, Japan though, maybe there's better quality control depending on what area of the world they're entering? If AKG tell me to communicate with the retailer - that could be a problem for me though :/

[HiCZoK]

300 subs?! I can already see this will be an amazing channel!!! I found you SOMEHOW by looking for wireless gaming headphones(with usb 2, 4ghz dongle) but this akg headphone is interesting too... maybe not in a good way heh. Almost made me change my mind and want to get wires instead of wireless but I am not sure anymore

[ruaryvargas]

i bought the 361 a year ago, everything worked pretty fine, i use them for audio end video editing, so they never leave my place, but right side just stopped sounding. construction feels pretty good, but maybe the rotating system broke audio signal.

[bilguana]

I was about to buy these after seeing Dr. Olive's presentation at the AES meeting last Thursday in Hollywood.

[antyvirusuk]

These are meant to replace the K550 range, a really well built headphone... What happened with these

[Chase-ygno]

Such a shame :/ The only thing I could think of is they have multiple manufacturing facilities with different leadership/prioritization (Since Harmon is a big company).
But having this many issues does remind me of the issues I had with JBL products too.

[ArnasAt]

I remember watching this video after I bought the K371's and I was pretty scared that these issues would happened to me, but there were no issues at all at first. Then my K371's side hinge snapped after about 3 months of usage. Sent it to Amazon for warranty, maybe the issue isn't fixed afterall, or maybe its just a coinsidence. Great video, by the way :)

[TrueXPixelsYT]

I’ve literally been ignored by their support for 7 months for an issue with the right hinge, until eventually being told to send a ticket to another email. I hate this company so much, biggest purchasing regret

[jackmandelbeatz]

Agree with him. I own a pair of AKG K-371, and besides audio quality, materials and manufacturing are trash. The pair last for around a year before the leather broke in pieces and the left panel detached.

[materferguson]

I would have kept the pair with the loose sticker and either put a dab of glue on it or ripped the stickers off both sides and been done with it. I guess I'm not that picky as long as they sound good. I suppose it's what we as consumers have to live with since we have placed the price of mass production over the quality of craftmanship.

[michaelgalanos]

Thanks for the video mate. I had akg quality control issues with a pair of buds years ago and I stopped buying akg because mine didn't last a month there must be something going on at the factory level. You can pick up beyerdianamic DT 770 pro for 99 quid much better than akg any day of the week.

[marion_roberts]

Like I said on reddit, AKG is doing a hifiman over those headphones lol. Will you be reviewing the new audeze lcd1? Seems like a good pair but I have major concerns over the build quality, it's mainly plastic you see. Other reviewers seem to not mention it.