Audio technica ath-w1000x vs ath-w5000

[admin_exported]

Hey guys, I was almost certain with my decision on what to buy after loads or research. I was going with audio technica's ath-w1000x's. I was going to have them delivered to a usa adress by amazon and my friend over there would bring it to me. (to avoid tremendous shipping costs and taxes and trouble at the customs)

Then, I realized audio technica has a not-that-much-more-expensive pair called the ath-w5000. They look almost exactly the same structurally. The color is darker on the newer higher-end one. Whathifi has reviewed the older ath-w1000x and awarded it five stars. They haven't reviewed the newer ath-w5000. My guess is that they would sound pretty much the same. I believe that higher price is an indicative of higher quality.

Anybody with any knowledge about the ath-w5000?

 

[Anonymous]

Aaand yeah I have a cd player and an amp that are goo enough to justify such headphones. And I listen to classical mostly. And yes I know there are better sounding cans in this price range but I need closed back.

 

[ID.]

I've only listened to them in-store, but given the choice I'd pick the w5000. The 1000 was good, but the jump in realism/naturalness, openness and detail when I then tried the 5000 has left me lusting after them ever since.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi,

You mention the W5000 being newer than the W1000x. It is the other way around. There are lots of good reviews out there for both: search Head-fi.org or headfonia.com for sample reviews. I never got to listen to the W5000 myself but having done my own research I concluded that the W1000x was likely to be better and bought a pair. (I agree that the W5000 looks nicer in the darker wood).

 

[quadpatch]

I haven't tried any of the w1000 series but I got to try the w5000 yesterday and I was not impressed by it compared to the considerably cheaper Denon D7000. Then I tried the Sennheiser HD800 (same price as the W5000) and everything else I had heard up until that point was blown out of the water. I really thought that this would be totally the other way around from a lot of what I had read before hand.

Out of pure coincidence I found the comfort of them to be fairly equal to how good each one sounded too. The Audio Technica was not that comfortable at all on me (5/10), the Denon is pretty amazing (9/10) but the Sennheiser was just perfect, throw it on your head and it gets a 9/10 but you can feel that with a bit of adjustment it will be even better, and it was: 10/10. Sound quality wise I would rate them at 6/10, 8.5/10 and 10/10 (respectively). I'm not just saying that the Denon is pretty damn good because I own it, it is very coloured next to the Sennheiser but mostly in a pleasingly musical / basshead way. The Audio Technica was an extreme let down for me, listening to the other two I just could not appreciate anything it had to offer, wasn't too bad for heavy rock, metal I guess.

I'm not saying that everyone will agree with me but I'm stressing that if this is an important purchase for you and you don't want to be disappointed you really have to try them. It's worth the extra money to buy them from a shop that lets you test them, it really is!

A big thank you to Phil from Custom-Cable who, from now on, I will buy from. A great demo experience that has totally changed what I thought I wanted and that has essentially saved me a bunch of money from making mistakes.

 

[ID.]

Aren't the Sennheisers open backed?

 

[CustomCable]

Thank you for your words quadpatch.....look forward too seeing you again when the HD700 and amperiors arrive.

If it was me and wanted a decent closed back then the t5p beyers would fit the bill. If they are a touch too rich then the new t70 could be a better bet.

Regards

Phil

 

[eggontoast]

I haven't heard the W5000's but own the W1000X's.

The Audio Technica sound signature is one you will either love or hate. They are definitely not what you would call a neutral sound, they have a very prominent boost in the upper mids. Personally I find this annoying for some music but excellent for others such as classical and femal vocals etc.

IMO if you only want to own one pair of all round headphones the W1000X's wouldn't fit the bill.....unless you only listen to classical and femal vocal music of course.

 

[quadpatch]

Yeah I am sorry for mentioning the Sennheisers without pointing out that they are open back. They would be no good for sound isolation although I should point out that my Denons are also no good even though they are closed back and the Audio Technicas seemed not very much better either so be careful. I have higher hopes for the Beyerdynamics (T5) and hope to test them on my next visit to custom cable, along with the HD700 (Phil: Will you get the T70 in too?). I have all but given up on isoltion for these high end headphones and will probbaly be sticking with stuff around the £300 mark for work. The VModa M-80 are great but OMG they are uncomfortable as hell!!

OP: I don't know if it's worth pointing out that I am a soundtrack junkie (mostly classical) and I didn't find the Audio Technica great here, the Denon was much better for me. Not saying you will definitely agree, just yet more reason for testing.

Could you give up on the closed back angle? The Sennheiser HD800 sounded absolutely beautiful to me for classical, when driven well!!! OK I'm going to get off your Audio Technica post now and leave you be. Just wanted to share my experience.

 

[idc]

I so want a decent to high end headphone shop to open. It doesn't even near to near-by, I would travel. I have never heard an AT headphone, none

 

[Anonymous]

I thank everybody for the informative replies but whyyy did it take so long? 😀 I had to place my order and have it shipped before anyone replied. If the cans were delivered after my friend left the us, not good...

After reading a tremendous number of reviews in tons of sites I bought the w5000. I haven't recieved it yet. I listen to classical not only, but mostly. Through what I read I came to think that I will like the AT sound signature. In the worst case I will buy another pair for other music. I was inclined towards the d7000 too but reviews about its bass were a deal breaker for me. The HD800, I do listen to music with other people in the room all the time. The beyer t5p was above my budget by 350 dolars. I know higher end closed back phones never provide good isolation but with open backs other people in the room are basically listening with you.

I will post what I think about the w5000 when I get it. It is going to be a while before I can meet my friend to finally get the headphones. In the mean time, I have been thinking about what my next big investment will be. I have other hobbies that need to be funded, cycling and planted aquarium keeping being the major two. So I don't want to invest more in music right now, unless it will gve me considerably higher quality sound. At this point headphone amps come in. My current set up is this: Denon DCD-1500AE cd player and an PMA-1500AE amplifier. You can look at the pics here if you are not familiar with these:

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/15/20120408210218.jpg/

That amplifier has a headphone socket. The headphone amp in my mind is the audio-technica at-ha5000 that was built exclusively to be used with the w5000. people at head-fi say that it neutrulizes the w5000's weaknesses and takes advantage of its strengths, resulting in an awesome sound. What do you guys think? Should I invest 1600 bucks in an head amp when I already have the current setup?

 

[eggontoast]

I so want a decent to high end headphone shop to open. It doesn't even near to near-by, I would travel. I have never heard an AT headphone, none

I used to think the same but now.......I'm not sure it would help in making decisions on cans. IMO you have to live with them for a while before you can make an informed opinion, an hour in a shop just wouldn't tell me anything.

Besides let's face it most of the cans are well under a grand so it's best just to buy and try at your leisure.

 

[eggontoast]

TooManyChoices : It would probably be prudent to wait for your cans to arrive before investing in a AT headamp, you might not like them. While a dedicated headphone amp may (debatable) yield some small improvement, it is not going to change the sound signature of the W5000's.

 

[CustomCable]

I so want a decent to high end headphone shop to open. It doesn't even near to near-by, I would travel. I have never heard an AT headphone, none

*caugh* does a shop with demo AT's, Sennies, Beyer, Grado's and STAX SR009's count? Heh

 

[Paulq]

I haven't heard the W5000's but own the W1000X's. The Audio Technica sound signature is one you will either love or hate. They are definitely not what you would call a neutral sound, they have a very prominent boost in the upper mids. Personally I find this annoying for some music but excellent for others such as classical and femal vocals etc. IMO if you only want to own one pair of all round headphones the W1000X's wouldn't fit the bill.....unless you only listen to classical and femal vocal music of course.

How would you rate the W1000x bass wise compared to, say, AHD2000's?

 

[eggontoast]

I haven't heard the W5000's but own the W1000X's. The Audio Technica sound signature is one you will either love or hate. They are definitely not what you would call a neutral sound, they have a very prominent boost in the upper mids. Personally I find this annoying for some music but excellent for others such as classical and femal vocals etc. IMO if you only want to own one pair of all round headphones the W1000X's wouldn't fit the bill.....unless you only listen to classical and femal vocal music of course.

How would you rate the W1000x bass wise compared to, say, AHD2000's?

The W1000X's have a similar amount of bass but IMO it is much tighter and better controlled than the D2000's. They are certainly well extended in the bass although due to the extreme mid boost it can sometimes get lost or overpowered. In the end I sold my W1000X's, there were just too many music genres they don't suit and you can do a lot better for the money, as they are rather expensive.....

 

[Paul@HiFi-Lounge]

I so want a decent to high end headphone shop to open. It doesn't even near to near-by, I would travel. I have never heard an AT headphone, none

I know it is a slow reply but your wish is my command idc 😉

www.highendheadphones.co.uk