240 MKII - question re differences between 'official' photo and my set

[davehorne]

I just bought a set of AKG 240 MKII's ( from http://www.bax-shop.nl/ ) here in the Netherlands. 

At the official AKG site, the round plastic markers that denote L, R, K 240 MKII, and AKG 55 ohms look slightly different than mine.  The round plastic markers on mine all have a small tip at the bottom (6 o'clock) which looks like alignment tips.  Those tips give the appearance that the plastic circles were removed from a strip and were not filed down.  They really give the impression of a cheap product. 

The thought unfortunately occurred to me that these are knock offs ... or has AKG changed the quality control standards?

[CptKlotz]

Hi...

I've never held a K240 MKII in my hands so far (only the good old "Monitor" and "Studio" versions), so I can't comment on the looks of the badges.

But then the shop seems to carry quite a lot of "studio quality" stuff and it seems to be run by a real person with a real bank account (I can't verify this, of course). I wonder how likely it is that they're selling counterfeit products since it *is*, of course, illegal.

I'd rather expect this to happen on eBay or some shady "anonymous" web site.

Has anyone heard of fake AKG studio phones so far? I know this seems to happen quite a lot with earbuds and in-ear monitors but I haven't really heard about fake full size headphones.

I actually think it's more likely that AKG has just changed the look of the model badges slightly. And since this doesn't have any impact on the sound, it's not necessary to mention this, either.

How do the headphones sound anyway? Can you compare them to other quality headphones? I'd expect a fake to perform rather poorly. What's the use of making a fake when you have to do the research and have the quality standards to make it perform like the real thing :-)

But I'm sure the experts can tell you what to look for.

EDIT: Maybe this thread at Head-Fi is interesting to you: http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/543696/fake-akg-k240-mkii


Kind regards,
Stephan

[davehorne]

Stephan, I looked at the photos in the link you provided and the model badges of mine appear to be identical with the ones in that link.

In order for me to know with 100 percent certainty if these are the real McCoy, I'd have to see and hear another set of MKII's, right?  

I can honestly say that after I used these new headphones, my old Sony MDR V600's, headphones that I've used daily for almost 20 years, sounded much worse ... and I can't imagine that I didn't notice before how thin and shrill they sounded before.  I should add that I'm a professional musician and always thought the MDR V600's were excellent until I started using the MKII's on a regular basis.  

As an aside, I've learned an important lesson - you get used to anything after a while.  After using the MKII's for a few days I went back and tried the MDR V600's.  I would have bet all my money that the Sony's changed in sound.  Of course, that's not possible, is it?  (I can also imagine that the supposed differences that some claim to hear during the supposed break in period is really just getting used to a new sound.  I'd love to have testing done to either prove or disprove this.  At any rate, I am very happy with the MKII's.)

My new headphones had a sticker stating made in China which fell off after a few days - smart move by AKG.  The serial number of mine is also on a sticker, and I expect that to fall off eventually as well.  If AKG would make the small alignment protrusion on those badges black instead of silver, you'd notice them less.  It really is a shame that such a small oversight makes the headphones look cheap.  Like anything though, you'll get used to it after a while.

The alignment tips on the model badges really make the headphones look cheap ... and it would be great if AKG would spend just a little more time giving things a good once over after they make changes.  The first thing I noticed when I unpacked the MKII's was just how cheap they looked.

I'll assume my headphones are genuine .... though cheap looking.

[CptKlotz]

Hmm...

I've googled a bit and I still haven't found any reports about fake K240s (or K271, K701, K702, for that matter) so far. It seems to be more common with other brands/models.

I think the chance of getting a fake is pretty low, especially since the shop seems to be reliable:

http://www.trustpilot.nl/review/www.bax-shop.nl

If you're still unsure, you could make some high-quality photos and upload them to a free image hoster. I'm sure the AKG team will able to tell you whether your phones look normal or not.

I can't comment on the other headphones since I don't know them. It's hard to say if and how the transducer will change over time. What's almost certain is that the earpads will wear and this may well have an effect on the sound.

[davehorne]

CptKlotz, thanks for your help in this.  I'll assume my headphones are not knock offs.

My comments regarding the Sony MDR V600's were more about my personal learning experience.  I had used those headphones for nearly 20 years and obviously gotten extremely accustomed to them, so much so, that when I tried newer and now I realize, obviously better headphones (AKG 240 MKII),  the AKG's sounded flawed.  They weren't of course, I had just gotten used to the sound of the Sony's and expected the sound source, a Yamaha piano in this instance, to sound the same.  When the new sound was considerably different, I automatically assumed the AKG headphones were flawed because I didn't hear what I was expecting the hear.

After I used the AKG's for several days and then went back to the Sony's, I then realized just how flawed the Sony's were.  It took me about one week before I became completely accustomed to the sound of the AKG's ... and to the new sound of the piano.

As I wrote before, I can well imagine that those individuals who claim to hear differences in a set of headphones during the supposed break in period are really just becoming acclimated to a new sound.  I state that because after I had used the AKG's, a superior headphone to my old Sony's, I would have sworn that the sound of the Sony's had changed.  When I listen now through the Sony's, they really sound thin and very much lacking in bass.  The piano sounds badly thin.  How could I have liked that sound all those years? The sound of the Sony's didn't change, just my acclimation to a new sound reference.  

At any rate, I learned an important lesson - give a new piece of equipment a week, that's how long it took me to become acclimated to the AKG's.  I really to have to say that I would have gladly returned them for my money back within the first several days, that's how unhappy I was.  That was one reason I used Google to see if they were knock offs since I initially thought the quality was bad.  The AKG's are touted as studio reference models and how could my new headphones sound so bad?  The AKG's weren't bad, they were different than what I had become accustomed to over a period of almost two decades.

I now realize that they are much better.  I'm sure there are better headphones than the 240's, but for my everyday use, they are just fine.