[shigzeo]

hello luisa, i understand we have now had conversation in two threads. my dear friend and now atrio colleague. i originally bought them after about a year of dilly dallying around with various inferiors: um2, er4s and a brief affair with the e500.

as i say inferior, what i mean is in fact, headphones that sound too much like i am listening for artifacts and not for music. when i got the atrio, i lost piercing highs that gave sibilance in trade off for excellent isolation.

my um2 were considered by many to be one of the most musical of the bunch yet somewhat sloppy - they were not sloppy but as a balanced armature, they gave me flared up tinnitus.

the jays are said by some to be similar to er4s but with a better bass presence. that alone should prove that they are good. however if you are not used to (to the op) micro armatures, get prepared for fatigue quickly if you are weak to high piercing sounds. no matter that no armature based iem reaches above 18khz realiably they all exhibit some sort of bad sibilance if you are sensitive.

the atrio is a very natural (like a headphone) and thus more speaker like. as for the laid back treble, i can say that it is more laid back but still extends high. i tested an 18khz wave that the um2, and er4s could not relay and the atrio did it well, but despite their extension they are relaxing.

however, their bass is intense. it is not boomy, but very detailed and quick, though not as quick or light of foot as the er4s. i listen to trance often (only) and need a fast or somewhat fast headphone to keep up with the club. if my phones do not keep up, then trance is not fun.

the atrio are especially good for strings etc and originally i had trouble liking them with trance. at the time, i was using the cowon d2 - it is good and has very little hiss (even less than ipod) but is bloomy without eq in the mid bass or low mids. the atrio were not controlled by it well at all and neither are my dt770.

however, my ipod works wonders with the atrio as it has a more detailed bass that does not smear. however, there is a little more hiss and the mids are not as sweet.

the denon are good but they are boomy in comparison to the atrio! soozieq mentioned in her review that the se310 are similar in most ways but the denon bested them overall. i have not heard the shure and only have experience with the denon and atrio, but for me, armature are my lease favourite headphone sound and some other people do not like armatures either. but honestly, we are in the minority i think.

my favs are the atrio, but i do see some benefits to the denon - they have a slightly larger soundstage and are easier to remove and re-insert as well as they are much cheaper. however, better than the denon (to me at least) are the kenwood c711 which are priced at around 100-150$ usd but are much harder to find. they have a shorter barrel and less boomy bass. their soundstage is not as big but is more believable as the denon seem to extend to no limits out from your head, but not to the front or behind.

the kenwood extend in both directions to the same degree so they just seem that much more natural. accompanied with a less boomy and more refined bass, they seem hifi though they are cheaper.

my hat is tipped toward atrio but... after that, i would recommend the kenwood and then the denon and after that they jays.