Specifications

• Closed-Back Design
• New unique 3D-Axis² folding mechanism for even easier transport
• iPhone® compatible
• Single sided detachable cable; Two cable lengths included
• New Supersoft™ ear pads for comfortable fit
• 2.5mm/6.3mm jack adapter
• Premium carrying case included

Reviews (compiled from various sources)

“The sound is quite correct, the bass is jaw dropping because of the new cushions. The midrange is quite good, and the treble is just amazing (with) loads of details, nearly beating my XTZ 99 2.2 v2006 speakers with the Doxa 70 amplifier.”

Viktor Basso (www.viktorbassor.com)

“These headphones are very comfortable. They come with a great carrying case with an insert designed for the headphones. I actually thought they’d serve as an upgrade to my Koss Porta-Pro’s based on cost. What a mistake. I have to say I’m a bit disappointed in the sound quality as the highs sound muffled and too low, mids seem a bit low but a tad bit higher than the highs, and bass is just plain overwhelming. These phones lack tonal balance to the extreme. Overall they’re very loud and may sound great to the general ear or if you love bass heavy tracks. However, I’m a bit picky when it comes to sonic accuracy, clarity, and balance. I’m what I like to call a low budget audiophile. I also own a pair of Grado SR60i’s, and Sennheiser HD555′s for full size headphones. These would be quite hard for anything to match under $200.00 in that category. I have the Shure SE110, UE Super-fi 3 studio’s, and the Bose Tri-port hybrid ear-buds as well. The reason I bring all those up is so you can see that I have quite a bit to compare the AKG 450′s to.”

Kool Aid from Mannheim, Germany (via Amazon.com)

“The sound that is there is high quality. Bass and Mids are clean and clear. Bass may be a little heavy, but then again if there was more treble, the sound would be more balanced. The appearance is good. Comfort is excellent. Not too much pressure on the ears, ear cushions are soft and supple. Noise isolation is good for this type of headphone. Portability is excellent. Detachable cord from the headphones allows you to change the length or replace the cord should it become damaged. Included accessories are nice, 1/4″ and cell phone adapters are included as well as two cord lengths.”

Jason T. Wright from Detroit, Michigan, USA (via Amazon.com)

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The AKG K 420 and K 450 feature the unique patented 3D Axis2 folding mechanism. When folded up, the two mini-headphones are a miracle of compact design and can be stowed away easily for convenient transport. However, when worn, they produce the typical AKG sound with a wide and distortion-free spectrum, so that they can compete with the larger models in terms of acoustics. Because of the half-open design and the padded headband, they give the impression of lightness and maximum freedom of movement.

AKG.com

“Every year, thousands of businesses worldwide compete with their products for the Red Dot Design Award, so it is a really great honor for our work to be recognized with this much-sought-after award,” said Alfrecht Reinprecht, Vice President of Marketing at AKG. “As well as sound quality, we place a lot of emphasis on a modern, classic look for our headphones.” “The latest technology is by no means the only thing that the customer is looking for. That’s why we will continue to promote attractive design in the future, in an effort to stand out from the mass of products available.”

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Out of the box, we could not help but marvel at the K 81 DJ’s build quality. For its price, it is definitely built like a tank. The headband is made of solid aluminum wrapped with think durable plastic, which is then wrapped by a sort of thin layer of rubber. The touches of brushed aluminum on the cups make them look sophisticated. The ear pads are pleather which we found ample thick.

The headband adjusts like a typical set of headphones, with that numbered “click” that indicates how far you’ve gone. The earcups rotate ala typical DJ headphones. The earcups cover the average man’s ears easily, and our tester, Rob, who considers his ears as on the big side, did not encounter any discomfort even after an hour of use.

We felt the the cord on the K 81 DJ was quite long for the typical media player user, and we felt that AKG addressed this issue with the club DJ in mind more. No worries, since “DJ” is part of its name to begin with.

The K 81 DJ’s sound signature is one where the uppermost highs remain “rolled-off,” but the lows are quite defined without sounding to “boomy.” The soundstage is quite impressive and wide, which is lacking on most DJ-styled headphones. We felt at times that the AKG needed some “eq-ing” but that was when we were in the audiophile state of mind.

The mids are not as “rolled-off” as the highs, but not as forward as the bass either. So if you would, you could imagine the overall frequency response of the K 81 as an inclined plane towards the lower frequencies. Some might consider the effect of this as “laid-back” especially when one deals with vocals. A little EQ would fix this. However, we could tell that the real true tonality was already there.

Again, the bass response on this thing might be a little to out there especially for those used to really balance, refined sound. We reckon that the bass impresses the younger generation apart from it being a DJ’s headphone, but even so, the bass was quite defined and textured which ears some respect for those very critical with the way frequencies are boosted.

The K 81 DJ does a very good job of blocking ambient noise, in this case, big party PA systems, while easily preventing leakage to the outside—this is especially useful for college dorm-dwelling users. It also has a very efficient impedance which makes it great to pair with iPods and other media players. However, a quality headphone amplifier, no matter what these cans’ impedance were designed for, would make a worthwhile improvement to the overall sound.

We love the K 81 DJ because it is not just “acceptable.” We found that for its price, we considered it “really good,” which meant it more than “delivered” for us.

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AKG adds a personal touch to their heralded K 518 DJ and comes up with a limited edition K 518 LE version. The K 518 LE has the same features as the K 518 DJ but is offered in 7 new colors—white, fuchsia, orange, blue, green, red and yellow. You can now match your headhphones with your favorite media player.

The K 518 DJ/LE was designed by AKG with the personal media player user in mind—very easy to operate and power because of its low sensitivity, light weight, 3D-axis folding mechanism for easy storage, and closed-back supraaural design to isolate ambient noise while on the go.

The K 518 LE sells for $140-$150 in most online retailers. Pictured below is the green version.

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Around-ear, semi-open design. Self-adjusting headband comfortably conforms to your head. Gimbal-suspended phones settle against ears without pinching. Ultra-soft velvet earpads. High-efficiency output with wide dynamic range, perfect for mobile environments. Single-sided, 99.99% oxygen-free cable for pure sound transmission. Hard gold-plated contacts and plug with 3.5-6.3 mm adapter.

Review

The K 242 HD is basically the same as the AKG K240 S except for three minor things: the velour pads instead of pleather, the cable which is not removable, and the color. There has not been any decent reviews of the K 242 HD so I scoured some forums and combined snippets of what people have been saying so far.

“All I can say is that I didn’t like the K240S. But since I borrowed some headphones from AKG for a test anyway I let them send a K242HD as well. And what should I say, I’m pretty impressed.”

“…you may look for every experience reports about the K 240 S with AKG’s velour pads.”

“Good headphones! It’s just not really up to the “high class” headphones I consider such as DT880, HD650, K701, AD2K, etc.”

“Strong, but far from overwhelming, bass with sweet, slightly bright midrange and crisp highs. I like it for listening to music in the background when I’m doing something else like homework or playing games. It’s lush and uninvolving at low volumes but can really rock when turned up only a bit more.”

“The comfort is OK, the pad’s are a little small. They rest on my earlobes and start to annoy after a while due to the pressure.”

“…and I really like the appearance, the “new khaki” is becoming popular!”

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