I bought a pair of these to use with my Android phone and double-up as decent monitoring from my laptop during a long-ish period out of the country, and although they can’t really compare in either sound or build quality to my ‘trusty’ HD25s, they nevertheless do a fair job of standing in for ‘full size’ cans when taking up minimum space in limited luggage is the order of the day.

Put it this way;  i wouldn’t worry that things were going to sound THAT different on the pro kit ‘back at base’  if i had to mix/process something on the laptop in the field or on a trip using these as my quality-monitoring instead of the HD25s.

As for mobile-music listening, these aren’t quite as ‘open’ as my main Sennheiser HD430s that i use at home, nor do they have as ‘chunky’ a bottom end as both those 430s and the HD25s, do; but on the move the HD25s show up the deficiencies of MP3s very obviously, whereas the K452s are detailed enough that you know you’re listening to compressed audio, but not so ‘ruthless’ about it that they spoil the fun….

Probably the main thing that attracted me to these was that the on-ear transducers and their ear-cushions were similar in size to those on the HD25s, and so promised a similar prolonged-listening level of comfort, if not effectiveness of isolation, to the HD25s.

They don’t actually feel like the HD25s nor give the same isolation of outside sound, but don’t do badly on both scores.

As for the other practicalities, i didn’t go looking for headphones that ‘just’ folded’ ; they had to do that and still seem quite sturdy when worn, but be protected in transit as well anyway, and the supplied ‘rigid’ case does this very well.

As for connections, these are sold as better cans for i-pod/phone or Android devices, for which there is a 4-pole 3.5mm headphone plug and in-line play/pause switch, but what i really liked was that they also come with an alternative ‘straight’ stereo 3.5mm jack plug, the headphone end being a twist-locking 3.5mm plug on both cables, which, since the 4-conductor version still works in most 3-conductor stereo 3.5mm outputs, was to me like having a spare cable in case of damage already supplied by default.

As i disvovered later, 1 of my friends, a jazz musician and definitely NOT an audiophile but nonetheless someone who listens before he buys anything audio, already had a pair of the K451s, the predecessor to the K452,  when i bought my 452s, so i must be onto something….

On the other hand i see some people with them on trains but only a few compared to all the other bulkier and more garish types, often of 1 particular ‘charlatan’ make that shall remain nameless here, so i like to think that too is an endorsement of my choice, that only the discerning are smart enough to buy the un-flashy AKG models…..