AKG K-812

I came from the AKG K712 and since they already opened up a whole new world of sound for me, I did not expect that much of a surprise. Sidenote: I am using a Steinberg UR44 with the headphones plugged in there, directly. I have not tried a separate amplifier for headphones yet. It is the first high end headphone I tried so far. I am mainly working with EDM music and sometimes listening to classical tracks for which the K812 seems to be designed.
The K812 exceeded my expectations. They did it so outstandingly, I could not believe my ears. Out of a sudden, I was able to hear everything in a mix so crystal clear, as if I could just grab the sounds one by one. The high frequencies are very clean and clear as well. For the first time, I was able to clearly tell if a mix was ruined by the high freqs or not. Though, there is a slight elevation of different freqs at around 2khz, 6khz and between 8-12khz which may be fatiguing over time. Because of that I am not totally able to mix only by the headphones which is a bit of a let-down as they are performing so well.
Therefore, I would recommend to use the headphones for just listening to music or as reference headphones with focus on the mid and lower frequencies.

My Pros:
-Huge and clean Soundstage
-clean (sub)bass area
-very comfortable for endless sessions
-overall superior sound quality

Cons:
-elevated high frequencies therefore sometimes fatiguing

Two years ago I bought some 712's. I thought they were amazing. These 812's sound even better. Better than ANY Focal I have listened too. Better than the Clears and the Clear MG's and the 2020 Utopia. I haven't heard the 2022 Utopias yet but I doubt they are that much of an improvement over the 2020 version.

These have wonderful low end. They outperform closed back LCD-2's when compared back to back.

Ridiculously comfortable. They have some weight to them but the design really distributes the weight well and you'd forget that you have them on if it weren't for that pesky cable.

I bought them when they were $880 and I feel like I got a great deal from Thomann.

Service from Thomann is absolutely stellar. Thomann is to Germany, as Crutchfield is to USA. Halfway around the globe, they arrive in beautiful condition. My package was triple boxed.