I got mine for $570 shipped from PriceJapan. Arrived in two days. Amazing service from those guys.
They sounded terrific right out of the box. The treble smoothed out just a little after burn-in, but if they hadn't changed one bit I'd have been fine. They sound really, really good, and much better than I recall the original W1000 sounding (which I hated and sold in less than a week).
They are nice looking, and see pretty comfortable. For under $600, they are very attractively priced. I am glad I sold the L3000's and got these - I think these sound MUCH better.
Some pics:
I decided to try the W1000X after reading the descriptions here on Head-fi, as it sounded like there was a good chance that my issues with original W1000 and the W5000 were resolved by the W1000X (that being that the very clear mids and treble were not balanced any useful bass weight). The W1000X, to my ears, does indeed manage this balancing act not - instead of a very bright, bass light headphone, we get a very detailed, clean sounding headphone that also has satisfying bass.
The W1000X does have a bit of a forward midrange, but much less so than the L3000 did. The mids stick out a little bit, and there is a treble emphasis that adds a bit of presence but somehow does not cause a problem with sibilance (which is fortunate). They're quite a different take from the D7000 and DX1000, but taken on their own they are very good sounding cans IMO. The W1000X are definitely brighter than the DX1000, and less bass than it or the D7000, but very nice overall presentation with just as bit of a treble emphasis. As for the D7000 vs. the W1000X, the main differences are the D7000 has a little more bass and a less forward midrange, and is slightly more neutral overall. Both are great, but quite different sounding. It's nice that there's a choice for people who prefer the more forward mids than what the D7000 and DX1000 offer. I can appreciate all three perspectives, and enjoy all 3 of these closed Japanese Woodies
I don't think of them as being "specialist" in any way - they sound good to me on all kinds of music. I like the W1000X with a wide variety of rock and jazz, which is mostly what I listen to. But as for "making crappy recordings sound good" - nope. I'm not sure I know a headphone that will really do this, but if there is one, IMO, it's the JVC DX1000. It is definitely NOT the W1000X. Any headphone with a slight elevation in the presence region, like these have, is not going to help poor recordings at all. Maybe the opposite. But that said, I think they sound excellent on almost all my music - and if I listen to a bad recording, I just accept that it's bad.
Isolation is fair. Better than Denon D7000, but not as good as JVC DX1000, and much less than Ultrasone Edition 8. Speaking of the Edition 8, I think the Edition8 is quite a bit better, not just a little. But that's JMO, and doesn't take away from the W1000X being a great sounding headphone for the money. After all, the Ed 8 is 2-3x the price!
So to sum up, the W1000X have a bit of a flavor, and are not for people who like a laid back sound. But the flavor is not so strong as to make the headphone seem colored, and if you like your sound just a little vivid, the W1000X are a terrific headphone.
They sounded terrific right out of the box. The treble smoothed out just a little after burn-in, but if they hadn't changed one bit I'd have been fine. They sound really, really good, and much better than I recall the original W1000 sounding (which I hated and sold in less than a week).
They are nice looking, and see pretty comfortable. For under $600, they are very attractively priced. I am glad I sold the L3000's and got these - I think these sound MUCH better.
Some pics:
I decided to try the W1000X after reading the descriptions here on Head-fi, as it sounded like there was a good chance that my issues with original W1000 and the W5000 were resolved by the W1000X (that being that the very clear mids and treble were not balanced any useful bass weight). The W1000X, to my ears, does indeed manage this balancing act not - instead of a very bright, bass light headphone, we get a very detailed, clean sounding headphone that also has satisfying bass.
The W1000X does have a bit of a forward midrange, but much less so than the L3000 did. The mids stick out a little bit, and there is a treble emphasis that adds a bit of presence but somehow does not cause a problem with sibilance (which is fortunate). They're quite a different take from the D7000 and DX1000, but taken on their own they are very good sounding cans IMO. The W1000X are definitely brighter than the DX1000, and less bass than it or the D7000, but very nice overall presentation with just as bit of a treble emphasis. As for the D7000 vs. the W1000X, the main differences are the D7000 has a little more bass and a less forward midrange, and is slightly more neutral overall. Both are great, but quite different sounding. It's nice that there's a choice for people who prefer the more forward mids than what the D7000 and DX1000 offer. I can appreciate all three perspectives, and enjoy all 3 of these closed Japanese Woodies
I don't think of them as being "specialist" in any way - they sound good to me on all kinds of music. I like the W1000X with a wide variety of rock and jazz, which is mostly what I listen to. But as for "making crappy recordings sound good" - nope. I'm not sure I know a headphone that will really do this, but if there is one, IMO, it's the JVC DX1000. It is definitely NOT the W1000X. Any headphone with a slight elevation in the presence region, like these have, is not going to help poor recordings at all. Maybe the opposite. But that said, I think they sound excellent on almost all my music - and if I listen to a bad recording, I just accept that it's bad.
Isolation is fair. Better than Denon D7000, but not as good as JVC DX1000, and much less than Ultrasone Edition 8. Speaking of the Edition 8, I think the Edition8 is quite a bit better, not just a little. But that's JMO, and doesn't take away from the W1000X being a great sounding headphone for the money. After all, the Ed 8 is 2-3x the price!
So to sum up, the W1000X have a bit of a flavor, and are not for people who like a laid back sound. But the flavor is not so strong as to make the headphone seem colored, and if you like your sound just a little vivid, the W1000X are a terrific headphone.
I own a W1000X and it can get extremely bright and hard with amps that are slightly hard sounding. Maybe you could validate this finding sky so that future W1000X owners keep this in mind.