There's no doubt that Quincy Jones is a man with golden ears (witness his 27 GRAMMY® awards for starters). According to Mr. Jones, AKG's Q701 Premium Class Reference Headphones "are the only headphones I've heard that bring out the true sound we were striving for on records like 'Billie Jean,' "Thriller,' and 'Give Me the Night.' It's the best quality sound I've heard, ever."

Strong words indeed!

So I borrowed a pair of these headphones to experience them for myself. There was quite a bit that I liked about the 701's and only a thing or two that I didn't.

Build quality and design

The headphones have these massive circular earcups that seemed to swallow my head. That actually was a good thing. The "3D-Form" ear pads were thick enough to give my ears plenty of room. I like earcups that don't touch my ears — it's more like the sensation of not wearing them at all. The padding was wrapped in fabric rather than plastic, so it breathed. That kept my ears from overheating during long listening sessions.

A lime green cord comes with the headphones (apparently Quincy Jones' favorite color) but not to worry — a duplicate cord in black is also included. The cords terminate in a standard minijack for portable use, and come with a ¼" adapter. I recommend always using the adapter. These aren't really iPod® on-the-go headphones.

The only thing I didn't really like was the headband. Although it was quality leather with padding throughout, it somehow felt a little uncomfortable after an hour or two. Of course, your mileage may vary  —  especially if you have a full head of hair (which I don't).

Minijack = minisound

The Q701's are premium high-performance headphones. They use a sophisticated diaphragm construction to enhance responsiveness and accuracy. In order for this system to work efficiently, the voice coils need to be fully powered - and that's more power than they can get through a headphone minijack.

When I plugged the Q701's into my iPod, the music seemed a little muted. I was hearing a lot of detail in my test tracks, but there wasn't a lot of presence. I had to turn the volume almost all the way up on my iPod (I usually listen at half-volume) to get the umph I'm used to hearing.

Like most high-performance headphones, the Q701's really needed a headphone amplifier. Once I connected the Q701's to my NuForce iCon HDP headphone amp, my listening experiences took a turn for the better.

Full power = full sound

With the Q701's connected to the NuForce headphone amp, and the NuForce connected to my computer's digital library, I was ready for some serious listening. Most of my music is stored in lossless formats, retaining the details of the original CD tracks I ripped them from. Plus, the Icon HDP bypasses my computer's soundcard, and converts the digital files to analog through its own DAC (digital-to-analog converter), so I expected the music to sound good.

The Q701's didn't disappoint. I listened to a lot of music over the six weeks that I had these headphones. Some of it was casual listening. And overall, I was very pleased with the performance. But as always, I set aside time to do a listening session with a selection of test tracks to really hear what the headphones could really do.

Test track rundown

My test track for electronica, was Salla by Makale. It really put the responsiveness of headphones to the test. Salla features tight, staccato bass drum kicks, coupled with a world beat mélange of sampled instruments. Makale creates thick mixes, and I had no trouble listening deep into the track and hearing the various layers of sound.

I found the same to be true with Dr. Dre's Nuthi n' But A "G" Thang. The crispness of this track was right in the zone, and it was easy to hear not only what was happening in the foreground with Snoop Dogg and the Doctor, but also in the different loops going on in the background.

I then switched to jazz trumpeter Don Ellis' How Time Passes, an early sixties track that exclusively used acoustic instruments. The sound was softer, as befitted an older recording, with the highs and lows rounded off. But I could still hear the interplay of the drums and bass, and the piano wandering off to do its own thing as Ellis' trumpet solo took flight.

For my straight-ahead rock track, I used Sass Jordan's Make You A Believer. It's a straight-ahead no-nonsense beer joint type of song — but very well recorded. I heard the grit in Jordan's voice with convincing realism, as well as the full band. That's important. Often when I listen to this track through entry- or mid-level headphones, the piano's often overwhelmed by the guitar. With the Q701's I heard the piano clearly deep in the track.

My classical selection was my old standby, the opening to Ralph Vaughan Williams' "Sea Symphony" with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra directed by Robert Spano. The opening with its extreme contrasts between full orchestra and chorus and small ensembles can be a challenge for unresponsive headphones. The Q701 reproduced the sound accurately, and with plenty of detail. The dramatic changes in dynamics didn't present any problems to the headphones. I heard everything with the proper balance and proportion.

Overall impressions

The Q701 headphones did a great job with virtually every musical genre I tried. My overall impression of the headphones was that they delivered a warm sound that very slightly favored the mid-range. While they were responsive enough to handle hip hop and electronica, the Q701's really did their best with music that was more acoustic in nature. The drivers delivered the highs and lows necessary to color the tones properly, and with a responsiveness that kept everything coming through clear and clean. I can understand why Quincy Jones likes the AKG Q701 headphones.