AKGK240 Studio Professional Semi-Open, Over-Ear Headphones, High Performance design, 3.5mm and 1/4" adapters, self adjusting headband - Black and Gold

Bought these for electronic music production and just listening to music at home & they are ideal. When I took them out the box they felt incredibly light and didn't seem sturdy- they have a fairly cheap plastic-like feel. I have now had them for about half a year and have had absolutely no problems whatsoever- I have put these things in a rucksack with no case and taken them on the train and they've been fine (I wouldn't recommend doing this though). The fact that you can change the cord is a very handy feature- I have gone for the telephone style coil and have never had any problems.As for the sound they are fantastic- I would say the bass is very subtle compared to some of the headphones I have used (there is a review on here saying that the low end is overpowering- they MUST have been reviewing the wrong headphones) but it works well as it makes a lot more room for mid and high frequencies. I was looking for something fairly flat with regards to frequency response and I think these are ideal, but admittedly I haven't tried a great deal of pro headphones.The one real criticism I would have is that your ears get too hot after about 2 hours and you have to take them off for a while- but I don't know any headphones which aren't like this. I would definitely recommend these headphones to anyone for their reasonable price, sturdiness (even though they might not seem sturdy to start off with), comfort and well balanced sound.

The AKG K240 is probably the best headphone in the £50 area money can buy. Because of the long production run and moving production to China they are an incredible bargain. Before judgement can begin it needs about a week break in period, listen to them before this by all means but don't be critical. Will it suit everyone? No absolutely not, they are listed as semi open well that may be but they leak sound loudly into the environment you are in so may disturb others in same room. Let's get one thing out of the way the K240 is a difficult headphone to drive! Yes it will produce sound from a mobile phone or iPod, but such devices are completely incapable of revealing what the headphone is capable of they need a dedicated amplifier even some receiver integrated amp socket won't cope. The reason for this is the 55 ohm load and 91db. The K240 was never conceived with mobile audio in mind it was designed for studio use who have equipment with the ability to drive it. For mobile devices look for a headphone with a 32ohm load with 100+dB efficiency. So is a £50 headphone worth all this trouble? For me and many others absolutely yes. The K240 has a mesmerising mid range with a tight image that I can only describe as beguiling and addictive, this does not mean they have no bass, they do produce bass and it's not difficult to follow Ray Brown's upright bass on we get requests or the bass on Robbie Robertsons somewhere down the crazy river, but it never interferes with what's going on in the mids, vocals, guitars etc. The highs are good, cymbals, triangles etc sound good. Sound stage is not particularly wide it bearly escapes the earpieces but it's good enough to place where instruments are but don't expect a K702 outside the head experience but at £50 how could you. The cable is detachable via a mini XLR connection with many custom cables available to tweak sound to your liking. The difference between the Studio and the MkII is only the silver finish and choice of earpad velvet or pleather and straight and coiled cable on the MkII. Stick K240's on your head put on Sarah McLachlan's mirror ball and the world will just fade away

Sound quality: Haven't done a full battery of tests, but based just on listening to them bass response seems to roll off quite dramatically but the soundstage is nice and open, and mid/high end response is crisp without being overdone. Not suitable for mixing/mastering, but for general use they're fine.Build quality: It's all plastic, but feels quite sturdy, and the mini-XLR means that if (like me) you have a habit of forgetting you're wearing them and standing up and yanking them off the cable is replaceable if you damage it. There's an odd design choice that means the strap retainers rub on the outside of the speaker housing and slowly scrapes away the top layer; it literally just needed a 2-3mm spacer somewhere to avoid it so it seems really bizarre to leave it as-is.Comfort: Very light, with a good balance of tension which means they'll stay put without putting too much pressure on your ears -- I've worn them for an 8-hour stretch without any discomfort. However, I have long slightly wayward hair and it quite regularly gets tangled in the spring mechanism particularly if take them off and rest them on the back of my neck so I have to make sure I tie my hair back if I'm going to be using them.Overall opinion: As long as you're not into heavy pounding bass or looking for a pair of reference headphones for mastering then these are pretty good for the price -- they're not perfect and a small redesign of the strap mounts is sorely needed, but other than that I'm happy with my purchase.