AKG K 181 DJ

You just can't hit one out of the audiophile ball park every time at bat and, sadly, it looks like we have a wiffle-ball strikeout here with the AKG 181DJ. We are not too blown away by either the sonic clarity of this sealed-earcup headphone, the creaky-feeling construction, or the fairly stiff price. To be fair, the switchable mono/stereo option, detachable three-pin cable and (maybe) even the cheesy, left & right earcup "large/small club ambience" [bass boost] control might prove useful for some working DJs. However, we found the overall audiophilic performance of the K-181DJ lackluster due to its middling audio detail resolution, boomy bass response, and flat soundstage imaging. The headband design also tends to feel bulky & heavy on our Zippy-sized heads, likely not a good thing for fast-paced club work or for comfortably-extended intense listening sessions. Given the usually stellar performance of most AKG designs, we can only assume stuff happens and everyone is entitled to an off-day now and again. Check out the much better-priced (and actually better-sounding in our opinion) AKG K-81DJ if seeking a great sealed-design, portable-application DJ/club headphone with quite solid audio performance.

The AKG K-181DJ headband construction is a plastic polymer with some small foam padding built-in under the headband for wearing comfort. The large, closed supra-aural earcups are a bit smaller than the fully 'around-the-ear' circumaural style and the earpads tend to rest on the outside part of the ears. The external surfaces of the K-181 earcups are made of a rubberized material for secure handling in sweaty clubs. The pads are covered in a nicely plush black pleather with the donut-type openings in the center. The earcups swivel around 270 degrees and also fold up via hinges into the headband for compacting down for convenient travel/ storage. Sizing and fit adjustments are via a simple headband slider mechanism. The easily-detachable, single-sided 8-foot straight headphone cable is terminated to a gold-plated 1/8" (3.5mm) mini-plug. A coiled cable is separately available from AKG. The K-181DJ sport a fairly efficient 42 ohms impedance and 120dB sensitivity rating. The package includes a handy travel carry-pouch and a full-size screw-on 1/4" adapter. A 2-year product warranty remains standard with all AKG headphones.