Gear Review: AKG K271 MKII studio headphones

     The AKG K271 mkII headphones are the, closed-back, bigger brother to AKG's own K240 mkII headphones. They feature very similar design aspects, but have a few little tweaks to make them much more suitable in use as your go-to set of professional cans. Keen readers will know that I reviewed the K240 mkII's last year, and that I liked them quite a lot; but they weren't without their flaws (not least their open backed-ness).

Overview

AKG's Listed Spec
- Professional circumaural hi-fi stereo studio headphones
- Self-adjusting headband for optimum fit
- Patented Varimotion speakers
- High noise attenuation
- For onstage and studio use
- Automute feature mutes headphones when they are taken off

- Type: closed-back, dynamic headphones
- Sensitivity: 91 dB/mW, 104 dB/V
- Frequency response: 16 to 28,000 Hz
- Rated Impedance: 55 ohms
- Max. Input Power200 mW
- Earpads: leatherette und velvet
- Cable: 3 m single-sided and 5 m coiled cable (99,9% oxygen-free); plug-in cable on headphones (mini-XLR connector)
- 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.)

First Impressions

     The K271 mkII's share a lot of the key features with their semi-open variant, but basically fix all of the problems I had with them; while introducing some very (really, very) tiny niggles. The acoustic difference between the open and closed back design is very clear.
     Firstly, sound spill is reduced. It might seem an obvious thing to point out but by closing the back there is a big difference in feeling to the energy of the frequency response. The whole sound stage feels more focused and the bass is much more present here than in the open model.
     There is also a marked improvement in isolation from your environment. This helps when monitoring mic/mixer signals in noisy environments, when doing location and field recording work.
     One other improvement over the K240 mkII's is that the supplied cables appear to be of higher quality. Better, soft plastic finishes on the cables give them a more tactile feel, giving an improved sense of quality.
     A nice touch to the design is a small switch, which turns off the drivers when the headband is loose, or off your head, preventing headphones noise spilling into your mixing environment if you are checking quiet mixes on your monitors.
     But, for some reason they do feel slightly heavier than the K240 mkII headphones, despite the technical spec listing them as identical.

In Use
     The first thing worth commenting on is the sound quality. It is impeccable. Wonderful mid frequency detail, a controlled tight bass frequency response and detailed crisp highs. Any quality audio source being played through these cans is a joy to listen to. They will tear apart your mp3 collection though. You'll want to make sure all your music is ripped in the highest possible quality in order to enjoy it without hearing all of the problems inherent in mp3 compression.
     I've been putting them through their paces on the sets of two film shoots I'm working on and I have to say they held up brilliantly well under a variety of conditions. Heavy rain, freezing temperatures, and high wind speeds all very capably dealt with. The only thing they didn't deal with very well was a slightly unhappy Fostex FR-2 field recorder, which was definitely feeling the effects of the weather and probably less than perfect treatment.



Verdict
     I don't really dislike anything about these headphones. They appear to be the best thing out there for a semi reasonable price. At £125 they sit in a price bracket which should be accessible to all engineers looking to get a pair of high quality, comfortable cans, which will last and get you good results without costing the earth.