By: Donald on 20 November 2014

I bought these on a punt off a Swamp eBay auction and paid much less than list price. I thought that I might use them for a while and maybe sell them on for a bit of profit or pass them on to my son to use. Wrong. These are keepers. I already have AKG K271s and yes, the AKGs are better than the the HP-980s but as others have mentioned, the differences between the two headphones in terms of sound quality are more one of colouration. The AKGs are as flat as piss on a plate; the HP-980s have a bit of a disco smile. The HP-980s come with ear pads that scream out "upgrade me!" though thankfully they also come with two discs of foam to install over the drivers to dampen the shrill highs that are a bit overdone. This is a thoughtful and in my mind necessary inclusion. There are other differences too; the AKGs are much better made but they should be at almost three times the price. If I only had one set of headphones (God forbid) and they were these HP-980s, I wouldn't feel too hard done-by. I am very glad I bought them, and Swamp shipping was VERY fast.

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