Final Decision: ATH-A900X vs. Shure 940 - Page 2

Quote:

Originally Posted by Katun 

 

I find the SRH940's midrange (upper midrange especially) quite unmatched in this industry, from what I've owned. Same goes for the SRH1440.

 

Not that the K550 is on this list, but I find it did everything the A900X does, but better, while maintaining the sound signature.

So your vote goes to the 940 over the A900X? I like your description best...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jodiuh 

So your vote goes to the 940 over the A900X? I like your description best...

I love the sound quality of srh940, but you might want something more durable.

I'm myself interested by a headphone of similar sound quality, but better built quality.

Look at this thread:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/613703/shure-srh-940-crack-and-their-service

I'm willing to deal w/ build quality issues if it's a good headphone. ie. Triple-Fi 10

What else are you looking @ though? If I'm going to pay $250ish, they need to be circumaural, velour, and have great detail retrieval.

Also people report quite different impressions with the srh940.

I'm personally convinced that they are quite sensitive to positioning on head.

My first impression with srh940 was quite shocking, and I understand people that says they

are bass light. But it's not so obvious, once you get familiar with them.

If you are craving for bass, and bigger soundstage, a mod is a must (I use rope).

see:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/591325/how-to-hi-end-ify-your-srh940

The k702 is considered by some as the "open" equivalent of srh940.

Otherwise I've seen people preferring

krk 8400

koss dj100

one german maestro model....

hd25 II (I have them,  but I prefer the srh940)

hd600 (just because it's very neutral).

I'm personally tempted to get a sony mdrz1000,  because of the supposed  great built quality,

but it's quite more expensive.

Saw these @ BB and fell in love...

Anyone wanna compare the a900x to the 840 in terms of bass, warmth, detail, and leakage?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jodiuh 

So your vote goes to the 940 over the A900X? I like your description best...

Katun had a very very poor impression of the A900X; frankly I wasn't convinced by the neutrality of his review (due to the kind of word choices he used). Audio taste being such a subjective thing though, I ordered both the A900X and the K550 just so I can do my own comparison.

I have already received the A900X and am burning them in at the moment (around 20 hours right now) - personally I see zero issues with the build quality or craftsmanship. The support "wings" provide the exact same amount of downforce as my old A9X, and the clamping force on the A900X is actually stronger. May be Katun just has very very narrow head, may be I have very very wide head; may be a bit of both. But the A900X clings very snug to my head and don't slide around, at all.

I also looked into the wing design issue he complained about and posted my analysis in another thread. It is thus:

• On the old, old model like the A9X, the wings only pivot in one direction (let's call it the Y-axis), which is up and down.
• On the A900, AT implemented the "3D Wings" which pivot in two directions (X- and Y-). The way they achieved this is by making the wings themselves into a 2-piece design - there's an "outer ring" that pivots around the Y-axis (like the old wings), and an "inner piece" that pivots back and forth (X-axis).  This is actually a fairly intricate design and I imagine, harder to manufacture.
• On the A900X, AT simplified the "3D Wings" to ease manufacturing process while still retain pivots in both directions. The wings themselves are now back to a 1-piece design and pivots up and down (like the old wings on A9X), but the T-shaped joint where the wings are clipped onto the arms now pivots back and forth (in the older models, the joint is fixed).

The new T-joint design is a bit looser than the older 3D Wing design on the A900-generation headphones, which is why it appears flimsy and badly built, but IMO this isn't the case at all, and didn't create any functional issues for me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jodiuh 

Saw these @ BB and fell in love...
 

 

The A900X are not bad-looking - but as much of a long-time AT-lover as I am, I have to admit the AKG K550 is the aesthetically superior of the two. Now, if the A900X took some flashy design elements from my old A9X, I might reconsider this point...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bagheera 

Katun had a very very poor impression of the A900X; frankly I wasn't convinced by the neutrality of his review (due to the kind of word choices he used). Audio taste being such a subjective thing though, I ordered both the A900X and the K550 just so I can do my own comparison.

I agree. I personally think the a900x sound awesome, especially compared to the Shures. MalVeaux is spot on in his comparison. If fit is such a problem, I'm sure the owner should be clever enough to engineer a fix. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by sagep 

Anyone wanna compare the a900x to the 840 in terms of bass, warmth, detail, and leakage?

The A900X has more bass punch and similar extension, but due to the airier mids and highs I don't think it's as warm as the Shure 840. Neither leak much at all, with the shures leaking slightly less.

In terms of detail, the A900X is superior or equal in all aspects.Unless you prefer the sound signature of the SRH840(slightly warmer, more intimate) then the A900X is just better. I wish AT would use a higher grade pleather though. The 840 pleather pads are so much nicer.

Not sure if OP is still deciding, but I did a comparison review between A900X and K550. Hope it'll help you in some ways (even though this has nothing to do with Shure)

http://www.head-fi.org/t/650499/comparison-review-ath-a9x-ath-a900x-akg-k550-three-way-shootout

I must say that I love my a900x.  I'm pretty new to the site but I have a fair amount of experience with headphones and speaker systems.

I can see where people are coming from with the ear pads feeling a little stiff during extended listening sessions.  My suggestion is to cowboy up and deal with it. I think for the sound that these produce it's a fair trade and I don't think it's as bad as people make it out to be.  

My only complaint with them is that it's not a removable cable so your fairly limited in that aspect, but god knows that you have more then enough cable to work with on 'em.