bangraman
Headphoneus Supremus
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[size=medium]Audio-Technica ATH-D1000 Review[/size]
_____________________________________________
[size=xx-small]96khz upsamping optical-digital headphone. $629 from Head-Fi sponsor Audiocubes.com at time of writing [/size]
The ATH-D1000 is digital-only phone, which takes an optical TOSLINK signal, upsamples it to 96khz, amps it and plays it back.
I bought it as a gimmick given my A-T completist leanings. I was intrigued at how a digital upsampling phone would sound, and have to say I was in all honesty not expecting much. Opening the package revealed the very familiar ATH A-series lines with the exception of the battery compartment on top of the ‘3D Wings’ and the buttons on the side. Unlike the A900+ models by the way, the earcups are plastic. Tapping the earcups I was a bit disappointed. I expected at least the A900 build of alloy. I consoled myself with the thought that plastic it may be, but it's a very high quality level of finish. The earpads are the HP-A900, exactly the same as the A500-A900.
The phone ships with a mini TOSLINK to TOSLINK cable. You can use this to connect directly to a deck with an optical out. You can also use the phone with portable, but you’ll need a mini TOSLINK – mini TOSLINK cable. As I said, the phone upsamples the signal to 96khz before squirting it through a digital amp and then through an D-A converter. I have no idea how the upsampling affects the sound, as there’s no way to turn it off. Audio-Technica quotes a BTL digital amp. The phone works with 44.1, 48 and 32khz signals. The phone is powered by 2 AAA Ni-Mh rechargeable batteries which are charged in approx 2.5 hours by the included, very neat world-voltage AAA/AA charger.
Comfort wise, the phones are in line with the A-T A-series. That's to be expected since the chassis is the same as the A900. It’s very good for a closed phone, although those in hot climates may feel that it’s a little too enclosed for their needs.
Getting back to the looks and materials, cosmetically this phone is even less than the A900. It seems that what you get for your money over the A900 is the ‘custom-developed for D1000’ driver, the added electronics and the battery charger. $650 for a nearly all-plastic phone… The dissatisfaction was mounting by the time I put them on my head.
Using a $30 Sony mini-to-mini cable I hooked it up to the digital source I had handy at the time (the iRiver iMP-550), turned it on (the on button requires a ‘double-click’) and pressed play.
As I said I wasn’t expecting much.
My next words were: “Holy ****”.
What I definitely was not expecting was a technical performance that’s just a couple of notches below W2002/RS-1 with middle-class amping. And that’s out of an iRiver to start with.
The soundstaging on the D1000 could be described as ‘headphones realistic’… with most sounds circling your circling your head, not too far away but well separated. On upbeat tracks, the bass is fairly tight, very punchy, elastic and definitely there, providing a driving compliment to the higher frequencies but never overriding it. This is the first new generation A-T phone on which I’ve heard the “DADS” (Dynamic Air Damping System, or Got To Think Of A Marketing BS Acronym That’s Not Been Used Before) being implemented really well. Kick drums come across as described… with a kick, not a ‘shlup’ like some so-called hi-fi phones. Sometimes there’s a mid-bass balloon that could possibly get in the way of the music, but it never crosses the ‘dum-b-ass’ border. There’s no way to deny that the growling bass in “Battle Without Honor Or Humanity” adds to the casual menace of this track and that the kick drums in “Like I Love You” are very effectively rendered. But the midrange and treble is the really killer part of this phone. As far as I can see, there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s neither recessed nor emphasised and it’s done with a beguiling sense of smoothness while retaining plenty of detail. You will not find a trace of sibilance unless it’s in the recording. This comes to the fore in the Vengerov and Singh recording. It attacks when called upon but is otherwise incredibly well-tempered.
The overriding nature of this phone is a ‘natural’ sound. What the hell is a ‘natural’ sound? Transparent, bright-ish yet without a trace of added sibilance, decent but not ultra-wide staging, and a low end fully capable of adding weight to a performance. I would call it natural, some others might call it ‘musical’. To me it’s the Stax Omega II / SRM-007t sound. Either way it’s a rendition style that allows the quality of the sounds to be apparent yet for music to flow: for you to be able to ‘listen to the music’ instead of ‘hearing the sounds’. It’s a bit like an old comfy pair of slippers that nevertheless still manages to look new. The sound is quite lively, yet it’s not natively aggressive. Neither is it soporific. And believe it or not, the ATH-D1000 does deliver the general Omega II / SRM-007t sonic signature, albeit without the resolution (and therefore less of that transparency). However that's not to say that the phone lacks in transparency given general dynamic phone performance: Poor recordings are exposed for what they are.
Is it worth it? To me an AKG K271S ($180) with a Ray Samuels XP-7 ($500) and a $50 interconnect is technically infinitesimally inferior to the ATH-D1000 and a $30 Sony optical cable, while the D1000 is musically considerably superior. There’s obviously no provision for opamp-rolling and whatever to play with the sound, but I don’t believe there’s any need to play with it. It’s very good the way it is.
So, it’s an upsampling DAC, amp and excellent phone all-in-one, at a price that’s below what you’d expect to pay for such a combination. If you’re looking at building from scratch with a discount-store mid-fi home deck and don’t expect to upgrade for a while, you could do a lot worse and spend a lot more than simply pairing it with the ATH-D1000. Even better if you own a Discman with optical out… these will really pep up the sound and more importantly be far more portable than dragging an XP-7 (or equivalent) around with you.
While the exact ‘value for money’ quotient is out to the jury for these phones, I think that the phones give a polished and hugely entertaining performance, and the DAC-amp in these phones really work. The sonic performance makes it definitely a master and not a jack of all trades, and it can definitely punch with the best of amp+phone combinations in this price range. In my opinion, the all-rounder phone market has a new, unique and very serious contender in the shape of the ATH-D1000.
___________________________________
[size=xx-small]
Audio-Technica ATH-D1000
Type: Dynamic Stereo Headphone, Closed
Driver: 53mm Neodymium magnet, CCAW voice coil
Efficiency: 105db/mw (JEITA)
Frequency Response: 5hz ~ 35khz
Power: DC2.4V (Ni-Mh AAA) / DC3V (Alkaline AAA)
Endurance: 8 hours approx on Ni-Mh, 10 hours approx on Alkaline
Maximum output level: 42mw + 42mw (1khz, digital 0db input, 32 ohm load)
Input format: PCM @ 32/44.1/48khz
Weight: 350g approx not including cable or batteries
Accessories supplied: 2 AAA Ni-Mh batteries, recharger, mini TOSLINK - TOSLINK optical digital cable (3m)
Replacement earpad: HP-A900
Test tracks:
Justin Timberlake: Like I Love You
Salif Keita: Madan
Niggaz With Attitude: Real Niggaz Don’t Die
Vengerov plays Bach Shchedrin Ysaye: Toccata and Fugue for organ in D minor, BWV 565
Cold: End of the World
Susumu Yokota: Love Bird
Bruce Hornsby: Fields of Gray
Pavement: Texas Never Whispers
A. Scarlatti: Madrigali – O Morte
Frank Sinatra: I Get A Kick Out of You
Dido: All You Want
Tomoyasu Hotei: Battle Without Honor Or Humanity
Bomb the Bass: Dynamite Beats
Wayne Shorter: Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum
Talvin Singh: OK
The Superjesus: Gravity
Dmitri Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No.1 in C Minor - Allegro con brio
Neneh Cherry, Youssou N'Dour: 7 seconds
* All tracks from original CD's.
Test Equipment:
Sony SCD-XA777ES http://www.stereophile.com/digitalsourcereviews/491/
Sony D-NE900 http://www.ecat.sony.co.jp/audio/wal...318&KM=D-NE900
iRiver iMP-550 http://www.iriveramerica.com/products/iMP-550.asp
MOTU 828 Mk II http://www.motu.com/english/motuaudio/828/body.html
Phone compared with:
Stax Omega II w/SRM-007t, Chord Anthem interconnect
AKG K271S w/Ray Samuels XP-7, IXOS silver-grade RCA-mini interconnect
[/size]
_____________________________________________
[size=xx-small]96khz upsamping optical-digital headphone. $629 from Head-Fi sponsor Audiocubes.com at time of writing [/size]
The ATH-D1000 is digital-only phone, which takes an optical TOSLINK signal, upsamples it to 96khz, amps it and plays it back.
I bought it as a gimmick given my A-T completist leanings. I was intrigued at how a digital upsampling phone would sound, and have to say I was in all honesty not expecting much. Opening the package revealed the very familiar ATH A-series lines with the exception of the battery compartment on top of the ‘3D Wings’ and the buttons on the side. Unlike the A900+ models by the way, the earcups are plastic. Tapping the earcups I was a bit disappointed. I expected at least the A900 build of alloy. I consoled myself with the thought that plastic it may be, but it's a very high quality level of finish. The earpads are the HP-A900, exactly the same as the A500-A900.
The phone ships with a mini TOSLINK to TOSLINK cable. You can use this to connect directly to a deck with an optical out. You can also use the phone with portable, but you’ll need a mini TOSLINK – mini TOSLINK cable. As I said, the phone upsamples the signal to 96khz before squirting it through a digital amp and then through an D-A converter. I have no idea how the upsampling affects the sound, as there’s no way to turn it off. Audio-Technica quotes a BTL digital amp. The phone works with 44.1, 48 and 32khz signals. The phone is powered by 2 AAA Ni-Mh rechargeable batteries which are charged in approx 2.5 hours by the included, very neat world-voltage AAA/AA charger.
Comfort wise, the phones are in line with the A-T A-series. That's to be expected since the chassis is the same as the A900. It’s very good for a closed phone, although those in hot climates may feel that it’s a little too enclosed for their needs.
Getting back to the looks and materials, cosmetically this phone is even less than the A900. It seems that what you get for your money over the A900 is the ‘custom-developed for D1000’ driver, the added electronics and the battery charger. $650 for a nearly all-plastic phone… The dissatisfaction was mounting by the time I put them on my head.
Using a $30 Sony mini-to-mini cable I hooked it up to the digital source I had handy at the time (the iRiver iMP-550), turned it on (the on button requires a ‘double-click’) and pressed play.
As I said I wasn’t expecting much.
My next words were: “Holy ****”.
What I definitely was not expecting was a technical performance that’s just a couple of notches below W2002/RS-1 with middle-class amping. And that’s out of an iRiver to start with.
The soundstaging on the D1000 could be described as ‘headphones realistic’… with most sounds circling your circling your head, not too far away but well separated. On upbeat tracks, the bass is fairly tight, very punchy, elastic and definitely there, providing a driving compliment to the higher frequencies but never overriding it. This is the first new generation A-T phone on which I’ve heard the “DADS” (Dynamic Air Damping System, or Got To Think Of A Marketing BS Acronym That’s Not Been Used Before) being implemented really well. Kick drums come across as described… with a kick, not a ‘shlup’ like some so-called hi-fi phones. Sometimes there’s a mid-bass balloon that could possibly get in the way of the music, but it never crosses the ‘dum-b-ass’ border. There’s no way to deny that the growling bass in “Battle Without Honor Or Humanity” adds to the casual menace of this track and that the kick drums in “Like I Love You” are very effectively rendered. But the midrange and treble is the really killer part of this phone. As far as I can see, there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s neither recessed nor emphasised and it’s done with a beguiling sense of smoothness while retaining plenty of detail. You will not find a trace of sibilance unless it’s in the recording. This comes to the fore in the Vengerov and Singh recording. It attacks when called upon but is otherwise incredibly well-tempered.
The overriding nature of this phone is a ‘natural’ sound. What the hell is a ‘natural’ sound? Transparent, bright-ish yet without a trace of added sibilance, decent but not ultra-wide staging, and a low end fully capable of adding weight to a performance. I would call it natural, some others might call it ‘musical’. To me it’s the Stax Omega II / SRM-007t sound. Either way it’s a rendition style that allows the quality of the sounds to be apparent yet for music to flow: for you to be able to ‘listen to the music’ instead of ‘hearing the sounds’. It’s a bit like an old comfy pair of slippers that nevertheless still manages to look new. The sound is quite lively, yet it’s not natively aggressive. Neither is it soporific. And believe it or not, the ATH-D1000 does deliver the general Omega II / SRM-007t sonic signature, albeit without the resolution (and therefore less of that transparency). However that's not to say that the phone lacks in transparency given general dynamic phone performance: Poor recordings are exposed for what they are.
Is it worth it? To me an AKG K271S ($180) with a Ray Samuels XP-7 ($500) and a $50 interconnect is technically infinitesimally inferior to the ATH-D1000 and a $30 Sony optical cable, while the D1000 is musically considerably superior. There’s obviously no provision for opamp-rolling and whatever to play with the sound, but I don’t believe there’s any need to play with it. It’s very good the way it is.
So, it’s an upsampling DAC, amp and excellent phone all-in-one, at a price that’s below what you’d expect to pay for such a combination. If you’re looking at building from scratch with a discount-store mid-fi home deck and don’t expect to upgrade for a while, you could do a lot worse and spend a lot more than simply pairing it with the ATH-D1000. Even better if you own a Discman with optical out… these will really pep up the sound and more importantly be far more portable than dragging an XP-7 (or equivalent) around with you.
While the exact ‘value for money’ quotient is out to the jury for these phones, I think that the phones give a polished and hugely entertaining performance, and the DAC-amp in these phones really work. The sonic performance makes it definitely a master and not a jack of all trades, and it can definitely punch with the best of amp+phone combinations in this price range. In my opinion, the all-rounder phone market has a new, unique and very serious contender in the shape of the ATH-D1000.
___________________________________
[size=xx-small]
Audio-Technica ATH-D1000
Type: Dynamic Stereo Headphone, Closed
Driver: 53mm Neodymium magnet, CCAW voice coil
Efficiency: 105db/mw (JEITA)
Frequency Response: 5hz ~ 35khz
Power: DC2.4V (Ni-Mh AAA) / DC3V (Alkaline AAA)
Endurance: 8 hours approx on Ni-Mh, 10 hours approx on Alkaline
Maximum output level: 42mw + 42mw (1khz, digital 0db input, 32 ohm load)
Input format: PCM @ 32/44.1/48khz
Weight: 350g approx not including cable or batteries
Accessories supplied: 2 AAA Ni-Mh batteries, recharger, mini TOSLINK - TOSLINK optical digital cable (3m)
Replacement earpad: HP-A900
Test tracks:
Justin Timberlake: Like I Love You
Salif Keita: Madan
Niggaz With Attitude: Real Niggaz Don’t Die
Vengerov plays Bach Shchedrin Ysaye: Toccata and Fugue for organ in D minor, BWV 565
Cold: End of the World
Susumu Yokota: Love Bird
Bruce Hornsby: Fields of Gray
Pavement: Texas Never Whispers
A. Scarlatti: Madrigali – O Morte
Frank Sinatra: I Get A Kick Out of You
Dido: All You Want
Tomoyasu Hotei: Battle Without Honor Or Humanity
Bomb the Bass: Dynamite Beats
Wayne Shorter: Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum
Talvin Singh: OK
The Superjesus: Gravity
Dmitri Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No.1 in C Minor - Allegro con brio
Neneh Cherry, Youssou N'Dour: 7 seconds
* All tracks from original CD's.
Test Equipment:
Sony SCD-XA777ES http://www.stereophile.com/digitalsourcereviews/491/
Sony D-NE900 http://www.ecat.sony.co.jp/audio/wal...318&KM=D-NE900
iRiver iMP-550 http://www.iriveramerica.com/products/iMP-550.asp
MOTU 828 Mk II http://www.motu.com/english/motuaudio/828/body.html
Phone compared with:
Stax Omega II w/SRM-007t, Chord Anthem interconnect
AKG K271S w/Ray Samuels XP-7, IXOS silver-grade RCA-mini interconnect
[/size]
