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If you want a proven, reference-style open-back headphone with a signature tuning developed by AKG and Quincy Jones, choose AKG Q 701; if you need a modern planar-magnetic design with a massive driver and a balanced cable in the box, choose SENDYAUDIO Apollo Pro. Both are wired, over-ear, open-back headphones aimed at serious listeners. They get to that goal in very different ways.
• AKG Q 701 — biggest strength: a 62-ohm dynamic driver with flat-wire voice coils and a two-layer Varimotion diaphragm, tuned for pinpoint imaging and an airy, open presentation. Biggest trade-off: it's a heavier, older-school design (1.7 lb) with no detachable cable and no included balanced option.
• SENDYAUDIO Apollo Pro — biggest strength: a 78mm planar magnetic driver with a nano-scale EB-evaporation diaphragm and a detachable 4.4mm balanced cable. Biggest trade-off: at 27 ohms and 93 dB sensitivity it's a low-impedance planar, which means it wants a source with real current delivery and a 4.4mm balanced output to shine.
• Pick the AKG Q 701 if you want a reference-flavored dynamic headphone for long mixing or analytical listening and you're happy with a fixed cable and a standard single-ended setup.
• Pick the SENDYAUDIO Apollo Pro if you want a modern open-back planar with a huge driver, wood earcups and the flexibility of a detachable balanced cable.
The Q 701 is AKG's Quincy Jones Signature Edition, and the spec sheet tells you exactly what that means. It's built around a dynamic driver with flat-wire voice-coil technology and AKG's patented two-layer Varimotion diaphragm — one layer for the high frequencies, one for the low end. The result, as AKG describes it, is extremely accurate transient response and a wide, precisely placed stereo image. The frequency range runs from 10Hz to 39.8kHz, which is wider than most human hearing will ever need but tells you the driver isn't being asked to strain at either extreme.
Physically, this is a full-size, metal-bodied, over-ear headphone with 3D-form ear pads and a single-sided, oxygen-free copper cable. Impedance is 62 ohms, which is in the "easy enough for a phone, happier with a proper amp" zone. It weighs 1.7 pounds, and that's the number to sit with. It's a substantial headphone, and the metal enclosure is part of why. The ear pads are specifically shaped rather than flat circles, which is AKG's answer to long-session comfort.
Buy it if you want a reference-style dynamic open-back for critical listening, mixing reference, or just hearing a familiar record with a wide, holographic stage. The tuning heritage is the whole point here, and the design is aimed at accuracy over warmth.
Skip it if you want a detachable cable, a balanced connection, or a lighter headphone for all-day wear. The cable is fixed, the connection is a standard jack, and the whole package is built around a single-ended, studio-monitor philosophy. Also skip it if you already know you prefer planar bass and speed.
The Apollo Pro is a wired open-back planar magnetic headphone, and its headline feature is the driver: a 78mm planar magnetic unit, which is genuinely enormous for a headphone. Bigger planar diaphragms generally mean more surface area moving air with less excursion, which is how you get that fast, grippy, low-distortion character planar fans chase. The diaphragm itself is nano-scale composite, treated with EB evaporation deposition to lay down a dense, uniform aluminum circuit layer — SENDYAUDIO's approach to controlling vibration and keeping the frequency response stable.
The rest of the package is built for the same listener. The body is 354 grams, which is lighter than the AKG on paper, and it uses ultra-thin sunburst metal mesh with compact zebrawood earcups. The headband is lamb leather and the ear pads are velvet, chosen to reduce heat buildup and pressure over long sessions — a real concern with big planar drivers that sit warm against your head.
Then there's the cable. It's detachable, it's 4.4mm balanced, and it's a triple-composite design combining Furukawa OFC, silver-plated copper, and enameled gold-plated copper strands. Impedance is 27 ohms, sensitivity 93 dB, and the rated frequency response reaches 40kHz.
Buy it if you already own a source with a 4.4mm balanced output, or you're willing to get one, and you want a big-driver planar open-back with a wooden-accented, comfort-focused build and a cable you can swap or replace.
Skip it if you only have a standard 3.5mm or 6.35mm single-ended output you're not willing to move away from, or if you prefer the specific midrange-forward tuning that dynamic AKG designs are known for. The low impedance and moderate sensitivity also mean it rewards a source that can deliver current, not just voltage.
• Best for reference/acoustic-monitor tuning → AKG Q 701. The flat-wire voice coil and Varimotion two-layer diaphragm are explicitly about accuracy and transient response, and the 10Hz–39.8kHz range is the broadest here.
• Best for big-driver planar speed and layering → SENDYAUDIO Apollo Pro. A 78mm planar magnetic driver with EB-evaporation diaphragm treatment is a fundamentally different, faster-moving-mass approach than a dynamic driver.
• Best for long-session comfort → SENDYAUDIO Apollo Pro. At 354g with lamb leather and breathable velvet pads, it's built around reducing heat and pressure; the AKG is 1.7 lb of metal-bodied over-ear.
• Best for cable flexibility → SENDYAUDIO Apollo Pro. Its cable detaches and terminates in 4.4mm balanced; the AKG's oxygen-free copper cable is single-sided and fixed.
• Best for easy single-ended plug-and-play → AKG Q 701. At 62 ohms with a standard jack, it slots into ordinary headphone outputs without needing a balanced source.
• Best for a warmer, wood-and-metal aesthetic → SENDYAUDIO Apollo Pro. Zebrawood earcups and sunburst mesh versus the AKG's all-black metal enclosure.
• Best for buyers who want a known reference lineage → AKG Q 701. The Quincy Jones Signature Edition is a specific, documented tuning project, not a general-purpose design.
• Best for upgrading your chain later → SENDYAUDIO Apollo Pro. Low 27-ohm impedance plus a balanced detachable cable gives you more room to grow your source gear.
If I had to pick one, I'd take the SENDYAUDIO Apollo Pro. In my opinion, the 78mm planar driver, the detachable 4.4mm balanced cable, and the 354g comfort-focused build make it the more adaptable headphone for someone building a system in 2026 — you can swap cables, run balanced, and you're getting a driver technology with real headroom for detail and layering. The AKG Q 701 is still a genuinely excellent reference dynamic headphone, and if you want that specific AKG imaging character and a plug-and-play single-ended setup, it's the smarter buy. But as a long-term platform, I'd go planar. Check the current price on Amazon for both before you decide, since the gap between them changes the math.
Not universally. The Q 701 is a 62-ohm dynamic headphone tuned for accuracy and imaging, while the Apollo Pro is a 27-ohm planar magnetic with a much larger 78mm driver. Which is "better" depends on whether you want dynamic reference tuning or planar speed and layering.
It's 27 ohms with 93 dB sensitivity, so it's not hard to drive in terms of voltage, but planars at low impedance pull current. It also ships with a 4.4mm balanced cable, so you'll get the most out of it with a source that has a balanced output.
No. The Q 701 uses a single-sided, 99.99% oxygen-free copper cable that is fixed, terminating in a standard jack. If a swappable or balanced cable matters to you, the Apollo Pro is the one with the detachable 4.4mm connection.
On paper, the SENDYAUDIO Apollo Pro. It's 354g with a lamb leather headband and breathable velvet ear pads designed to cut heat and pressure. The AKG Q 701 weighs 1.7 lb and uses shaped 3D-form ear pads in a metal enclosure, so it's the heavier of the two.
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