Team Audio-Technica Unite!

[socrates63]

Mine were the smaller version and SK138s were the larger versions of the W5k. Mine pads touched while SK138's dangled freely with more than a half inch clearance.

Can you clarify what you mean by the smaller and larger versions of the W5000?

[socrates63]

I think the question becomes are they worth the $300 they cost after shipping. If you're comparing them to Senns or K701s that run similarly priced or even slightly less, the answer is no. They are not as refined, and are simply not as good. But, if you need a closed portable headphone that is super comfy, doesn't require an amp (though sounds much better with), and just happens to be gorgeous while sounding really good, I think they are worth it. There really isn't anything in that category that comes close that I've heard, but I haven't heard everything, so who knows. I'm not going to be looking. These are pretty dang good.

Have you tried the HD25-1? How do you think they compare? I tried the ESW9 briefly during last month's Seattle meet, and didn't like it much. I seem to gravitate towards airier, brighter cans, and the ESW9 didn't seem to fit the bill. But then again, it was during meet conditions and I didn't give it much time.

[Elephas]

I was criticizing elephas.

No insults were intended.

--

It's possible the early production W5000's have longer headbands, but I believe it's not conclusive yet.

--

I like the HD25-1 but I think the ESW7 sounds better. I use the HD25-1 with an HD650 cable which is better than the stock single-sided cable, but it can still seem overly warm, bassy and congested. The ESW9 is more refined, less congested, has better tonal-balance and is more detailed, especially in the upper-midrange and treble.

[boomana]

No insults were intended.

--

It's possible the early production W5000's have longer headbands, but I believe it's not conclusive yet.

--

I like the HD25-1 but I think the ESW7 sounds better. I use the HD25-1 with an HD650 cable which is better than the stock single-sided cable, but it can still seem overly warm, bassy and congested. The ESW9 is more refined, less congested, has better tonal-balance and is more detailed, especially in the upper-midrange and treble.

What is it that you like about the upper-midrange? This is the only area, even if I'm being picky as it's really quite decent, that sounds off in one or more ways, or are you just comparing it to the ESW7 (do you mean ES7?) and HD25-1.

[Elephas]

I'm just comparing detail level of the ESW9 with the HD25-1, but I think it applies vs. the ES7 too.

I think the ESW9 has better details in the upper-midrange and treble than the HD25-1 or ES7. Particularly the HD25-1, which can be muffled-sounding as well as closed-in.

I also think the ESW9 seems more tonally balanced than either the HD25-1 or ES7, which are both relatively bass-heavy.

[Agnostic]

Since I got the ATH-ES7 I have no desire whatsoever to go back to iems. I'll only use iems on airplanes when I need the extra isolation.

For portable use I don't think I will soon feel any urge to upgrade anymore. I'm pretty happy with them.

[slwiser]

Can you clarify what you mean by the smaller and larger versions of the W5000?

This is in respect to the fit issue. Mine were very well fitting on me but SK138's were loose on me. I have them at my house and set them on my headphone stand and took pictures of both. Mine closed on themselves while SK138s had from about 0.7 inches open between them in a natural hanging position. That is what I was referring to as small (mine) and bigger (SK138s).

[jellybones]

I think it's just a question of how the metal band is bent. Mine were a bit loose when I first got them..but after a few adjustments they fit perfectly.

[n_maher]

They seem to fit my head fine as well. I get a uniform seal around my ear and no amount of poking or proding at the cups makes anything any better.

[n_maher]

So I had a chance to listen to some W10VTG's last night courtesy of a very generous loan from JB. I spent over an hour at first just listening to the VTGs to get a sense for them. Very polite sounding, easy to listen to, no glaring faults. Also, they fit a lot better than the W5ks even though I didn't think that I was having fit issues with the W5s. They just seemed to settle better on my head, kind of hard to articulate really. After getting to know them a bit I decided that I'd do a little back and forth between the VTGs and the W5ks. I haven't been able to confirm but the VTG's seem to be a bit harder to drive so I was constantly making volume adjustments when switching back and forth. No effort was made to precisely volume match for this round of experimentation. Regardless the back and forth did little but confirm my position that the W5ks probably aren't a headphone for me. Comparing the two I did prefer the top end of the W's, it felt more open with better instrument separation. But the overall the VTGs simply owner the W's with far better mids and lows. If I had to pick one, today, I'd go for the VTGs.

More than anything what I think I'm getting out of this experimentation is that I think I'm done with dynamic headphones w/ the HF-1s and HD650s. They offer good variety for pretty short money. Hell the combination of the 2 including the Zu cable cost me less than the W5ks. So if I'm going to spend money on anything I'm thinking that I'll either give stats a try or just leave well enough alone.

And before someone comes in and tells me that I need to try x or y to get the W5ks to sound right, no, I don't. I've never found an amp, source, cable or otherwise to fundamentally change the way a headphone sounds and fundamentally I have issues with the W5ks.

[JBLoudG20]

So I had a chance to listen to some W10VTG's last night courtesy of a very generous loan from JB. I spent over an hour at first just listening to the VTGs to get a sense for them. Very polite sounding, easy to listen to, no glaring faults. Also, they fit a lot better than the W5ks even though I didn't think that I was having fit issues with the W5s. They just seemed to settle better on my head, kind of hard to articulate really. After getting to know them a bit I decided that I'd do a little back and forth between the VTGs and the W5ks. I haven't been able to confirm but the VTG's seem to be a bit harder to drive so I was constantly making volume adjustments when switching back and forth. No effort was made to precisely volume match for this round of experimentation. Regardless the back and forth did little but confirm my position that the W5ks probably aren't a headphone for me. Comparing the two I did prefer the top end of the W's, it felt more open with better instrument separation. But the overall the VTGs simply owner the W's with far better mids and lows. If I had to pick one, today, I'd go for the VTGs.

More than anything what I think I'm getting out of this experimentation is that I think I'm done with dynamic headphones w/ the HF-1s and HD650s. They offer good variety for pretty short money. Hell the combination of the 2 including the Zu cable cost me less than the W5ks. So if I'm going to spend money on anything I'm thinking that I'll either give stats a try or just leave well enough alone.

And before someone comes in and tells me that I need to try x or y to get the W5ks to sound right, no, I don't. I've never found an amp, source, cable or otherwise to fundamentally change the way a headphone sounds and fundamentally I have issues with the W5ks.

I knew you'd see the light

[thrice]

And before someone comes in and tells me that I need to try x or y to get the W5ks to sound right, no, I don't. I've never found an amp, source, cable or otherwise to fundamentally change the way a headphone sounds and fundamentally I have issues with the W5ks.

Have you tried NOT being a douchebag?

I'm sorry, Nate's my buddy, but I couldn't resist.

[postjack]

Thanks for your impressions Nate. While I prefered the W5000 to the W11JPN, in the end neither can was for me. I don't think I'm an AT guy, but I haven't heard the W10VTG or L3000. I did keep the W5000 for a few months though, so I definitely gave them a fair shot. They are good cans, but are bested by both the RS-1 and Lambda. Probably what turned me off the most wasn't the hot upper midrange, but instead the lack of bass. If the W5000 had a rocking midbass slam, they would be a righteous rock can. Instead I kept turning up the volume to get bass quantity, and at these higher volumes is when the upper midrange became offensive.

I found the W5000 best qualities were imaging, soundstage, and speed. Its too bad about the anemic low end.

[n_maher]

Have you tried NOT being a douchebag?

At least you used orange when you called me a douche, thanks for that.

I'm sorry, Nate was my buddy, but I couldn't resist.

FIFY

Being business partners has really hampered our relationship.

I keeed, I keeed, I was fired from Rockhopper for my lack of Penguin style.

[n_maher]

Instead I kept turning up the volume to get bass quantity, and at these higher volumes is when the upper midrange became offensive.

I'm with you on this 100%. This was my first impression of them in NYC listening to the balanced pair and once again last night when switching back and forth between the two AT's I was trying to use the volume as an EQ for the not-quite-right-to-my-ears W5k presentation.

Oh well, someone will get a hell of a deal on these.

[thrice]

Thanks for your impressions Nate. While I prefered the W5000 to the W11JPN, in the end neither can was for me. I don't think I'm an AT guy, but I haven't heard the W10VTG or L3000. I did keep the W5000 for a few months though, so I definitely gave them a fair shot. They are good cans, but are bested by both the RS-1 and Lambda. Probably what turned me off the most wasn't the hot upper midrange, but instead the lack of bass. If the W5000 had a rocking midbass slam, they would be a righteous rock can. Instead I kept turning up the volume to get bass quantity, and at these higher volumes is when the upper midrange became offensive.

I found the W5000 best qualities were imaging, soundstage, and speed. Its too bad about the anemic low end.

I found the low end to be anemic because of the fit issues I was having. I think the headband is seriously holding these cans back. I too was not fond of them, but I wonder how many impressions are based on people evaluating them and not getting a good seat. Now of course, this is part of the package and something to consider, but I think they may be better than a lot of people think, if the headband allowed the headphones to sit properly. Perhaps it's just me and my small head, but a good number of people complain about the lack of bass on the W5000; driver proximity to the ear can effect perceived bass response a great deal.

I should add that when I did push on the headband/cups to get a better seat, that did improve bass response, but not to the point that I was happy with it.

[thrice]

At least you used orange when you called me a douche, thanks for that.

Douchebag, I called you a douchebag

I keeed, I keeed, I was fired from Rockhopper for my lack of Penguin style.

No it's because you stole mah bucket!

[JBLoudG20]

Oh well, someone will get a hell of a deal on these.

Do we need to have a conversation?

[en480c4]

Nate... Be sure to trose them on the -fi to increase demand before listing them.

Maybe even a "Post Pictures of your AT Woody" thread?

[postjack]

I found the low end to be anemic because of the fit issues I was having. I think the headband is seriously holding these cans back. I too was not fond of them, but I wonder how many impressions are based on people evaluating them and not getting a good seat. Now of course, this is part of the package and something to consider, but I think they may be better than a lot of people think, if the headband allowed the headphones to sit properly. Perhaps it's just me and my small head, but a good number of people complain about the lack of bass on the W5000; driver proximity to the ear can effect perceived bass response a great deal.

I should add that when I did push on the headband/cups to get a better seat, that did improve bass response, but not to the point that I was happy with it.

In my case, my head is quite large, so the seal was excellent. Pushing in on the cans did not increase bass quantity.

[n_maher]

In my case, my head is quite large, so the seal was excellent. Pushing in on the cans did not increase bass quantity.

I have a pretty narrow head (see IMDB headshot) so I think that even though I was getting uniform seal around my ears there was very little (if any) pressure applied to the side of my head. The VTG's fit much more snugly while still being very comfortable.

[postjack]

I have a pretty narrow head (see IMDB headshot) so I think that even though I was getting uniform seal around my ears there was very little (if any) pressure applied to the side of my head. The VTG's fit much more snugly while still being very comfortable.

I believe the VTGs employ a similar fitting mechanism to the JPN, and the JPN were a bit too snug on PJ's head. Still wearable, but not wholly comfortable. Grados and earspeakers fit me best.

[n_maher]

Douchebag, I called you a douchebag

Oh sorry about that, my bad. We're still buds.

Do we need to have a conversation?

You should feel free to start a conversation any time you like.

[grawk]

I believe the VTGs employ a similar fitting mechanism to the JPN, and the JPN were a bit too snug on PJ's head. Still wearable, but not wholly comfortable. Grados and earspeakers fit me best.

Damn. I have a monster head (7 3/4 hat size), and the jpns and vtgs were like buttah

[postjack]

Damn. I have a monster head (7 3/4 hat size), and the jpns and vtgs were like buttah

I've never really been able to wear hats. \