Audio Technica Appreciation Thread

[LongBigBronzeElephantFish]

@Haonan: The Oyaide cables looks fantastic ... But is expensive... :O Maybe I'll go Japan try the ATH and Oyaide cables instead (=

@Haonan @ Randius: Audio Technica ATH W1000x Grandioso Review - YouTube


I think my current cable:gear ratio is like 1:50 or something (=
Gotta slowly climb up the hill...

Just realise that my current setup doesn't really need a 3.5mm > 3.5mm converter, but a USB > Mini USB for my DAC, any suggestions?

Oh... And any of you got any Japanese headphone forums to recommend? Can read up stuff and practise my japanese at the same time...

 

[LongBigBronzeElephantFish]

@Randius: I'm always considered a true-blue AT fan like you

After hearing most of the headphone brands, I still prefer Audio Technica's sound signature (=

Maybe still need more exposure :X

 

[dle4e_2005]

Dle4e_2005

• CK100

• Ck10

• Ck7

-Powered by Sony Z1070

Coming from the Etymotic ER4, I find CK10 is the most comfortable IEM.

 

[LongBigBronzeElephantFish]

@dle4e_2005: Welcome (=

 

[jacktaris]

Wow... I didnt know that audio technica make dac/amp! This thread is really useful! haha.. anyone owns it before?

Btw, anyone tried recabling and any idea where to get it done in singapore? How much does the sound improve?

Cheers!

Ath fan

 

[LongBigBronzeElephantFish]

Wow... I didnt know that audio technica make dac/amp! This thread is really useful! haha.. anyone owns it before?

Btw, anyone tried recabling and any idea where to get it done in singapore? How much does the sound improve?

Cheers!

Ath fan

Here's the gear list:
http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/72589200-post19.html

Randius has a desktop one and Haonan has 2 portable ones...

Well, they make sushi machines too! (=

 

[kentgh]

My one & only, which is the ATH-CK100Pro, & I'm loving it

 

[Haonan]

@LBBEF: Would just like to clarify that the normal AT-PHA05BT/or its LTD Red version are actually marketed by ATH themselves more as bluetooth receiver products, and not as portable amp mainly as their amp portion is just secondary functions. According to their product specs, these have a max output of approximately abt 30mW rated at 16 ohms, but obviously it will go lower once u start using higher impedance headphones/IEMs.

I don't think they can handle headphones at 300Ω efficiently, but in terms of the amp portion but so far I have been able to get pretty loud vols with my AD1000PRM's when testing which have a max rated input of 1000mW itself which is very high for headphones, and even with my IEMs you can usually reach up 100db/mW SPL sensitivity with just that 30mW power which is already at eardrums breaking vol levels.

@kentgh: I'm also still enjoying my CK100PRO's so far, lol I think im starting to love it more over my prev CK100's. Btw just to fill you in some details, Beat Audio (which seems to be associated with Unique Melody) are actually doing customised cables for these ATH iems, apart from those ready-made 3rd party cables by Null Audio Lune. If you are int just go custom-iem.com to check out their aftermarket cables, their Bugle line-up seems to be having some slight discount right now.

I may be considering to pick up a aftermarket cable for my CK100PRO by Feb since I wanna see how much they improve, but one of my main qualms for searching for an aftermarket cable is so they can provide some ear support for the CK100PRO by built-in rubber gliders (think u might observe by now CK100PRO's relatively memory-free cables can get quite cumblesome to loop behind yr ear for long periods especially when moving ard) then another pt is of course any noticeable SQ upgrades.

Will keep this thread updated or on my CK100PRO's thread if I ever upgrade to new cables. Do share with me too if u ever discover other interesting cables that can be used on CK100PRO's!

 

[LongBigBronzeElephantFish]

@Haonan: Didn't know that ATH had bluetooth receivers (= Learning new stuff everyday...

 

[Randius]

For those who may be interested in AT's Solid Bass earphones range, their flagship model, the CKS1000 will be available in Singapore early next year.

 

[Haonan]

Kakaku review: ‰¿Ši.com - [PRŠé‰æ] Bluetooth‘Ήžƒ*ƒCƒ„ƒŒƒXƒŒƒV*[ƒo*[*uAT-PHA05BT*vŽŽ’®ƒŒƒrƒ…*[
Video review on Controls : ã€*レビュー】audio-technica AT-PHA05BT　æ“*作 - YouTube

Yeah, ATH is actually kinda late in getting into the BT receivers market, bcos since 2007-2008 there are alrdy japanese makers such as Sony/Panasonic that has been doing such products for the market, I also have quite a few Sony BT receivers at hm and also one made by NTT docomo/Panasonic, each have their own pros/cons but the latest AT-PHA05BT that I bought is one of the better ones, in terms of battery life/wireless connectivity in that the sound doesn't "break up" even if u're very far from your DAP/phone. SQ is also pretty gd for something this small and wireless, I bought it to compliment my Walkman Z when I don't feel like going wired.

It is not w/o any inherent hardware flaws though, bcos of the built-in amp the output gain signal is pretty high, so background hiss can be detected when no music is playing and doesn't seem to change whether u're at minimal vol or max vol, it's not tat obvious with my dynamic iems but the hiss can be heard quite prominently with BA iems which usually has higher sensitivity, so it's not an excellent companion for listening to quiet music such chamber/classical genres with alot of silent moments in between.

The built-in LED display is very useful though, and is able to display japanese kanji/chinese words with no issues (my prev Sony MW600 is unable to do this) and because my library has alot of japanese tracks and my Walkman Z can be quite large to always hold it in my hand, I usually prefer to keep my DAP in my portable pouch/bag and just have the BT receiver clipped to my shirt, you can easily see what song is playing atm and switch songs on-the-fly with ease too, as demonstrated in the above YT video.

Yup just a summary of what their BT receivers can do.

 

[Haonan]

For those who may be interested in AT's Solid Bass earphones range, their flagship model, the CKS1000 will be available in Singapore early next year.

Not interested in their Solid Bass series eh, too much bass = ear rape for me lol. I will take excellent mids/highs over bass anyday, but still good news for those basshead lovers!

 

[LongBigBronzeElephantFish]

@Haonan: Thanks for the info on the BT receivers

I tried the Solid Bass headphones, namely WS77, the bass like not very strong eh... Not sure about the in-ears...

 

[LongBigBronzeElephantFish]

Just went down Stero on Sunday and spent 3.5hrs there. A really big thank you to Louie from Stereo for the superb service.

Genres:
Going Quantum podcast (Heavy Elctro/Liquid Dubstep)
Japanese Pop Songs
Anisong

Very brief impressions:
A700X - Very clashy mids. Great soundstage.

A900X - Has more bass and clearer when compared to the A700, but bass not as controlled. Great soundstage.

A2000X - Mother of clarity. Felt quite bass light to me. Wonderful soundstage.

W3000ANV - More all-rounded when compared to the A2000X. Bass is great and controlled. Really lives up to it's reputation

AD1000X - Sounded warm. Amazing vocals

AD2000 - Sounded warm. Amazing vocals Bass lighter than AD1000X

ES500 - Tried for less than 20s. I think it sounded worse than my ES55.

PRO700MK2ANV - Very hard clamping force. Didn't like the sound at all.

ESW11LTD - Very subtle differences when compared to the ES10. Both sound very simmiliar. I find that there's a bit more bass on the ESW11. The mids on the ES10 sounded abit more balanced. There is abit more treble on the ES10. Can't really tell apart if you don't listen carefully.

ES10 with lambskin pads - Compared to the ES10, very subtle differences. Can't really tell apart. Comfort has imporved alot.

Sennheiser HD25-1 II - Sound quite simmiliar to the ES10. The ES10 sounded more refined.

Sennheiser Amperior - First thing that hit me was the bass... Too bass heavy for my liking.

Overall, I like the W3000ANV most, followed by the A2000X
For portable, still the ES10 (but with lambskin earpads)

 

[Haonan]

Your ESW11LTD listening impressions seems to mirror that of my, when I tried them out awhile back. Bass response/quantity seem to be more than ES10 itself, and the ES10's bass quantity already borders quite abit on my personal threshold level already. Btw the treble clarity/quality of both ESW11 and ES10, I can confirm with my own impressions that the ES10 has a more prominent upper-mids/treble than the ESW11, despite that the ESW11 portrayed an improve treble response compared to my own ESW9.

Haha, actually not that surprised that u found the ATH-A2000X to be the mother of clarity, they are afterall Audio-technica's Art Monitor series flagship model, meaning their sound signature are supposed to be the most monitor-like. (analytical-sounding in short) Btw each various flagships that I have heard for their Art Monitor, Air Dynamic and Wood series, I would say the A2000X is indeed the most analytical-sounding and brightest to my ears, although this headphone is also the most susceptible to sibilance issues depending on the quality of the track recording. For a closed-can, it also has very fantastic soundstage properties and imagine cues, doesn't sound like a closed-can at all.

My fav flagship headphones so far under ATH, remains to be the A2000X/AD2000, followed by the W5000. W3000ANV is indeed a very balanced-sounding pair of headphones, and the cups are definitely very exquisite in terms of looks, but I do find that its SQ has also lost some of the midrange magic that comes with earlier W-series, and in terms of top-tier reference grade W-series I definitely preferred the W5000 series over W3000ANV for my own case.

I should be able to provide some brief cross comparison impressions btw the AD900X, AD1000X, AD1000PRM and AD2000X once I have my pair of AD2000X imported in from JP. There will also be a surprise vintage guest as well from Audio-technica in terms of open-cans, but what Air Dynamic model is that I will leave u guys in suspense for now.

 

[rickysio]

W5000 is Warm with a capital W lol. Midrange quite boosted.

 

[Guan22]

I only listened to W1000, W1000x & W3000ANV for the woodies. AD900x for Air and ESW9, ESW10, ES10 & ESW11 for the portables.

Please forgive my noobness...

 

[weng]

I only listened to W1000, W1000x & W3000ANV for the woodies. AD900x for Air and ESW9, ESW10, ES10 & ESW11 for the portables.

Please forgive my noobness...

i've listened to w3000anv, ad2000, and a couple of es's until i also blur... forgot which is es-what

but to me none of them sounded "right" except ad2000. "right" in the sense that when i listened to each headphone, it always gives me a "tweaked" kind of feeling. somehow there's something deliberately emphasized or somehow something is not coming out fully. not "free flowing" kind of naturality. yes even the w3000anv sounded abit truncated somewhere to me. it's only the ad2000 that made me ooooo... this is the sound i like.

 

[LongBigBronzeElephantFish]

@Haonan: Looking forward to your impressions! The only thing I cannot stand about Audio Technica is that the prices in Singapore is just . Buying from Japan is so much cheaper, even if we take into consideration shipping and warranty
Btw, just found out about this. Not sure if you have heard about it before:
Audio-Technica - Microphones, headphones, wireless microphone systems, noise-cancelling headphones & more : Singapore - English

@weng: Not very hard to differentiate.
ES55: Aluminium with small cups.
ES7: Mirror-finished stainless steel.
ES88: Aluminium. Part to adjust the headband different from the others.
ESW9: Wood
ESW10JPN: Darker wood than the ESW9 with a stylish "Japan" on it.
ES10: Titanium with hariline scrathces.
ESW11LTD: Looks like ESW9 but with the "Limited Edition" on the cups. Same headband as the ES10.

Of course, the headbands also got some difference...

 

[rickysio]

i've listened to w3000anv, ad2000, and a couple of es's until i also blur... forgot which is es-what

but to me none of them sounded "right" except ad2000. "right" in the sense that when i listened to each headphone, it always gives me a "tweaked" kind of feeling. somehow there's something deliberately emphasized or somehow something is not coming out fully. not "free flowing" kind of naturality. yes even the w3000anv sounded abit truncated somewhere to me. it's only the ad2000 that made me ooooo... this is the sound i like.

You no need test Raffinato liao, confirm not your cuppa.