Audio Technica Appreciation Thread

[TeamStereo]

In fact, I like the CK10 and EW9 so much that I had recently gotten a spare pair for both for collection (better physical condition than mine). However, I am still very interested to get a pair of CK100Pro.

I am struggling to decide between the W5000 and W3000ANV. Like the former also because of how it sounds for ACG female vocal but also wanna get the latter for collection. Decisions, decisions...

Easy.

Buy W5000 first then buy the W3000ANV.

 

[Haonan]

In fact, I like the CK10 and EW9 so much that I had recently gotten a spare pair for both for collection (better physical condition than mine). However, I am still very interested to get a pair of CK100Pro.

I am struggling to decide between the W5000 and W3000ANV. Like the former also because of how it sounds for ACG female vocal but also wanna get the latter for collection. Decisions, decisions...

Woot Stereo trying to poison you liao, looks like they wanna clear stock for W3000ANV. Nah just j/k lol, limited ed model where need to do stock clearance one.

Wah looks like u were not kidding when u told me last time u were searching for another spare set of CK10 lol. Glad that you manage to have found another one, along with the EW9.

Lately i came across azureimf's review of the EW9 as he mentioned it recently on his Mobile01 thread, and while I had brieftly listened to the EW9 once before last time, his latest review definitely has re-piqued my interest for this model. Last time I have nv considered buying clip-ons bcos for better portability I usually just preferred either headphones (so can hang on neck when not using) or just IEM/earbuds (isolation factor), but now come to think of it looks like the EW9 could be a nice choice to compliment my Piano Fortes as well for casual listening at hm.

A few reasons I preferred the W5000 over W3K, is bcos i'm more of a mids/treble person as u prolly already know by now as I personally find that W5000 is brighter than the latter by quite abit. Also in terms of those female artists that I usually listen to, I find that some ACG vocals especially those by Akino Arai/Maaya Sakamoto (any Record of Lodoss War/Macross fans here?) seems to do quite a fair bit better in terms of vocal rendition on W5000 instead compared to W3K.

Not to say that W3K's vocal performance is weak, but perhaps it may be bcos W5000 is considered more mid-rangey or tonally warmer than W3K, or W3K might be lacking some of that euphoric traits that the former has as one of its main signature since W3K holds more of an all-rounder technical traits in my own POV according to my listens, but perhaps I may just need to take a chance to listen to the W3K again in longer sessions as we all know ATH woodies are quite source-dependant.

My current situation is I may need to get rid of some of my existing cans before I can have the moola to invest in the W5000 + find a used set of HA5000. Been toying with the idea of trading my W100's away plus maybe some of my other existing iems, decisions decisions.

Actually I have no doubt at all that I can easily sell away my pair of W100 on Head-fi for 600+ or more, bcos recently there's 1 pair that turned up on Yahoo Auctons in JP in pretty scratched up condition for 500+ SGD, but i think AD1000PRM is prolly out of the question since i love my alot even though recent on-going prices for used sets have seriously gone way way insane that it's becoming unbelievable and tempting for me to sell my. (heh talk abt overzealous bidders!)

I'm quite sure azureimf's threads have something to do with all these conspiracies of rocket-sky high prices for limited ATH gears, since nowadays alot of taiwanese know where to go hunt for used japanese ATH stuffs liao. Damn sad, there prolly goes my hope of koping a pair of that limited W11JPN/W2002 to play play liaos, no hope liaos.

 

[Haonan]

Beautiful stuff.

Let me help you with the pics since you dont have enough post count.

Thanks for sharing.

Wah AaronZzZ also invade ATH appreciation thread liaos!?

Lol joking. Anyway did u get down to listening some of those latest universals yet including the CK100Pro? That reminds me I still have not replied to yr pm yet, opps forgive me bro!

 

[Randius]

Wah looks like u were not kidding when u told me last time u were searching for another spare set of CK10 lol. Glad that you manage to have found another one, along with the EW9.

Lately i came across azureimf's review of the EW9 as he mentioned it recently on his Mobile01 thread, and while I had brieftly listened to the EW9 once before last time, his latest review definitely has re-piqued my interest for this model. Last time I have nv considered buying clip-ons bcos for better portability I usually just preferred either headphones (so can hang on neck when not using) or just IEM/earbuds (isolation factor), but now come to think of it looks like the EW9 could be a nice choice to compliment my Piano Fortes as well for casual listening at hm.

A few reasons I preferred the W5000 over W3K, is bcos i'm more of a mids/treble person as u prolly already know by now as I personally find that W5000 is brighter than the latter by quite abit. Also in terms of those female artists that I usually listen to, I find that some ACG vocals especially those by Akino Arai/Maaya Sakamoto (any Record of Lodoss War/Macross fans here?) seems to do quite a fair bit better in terms of vocal rendition on W5000 instead compared to W3K.

Not to say that W3K's vocal performance is weak, but perhaps it may be bcos W5000 is considered more mid-rangey or tonally warmer than W3K, or W3K might be lacking some of that euphoric traits that the former has as one of its main signature since W3K holds more of an all-rounder technical traits in my own POV according to my listens, but perhaps I may just need to take a chance to listen to the W3K again in longer sessions as we all know ATH woodies are quite source-dependant.

My current situation is I may need to get rid of some of my existing cans before I can have the moola to invest in the W5000 + find a used set of HA5000. Been toying with the idea of trading my W100's away plus maybe some of my other existing iems, decisions decisions.

Actually I have no doubt at all that I can easily sell away my pair of W100 on Head-fi for 600+ or more, bcos recently there's 1 pair that turned up on Yahoo Auctons in JP in pretty scratched up condition for 500+ SGD, but i think AD1000PRM is prolly out of the question since i love my alot even though recent on-going prices for used sets have seriously gone way way insane that it's becoming unbelievable and tempting for me to sell my. (heh talk abt overzealous bidders!)

I'm quite sure azureimf's threads have something to do with all these conspiracies of rocket-sky high prices for limited ATH gears, since nowadays alot of taiwanese know where to go hunt for used japanese ATH stuffs liao. Damn sad, there prolly goes my hope of koping a pair of that limited W11JPN/W2002 to play play liaos, no hope liaos.

You forgot about 藍藍香 because of him, price for AD1000 also went up and it is almost out of stock in Japan as people are grabbing it. Since AD1000PRM is now so difficult and expensive to get, I will consider getting the AD2000X instead.

Don't give up, save moolah, got hope Maybe we will see you unboxing the L3000G

 

[kusanagivn]

@AaronZzZ : Thanks for your help :x
@Randius: I've heard about AD2000x more balance than AD2000 with better treble, detail, imaging, sound stage. But it's a little less warm than AD2000. Actually i love AD2000 so much and prefer it over W5000 for the vocal. With my experience AD2000 pair very well with HA26D, it's a lot better sound imaging and much more relax sound. Maybe you should to try it too
@Haonan: Thank you, your experience help me alot. About w3k, my friend have a pair too. He said treble and mid-range a bit similar to A2000x, and has better technical than others AT. I'll find a chance to hear it

 

[AaronZzZ]

Wah AaronZzZ also invade ATH appreciation thread liaos!?

Lol joking. Anyway did u get down to listening some of those latest universals yet including the CK100Pro? That reminds me I still have not replied to yr pm yet, opps forgive me bro!

Not yet still trying to find time.

Hopefully soon!

 

[Randius]

@AaronZzZ : Thanks for your help :x
@Randius: I've heard about AD2000x more balance than AD2000 with better treble, detail, imaging, sound stage. But it's a little less warm than AD2000. Actually i love AD2000 so much and prefer it over W5000 for the vocal. With my experience AD2000 pair very well with HA26D, it's a lot better sound imaging and much more relax sound. Maybe you should to try it too
@Haonan: Thank you, your experience help me alot. About w3k, my friend have a pair too. He said treble and mid-range a bit similar to A2000x, and has better technical than others AT. I'll find a chance to hear it

Your comment made me very gian the W3000ANV...

 

[Aegis]

I'm one step further into the ATH club, my first pair of headphones was the M50, just hooted the A2000X in Tokyo. The AD2000X sounded sweet but I need a pair of closed phones for the office. Too bad no budget for the woodies.

 

[Randius]

I'm one step further into the ATH club, my first pair of headphones was the M50, just hooted the A2000X in Tokyo. The AD2000X sounded sweet but I need a pair of closed phones for the office. Too bad no budget for the woodies.

So are you still in Tokyo?

 

[Aegis]

Back liao unfortunately. Had fun playing with all the gear there, W5000, W1000X, CK100pro, etc. Mess ard with some of the Stax headphones as well, too much stuff, too little moolah. Wife had to pry me from the shops.

 

[Haonan]

@Randius: Time to hoot first talk later bro, just do it just like what Nike says. Anyway im still feeling abit sore that i did not pick up a pair of W3000ANV when it was still retailing in majority of japanese stores for btw 69,000 - 75,000yen back in 2012. Now when you go check the prices on Amazon.co.jp (which is not even sold by Amazon JP directly but 3rd-party merchant) are in the range of 173,000yen onwards. With this kind of prices might as well just purchase from ATH S.E.A or Stereo straight better.

@kusanagivn: Sry about the late reply. Nah it's nothing much, I'm still considered pretty new to ATH desktop setups as I only just moved on to their full-size headphones sometime last yr, with my AD1000PRM/W100 purchases. I'm mostly only experienced with their portable-fi stuffs in the past, but like what some of the head-fiers usually say, when u start from something small and gradually move up to desktop/full-size hp setups, there's just something satisfying along with the discovery process, especially with regards to gaining listening experience abt ATH gears along the way.

Abt yr friend's comments regarding W3000ANV, yes I would more or less agree with him. In terms of technicalities-wise for both W3K/A2K, i don't find anything wrong with them at all and both of them are all very technically resolving with good genre bandwidth which makes them pretty gd with almost all kinds of music genres out there. The only flaws that I can prolly think of right now is when making cross comparisons, bcos according to several online feedbacks + my own personal findings is that W5K is still considered quite abit sweeter/lusher when it comes down to purely vocals when comparing to W3K, while for A2K alot of listeners have been mentioning that it has quite abit of that clinical/lean treble signature when comparing to other ATH's full-size series, but personally for me I don't find it to be so.

Of course if we are comparing the A2K to most of ATH's W-series or AD-series lineups which usually has more warmth/sweetness to their overall tonality/sound, then I can definitely see why the critics are dissing the A2K for their ethereal/clinical-sounding signature. I have also seen a fair amount of japanese reviews dissing that the A2K does not sound as reference/clean-sounding as Beyerdynamic T1/Sony MDR-SA5K actually, but since i don't have any personal listening experience with these full-sized cans, I don't think I would like to pass any judgement just yet.

@Aegis: Welcome to the club bro! Congrats on yr latest ATH-A2000X hoot, it's definitely ATH's most reference-sounding full-size cans according to my ears so far. Enormous resolution with exceptionally wide and airy soundstage, definitely does not sound like a closed-hp to me at all.

Regarding M50's i have never actually considered them to be part of ATH's family in the bottom of my heart, cos their sound is pretty much uninvolving/un-ATH like for me to be frank. *no anti-comments pls*

 

[konseki]

Is the sound signature of AT natural? Like close to recording?
I only occasionally used my bro's AT SQ.
And I felt the soundstage is pretty amazing just that the vocals are not as focused and as loud compared to my portable sennheiser.

Looking into AT phones. Any good introduction that is preferably below 400-500? Need to amp using AT?
ATH-PRO700LTD GOLD
ATH-A500x
ATH-A700x

All these seem pretty impressive. Anybody knows what is high impedance? AT seems to cover a larger range of frequencies after doing reading up on various brands. Do the professionals in Stereo know their stuff?

 

[kenz]

Haonan, just make a trip to Stereo, open wallet, take out cash/card, close your eyes and ask for the W3000 ANV. Rush home, quickly plug the W3000 into your set-up and all will be well.

Honestly, given the range of music i listen to, the W3000 ANV at its price point is pretty much end game for me.

 

[Aegis]

Haonan, just make a trip to Stereo, open wallet, take out cash/card, close your eyes and ask for the W3000 ANV. Rush home, quickly plug the W3000 into your set-up and all will be well.

Honestly, given the range of music i listen to, the W3000 ANV at its price point is pretty much end game for me.

How much is the W3000 anv going for at stereo? Couldn't even find a used pair at headphone shops in Tokyo.

 

[kenz]

How much is the W3000 anv going for at stereo? Couldn't even find a used pair at headphone shops in Tokyo.

Is SGD 1,688.00

 

[tm.chen]

Hope someone can help me out here.

I'm looking to get an headphone amp for my mac mini. Anyone recommendations for ATH? Something simple like HA-21 or 26. Currently just a shure440 but looking to pick up another can in the near future.

TIA

 

[kenz]

Depending on your budget and how future proof would one like the amp to be.

As your headphone changes, the demands on an amp to drive them well also requires consideration.

 

[tm.chen]

300 thereabouts. Nothing too high.

I aim for the W1000 when i saved up enough to upgrade

 

[kenz]

Looks like HA21 or HA26 are the likely choices.

 

[Haonan]

Haonan, just make a trip to Stereo, open wallet, take out cash/card, close your eyes and ask for the W3000 ANV. Rush home, quickly plug the W3000 into your set-up and all will be well.

Honestly, given the range of music i listen to, the W3000 ANV at its price point is pretty much end game for me.

Hey kenz bro, sup gd evening to you haven't seen u posting in here in awhile on this thread, hope all has been well for ya.

Haha, open wallet and just buy the W3000ANV? Wah saying is easier than doing it. I believe i've alrdy shared in the 2012 discussion thread before started by alamakazam that it was a pretty poisonous yr for me that got me really deep into audio stuffs and made quite abit of purchases. Apart from the pretty hefty purchases i made for Piano Forte IX and Heir 4A's late last yr, i also bought a couple of interconnect/power cable upgrades for my desktop setup at hm, and got a pretty gd deal for a pair of mint STAX SR-404LE lamdas from JP so literally you can say i'm pretty much broke right now.

I'm actually prepping myself for a 90k yen hoot pretty soon cos like what I have shared with Rubick on the other thread, I'm intending to hoot the AT-HA5000 amp pretty soon, hoping to actually buy it by next mth. Although AD2000X/W5000 are on my radar as well, i think those headphones can wait for now since i have a couple of stuffs I need to let go on the used bazaar, and after getting back some money frm selling these then I will use it towards my ATH headphones purchases.

Yup, I could definitely see what u're talking abt for the W3000ANV in terms of a pretty much being a end-game headphone setup. But atm right now, I think my personal priorities is to hoot the W5000/AD2000X in terms of headphones first, so I think perhaps the W3K can prob wait.