Question Is the AKG K371 worth it in 2022 (Headphones under 400$)?

[LouiseRM]

I was looking for wired over the ear closed back headphones with great sound quality and good sound isolation with a fair price since this will be my first upgrade from the crappy earbuds that I have been using.

After countless hours of searching I have settled onto the AKG K371.

Now, I have a couple of questions:

1. Is there anything newer/better than the AKG K371 on the market with a price tag below 400? (Please specify why)
2. And will AKG release a newer version/model in this year? (would newer equal to better?)
3. The one that I find on Amazon are from 2019. Those are the latest model?
4. Would the K371 need an amp/dac?

LouiseRM

 

[Friesiansam]

Where are you? What currency are you using? You say "a price tag below 400?" but we don't know what you are referring to.

Further to that, K371s look easy to drive so you could easily run them from a phone or laptop.

 

[Al ears]

I gather that is 400 US dollars?
This is a pretty universal forum so always best to clarify the currency mentioned

 

[LouiseRM]

Where are you? What currency are you using? You say "a price tag below 400?" but we don't know what you are referring to.

Further to that, K371s look easy to drive so you could easily run them from a phone or laptop.

My bad. It should have been dollars. I corrected it.
And I'm in the US.

 

[EvShrug]

Is there anything newer/better than the AKG K371 on the market with a price tag below 400? (Please specify why)

Newer isn’t necessarily better. Acoustic physics don’t progress in the same way as computer electronics have incremental upgrades planned for every year for the next ten years… with headphones, they keep selling the same model until someone has a flash of inspiration. There are current headphones that have been in continuous production for over 20 years, and still customer favorites.

The K371 is a strong contender, though there may be side-grade options with different flavors of tuning. It would be a good place to start if you want a closed-back headphone.

And will AKG release a newer version/model in this year? (would newer equal to better?)

See above, though AKG did release a Bluetooth version of the same headphone.

The one that I find on Amazon are from 2019. Those are the latest model?

Yes; the Bluetooth model should sound practically the same when it’s used in wired mode, though I haven’t heard it myself and the BT mode may add some processing and compression that would change the sound a bit.

Would the K371 need an amp/dac?

Every headphone requires amplification to work. And if your audio source is digital, a Digital to Analog Converter (DAC) is also a necessary part of the audio chain.

With that said, if your computer has a built-in headphone Jack, then it has a DAC and amp integrated inside. If your phone included a USB/Lightning to 3.5mm Headphone dongle, that dongle has a DAC and amp inside. If you buy a Bluetooth headphone, then that definitely has a DAC and amp built-in. These components are on a spectrum of quality (I listed them from least to best just now; though the DAC/amp quality in Bluetooth headphones varies depending on how much money the headphone engineers spent on those parts), and the best quality are external, separate units where they can be built as big as the engineers want and as good as you are willing to pay for.