AKG K518LE (review)

I got these pair of headphones as a gift from my best friend Anne. She asked what I wanted for Christmas and I said I want a new pair of headphones.

AKG has been in the business since the 1940s and was acquired by Harman International Industries in the mid-90s. They are known in the entertainment industry to produce high-end professional headphones and microphones. Also, many recording studios uses AKG headphones because of their high specifications.

What I have is the AKG K518LE, the LE stands for limited edition, although I really don't know how many of these headphones were produced. This particular pair is their entry level model and also their cheapest one with an SRP of 4,590 Philippine Pesos.



BUILT & DESIGN
The headphones are heavier than my previous Audio Technica pair, but they really feel very solidly built. When the Audio-Technica ATH SJ11 feels more like a high-end toy rather than a serious listening device, this pair feels serious, although the former is very ultra-light. It is a bit "plasticy"to one's feel, more rubbery. The foams on the ear-cups are harder then any pair I have owned and the cord is thicker too. The cord in this one is the shortest I have ever seen in a pair of mid-end headphones, it is just 1 meter long. The cups can be swiveled in many directions and can also be folded to be fitted to its pouch which is included in the package. The jack plug is gold-plated for maximum sound transmission from device to headphone. The jack plug is also sturdy enough to withstand the movement of the cord while traveling or commuting because it is tapered tight. The headphones also comes with an adapter for those big jacks that I have never seen in portable audio devices, which is also gold-plated. The headband has a stainless steel spine with is exposed at the middle of the band, where the brand name is also shown.

The design is simple yet it stands out from any crowd, however not that attention grabbing. It will turn heads but it is not as attention grabbing as those big and clunky headphones with bombastic and outrageous designs. This one is stylishly discreet. The brand is also not that popular amongst the many, thus, not many people will know you are sporting such an expensive pair.



SOUND
The sound in this pair is exceptionally clean, no overwhelming bass and no overwhelming anything. So whatever genre you play, you will likely to hear what is intended for you to hear in that particular song or music genre. To check on how powerful the bass is in this pair, I tried playing some R&B tracks I have, it is still not overwhelming unless I boost up the bass in my iTunes equalizer, when I did, I then hear what kind of bass this pair can deliver, not that powerful which also equates to not overwhelming, it is good in my book. What impressed me is the clarity and equality of instruments. Like the ATH SJ11, this one gives crystal clear audio. I can feel the bass and all the other instruments in Usher's Love in This Club Part II track, plus the instruments are not overpowering the vocals, clean, very clean indeed. On playing some post-hardcore tracks, this pair gives clear output to what post-hardcore music must sound like, I can still hear all the instruments in Underoath's Reinventing Your Exit, while when I switched to Silverstein's Discovering the Waterfront I can tell which is the lead and secondary guitar, I can hear the keyboard very well and even the violin. Knowing how noisy and loud as well as diverse post-hardcore music can be, plus the growling, it is very easy to mistaken all that loudness to just noise, unless one is using exceptionally clear output devices such as this one. To further test the clarity of this pair, I further listen to more post-hardcore tracks: Alesana's Ambrosia and Goodbye, Goodnight, for Good sounds exceptionally clear with bit rates at 320kbps; Fightstar's Paint Your Target at 232kbps (VBR) sounds great as well! Changing genres, I played two tracks from the Sleep Dealer: Nozumi (at 320kbps) and The Way Home (at 192kbps), both gave me goosebumps as I was listening, I don't just hear every instrument, but I can also feel it. Exceptionally clear headphones are essential when listening to post-rock or ambient music genres, because it is the instruments that give life to the music, given that this particular music genre doesn't have any vocals at all.

Sound leakage is at a minimal to almost none, it is excellent so that people nearby won't be bothered no matter how loud you play your music. Sound isolation is also where this pair excels a lot, unlike any of my previous pairs (both Audio Technica and Sennheisser), you can almost hear nothing but the music you are listening to, which is pretty dangerous when commuting.



FIT & COMFORT
This pair is a bit tight and the foams are firmer than any of the previous pairs I have owned. Which is both great and a pain too. Great, because the external sound is isolated because of the tightness of the headband and it won't fall out of place when you bang or sway your head on those times you get carried away too much to what you are listening. The foams are designed to be firm (I guess) perhaps because of the model's rugged design approach. This pair can be pretty sweaty during long periods of listening and the tightness can be a bit annoying, so you have to give your ears some rest at some point.

RECOMMENDATIONS
I highly recommend this pair, specially if you want exceptionally clear sound output with a great ruggedly-solid built to match. The carrying pouch is a perfect add-on too! It also comes in 7 colors.

Audio-Technica ATH SJ11 (review)

I am a big fan of beautiful headphones. Although I have owned quite a number of different earphones ranging from the native Apple iPod earphones to Sony's to Sennheiser's. My first great pair of headphones was Sennheiser's, it lasted more than two years before it finally retire when the right cup was not playing a sound anymore, then the left cup followed.

I bought this baby a couple of hours ago in SM Fairview's Podworx. It was the replacement of a pair of Skullcandy in-ear earphones I bought last December, lasted less than 3 months. Not durable at all in it's price range.  It has a warranty, but unfortunately no model has been shipped for the past couple of weeks. So they gave me a discount on any brand of headphones or earphones I want.

I have a limited budget of P2,000; although I do intend to charge it using my credit card, I will not buy a pair beyond the budget I had in mind. So I scanned the rack for any pair that I want and set my eyes to the Audio-Technica section. The models on display are blacks, and whites with pink bands. The picky me wanted a white pair, pure white. So I scanned other models that I later found to be beyond the P2,000 mark. I went back to the AHT-SJ11 rack and browsed each pair that was on display looking for any pure white pairs. Gladly, at the very end of the stacks of headphones and behind all the hanging plastic cases, hangs a pristine white pair. The one and only pure white pair. I quickly stashed all the hanging headphones aside and grabbed the white set. These pair are so pristine and clean.

Aesthetics
The headphones are so white that I'm afraid I'll be having challenges keeping it that way. I don't have a car and I have a long commute to and from work. Pollution and dirty sweat might ruin its whiteness. The cups are padded with smooth and soft white synthetic leather. The headphones' body are made of matte finished plastic and the cups are topped with a glossy center on the outer part. The cord is of standard quality and texture as compared to most Sennheiser's models, it is pure white all the way to the plug.



Built
This pair is super light, it's so light it feels cheap. Actually it does feel cheap, but it does not look like one. When I first picked up the pair out from it's meticulously sealed plastic encasement (one sign a high end product), I asked myself, "what am I paying for this pair"?  I never owned a pair so light! My last headphones were such a heavy bulk to carry and wear. For P1,999 and just P1 below my budget limit, I sure wanted to know what I paid for.



Audio
Hear we go... This is where I realized what I paid for. This is the clearest pair of portable audio listening device I have ever owned! Ever! I was drowned in beautiful music streaming from my Samsung Corby Qwerty. While I was walking away from the Mac store and along the mall aisles, I listened to different genres of music I have and using different listening modes of my phone's audio player. From the rock setting, to dynamic, to surround, to everything else. It delivered exceptionally clear sound. The best setting that I now prefer is the "normal" setting.

When I say clear, I mean sound clarity. Unlike the previous pairs I owned, that has powerful bass sounds; this one has too, however, it does not overpower the other instruments specially the vocals.  The bass is there, but only when there is actually bass and it does not concentrate on delivering just that.

I listened to different music genres I have in my phone to check just how well this baby will deliver clarity of sounds. 

Post-Hardcore
When I played Underoath's  Reinventing Your Exit, I can hear all the instruments and can tell them apart; the drums, the cymbals, the lead guitar, the bass guitar, and the keyboards, and the rest of the electronic effects. I also have a new level of appreciation to the growls in this particular song. Even if the singer growls so loud, it does not overpower the other instruments in the song, I can even understand the growl. Even at extremely high volume, the sound is exceptionally clear.

Pop
Switching to pop... I played Utada Hikaru's Heart Station, goosebumps swelled up on my arms. The sound is just so clear! I can actually hear all instruments, a good bass, the smooth keyboards, and the rest of the instruments are all in harmony. I can hear them all! The vocals are clear too! It was such a very beautiful listening experience.

R&B
I don't have r&b tracks in my phone, closest is the Jpop group M-Flo with their track L.O.T. that sounds R&B-ish, but not quite. It has a lot of bass 'though. Listening to this track, the strong bass really showed in this track, it was strong; but not overwhelmingly strong that it drowns the other instruments.

Alternative
I played Fall Out Boy's Sugar We're Going Down. As expected, it delivered clear music. I can tell the difference between the lead guitar and the secondary guitar and all the other instruments. Playing Radiohead's High and Dry drove me nuts(in a good way).

I suddenly remembered I have a 5 year old iPod in my closet, so I quickly stood up, and charged it! Now I can listen to all the genres of music I have in my extensive and ever expanding music library. In my iPod are all the R&B tracks I have as well as the Jazz and Bossa Nova songs I collected through the years as well as the gay songs that most you already might have an idea of who the artists are. 

R&B part 2
Playing Usher's Confessions, I don't only hear the bass, I can actually feel it! The power of the headphone's bass delivery is greatly shown playing bass heavy R&B tracks such as the one mentioned... 4 Minutes by Avant,  and the bass laden tracks of Maxwell. The song Fortunate by Maxwell is heavy on bass, and I can almost feel bass speakers inside my head through this magnificent baby.  Mariah Carey's squeals sounds delightful; Erykah Badu's Bag Lady has  a lot of percussion instruments sounding clearly and distinct.

Jazz
Leif garret's When I think of You, the saxophone just sounded so sexy; then I quickly played Lee Ritenour's Dreamwalkin'... jazz never sounded so good.

Lounge/Chillout
Bach To The Future by BNM Corp sounded amazingly clear, high on bass and smooth keyboards and electronics. Breathe by Telepopmusik is wonderful.

Playing Coldplay songs(the song In My Place in particular) with this new pair was an ecstatic experience, my hairs stand on their ends! 


Comfort
As of this writing, the headphones have been on my ears for a solid 4 hours, and my ears are not sweating at all. The Sennheiser HD 201 (my previous headphone) made my ears sweat during several hours of use, mainly because it is that tight on the ears to prevent sound leakage and to cancel the noise from outside sources. The soft interior of the earcups are very comfortable for hours of music playing. The lightness of the headphones' body is a great plus when doing a music marathon. The headband is not too tight that it stresses the earlobes, but tight enough not to leak the sound as well as to solidly deliver the music directly into the listener's ears.



Portability
The headphones can be folded for portability and the cups fold out when resting on your collarbone, making it easy to move around and to turn your head left and right without any obstructions from the resting earcups.



Recommendation
This pair is just so easy to recommend. If you are looking for a not so expensive pair of headphones that delivers exceptional clarity, simple zen-like aesthetics (applicable only to the pure white models), ultra light body, comfortable cups, and portability... The Audio-Technica SJ11 is the model to get. Perfect for the audiophile on a budget.

You can also check-out myAKG K518LE (review) Here.