This time around I will be reviewing the Audio Technica ATH-Pro5X's which are aimed at Studio and DJ's. I was looking for another pair of closed back headphone's that didn't sit on your ear's, like my beyerdynamic 240 pro's which I can't wear for longer period of time due to them being on ears. These being actual over ear's unlike the 240 pro's which said that they were but in reality they wasn't. That was a selling point for me.
The Pro5X comes inside a normal gloss looking box inside a bubble wrap pouch, nothing special, there are no manuals or warranty card, just the headphones and two cables, inside plastic sealed bags.
Cable quality
Since the cables are removable, It comes with Two cables, a coiled one with a 6.3mm adapter and a straight one which is just 3.5mm, While having two cables is nice, it wasn't perfect. The coiled cable is the only cable which has the threads needed to tighten up the 6.3mm adapter as it was one of those adapters which you twist onto the end of the cable. The straight cable was a normal 3.5mm connector but you could still attach the adapter, it just would work as a normal adapter without needing to be tighten. The connection that goes directly into the headphone's are 2.5mm where the twist lock is located.
Both of the cables that are sticking out on each of the cups is a downside, if your not careful you could snag them on something and break them.
The issue at hand with the way Audio Technica handle the removable cable option on the Pro5X could be better, but due to them using a connector with a twist lock, mean's that you can only use cables that they make, or custom cables that account for the twist locking function of the headphone's. This can limit your selection of cables if you wish to either get better quality cables or cables of a custom length.
Headphone Adjustment
While it easily to adjust the headphone for smaller or larger heads, its harder to get it to match the other side unless you have something you can measure to make sure they both are the same, as there no marks to let you know what size settings that you have it set to.not to mention you can't lock the size in place since there isn't any notches. So one wrong move and the adjustment will change. You have to be careful when you do the adjustment as each side has a thin cable that sticks out from the sides, that is wired to the headphone drivers.
Clamp
The clamp of the Pro5X's are not tight, it just that when you take the headphone's off, they instantly goes back to there original shape. At times I found the cup or cups to flip facing away from your ears, when ever I remove the headphone. Which can be a problem, even if you remove it slowly and carefully It can still happen. Which can be annoying to some folks, unless your a DJ then it won't bother you.
Design Quality
Like I already mention, Plastic makes up a big part of this headphone, The Y part around the cups and the cups them self are made out of hard plastic. The only part of the headphones that has some form of metal in it, is the Headphone adjustment part, but the rest of it was plastic.
I feel if you take care of it then it should last, unless you the type of person who drops headphones or rough houses them, then it would be another story and I doubt they would last if you handle your headphones like that. So I don't suggest you use these for portable usage, unless you put them inside a headphone protection case.
Comfit
The ear pads are made out of plastic leather and are alright, my ears felt comfit-able while wearing them as they fit inside the cups. As long you have them adjusted correctly. Luckily the ear pads are removable, so you can swap them for better ones if you need to.
The headband has some padding to it, while it might not be very thick, it works well enough to where the headband doesn't hurts your head. So far its light and I hardly feel them on the top of my head, I do feel like I could wear these headphones for hours without my head starting to hurt, including with my glasses on.
Source
I will be using my Fiio Q1 MKII Dac/amp, with the bass boost setting disabled.
The Sound
There is no brightness in the highs, Details are good as it isn't too much and it isn't too little. Same with the cleanness of the sounds, including the snares. Every thing sounds normal. It doesn't stick out.
The primary singer to me comes off as being directly in front of me, as they are singing directly to me. It doesn't have the on stage feel. The backup singers on the left and right, they are spread out so there are no overlapping issues as with nice details. Its not too much either. The voices are not thin at all.
I like the way the bass sound in dub-step,DnB and other songs that uses a lot of bass, as it hits really hard and goes deep, I have no problem hearing the different bass notes. Bass doesn't stroll into the other freq's. It doesn't have one note or muddy bass which is good.
The sound is outside my head as it feels like it's Small or medium, with the sound being spread out.
Games
Quick note, one of the major things I like about the Pro5X is the way the game sounds with the bass, you can really hear the powerful guns in say FO76 or the division 2, they work really well for gaming, I have no issues at all hearing the location of enemies that around me as the imaging is good.
Conclusion
While I do have a primary open back headphone, I love the way the pro5x sound when I watching movies and anime. It does a very good job with blocking out the sounds of my PC fans. While I do wish the removable cable wasn't using Audio Technica's special locking connector, since that stops you from using any cable.
At-least the ear pads are removable and easily to put on the replacement ear-pads, While being light which I like.
