Stalwart audio company AKG has a plethora of highly respected and genuinely good studio headphones, with models endorsed by producers like Quincy Jones. Moreover, AKG has tuned some well liked Samsung earbuds too. So when we saw there’s a cheap set of closed back headphones—the AKG K72—we had to give it a shot, and put it through its paces.

Editor’s note: this is the first version of the article. Updates will follow as the market changes.

What stands out about the AKG K72 is the headset’s light weight at 200g. The cable adds an additional 50 (or so) grams, but your head won’t feel that, so long as nothing tugs on the left side where the cable connects. It does not fold down, and you get some movement where the ear cup housings meets the arms to adjust your fit. Thanks to the suspension headband found on most AKG headphones, it’s comfortable along the crown and automatically sizes itself.

The large, round ear cups have stiff vinyl covered padding. The padding is stiff and it does not conform around glasses particularly well, which negatively affects the sound and isolating properties of the K72. At least the light clamping force means the AKG K72 doesn’t press on any nerves along the jaw when having a snack.

Weirdly, the ear pads almost feel like they’re on backwards. The padding is thicker towards the front, particularly the left side. There’s 60mm of height and width between the inside edges of the ear pads, so most ears will fit the K72, but that much space also means you need to pay attention to how the headphones are worn. If your K72 sits too far forward or back, the sound perceivably alters. Lastly, temperature is not an issue except where the vinyl directly touches your skin, as the K72 heats up, but no more than the average closed back studio headphones.

The AKG K72 comes with the 3 meter cable permanently affixed, terminating in a 3.5mm jack. You also get a 1/4 inch adapter. The length of the cable is fine for at home use, but definitely too long for use outside.

As a set of closed-back headphones the AKG K72 isolates somewhat poorly. This is the result of a few elements, namely the stiff ear padding that does not create a good seal around the ear. For example, I can fit my smallest finger easily between where my jaw and the K72 meet.

The just shy of 30dB noise attenuation between 4kHz and 8kHz means people speaking in real life will be harder to make out. It’ll dull some clanging sounds like dishes, but anything lower pitched will come through unabated.

It helps that the AKG K72 is a pair of over-ear headphones and that the ear cups articulate to attempt an even application of pressure. Although, it wouldn’t hurt to be able to articulate even more, because I max out the adjustability towards the back of the ear cups.

Rather surprisingly, the 40mm dynamic drivers inside the AKG K72 project an unusual and not especially good-sounding frequency response. It’s not “neutral” like you might expect of studio headphones, and it’s not really pleasing for average listeners either. In essence, frequencies between 200 and 1000Hz are mostly too loud relative to everything else. Lower pitch frequencies see a steep volume roll off, and where the headphones should have the most volume peaking at 3kHz, the K72 under-emphasizes by nearly 15dB.

This seems a little odd when considering that AKG is currently under the Samsung umbrella, along with Harman International, known for its target curve, which bares resemblance to our own target curve at SoundGuys. In other words, AKG knows how good headphones sound, but made the K72 this way regardless.

Lows, mids, highs

Listening to Bones by Radiohead, the AKG K72 offers what sounds like a worse alternate reality version of the song. Thom Yorke’s vocals sound extremely quiet and distant compared to the guitars, especially during the first verse. The bass guitar completely lacks oomph and plays quietly compared to the guitars, noticeably so at the choruses.

In fact, the running theme of the AKG K72 playing this song is that the guitar grabs all of the attention, because it’s loud. Initially it seems kind of cool when the song begins with the prominent quick stereo panning tremolo effect on the distorted guitar, until the other instruments come in at low volumes. Lastly, the snare sounds inaccurate and surprisingly hard to differentiate from the cymbals with this frequency response. Essentially, it only sounds good if you listen to guitar by itself.

If you’re looking for a set of studio grade headphones at a cut rate and you found the AKG K72, keep looking. AKG has a lot of good products under its belt, but the AKG K72 is not one of them. Ruining its potential, the AKG K72 has a weird frequency response; it’s neither suitable for studio use, nor consumer audio. What’s worse, the K72 is not really an easy headset to EQ either.

Frankly, the K72 does not do much exceptionally well except sit over your ears with a light clamping force. Even then, the ear padding has different thicknesses on each ear.

These days it’s difficult to recommend the AKG K72 for anyone, unless you want to make sure your latest track sounds good on every conceivable frequency response, including wonky ones.

The AKG K92 costs a little more than the AKG K72, and comes in black with gold, rather than black with silver. Both headsets have very similar specs, including 40mm dynamic drivers and closed back housings.

Rather surprising is that both the AKG K72 and K92 sound quite alike and isolate similarly. As you can see, the K92 has more emphasis between 4kHz and 9kHz. This gives the K92 a more trebly sound than the AKG K72. Unfortunately, both pairs retain this odd and difficult-to-equalize frequency response.

You can definitely do better than both the AKG K92 and AKG K72. It’s not worth paying the premium for the bigger number, because it’s not effectively any better than the K72. Do not mix with either the AKG K92 or K72 if you can help it. So, should you get the AKG K92 or AKG K72? You should get neither. Get one of the suggestions below.

Sure it costs a bit more ($176 at Amazon), but you’ll thank me if you get the AKG K371 rather than AKG K72. Unlike the AKG K72, the AKG K371 has really pleasant frequency response, and aligns closely with our target curve. Besides better sound, the K371 is simply better built, with articulating ear cups, and detachable cabling. Additionally, the AKG K240 Studio is still a standard starter headset for mixers, albeit it has open backs, and is a bit light on bass.

You can’t go too wrong with the Sony MDR-7506, which has been around for decades. It not quite as comfortable as the AKG K72, but it sounds way better, and it still feels good enough that you can wear it for stretches while editing audio. The robust build dwarfs the plasticky build of the AKG K72.

For a similar price, the Audio-Technica ATH-M30x is imperfect, but it imparts a notably better and easier to EQ frequency response than the AKG K72. It lacks the comfort of the suspension headband of the AKG K72, implementing a more conventional sliding headband. Even so, it’s a better pick for recording and tracking for $79 at Amazon. Now if you’re really going for cheap ($49 at Amazon), try the Audio-Technica ATH-M20x, which skimps on luxuries, but sounds quite a bit better than the AKG K72, so it’s still useable.