Impulse Purchase - ATH-AD900x

[ID.]

I bought a pair of ATH-A900x (closed back) a while back and I'm absolutely loving them. I no longer have any interest in listening to my Grado SR80i and Sennheiser HD595. I hate my Grados. The Sennheiser's are good on accoustic stuff and classical, but that comprises a tiny part of my collection, so on the basis that I like the Audio Technica house sound, I decided to go for some of their open backed cans.

Ordered this morning and due to be delivered tonight. The reviews sound just like what I'm looking for - detailed, open, airy with good instrument separation and soundstage. The price point is right too, and if they satisfy me even half as much as the A900x I will be selling on my Grados and Sennheisers to fund the purchase.

 

[Audiofilo]

Hope you enjoy them. Do report in when you've had time to test them......

 

[ID.]

Will do. Burning in (i.e. listening to tunes on them) as I type.

Enjoying them so far, for the price.

 

[hybridauth_twitter_1849654946]

I'm really curious to know, and by how much? And in what area's? Highs, mids, and lows. I know it's probably going to be a difficult question for you to answer considering you don't actually own both headphones. Which sucks, because I really need to know. But I remember in a eariler post of yours that you did say you got to spend some time with the ATH-M50's. So I'd appreciate it if you could try to conduct your best answer based upon your short time with the M50's. I'm just an average guy looking for an awesome pair of headphones. I have never owned a pair of high quality headphones in my life. The best I've received is a pair of apple buds I got with my iPhone. I love music, and I want something better. Something amazing, where every song I listen to is like an absolute dream. Where it's like a straight up orgasm to my ears. I want a well balanced pair of headphones. I do like bass, but I hate overpowering bass. So, with all that in mind, could you recommend the ATH-AD900x to me? Also, one more quick question. How much do you think these headphones would benefit from a good amp? Because I do plan on getting and using one if I do choose to invest in these headphones. Well, I hope to hear from you soon. Sorry for the spew of text, please feel free to take your time and reply whenever you can. Thanks in advance!

 

[ID.]

Comparison against the M50s might be a bit tricky, because I only auditioned the M50s in store off my iPod quite some time ago. The other issue is that the M50s are closed back while the ATH-AD900x are open backed meaning that they have findamentally different sound signatures and uses (e.g. I'd never consider using opened back headphones anywhere other than a quiet room at home because they leak sound and the sound quality will be compromised because you they don't block out any sounds/noise in your listening environment.

I do all of my listening with headphone amps and DACs, but I'll try them out with my iPhone and iPod. I am finding that the ATH-AD900x is a very balanced pair of headphones, but some might find them a little bass light, although what bass they have is very tight and has good detail, particularly when run off my Icon HDP which seems to have a bit more bass energy than my FUBAR. They have great instrument separation. I really like them, but they didn't immediately wow me. I mainly bought them for the levels of transparency, detail, separation and soundstaging which I think is good for the price.

Anyway, those are my general impressions so far. I'll try to give a more detailed review once I have some time to write notes down and do some comparison listening on some test tracks.

 

[JoelSim]

A good choice, very good headphones as you would expect.

 

[ID.]

A good choice, very good headphones as you would expect.

Yep, I'm finding I really like the Audio Technica house sound, which is good because being in Japan it means that it is a little cheaper than options from other countries.