W5000 burning in questions.

I hate to sound as a broken record but what you are experience now is you can see the trees in the forest intead of just the forest.

 

Hi-end gear will provide much more details in the recording ( bad or good) than lower end gear. You will see more artifacts, more imperfection from a bad recording via Hi-end gear. GIGO.
 

 

The w5000 reproduces the recording faithfully as the el-cheapo ones do not.

 

When I listen to an el-cheapo stereo, all kind of details are boosted up and became one dimension mass. The same recording in a big rig sounds diiferently with sound-stage and layers of music as the way the recording intended. Hope that helps.

The W5000 is one of the most detailed phones in production, But very dependent on a good synergy with upstream compomnents. With the Zhalou D2.5+Corda Aria it was all upper mids and treble, pretty much unlistenable, With the y1+WA6 it was much better, and the Stello DA100/HP1000 combo was better still, but too mellow to my taste.

 

and another note, If the quality of the source material permits, And It took me too long to figure that part, the W5000 really sounds best at low to moderate levels of volume. Even with the best of gear (i.e HA5000 amp) the brilliance of the upper mids can still be rough on the ears when crancking up the SPL, thus masking other freq's tones, but at the proper level it all shows up beutifully without any strain.

 

Edited by Amarphael - 6/29/11 at 11:39am

 

I think you just described the Audio Technica house sound - most of the high end Audio Technica are known for their (some may even say quirky) strong emphasis on the treble end and vocals.  Burn in might help a little but I really doubt the general sound signature is going to change much.  Try some EQing first and bump down the mid-high frequency range and see how that helps first.  Otherwise hate to say it but you may have chosen the wrong can/brand for the sound signature you want.  

 

EDIT:  This link might give you an idea why you have a vocal bump.

Edited by nanaholic - 6/29/11 at 10:38pm

You are the man. I use certain HPs for vocals, certain HPs for acoustic guitar, certain HPs for Classic Rock.....I like variety of colour sound signature. Have you tried

the W5000 with Diana Krall, Cassandra Wilson, Nina Simon.....?

Just like most of AT's full size cans (most notable exception thats in current circulation is the W1000X) , these headphones cater to their mid and high hungry Japanese audience. They can't get enough of the sound signature. It's nuts.

They're great for acoustic instruments, classical, and female vocals.

The problem is, it's almost harsh at times. Even listening at normal volumes can cause your ears to feel like it was too loud... and while this becomes less hot and aggressive with burn in it may still be too much.

But have no fear, I really really really suggest you try the old F5005 modification. It's 100% reversible and does an amazing job at chilling out those painful highs and mids. It also fills out the bass a bit too, it's wonderful. The only thing you lose is a bit of imaging and sound stage... but honest it's worth it. The link is in my signature.

The phatpad mod, which I did with a crotched circle really improves the fit too. You should look into it. It helps keep the pads circumaural and not matted against your ear.