[winkyeye]

Hey guys, this is my first time making a serious comparison between headphones and because I don't have much of the audio lingo down yet, I hope you guys can bear with me as I go through my listening experiences with these two great cans!
 
For this comparison, I listened to several 320kbps songs played from foobar2000 with crossfeed enabled. Both headphones were connected to my stereo receiver. Sorry, currently no dac or dedicated amp. The W1000X is stock with ~50 hours, while the Pro 900s are Kees modded with over 200 hours of burn in.
 
Rilo Kiley - Dreamworld
The W1000X presents the song with great soundstage, good clarity, and decent instrument separation. The vocals are very much in your face, with guitar in the background. One thing I didn’t like was how lisps were overemphasized.
 
On the Pro 900s, there was stronger bass punch, good instrument separation, but the vocals are not as clear, nor are they in your face.
 
Winner: W1000x
 
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Cabron
With the W1000X, the intro was very clear, however throughout the song there was quite a bit of sibilance that made listening to this song fatiguing.
 
The Pro 900s presented the intro greater details, but with the bass emphasized throughout the song. Sibilance not  as evident, and the song overall seems smoother.
 
Winner: Pro 900     EDIT - pretty much a tie after mod
 
Led Zeppelin - All My Love
On the W1000X, the stage sounds kind of far away but good clarity, very airy. The synthesizer solo was very relaxed, but the nylon string guitar following that was not prominent.
 
The Pro 900s presented the song with vocals further away with strong drum presence. The nylon string guitar didn’t sound as good as the way the W1000X presented it.
 
Winner: W1000X
 
Led Zeppelin - D’yer Mak’er
This is one of my favorite songs but I didn’t enjoy it very much on the W1000X. The “Sa-sa-sad” part was really harsh (ouch). There is just way too much sibilance in this song with all the ssssssssss. Aside from that though, instruments were well separated with decent clarity.
 
On the Pro 900s, I got a flatter sound that wasn’t as airy but sounded more relaxed with a stronger lower end presence.
 
Winner: Pro 900     EDIT - after mod, the W1000X wins here with the reduced sibilance
 
Ed Solo - Age Of Dub
This song was very airy and had strong mid bass on the W1000X. Sub bass  was not as powerful but still very much present.
 
For the Pro 900s, all I can say is holy bass!! Songs like these are really where the Pro 900 shines. This is a really fun song for the Ultrasones.
 
Winner: Pro 900
 
Green Day - Give Me Novacaine
With the W1000X, I got a wide soundstage with instruments well separated. There is a bit of sibilance from the vocals, but they handle the part with the solo pretty well even with a lot going on. Part of this might be due to how the drums were in the background so the clutter was not as apparent.
 
Intro sounds great with both cans. On the Pro 900s though, drums are a bit too forward, and with the cymbals crashing sounding really muddy. This ultimately results in way too much going on in the song during the solo.
 
Winner: W1000X
 
Fleetwood Mac - Never Going Back
I listen to this song mostly for the guitars. With the W1000X, I got high clarity with the guitars having a bit of a bite.
 
The Pro 900s were more laid back on this song, but there’s not much to say here really.
 
Winner: W1000X
 
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Overall both headphones are great, it just comes down to music preference. The Ultrasones are great for electronic music such as dubstep and drum & bass, while the Audio-Technicas will get you more involved in rock music as well as more laid back genres. Both cans have great clarity and good soundstage with the W1000X getting a bit of an advantage. My main problem with the W1000X however is the sibilance, especially on songs where the vocals are completely in your face. The Pro 900s are a bit more laid back but they can be harsh in the treble as well and they also sound kind of thin sometimes, while the W1000Xs are more full-bodied.
 
Fit and comfort goes to the W1000X since they are significantly lighter than the Pro 900s and don't clamp on your head with as much force. However I did have a bit of trouble getting the W1000X to stay put when moving around my head.

 

[winkyeye]

Wow tough crowd here...
 
Anyways, I had more time to compare the two and I also got a chance to mod the W1000X according to purrin's thread and advice. I did not do the full mod since I was too lazy to remove the driver cage to stick a piece to the back of the driver but so far the sound has improved slightly. The sound is a bit tighter and the sibilance is not as noticeable as before, which is definitely a big plus. The modded W1000X sound great with most rock music now and the general sound signature is preserved after the mod. Both phones are still pretty fatiguing after long listening sessions though.
 
These also resolve details and soundstage a lot better than the Pro 900s since I had a significantly easier time telling the difference between 128 vs 320kbps tracks when using the W1000X, mostly by due to the W1000X presenting a differentiable wider soundstage for higher quality tracks.  Also the more I go back and forth between the two, the more I'm finding that the Pro 900 has a pretty obvious bass bloat that can be unwanted sometimes in the music I listen to. To me the W1000X has a pinch less bass that what I would like in a can, but they're closer to the sweet spot than the bass overshoot from the Pro 900s.
 
Also the W1000X does a lot better with low volume listening than the Pro 900. Sibilance is almost completely gone at lower volumes.

 

[BotByte]

Tough crowd?
 
Not really
 
You compared a reference can with a Basshead's legend. It's not the most anticipated event of the season.
 
I read through it yesterday and just remembered what I already knew. no Jazz or Classical in the mix, huh?

 

[winkyeye]

I wouldn't say the W1000X are reference cans in either sense that it can be used for monitoring/recording (but I wouldn't know, they don't sound that sterile or linear) or that they're top of the line headphones (but they're pretty darn good make no mistake about that). They both work well with the genres I listen to (rock, alternative, drum & bass). Sorry no jazz, I do occasionally listen to classical though, but not very often.
 
I see a lot of people suggesting these two cans when asked about closed headphones so I thought I'd share my opinions.

 

[Ishcabible]

Just saw this. Thanks for this! I was actually seeing how well the W1000X and a bassy headphone would compliment each other with.

 

[Roller]

Nice and interesting review. And I personally think we should have more headphones compared, despite looking matched or not, as all those comparisons (when done from a neutral point of view) will give insight on each set.

 

[winkyeye]

I don't really thing these are that mismatched to compare. To me, both have a similar sound signature, only difference is that the W1000X has more forward mids while the PRO 900 have stronger bass. Both have pretty clean and decent highs. With more headtime, I can safely say that the W1000X is slightly better than the Pro 900s for most genres I listen to but they are also come with a bigger price tag. If you listen to a lot of electronica music/hip hop or anything bass oriented however, the Pro 900s are excellent competitors at a lower price.

 

[12345142]

Nice review, although I don't think the Pro 900 and the W1000X are direct competitors. Sound-wise, the W1000X is pretty much the opposite of the Pro 900; if the Pro 900's freq. response is 'u'-shaped, then the W1000X is closer to an 'n'. Being a proud owner of the Pro 900s, and having auditioned the W1000X at length, though, I definitely agree with your observations.