AKG K181 DJ review

These bad-ass DJ cans from AKG offer appeal far beyond the dancefloor, with a combination of awesome sonics, solid build and supreme comfort on the old lobes. What does that all add up to? An extremely impressive set of headphones…

Pros
Somewhat of a relief after hours spent listening to cold, precise noise cancellers, these normally aspirated headphones sound better than the Sennheiser PXC 450, Bose QC3 and Creative Aurvana X-Fi, although they are less suited to long-haul flights. Designed for DJs, they give excellent results with dance music but also work a treat with rock and more bombastic classical. Even more acoustic-esque, strumming- and flautistry-based music sounds by no means bad thanks to excellent stereo separation, bottomless bass and a vibrant, forceful performance all round. They also feel bomb-proof yet are comfortable on your tender head.

Cons
There are switches on the each ear marked “Large/small club”. They don’t appear to do anything, at least when not plugged into a nightspot’s sound system. You can also switch the ‘phones to mono which, again, is not the last word in usefulness.

In summary then…
You could do a hell of a lot worse than these cans, which sound great, are comfy enough for long-term wear, ruggedly built and have a mercifully simple look. DJs will doubtless appreciate the 180-degree rotating ear-cups, for when they are “cueing up choonz” in order to “make all posse and crew in the place big up themselves”. They may even be able to work out what the “Big/small club” switches do. For the rest of us, this is just a great-sounding, well-made, versatile pair of headphones that can be found online for not too much dosh at all. “Sorted”, as today’s dance music-fancying young folk put it.

Style

Sound

Value

Overall

Like the sound of these headphones? Get chatting about the AKG K181 DJ on the PriceRunner forums.

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