OK, so I listened to KSC35 for a week and here's comparison of EW9 and KSC35.
From KSC35, you got a lot of bass. It doesn't go so deep but amount of mid-bass is incredible. It's so dominant and covers whole sound, so the sound is a little muddy but overall balance is not bad at all.
Although it was not bad, I still wanted highs to be more clean so I bought Sony's ear pads and cut out a nickel-sized hole, and replaced the original pads. Result is not so significant, just very slightly improved mid-highs. This was disappointing since I was successful with the same mod on MX500, also SR-225 with Radioshack pads.
To compare with ATH-EW9, I switched them back and forth. The most significant difference was mid and mid-highs of EW9. They are very clear and present. Even though EW9's mid-high is too harsh, it has very good mid to high so acoustic guitar sounds excelent. Bass is tight and goes deep but no match of KSC35. KSC35's bass is just a shy of being bloated and boomy --- EW9 is good with bass heavy tunes.
I had one problem with KSC35 --- build quality. There were sharp edge on both ear clips (burr at parting line), I had to scrape off all around the arc with sharp knife.
Other than that KSC35 is excelent considering the price, EW9 is more like joy of owning beautiful wood phone with clarity and good mids.
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