Review: AKG K52 Studio Monitor Headphones

Sound Quality

These headphones offer decent sound quality for their price but they have some areas that are lacking. When compared to the K92 headphones they sound very similar, but lack some of the clarity of the K92 model. It’s a very minor difference though.

When listening and testing these headphones, I found them to be fairly on point with the frequency analysis.

The highs have a good presence and clarity. I had read that these can sound kind of dead in the high end without some burn in time, and put these through about 40 hrs of burn in before testing. I found the high end to be pretty nice, with good clarity and presence. There is a bit of a roll off in the high end but it’s not enough to negatively affect the sound.

The mids sound subdued. They sound about the same as the K92 and K72 models. Vocals and other instruments that sit in the mid range are lacking presence. The clarity in the mids is lacking as well.

The lows are present and balanced, but not overly powerful. The same as the K92 and K72 models for the most part. You can hear good details in the low end and kick drums and bass guitars come through well.

The spaciousness is sufficient. I found the left to right sound stage to be sufficient and it’s easy to place sound from left to right when listening. The spaciousness isn’t overly strong, but it’s pretty good for a cheap pair of closed back headphones.

Clarity is decent but not great. It felt like most of the clarity and crispness in the sound was coming from the high end or the upper mid range. The mids overall are a net negative for the clarity with their less present nature. The lows are clear enough for mixing purposes.

Overall the sound is decent considering the price of these headphones. They sound almost identical to the K92 and K72 headphones when I test them side by side. I was trying to convince myself that these didn’t sound as good as the other two but if there is a difference it’s perceptibly minor. I prefer more mid range presence so I wasn’t a huge fan of the sound on these, but I could see some people liking the sound depending on preference. Personally, I wouldn’t use these for mixing but I wouldn’t have any problem having them around the studio to use for tracking headphones.

Closed Back Design

These are closed back headphones and they are intended to fit completely over your ear to provide some passive noise isolation. In my experience, the ear cups didn’t fit snugly enough on my head and as a result the noise isolation wasn’t that great. These have a pretty loose fit and the larger size of the ear cups will likely give many others the same experience.

Comfort

I found these headphones to be pretty comfortable, even without a snug fit. They are very lightweight and don’t put unnecessary pressure in any areas.

The headband on this model felt like it allowed a little less stretching than the headband on the K92 and K72 models. As a result, these wanted to sit up higher on my head than the other two, which I didn’t find as comfortable. I have a feeling that the headband would stretch and loosen up over time, eliminating the high fit issue.

The ear cups on these feel about the same as the K92 and K72 in terms of comfort, but the covering feels noticeable thinner and more cheap.

Build Quality

These are pretty cheaply built headphones but they don’t feel too bad for their price. The light weight makes them feel pretty cheap when held in hand. They don’t feel like they’d hold up well to crushing with the thin metal headband. The ear cups have a thinner, more cheap feeling covering than the K92 and K72 models.

The cable jack is the silver type rather than the gold plated jack on the K92’s. The 1/4″ adapter feels more cheap than the K92’s as well. But this is a very minor thing that probably doesn’t really affect anything functionally.

Overall, these feel like the most cheaply built when compared to the K92 and K72 models. But at the end of the day the differences are minor in terms of how it affects their sound and usability.

The Cable

These headphones come with a 3 meter straight cable. The cable has a 3.5mm plug and a 1/4″ adapter. The cable is non-removable.

I noticed that you can hear bumps and scraping on the cable pretty easily when you have these on your head. It’s not overly annoying but if that kind of stuff bothers you it’s good to be aware.

Are These Headphones Good For Electronic Drumming?

These can be a decent pick for electronic drummers if you like their sound. These are very similar to the K92 and K72 models when used on a drum kit. Outside of the build quality differences, they sound and fit about the same.

The subdued mids weren’t as noticeable when hooked up directly to my drum module but it did take a little edge off of the snare sounds. Hi-hats sounded good on these. They were plenty comfortable. Noise isolation struggled since the ear cups are large and didn’t form a good seal around my ears. The long cable was welcome. The cable transfers some noise when bumped, so that can be a little annoying but it wasn’t very noticeable while playing.

How Do These Compare to the AKG K72 and K92 Headphones?

AKG has some very similar headphones in the AKG K92, K72 and K52 models. Check out our comparison of these AKG headphones where we get into some of the details as far as what makes them different from each other.

Technical Specifications

The Verdict

The AKG K52 headphones are very similar to the K92 and K72 models. They offer a decent sound and comfortable fit. If you can find these for $30 they can be a good buy at that price. If you can spend a few bucks more get one of the other two models.

The mid range response is weak and that could be an issue if you don’t like subdued mids. These offer good comfort and a solid sound for tracking, gaming and electronic drumming. The closed-back design does a decent job of providing passive noise isolation depending on fit. They are a good pick for budget users who want good sounding headphones that are comfortable.