Simply sophisticated headphones for thoughtful listening to music.
AKG K361-BT Headphones ($99)
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For AKG K361-BT, the company came up with a difficult positioning. Thanks to this, the headphones stood on my shelf for a long time – I don’t seem to be a professional, but I listen to music often, for a long time. All press releases and materials indicate almost the studio purpose of the K361 model … Curiosity has finally won out! And I was very impressed by the work done at AKG – these headphones look simple but give a lot of positive emotions.
AKG K361-BT Review: Design & Construction
I roughly understand why few people pay attention to this store model: the headphones look very simple. Here, there are no outstanding details, leather, metal, or other wonders at first glance.
The K361 works the same way. Different textures of plastic, excellent assembly, a minimum of buttons – only the switch on the left. The headband is trimmed with rubber from the inside. The earpads are trimmed with eco-leather, the channel designations areas clean and clean as possible. What is it like?
Landing surprises, first of all. The usual-looking ear pads in wearing resemble pillows, the cool material does not cause rejection – I have been sitting in the office for almost two hours, at least a hint of discomfort! They used plastic. Since the material is light, you generally forget about the headphones – the music plays as if by itself. An incredible experience!
There are buttons here, of course – the touch panel on the left is responsible for rewinding and playback control.
There is only one disappointing moment: micro-USB is used for charging. Guys at AKG, let’s forget this jack as a bad dream. But the set pleases a nice cover made of fabric, an adapter for a “jack,” and as many as two audio cables. One is 1.2 meters long, the other – 3 meters.
One cannot but say a few words about the positioning of the headphones. AKG says:
Whether you’re a performer, sound engineer, podcaster, or beatmaker, you’re always in creative mode. The AKG K361-BT Professional Studio Headphones are the perfect balance between studio-quality sound, Bluetooth support, the comfort of soft ear cushions, and an elegant, durable design that matches your dynamic lifestyle.
AKG
AKG K361-BT Headphones ($99)
GET BEST DEALS AT AMAZON
I would say differently: we are dealing with an amazing device – the acoustic characteristics are fascinating. You rarely find 50mm drivers and a frequency range of 15 – 28,000 Hz in Bluetooth headphones. Words about “professional studio headphones” can scare away many – but don’t be scared!
The laconic cover hides a product with an outstanding sound that can delight anyone. On the other hand, I also understand the company’s marketers – after all, positioning needs to be explained somehow! The K361 has a tricky one. But, I am sure the device will become popular among interested people – it is enough to listen once, and everything will become clear.
Another noticed feature: the cups seem to close the ears tightly, but there is no vacuum. In between tracks, there is no desire to take off the headphones. Very comfortable model! By the way, the cups fold – if you mix tracks, the left or right earphone can be easily tilted to the side.
The declared operating time is about 24 hours; in reality, it all depends on the volume – in any case, this is an excellent indicator.
AKG K361-BT Review: Music
I listened to the track Quenum – Valley Of True People for a very long time. A meditative piece for a car or work, headphones pull out every detail, the beat is magical. A tremendous volume reserve, a quarter was enough for me to enjoy comfortable listening.
Enchanting voice – unfortunately, the wizard in iTunes is not very good. You better download FLAC, use the Vox player. There it is excellent, enveloping, there is a stage, volume, very good. TIDAL can also save us – keep in mind, K361 is extremely demanding on the track’s quality. If the file is of good quality, enjoy it. If you have some weird recording from somewhere, you will hear flat nonsense. And it would be nice to warm up the drivers.
I listened to Ellen Allien’s Auraa album with great pleasure. Oh, that’s great. And I advise you – if you love electronic music and are going to buy these headphones, turn it on first. Here you can also listen to low frequencies (do not crush the middle), and the vocals are beautiful, and the priceless club feeling has not disappeared anywhere. The wizard in iTunes is excellent. You don’t have to look for FLAC.
Verdict: Should you buy AKG K361-BT?
In retail, the headphones cost about $99 approx. A strict recommendation: be sure to listen to AKG K361-BT before buying! Download your favourite tracks, the stores are already open, spend half an hour, and then you will definitely understand whether they suit you or not. I really liked two things. Firstly, this is an excellent fit. After a few minutes, you forget about the headphones. The music plays as if from nowhere—secondly, the sound quality. For the price of AirPods, you get “monitors” with a detailed, cool sound. Headphones are suitable for experimenting with different players, streaming services. Try FLAC and TIDAL – it’s worth it!
Overall, I’m surprised. AKG managed to make an inexpensive and interesting model in terms of sound – do not forget; there is also a wired connection. Everything is ready for this! Therefore, during the day, you can use it without wire with a smartphone, and in the evening, you can connect it to serious equipment and listen to something sincere. For example, jazz – jazz always helps the reset. I’ll go and listen!
AKG K361-BT Headphones
$99
Pros
- Excellent assembly
- Different textures of plastic
- Rubbered Headband
- Very COmfortable
Cons
- Not for Professionals
English
6 Comments
Thank you for interesting and encouraging review. I will have them soon.
Now I am listening 4rd our. Via Bluetooth. Various genres. The quality of sound is generally very good. AirPods are even not to be compaired. One exception till now is dense, dirty, speedy metal. Goira lp. enfant terrible, Baroness, new albums. There are foggy there. But dt1990pro and
K701 on FAW custom cable paired with dac and amp are not. Fidelio X2 are muddy too on above mentioned albums, thougt less. Really, only the best studio headphones can play them well. But – lets get down to earth. K361-bt are playing via bluetooth! Theye are supposed to be worse from studio standard! And they are. But does it make them bad headphones? Of course not. Even in Bluetooth mode they play extraordinarily good. I am listening on daily basis to dt1990pro and k701 FAW via xdp-100R sometimes amplified by corda quickstep. Very decent set, which I left to myself having abandoned audiophilic adventures in which I possesed over 100 pair of great headphones, dozens of great amplifires and dacs, custom cables, etc. Do I suffer listening to k361-Bt in Bluetooth mode? Absolutely not. I enjoy the music. The k361 are just brillant. And, more over… they serem to burn in, now Black tongue, Mastodon is playing very, very decent, no, wait, it is playing very well! Good job, Akg, good job Ruby, for your objective review! Bad job for reviewers on YT, which, I seem listen rather to their charts then to the music played by headphones. I bet new AirPods Max , 5 times more expensive won’t play better… https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-airpods/airpods-max I was supposed to buy them, but, on second thought… I bought k361-bt and I am extremely pleased. And listening from xdp100-R is on the go! They have a cable thought, too! Isolation is great. Noise cancellation is unnecessary. Thank you!
And last, but not least. On cable via xdp100-R – critical marker – Explosia Gojira – incredibly fast, punchy bass, no mud, everything is sharp clear, now you can enjoy all your music, the way you used to with the top class headphones. K361 Bt are tuned a bit towards enjoyment – there is a bit more bass, then it should be in a studio reference class. It gives you just more fun. But – on the cable – all the amount of bass is just under control, the speed is amazing! No bulks, no lumps, no shades of mud even. Great studio headphones on the cable with a tint of bass colorized enjoyment. I am deeply impressed!
If you say, k371-bt doesn’t play well on the cable… sorry, change your source, apparently you don’t have good enough one. Maybe they are easy to drive, but it doesn’t matter they do not demand good source. What you give is what you get, simple.
I agree with you.
I will also test them again on different cables and I hope it changes my view 🙂
Design
9
Sound
9
Connectivity
9
Price
9
Hello Ruby again. Now I am listening to k371 – wired version without BT, deliberately bought after reading all the tread akg 361/371 on head fi. I was really so glad on k361bt playing on cable, that just couldn’t resist to buy higher model to listen to. I have custom cable from Forza Audioworks , the purest copper 7n made to my dt1990pro, which fits to k371 as well. Without it, on akg cable, k371 are just briliiant, as they say on head-fi. With Forza AudioWorks cable even better 😛 Pure enjoyment. What do I think now about k361-bt? On cable: very good studio monitors, which due to a tint more bass can give you even more pleasure than other studio monitors. Basically they are sonically more flawless.
On the BT. The sound is a bit worse, as I statet abowe, but: firstly: only in very dense, dirty and fast metal, secondly, it really doesnt matter. Why so? When you turn them on BT , you are basically on the go. They got great bass, they give fun so, and the quality of sound – aparat the above mentioned horribble to play metal – is really great. Yes, great. When I am on the go, the SQ from k361 BT is great enough, I don’t need more. Why so? My attention isn’t focused solely on music then, I do other thinks, attention is splitted, so I do not notice every detail…
So I think the akg k361bt are a great product to use for a 1) profesional on a budget (on cable), 2) every music lover which appreciate listening from home set and at the same time want to feel free around the house and beyond with beloved music, not to interrupting other people with it. In k701 or dt1990pro or fidelio x2 I was condemned to listen in one room alone. In k361bt I can go everywhere taking music with me, and nobodys unhappy. So…
Design
10
Sound
10
Connectivity
10
Price
10
I was going to give 10,10,10,10. Don’t know what happened….
Absolutely great product for the price. And I absolutely do not understand the grumblers… 7 years ago, when I abandoned audiofila and sold almost all my gear, we could’t even have dreamt about such a great , versatile and… very cheap gear – considering the SQ. Bravo Akg!