Over a year ago I got the Sennheiser PX100 headphones to replace my Shure E2s canal phones. The Shure’s although really great weren’t very practical for office use since putting them on was a hassle and at work I am always being interrupted which meant I had to keep taking them on and off. Thats when I decided to go with the PX100 headphones and the sound was really great but, I ran into problems. The PX100 were open air meaning they let sound in and they also let sound out. People around me could easily hear what I was listening to and I could hear them. This is why I researched for new closed headphones.
I found a nice bunch of headphones including the amazing the Beyerdynamic DT 990 which I was ready to get until I found out they had an impedance of 250ohms which meant I needed one heck of an amp to power them.. not very iPod friendly. After days of research on Headfi.org I realized the headphones for me were the Austrian designed AKG K81 headphones. They were closed air, had a good amount of bass and a very decent sound stage. They were also 32ohms which meant would run off my iPod very nicely and they were very affordable at $95.
I have been using the AKG’s for a few months now and I love them. They are very comfortable and the sound is superb. For the price I paid I don’t think I could have gotten anything better. I think they are the best headphones you could get for under $100. But, its not perfect. The headphones just barely fit me. I don’t have a large head but I am guessing Austrians have a small one because I have the headphones expanded to the max and they just barely fit. So if you have a big head I wouldn’t recommend the AKG. Final score is a 4 out of 5.
13 replies on “Review: AKG K81 DJ”
FINALLY !!! a review , YAAAY !!!
Yeah, those Austrians are tiny. I think Hitler was about 5ft nothing. He still managed to be a little mischievous though! (unless you’re a muslim and deny that the jewish holocaust took place….).
I don’t like big headphones though, I always have too much to carry… and I don’t like to look conspicuous like I’ve just been transported fromhe late 1970’s.
I prefer me speakers, and if I do buy headphones I’d buy the 1KD big black ones. It’s funny, you open it and the cushion for your ears falls off..and then you spend 5 minutes trying to put it back.
It just makes you live on the edge!
They seem pretty cool!
did you try the BOSE Quite Comfort 3? i have tried them out recently and i can honestly say that they are the best headphones ever made , i can’t explain how good they are and comfortable you have to try them out yourself ,and yet when you put them on you are tottaly isolated from the outside , they had a demo at the showroom where you can try them out and in the background there were very loud noise,when you put them on you completely get insulated from that noise even if you don’t play any music! its kind of spooky really! i don’t know how it works you have to charge them too , its amazing , but not the price though it’s expensive!
yeah tried the BOSE, they sound like shit. No comparison at all sound wise, the AKG kicks its ass.
wow they must sound REALLY good them, are they as big as the bose ones or smaller , i dont like big headphones
smaller. the bose covers your ear completely, these on the other hand rest on your ear.
keep in mind though AKG do NOT have noise cancelling so if you are on a plane you will hear the plane.
OK, those leaving comments about Bose: it’s marketing hype. They’re nothing special. Ask any head-fi veteran. Plus their noise cancelling is really nothing impressive, a good sealed circum-aural headphone beats them easily across the frequency range, active noise cancelling works more at lower frequencies. (Lol a lot of this is just regurgitated from headphone.com)
Thanks for the review, I’m thinking of getting a set of K81’s since my pmx200’s are pretty damn painful.
PS I demo’d a pair of bose quiet comfort’s once. They played loud radio static with speakers and asked if I could hear a difference when active noise cancelling was turned on. I couldn’t.
I bought a pair of these. After 1 month the wire cut and only one side worked.
I sent them back. Got a new pair. Worked fine for a little while. Some one I know was impressed and got a pair also.
Sound only works on one side for both of us 2 months later.
They would be really good headphones if I could actually hear the sound in both ears…
Great review. Yeah, the K81 DJs are really good headphones. If you want more clarity, though, I recommend stepping up to the M-Audio Q40s. They’re really great headphones with a strong bass (not the muddy type, fortunately), good clarity and they’re circumaural, not supraaural like the K81 DJs (more comfortable for longer listening sessions). They are very well built, and sell for around $85 – $95. One of the best bang for the buck cans I’ve seen in quite a while.
ok, this maybe somewhat random, but do you guys know of any shop in Kuwait where they actually have a good range of headphones? i mean more than just beats and bose (like sennheisers, denons, grados, AKGs, etc). At alghanims, they usually don’t have anything else. and i don’t want to order headphones online, since i want to try out the headphones before i buy any. thanks.