akgk171thm.jpgI decided to treat myself today. It’s been almost two years since I quit smoking (Feb 26, 2006 4:08pm) and I promised myself a nice fancy new piece of technology.

I elected to get the AKG K171 Closed-Back Studio Headphones. Boy am I happy. I’m not really an audio-phile and by no means what-so-ever am I a professional and I even have a little (a very little) bit of a hearing loss in my left ear, but I do like crisp, clean sound when I’m listening to whatever it is that I listen to (mostly podcasts and video games).

Construction
When I first unboxed these little bad boys, they seemed a little more flimsy than I was expecting. Now that I’ve played with them, however, they are a lot better than my initial impressions. They are solid, the cord (which is detachable, hooray) is long and of the highest quality. The band holding the two ear-pieces together is flexable enough to allow you to listen to a single headphone.

Comfort
I’m actually surprised at how good they feel. I was looking for something that would fit around my ear so that the flappy things that stick out of my head (technical term, commonly known as, ‘ears’) won’t get sore after wearing the things for a hours on end. Now, I’ve not worn them for hours on end yet but I can tell you that oh man, do they feel good when they’re on your noodle. The foamy bits that cover your ears don’t actually go around your ears but they are so soft and comfy that I dont think they’ll be a problem after prolonged listening.

Sound
Holy o’ dog shit these things sound great. Again, I’m no great person to judge but they do sound friggin’ awesome. Lots of bass, good high end and mids. The thing that I love the most is that they are closed-back headphones. that means that there are no holes in the back-side of these things. Very little sound gets in which is great for ignoring your co-workers while they’re on the phone or if you just don’t want to hear anything besides what you’re supposed to be listening to. And, your fabulous co-workers won’t be able to hear what you’re listening to either. Even if you like to listen to ExtraLife Radio at full blast… which I don’t recommend.

Overall
Good quality, nice sounding headphones that I’m looking forward to enjoying for a long time to come.

~ Jason