AKG K518LE/K518 Limited edition review

The AKG K518 Limited Edition DJ Headphones



My K518LE set, courtesy of AKG, IMS Marketing and Omy.sg
In the box : 1/4inch adapter, pouch, the headset, warranty card.


Before I head into reviews of the sound quality, I'm gonna show you some of my likes and unsatisfactories(ehhh no such word, but you get what I mean ya?) with the headphone.

Surface : Mostly rubberish, good grip.
Cable : 1metre with splitter, cable connected to each side of headphone, TRS jack.


Framing : plastic(pretty tough one, couldn't break it with my fingers) and alluminium/alloy support, holds onto my head really tightly.


Padding : pretty stiff, not as soft as I expected, and as it holds onto my head really tightly, it gets really warm on my ears pretty quickly, hence the perspiration.



I'm not too sure why the "hoohaa" about the compatibility with iPhones when it's just another TRS jack. It should be compatible with everything with a 3.5mm jack input.


There wasn't any instructions(that I know of) that shows how to exactly keep the K518, this was the best I could do.



It certainly doesn't look very portable, especially with the cables(argh I hate split cables), I'd say just use it at home, you'll risk damaging it seriously with the soft pouch given.


See? definitely not portable enough.


Well, time to test the sound quality! I'm actually able to hit "50%" amplification on my pre-amp before the slightest hissing sound came out, great! (oh yeah, it's really loud at this level.)



I've been listening to songs with the K518 for hours to test it's quality, just like what AKG boasted about the K518 on it's packaging, Fat bass, bass levels seems to be risen with this headphone without causing any interference to other levels.


Listening to songs intensively.


I decided to get a little more serious with this review, I've mixed a track to test it out even further, in a personal comparison to another cheap old headphone that I've used for years.


Download the track I've mixed for testing bass levels.
Track 1 :

• Bass track lowered by 5decibels
• very very very low bass track heard thru-out with my old headphone.
• AKG518 plays it like as though the bass track wasn't modified.

Track 2:

• Normalized levels
• AKG K518 pushes the bass harder
• Other tracks unaffected

The AKG K518LE is available at an approximate retail price of s$139.90,
You can also try it out at STEREO outlets in Singapore, opening hours from 11am to 9:30pm

ION Orchard
2 Orchard Turn #B4-23/24
Singapore 238801

Plaza Singapura
68 Orchard Road #04-06
Singapore 238839

Well, the verdict?
Pros

• Rich sound quality just as promised
• Gives just about any genre of songs an extra bass kick without compromising other sound levels.

Cons

• Too small for me, I won't recommended anyone wearing L-sized or bigger helmets, it's really tight for people with heads my size.
• Split cables