Audiotechnica ATH-910?
I just won a pair on ebay for $25 including shipping.

Here is a link to the only info I found

http://www.audio-technica.com/guide/...et/ATH910.html

Yeah, these suck... but for $25 I guess they're worth it. What are you expecting out of them though? Remember, these aren't the ATH-Axxx series.. they're ATH-xxx series.. different series, different quality.

I think a while back someone got it confused and thought these were better than the ATH-A900's.

"Remember, these aren't the ATH-Axxx series.. they're ATH-xxx series.. different series, different quality."

I'm not familiar with ath-910 model, but I'll have to disagree with this comment by lindrone. For example the ath-908 headphones ( http://www.audio-technica.com/guide/...et/ATH908.html ) have a good, crisp sound with a warm bass. These phones were even elected best among semi-open budget headphones when a local respected hifi magazine sorted them out years ago. I also had a pair for years and I think these are worth checking out as they have a great quality in comparison to their price.

This leads me to thinking that the ath-A-series is not necessarily that much better, they just might be otherwise different to the plain ath-line. The explanation might be simple as this: ath-A's are designed for the japanese market (and taste) and the ath-line is for export. If this is not the case, then I'll just say that there are some great headphones models even in the plain ath-range.

Well, I guess you can say "japanese taste" if by that definition, you also include Sony V6/7506, CD3000 into that class...

ATH-A900 sounds like a slightly downgraded version of CD3000, meanwhile the ATH-9xx series is nowhere near as good. There's a world of difference between them.

Not that price is always an indication of quality, but in this case, it is.... a brand new A900 is $200 or so, the ATH-908 can be found for $60 or so.

I'm not sure if you really understood what I meant by talking about the japanese models and export models, as you referred to cd-3000 which is sold outside Japan unlike the ath-axxx line. This might also be because english is my third language and I really haven't got the vocabulary to say things always the way I want to.

I'll try to explain it again:

CD-3000 could be bought for example from Germany also, not just Japan. It's clear that Sony has designed these phones for sale in all the countries they do business in.

Well, the ath-axxx line isn't as easy to get. It's quite common that there are a lot of especially electronic machinery in Japan they just don't export to foreign countries. I'm just thinking that Audiotechnica could have designed this line of headphones for the Japanese market only. Why? I don't know. Maybe they think there's already so much strong competitors in this pricerange outside Japan, that they will only export the cheaper budget line. There might be a thousand different explanations. Maybe they're scared of some hi-fi enthusiasts who could rule their ath-axxx phones instantly as crap because they've done so with the ath-xxx line already.

Ok, if you've done a direct A to B comparison on ath-a900 and ath-908, I guess I can't argue with that. Otherwise it just seems that you're making assumptions while looking at the prices.

Most likely there are differences in component qualities if price differences are that huge between these two product lines. Though that doesn't always mean that the cheaper ones are crap and the costly headphones will deliver an exceptional sound.

I would't even be too amazed if the two headphone lines had a lot of the same components. It's just that wealthy people like to buy a little more expensive things than the less wealthy ones. This is just like Volkswagen has a lot of brands for different types of customers. Seat -> Vw -> Audi. These cars have a lot in common underneath the hood but there are significant differences in prices. I'm not saying this is the case here, but it seems to me that you've already made up your mind after looking at the price chart.

Like i said, there are some great headphones models even in the plain ath-range, especially if you look at the prices. Quality to price ratio is good. For those who aren't ready to spend a900's worth I'd say they might find a good pair in the ath-xxx budget line.

What I thought you meant by "taste", is the sound signature of these headphones. And they're all in the same sound signature family.. so to say that one's designed for the Japanese market, well, doesn't make much sense.

Just so you know, Audio Technica don't have any official retail channel in US whatsoever, so they're not available at all, unless through specialty websites. This includes the ATH-9xx and the ATH-Axxx series.

In fact, Sony CD3000 is not officially available in US either. You can get them, but as far as Sony's concerned, it's not an official product here in US.

If you want proof of quality, here it is.. specs:

ATH-910/908:
Impedence -> 40 ohms
Maximum Input Power -> 120 mW
Frequency Response -> 20 - 22,000 Hz
Sensitivity (1 mW) -> 90 dB

ATH-A900:
Impedence -> 40 ohms
Maximum Input Power -> 2000 mW
Frequency Response -> 5 - 40,000Hz
Sensitiveity (1 mW) -> 101dB

Yes, there's your definitive quality difference. The spec of what range of sound it can generate... regardless of sound signature, something with that big of a spec difference, is *HUGE*.

In fact, ATH-910/908 has exactly the same spec, makes me think they're probably the same product with different revision. Generally they're recommended for studio work, for isolation and recording studio. They're not meant to be audiophile quality headphones.

Edit: btw, yes, they're a good deal at $25, because they're normally $50 to $60.. but they're not "good headphones" in the same way we think about Audio Technica's other products.

I didn't know that you don't have these headphones at all in the US. Here the cheaper ath-xxx line is quite common. If even the cd-3000 isn't available there, it leads me to thinking that they haven't really felt necessary to introduce these products in to US for some reason. Maybe it'd be too risky or pointless somehow, or they see that those who are willing to pay that much for it will order the product regardless where they'll have to order it from.

For the record, is it so that you haven't heard a single product from the ath-xxx line?

I'm not trying to say that ath-908 is equal or above ath-a900. I'm saying that the sound quality is good for the price paid.

I haven't used the ATH-908, so I didn't say so at first. I didn't realize the spec were exactly the same as the ATH-910... which I have used before.

They were warm, very colored, but in a very unbalanced and unwelcoming way. They're definitely not audiophile quality headphones. They're nice compared to.. er.. Nevermind, the KSC-35 is actually better in that term. At least they cup and isolate your ears, which KSC-35 doesn't do.

They're good as an utilitarian headphone (for monitoring and such), definitely not audiophile quality.. because they lack the proper balance. They're actually warmer than say, the Sony V6, but V6 has a more balanced presentation, more accurate.

As far as Audio-Technica not being in the US market at all.. who knows? Some things in the corporate world we'll never understand. They're known as a huge headphone and hi-fi audio equipment maker in Asia, and the products are readily available there.

Then again, if you visited Asian audiophile forums, they hardly use Grados at all.

Well, I'll make an assumption that the ath-910 and ath-908 aren't that similar even though the specs are identical. For staters 910 is a closed can and 908 is somewhat semi-open.

Your first post just sounded like that the whole ath-xxx line sucks, even though I don't know if that what you wanted to say. If this is true, then I'd be a little disappointed as this would be based on your experience on 910's only. I'm quite sure that almost every brand there has a crap model even when an almost similar model they have could be just astounding.

I'll try to remember to lend the 910's from my brother as he has a pair if I remember correctly and compare them with my 770s when I'll have time.