Audio Technica updates their open headphones "AD" Series: AD2000x, AD1000x, AD900x, AD700x and... - Page 46

That's the A900x, not the new AD900x. Still, nice price!

I guess since we mentioned it on line they are now all gone and when I called two days ago they had over 100 sets. I bought my at Best Buy they did a price match but gave me a cross eye look. I'm enjoying them. I put a little material inside the joints where the top part meets the side of the head to tighten them a little. I have a shaved head so its holds better. The sound is great. I don't have much experience with full size phones but it looks like in order to get a quality set it can get much more expensive. You have to give a thumbs up to Best Buy they have a lot of phones to demo now where I live. I would't wear these outside but they are great for the house only. I saw the rankings from members on this site last night for full size head phones and you don't see the A900x too much or for that matter I didn't see the popular Vmoda M100. I saw lots of the BT, HD and HE too bad these are not easy to try out.

No they don't have any HE or any BT. They did have HD.

No I meant their was a lot of HD, HE. and BT's on the HIFI.org rankings list too bad not at Best Buy.

They say manufactures are gearing headphones for portable or handheld sound playback hence the lower ohm spec.

Again, I recommend a sound card made for changing out opamps.  You buy a home stereo system and you are stuck with the opamps it comes with no matter how good they were at the time, you can't change them out for a the latest and greatest or for preference. Hearing is believing. Some of the aftermarket portable amps (battery driven, etc.) have swappable opamp but with a sound card you can do a bit more.

Mitchm: You ordered AD900X and just bought A900X in the meantime? What do you think of the A900X so far? Compared to what?

No I didn't order the AD900x. I bought the A900x at Best Buy. It's starting to get more comfortable at times I felt a little pinched but that seems to be leaving. The phones had me dancing right off. The AD900x looked appealing but right now as a example my wife is listening to the TV and I'm on the A900x and I can't hear the TV. Comparing phones as of recent of been using the Vsonic GR07 MKII I got them after reading reviews on this site, the A900x gives a much more open full sound with good separation. Now you have me wondering about Amps and the type of music I'm listening to as far as compressed?? I was trying to avoid an Amp but if it's going to be a lot better let me know please. I'm listening mostly to Pandora using my Ipad mini or Samsung 3, I don't know if their is a better way. I was bouncing around so many choices, but I'm value orientated. I know you mentioned the AD900x but Best Buy nor Buydig didn't have them, I kind of like some isolation. Let me know if I should try something else. Thanks

Out of curiousity, why are you trying to avoid an amp? Had you gotten an AD900x, I'd have recommended the FiiO E12, but apparently that amp is too warm and just further congests the closed sound of the A900x; I don't know from experience, though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pngwn 

Out of curiousity, why are you trying to avoid an amp? Had you gotten an AD900x, I'd have recommended the FiiO E12, but apparently that amp is too warm and just further congests the closed sound of the A900x; I don't know from experience, though.

Most likely because he is "value oriented" (like me!). I really haven't found the E12 to be as warm as I was expecting it to be, but yes, I guess it is at least a bit warm. Fortunately for me, none of the headphones or iem's that I care about suffer from it - in fact, they all do very well by it! So for this "value oriented" guy, the E12 makes me very happy. The only exception at this point are my Uptowns which are warm to begin with (so the solution of course will be to get rid of them lol).

Hey everyone, 

So I picked up the ad900x from the post today. I've got maybe 4 hours of listening time on them. I listened to them at work and then got home and listened for a bit at home before switching to the ad2000.

After i switched to the ad2k i noticed less bass presence, more of a mid-centric sound, better clarity all around, and slightly closed in soundstage. Comfort wise the ad900x wins, but if i switched the pads to the ad2k it would be a tie... the ad2k uses less volume than the ad900x also. Overall the ad900x is a better balanced/dare I say flatter can, but the ad2k is better with detail retrieval and intimacy of the recording. Not sure which one will stay yet, the little extra bass presence really is nice on the ad900x. I would much rather game with the ad900x, it has the better soundstage. Anyways, these are my very preliminary findings, they are subject to change as a few more hours pile up on the ad900x and i hear them both with more music.

I hope this helped if anyone was curious about direct comparison impressions.

Cheers

Quote:

Originally Posted by waynes world 

Quote:

Originally Posted by pngwn 

Out of curiousity, why are you trying to avoid an amp? Had you gotten an AD900x, I'd have recommended the FiiO E12, but apparently that amp is too warm and just further congests the closed sound of the A900x; I don't know from experience, though.

 

Most likely because he is "value oriented" (like me!). I really haven't found the E12 to be as warm as I was expecting it to be, but yes, I guess it is at least a bit warm. Fortunately for me, none of the headphones or iem's that I care about suffer from it - in fact, they all do very well by it! So for this "value oriented" guy, the E12 makes me very happy. The only exception at this point are my Uptowns which are warm to begin with (so the solution of course will be to get rid of them lol).

Yeah, I don't find it particularly warm, either, but I guess I could maybe see how a closed can might sound "too warm" with the E12. I really don't know, though, so please, no one take my word here for fact -- maybe the E12 makes closed cans sing!

Quote:

Originally Posted by mmayer167 

Hey everyone, 

 

So I picked up the ad900x from the post today. I've got maybe 4 hours of listening time on them. I listened to them at work and then got home and listened for a bit at home before switching to the ad2000.

 

After i switched to the ad2k i noticed less bass presence, more of a mid-centric sound, better clarity all around, and slightly closed in soundstage. Comfort wise the ad900x wins, but if i switched the pads to the ad2k it would be a tie... the ad2k uses less volume than the ad900x also. Overall the ad900x is a better balanced/dare I say flatter can, but the ad2k is better with detail retrieval and intimacy of the recording. Not sure which one will stay yet, the little extra bass presence really is nice on the ad900x. I would much rather game with the ad900x, it has the better soundstage. Anyways, these are my very preliminary findings, they are subject to change as a few more hours pile up on the ad900x and i hear them both with more music.

I hope this helped if anyone was curious about direct comparison impressions.

 

Cheers

Thanks for the comparison. I notice, however, that you used the old AD2k, not the x version. Given that the AD900x has some boosted bass from its older brother, the original AD900, I wonder how improved the AD2kx is to the AD2k and how the 900x and 2kx compare. Either way, I guess it seems that the AD900x is more "fun" while the AD2000x is likely more analytical and neutral, I suppose.

I bought both these phones thinking I would not need a Amp. I have no experience with an Amp. I didn't want to carry one around. But now that I have the cans for the house my mind could adjust if it would make a nice difference with the A900x. But I'm not looking to make the music louder so what would the improvement be, is it the ability to make adjustments in EQ?

Yep just the old ad2k ;) you could say the ad900x is more fun. They are both an AT sound that is for certain. The things I pointed out can pretty much be gathered by reading up on them both but I thought I just jot it down in one post. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mitchm 

I bought both these phones thinking I would not need a Amp. I have no experience with an Amp. I didn't want to carry one around. But now that I have the cans for the house my mind could adjust if it would make a nice difference with the A900x. But I'm not looking to make the music louder so what would the improvement be, is it the ability to make adjustments in EQ?

"Both of these phones"? So you bought the A900x and...?

Amps are by no means required to enjoy the Audio Technica AD "AIR" or A "ART" lines, but speaking from experience using an amp with my AD900x, it provides a cleaner, more refined sound compared to using my iPhone/iPod's headphone jack or just using my laptop's headphone out. The difference is somewhat subtle, but it's enough that I much prefer using my AD900x with my FiiO E12 with than without.

Someone more knowledgable about amps than me can probably give you a more in-depth answer about amps.

What  I meant was  I bought the A900x and Vsonic GR07 2. How do you post under your questions so it's easier to follow. I just use reply.