ATH-W3000ANV

[Ridleyguy]

Its announcement has seemed to have been ignored here, but IMO, this is a very special headphone. I own the W1000X, and acknowledge its faults, but there is no comparison between the two. If you love opera, female vocals, chamber music, etc. I am sure you will love the W3000ANV.

[Audiojunkie]

If they measure or sound anything like the W5000s, BUYER please listen to them before buying!

[Ridleyguy]

If that proves to be the case, then this will likely be my last post on Head Case.

[kirkwall]

I picked up a pair of these and really like them. Very musical and a lot more impact than some of the other AT woodies I've owned/heard. Great low-volume cans. Nothing like the W5000s to my ears -- thank christ.

k

Edited November 26, 2011 by kirkwall

[Audiojunkie]

I picked up a pair of these and really like them. Very musical and a lot more impact than some of the other AT woodies I've owned/heard. Great low-volume cans. Nothing like the W5000s to my ears -- thank christ.

k

That's a mouthful for sure.

[visualguy]

Nothing like the W5000s to my ears

That's a good thing, but can you elaborate on how the W3000ANV sound different than the W5000? Does the sound have more body (the W5000 sound very thin), is the bass better, etc.?

[kirkwall]

That's a good thing, but can you elaborate on how the W3000ANV sound different than the W5000? Does the sound have more body (the W5000 sound very thin), is the bass better, etc.?

I guess I'd say that the W3000s are much fuller-bodied, closer to the W11JPNs than they are to the W5000s, and without the latter's oddly detached treble. I found the W5000s to be exhausting to listen to, partly because of that odd streaky treble and MIA bass -- though I'm happy to defer to those who managed to get a decent fit, and thus wring some bass out of them. So far I've found the W3000ANVs to be very detailed, dynamic and exciting cans, with very present mids, and a bass with real impact and extension. Listening to even ragged recordings like the Clash's Sandinista on these is not only possible, it's fun.

k

Edited November 27, 2011 by kirkwall

[bhjazz]

[Wmcmanus]

jp likes them. He posted this at HF:

played these over at a friends house who has the Woo Audio WA6 SE with the 274 rectifier and a fistful of black gates upgrades. They sounded nothing short of magnificent, mine sounded weird because of post flight/post cold sinus weirdness. I still think they present slightly odd but that cold be the increase in detail. I've owned some pretty detailed headphones that don't do this so I think it may be a slightly erratic frequency response. All that said they are fantastic headphones whose strengths to me are extension, tone, speed, with great bass presentation (albeit not bass head friendly) and very clean mids. I'm going to check them out with a Zana Duex later today and I'll report back.

I may need to get a nice travel/storage case for these as the box is likely to get beat up over time.

[jp11801]

these are really nice headphones, I've had a pretty bad cold that I am just now getting over so my audio thoughts may change.

I did bring them over to Carl's and heard them on his Woo WA6SE and they sounded pretty great. Extension, detail and separation are strengths with the occasional weird stage presentation being it's only drawback to me.

They are very attractive and well made cans but you need a big noggin to keep them from sliding down your head.

[Wmcmanus]

They are very attractive and well made cans but you need a big noggin to keep them from sliding down your head.

Wow! Good sounding big noggin cans! Sounds like a winner to this size 8+

[Currawong]

Craig brought round the full rig with matching amp yesterday. They were rather bright and I preferred them with the Stacker II. Very nice with vocals and instruments and very quick with drums, even when we were cycling through a 009/007t and an LCD-3/Phoenix rig.

[CD44hi]

They are detailed with focused bass. One of the best "low volume listening" headphones I've heard. Meaning fully developed sound at low volumes.

[kirkwall]

They are detailed with focused bass. One of the best "low volume listening" headphones I've heard. Meaning fully developed sound at low volumes.

I've noticed this too. They remind me of some of Quad speakers I used to own in this respect. Turn down the volume and you still hear pretty much everything, only proportionately quieter. Makes them great late-night listening phones.

k

[Torpedo]

Craig sent me this link to the unpacking-first impressions video

[visualguy]

I spent a few hours listening to them using my GS-X amp.

Very impressive detail resolution. Treble is prominent, but not very fatguiing. Bass is good; not particularly impactful, but good-enough.

Vocals sound appealing, but not quite right in my opinion. The timbre is too high, a little thin (lacking body), and somewhat unnatural. Noticeably different from my references (SR-009/KGSS, Focal studio monitors) which have more convincing vocals. The W3000 have a tendency to make adult vocals sound like teenage vocals... Also, significantly more sibilance on the W3000.

The W3000 are indeed quite a bit better than the W5000 - less thin sounding, better bass. Still, orchestral music lacks some body.

Soundstage is quite limited.

They fit my head fine, and look very nice.

Edited December 6, 2011 by visualguy

[K3cT]

Does it have the honky midrange that a closed ATH headphone usually display in spades? The W1000X and W5000 have this "coloration" and thus can sound quite unnatural sometimes.

[postjack]

Does it have the honky midrange that a closed ATH headphone usually display in spades? The W1000X and W5000 have this "coloration" and thus can sound quite unnatural sometimes.

Most people love the W11JPN, but to my ears they had this honky midrange coloration so bad that it actually gave me a headache. Very unpleasant. I sold the headphone just days after I received it. Having said that, most people seem to detect this coloration much stronger in the W5000, but I enjoyed the W5000 thoroughly, I just found it to be too bass shy.

I finally sold my PS1000 so I decided to pickup a 3000ANV from kuboten before stock was exhausted. I've found that out of all the headphone companies, it is most difficult for me to determine how I'll like AT phones based on reviews. Again people rave about the L3000, and to me it was the most underwhelming high end headphone I've listened to. Not bad by any means, but not exemplary. I actually preferred the W5000 to it.

As an aside I've never done business with Craig (kuboten) before, but he sure made it easy. Nice guy, great communication. With any luck I should have the headphones this week.

[deepak]

I hate to say but I think there are large variations in the drivers with the AT phones (I believe someone has said this about the W100 or one of those lighter colored wood phones too). Even with something as high up as the L3000 two pairs I had did not sound the same comparing side by side.

[gurubhai]

May be that's the reason that they are always making these limited edition headphones, so that people can't compare them side by side.

[kirkwall]

Does it have the honky midrange that a closed ATH headphone usually display in spades? The W1000X and W5000 have this "coloration" and thus can sound quite unnatural sometimes.

I've owned both the W1000x and W5000, though I have neither anymore so can't do a side-by-side with the W3000ANV. That said, I find the W3000s to be pretty sweet and even through the mids, and without the honk or the weirdly detached treble that drove me nuts with the W5000s. Overall I'd say they're the best-balanced AT woodies I've heard, and that includes the VTGs and other JPNs I've owned. The main noticeable coloration I hear is higher up in frequency and can make some female vocals and guitar/strings sound spotlit, and thus a bit unnatural, but it doesn't come up enough to bother me overmuch. I really like mine.

k

Edited December 11, 2011 by kirkwall

[pigmode]

The main noticeable coloration I hear is higher up in frequency and can make some female vocals and guitar/strings sound spotlit, and thus a bit unnatural...

Substitute "sweet" for "spotlit", and that seems to be the common denominator for the ATH I've owned. Pretty cool for a while, but eventually the ATH can't justify the space they take up.

Edited December 11, 2011 by pigmode

[Currawong]

The W3000 are fairly treble-tilted, but do make vocals and instruments sound good, if a bit weirdly, though not as weirdly as the A2000X do. I agree about the W11s. This could be fixed somewhat by stuffing something under the pads to push them out more, though I still found the old woodies I tried to be underwhelming.

[postjack]

The W3000 are fairly treble-tilted, but do make vocals and instruments sound good, if a bit weirdly, though not as weirdly as the A2000X do. I agree about the W11s. This could be fixed somewhat by stuffing something under the pads to push them out more, though I still found the old woodies I tried to be underwhelming.

strangely, a lot of the comments I'm reading about the W3000 remind me of the PS1000, which I just sold to buy the W3000. I have no issues with coloration so long as its pleasant. We'll see soon enough. If they are like the W5000 with slightly more bass presence I'll probably like them.

[postjack]

I haven't had too much time with the W3000ANV yet, but what time I've had I really enjoy them, more then I thought I would. The bass is fine, I think its enough for any reasonable audiophile. No they aren't bass cannons, but they are nowhere near as anemic as the W5000. There is definitely some kind of coloration going on in the midrange, probably upper midrange, but its nowhere near as horrifying as I've heard in other AT cans, in fact its quite pleasant, creating a midrange "bloom" that makes the cans very pleasant and addictive. The soundstage is typical to closed ATs, very nice and tidy and fun. Not crazy expansive, its still a closed headphone, but its nowhere near as flat as say a Grado, but then again nothing is.

The cans are quite resolving, moreso then my RS-1. I listened to the vinyl of the new Ryan Adams (a true hi fidelity pressing by the way, his best record in terms of raw audio quality since Heartbreaker, maybe better) and the vocals and guitar plucks were crystal clear, really very nice.

I threw on some Trivium to give it the not-super-well-mastered-but-not-death-magnetic-bad metal test, and the cans fared pretty well, kind of the like the RS-1 does for metal. I can't help but think of the cans as like a closed audio-technica RS-1, but with more resolution, a little more coloration, and a bigger soundstage.

still honeymooning, but I'm surprised at how much I like these cans. i'll update impressions some listening hours down the road.

I wish the matching amp wasn't 3000USD, its quite beautiful.