Home > Consumer Reviews > AKG Acoustics K240 Monitoring Headphones

I received a pair of these as a gift about 18 years ago, and they are fabulous. I finally had to replace them this year because the cord near the jack was having issues and I could only hear one ear. The headset is in excellent shape and should work fine once I replace the jack end of the cord. The new one has a flexible, rubber covering over the area where the cord connects to the jack, so it should not develop the same problem. Here is what I like about them.

COMFORT. The earpieces are padded and sit on your head, not your ears. I share an office so I wear them all day long, and I have never had any problems with comfort (most regular headphones give me a headache or earache after a while). Since they are semi-closed, they breathe a little, so my ears do not get hot. The headband is attached with elastic pieces so there is no adjusting - just put them on and they fit. The cord comes out of the left earpiece, so there is no annoying "Y" under your chin.

SOUND LEAKAGE. My office mate cannot hear my music at all (although I don't listen to music loudly). It blocks enough external noise to help me concentrate, but I can still hear what's going on around me and carry on a conversation while wearing them. (They may leak more sound if you have a heavy beard or sideburns.)

SOUND QUALITY. The quality is amazing. I have read that it is very hard to get good quality sound with closed headphones, so the semi-closed are a good balance between quality sound and preventing sound leakage. I listen to them plugged into my computer speakers, and sometimes I have to skip a song because the non-music noises are so clear (lip smacking, breathing, guitar string squeaks, chimes, etc.).

SUMMARY: Extremely comfortable, quality construction and quality sound

I bought my first K 240 M in early 1986 for my sound studio connected to a music conservatory. These phones impressed all who used them.
In 2005 I ordered a new pair and was very pleased to find that only the phone plug has been changed. There was no change in sound.

Obtaining replacement parts has now become difficult. Whats more, this model has been replaced with the 240 S studio monitor. The sound is no longer the same.

The good news is that although the sound is different, it is clearly better. Bass response is now full down to at least 40 Hz and possibly lower. midrange is slightly boosted, which I got used to quite quickly.

The bad news is the addition of a connector that is not well designed, as it sticks out away from the phones in such a way that it could be damaged if the phones are dropped. If you handle them gently this should not be a problem.

Finally, In my opinion, these phones outperform all speaker systems on operatic voices. I never judge any vocal recording,or a singers voice, without using these phones. Although the new model does not sound quite the same, the spacial sense is the same. The ear pads are identical and interchangeble with the 240 M, hence the feel is the same.

I'm not an audiophile like the other reviewers of these headphones, so I won't dispute their claims or contest their ratings. However, if you are considering the AKG K240M for use with an iPod, dream on. Although I also have the wonderful, lightweight, collapsable Sennheiser PX 100 and am very pleased with their sound with my iPod Video, I had hoped to get even better sound with the AKGs. Unfortunately, even at full volume, the iPod cannot drive these headphones; same result using iTunes. I guess the problem is the 600 Ohm impedance which I did not notice before I purchased them. I probably should have bought the Sennheiser HD-280. If any of you audiophiles can suggest the perfect iPod phones in the $100 range, I'd love to hear from you at phones at kensall dot com. Thanks!

I use AKG 240 headphones daily at work for editing digital audio. They are incredible. I don't know what else needs to be said. Previously, my standard for judging headphone quality was the Bose Tri-port or Quiet Comfort headsets. Not any longer.

On paper, the reproduction range is way beyond the 20 Hz - 20,000 KHz that is considered within the range of normal hearing. Rather than being overkill, I believe this is why these headphones sound so outstanding. With this dynamic range, the headphone reproduces the subtle harmonics that are lost by other headphones.

These are not noise canceling, so you will need a quieter environment to appreciate the sound. This does not mean you need an isolation booth for maximum enjoyment, but they are a poor choice for wearing on your daily commute. These are working headphones. They are comfortable enough to be worn for hours at a time while editing audio in a studio or office environment. They are also responsive enough you do not need to crank up the volume to hear nice bass or subtle tones. Your coworkers will appreciate the lack of noise bleed from the headphones. With an adapter to a mini-jack, you could even use these at work for non-editing purposes.

They are fairly priced for the quality they deliver. In fact, I consider them an outstanding value capable of being compared to exotic headphones costing many times more. They even surpass the audio quality of many high-end speaker systems. If the sound you hear is not good, it's in the recording, not the reproduction.

these headphones deliver increadible sound at a professional level for a decent price. The only negative feature is that they are a bit to springy creating long wearing discomfort but still they are amazing