Gear Review: AKG K240 MKII studio headphones

     AKG's open-backed studio-grade monitoring headphones, equivalent to their own closed backed 271 mkII, are a lightweight and well priced option for the hobbyist or professional musician and audio engineer.
     These headphones have been out for a little while now, but I've been using them fairly extensively since I bought them around Christmas time. I thought it was about time I did a review in case anyone was thinking of buying a new set of cans...

First things first... 
What do you get for your £85 GBP?

Here's AKG's technical spec:

 - Semi-open, circumaural design
 - Self-adjusting headband for optimum fit
 - Patented Varimotion speakers
 - Leatherette ear pads and velvet ear pads
 - Single-sided, detachable 3 m cable and additional 5 m coiled cable (99,9% oxygen-free)
 - Type: semi-open, dynamic headphones
 - Sensitivity: 91 dB/mW, 104 dB/V
 - Frequency range: 15 to 25,000 Hz
 - Rated impedance: 55 ohms
 - Max. input power: 200 mW
 - Earpads: leatherette and velvet
 - Connector: gold plated stereo mini jack
 - Adapter: gold plated 1/8" to 1/4" screw-on adapter
 - Net weight: (without cable) 240 g (8.5 oz.)

Build and Comfort

     The two leads are interchangeable, and plug into the headphones using a kind of mini XLR, which, from what I've seen on other brands, is an AKG only feature. The idea of this is so that you can select the right cable for the right job. The only flaw in that concept is that the curly lead just isn't as well made as other curly leads on, say, Sony headphones, nor does it feel as well made as the straight alternative provided here.

     The headphones themselves are well built and a lot of attention has been paid to wearing comfort. The padded edges are very comfortable and large enough to accommodate even the largest ears! The self adjusting headband is incredibly good. I'm not exactly sure about how the the physics of the system works, but it does, and makes these, 240 gram, cans feel feather light for long periods of critical listening.

     To add to this AKG supply a choice of ear pads. The leatherette ones come fitted as standard, but also hidden away in a little package are a set of velvet ones, which you can swap depending on your taste. I've stuck with the leatherette ones, if only because I didn't look carefully enough and thought, until looking just now, that they were just a replacement set of the leatherette ones!

How do they Sound?

    The open back design lends itself to an open sound with a touch of extra emphasis on the high end. I would say that the spectral balance is pushed a little hard in the high mids and higher frequencies, and thus makes the bass feel a little lacklustre at first. But then you realise that it's just really really tight. There's no flabbiness at all on the sub level. Listen to "James Blake - Limit To Your Love" to appreciate this truly. That song has every frequency associated with the most nuts DubStep grooves, paired with a delicate piano line and a vocal balanced finely on the top. On some systems you get a big flappy bass line, but these really tame those frequencies well and keep the song ticking over without it divulging into a big sub frequency mess.
     Some people might think they're a little bit 'hifi' sounding rather than the professional studio monitoring headphones they claim to be. I think they translate well, from your calibrated control room with sub and nearfields, and from your hi-fi system, but they are a lot more transparent than most other headphones. The high end emphasis really pulls out mistakes and recording noise in critical listening scenarios. Listening to these characteristics can be used to both pinpoint the best sound and reduce noise in the early stages of recording.
     I would go as far as to say these are categorically not good general listening headphones, if your main medium is mp3's around the 128kbps mark. You can really hear the additional sibilance that the format brings at lower bit rates, especially on strings and cymbals. Go with 320kbps mp3 or better for these, and you'll hear those intricate parts hidden in the mids you might not otherwise hear on other headphones!

Anything else?

     Well, now you mention it, these are semi-open backed headphones. They do have a downside, in that they let in a considerable amount of sound from your surroundings, and by association also dissipate an amount of sound into the outside world. These factors make them a bit rubbish in places where a) you need audio isolation from your surroundings or b) you need to be completely silent. So for example they probably wouldn't be perfect for the location audio recordist in an extremely quiet film set, or for stage use in a very loud environment. If both or either of these are factors then go for the closed backed AKG 271 mkII which would offer vastly better performance under both conditions with a very similar audio character (possibly with a more pronounced sub bass).

The Rating!

     Overall, these headphones are really good and well worth the money, possibly on the verge of really good value for it. A wide sound stage, with an unusual clarity in the mid to high midrange, but without foregoing a solid punch in the bass frequencies. However you might be disappointed with the amount of spill you get. They could definitely be heard over a vocal recording in the booth if turned up even to just comfortable listening volume. With that kind of spill concious recording on the bill it would be better to plump for a closed back type headphone. I'll be adding a set of 271 mkII's to my collection, in the coming weeks, for just that reason.
     I don't think I can give an "out of 5" rating due to my complete lack of scientific testing. But I would recommend them highly to anyone out there who fancies themselves as a mix engineer or producer.