ATH-EW9 in the house!!! - Page 5

Originally Posted by GoRedwings19

wanna trade your w11jpns. I might have something your interested in...

Originally Posted by ayt999

lol. you and your vintage AT's.

Originally Posted by GoRedwings19

Heard you got the VTG's congrats on that...grrrrrrr

Originally Posted by ayt999

yup. and another pair of W100's too.

I would have obtained another W11JPN, but couldn't get those. some vulture dude got them at the store before me. it went on the used gear shelf at the store in the morning when the store opened and was sold out before I got there two hours or so later. grrrrr.

the search still goes on. (pretty passive right now, though I should go into a more active search soon before it is too late and I have to return to the US.)

Originally Posted by jjcha

Okay, E4c vs W10VTG (straight out of the iPod)

E4c:
More treble energy, but beautifuly clear and resolved (only slightly fatiguing)
Faster, detailed, highly resolving, more analytical
Tighter bass, nice texture
Clearer, better seperation - actually this is fantastic, only the SA5k/Qualia 010 are better in this regard
Thin sounding

W10VTG:
More bass
Relaxed, less fatiguing, more "musical" sound
Not so stuffed in your ears/head - pretty normal/natural headphone soundstage
Slightly slightly on the thick side, but not too thick
Treble tends towards graininess
Nice mid-range, not as effortless/smooth as the HD650, ever so slightly recessed (though slightly emphasized in the upper mid-range) but very natural and effortless none-the-less.

Kinda cliched, but the way I'd describe it is that the E4c is a great analytical tool, technically impressive, with its only flaw being a moderately de-emphasized bass and lower mid-range and resulting thinness in sound, though what bass is there is very well detailed/resolved. I've gone on record as complaining about the bass/thinness - but man, that shouldn't take away from everything these phones do right. If we only could emphasize the bass just a bit from the lowest-bass to the mids, this phone would be the "perfect" portable phone for someone who prefers a slightly detail focused sound.

With the W10VTG, I imagine it was created by a Japanese engineer who was a true music lover. Maybe he wasn't as technically accomplished as the engineers at Shure almost 10 years later, but he knows music and knows what he likes, and created a headphone that makes the music beautiful to listen to. The only major flaw, I think, is I wish the treble was a bit less grainy/clearer. Sure the W10VTG could be faster, more resolving, have better seperation. But I don't really care. When I just want to enjoy the music, its these that come on, rather than the Shure or Sensaphonics 2X-S. It reminds me of what I loved about my HD600+Cardas.

I've only got brief experiences with the ER4S (well P with the converter cable) out of my full portable rig (Overture + SR-71) and I really liked the Etys. I can't compare them directly to the Shures, but I remember thinking they sounded great - that I didn't have a problem with their bass at all, but they sounded colored to me. They sounded highly detailed, but I found them lacking compared to my SA5k out of the Grace m902. Which is interesting, because while I don't think the Shure E4c are as detailed as the SA5k, I don't really find I'm as critical of that fact.

Best,

-Jason

Originally Posted by Shift

I am planning to buy an MP3 player for use with my EW9's. Any suggestions as to which players compliments the EW9?

If possible, suggest a 1GB flash player and a ~5GB micro harddrive player. It would be great if I don't have to use proprietary software to transfer the music.