[goldwerger]

Had quite some time with this one, almost two months now;

Originally bought as a gift for a nephew, but trust young people not to appreciate what they've got, so naturally he didn't like it. At all. A conclusion he vehemently reached within the short span of a mere few hours. Anyhow.
2500 euro isn't small change for yours truly, so i thought i'd give it a shot myself. Not a stranger to Audio Technica, just have not had anything theirs since the Ikeda days.

If you can't be asked reading further?
Best dynamic headphone i have ever heard. By far. And close to five decades now as a professional, i've heard a lot. E-xce-ptio-nal.

- This thing needs many, many days to reach its full potential. It showed me what it can fully do close to two weeks later -yes, really- and i do mean close to 2 full weeks later, playing non-stop all that time. So for those that listened to it and formed an opinion, should your impressions have been made prior to such a lengthy burn-in period, well, conclusions self-evident.
- The stock cable is not microphonic. Seen this mentioned from various (different) people, not sure how i could phrase this politely, but after a point, one should perhaps grasp the basics prior to presuming they're in a position to make any judgements. Experts the lot of them mind, both here and in another forum.
- The stock cable does not need an upgrade IMHO. I find it perfect; it's well balanced, it suits the capabilities of the drivers, it compliments the auditory result, it doesn't cut or inhibit anywhere within the spectrum, it doesn't colour or lay over, in any a way.
* the XLR variant that's sold separately is made from the exact same cable, albeit obviously, we now have 2 separate earths. As such, you can expect what you'd expect in any such rare apples-to-apples comparison. The single-ended gives you a bit more 'cohesion' overall, the balanced a bit more spread-out and perhaps, case depending, 'dynamic' a representation. That's it, unless
** your amp is built such that its single-ended output suffers. Say it's a truly balanced design, ergo its harmonics are.. what they are when you do that.. i won't go into the XLR craze here, but suffice it to say physics don't change no matter what boutique builders would like you to believe. If your amp is unfortunate enough to be a truly balanced design as is the trend for deaf people today, perhaps buying the balanced cable is truly an option. Otherwise, i'd stick to what AT intended.

As to the headphone itelf? You've more or less read all this elsewhere, but in my own words:

+ To use a term i disagree with but see written a lot? Timbre. Timbre. Timbre. Name the instrument, it doesn't matter, you haven't ever heard it so well and realistically defined before. We're firmly within proper, expensive loudspeakers territory; that good.
+ Stupidly fast. For a dynamic mind. Saying this because i've seen two different people compare it to STAX's 009.. all i can say to both of them is that either their ears suffer, greatly, or their electrostatic amp is crap; or perhaps both? It's insanely fast a headphone, yes. For a dynamic. The air it moves (for a dynamic) is truly staggering, at high volumes you experience it much the same way you would if close to a loudspeaker. Naught to do with volume (albeir it is the cause), this is literally the air reaching your ears at speeds high enough to be felt physically, as an on the skin pressure. It's that fast.
+ Contrary to what graphs portray, empirically speaking it comes off as natural, well-balanced and even, in a very shall i say stereotypical "Japanese" quality sound way of approach.
+ A.C.C.U.R.A.T.E. Have you ever had a Graham or an SME tonearm and then switched to an 'SS' Ikeda? That kind of accurate. Someone performs laser surgery, or could have.
+ On good recordings, and only on good recordings, it comes alive. And it blows my bald skull out. Haven't sweated from excitement while listening to music in a looong time. Did and do now. I literally stop to wipe my bald pate, lol. It's.. moving an experience. Not STAX attack kind of alive, this is more like the kind of 'bam', you're now transported, fasten your seatbelts kind of alive. Everything expands, micro and macro blend better, attack and decay become more natural, the flow is crystal spring water-like.
+ It scales and scales and scales. All the way up to my main system's Zanden DAC -> TAD amp. First headphone i get that does that.
- Brutal on bad recordings. And i mean brutal. Most of you know this (the better the system and so on), but some of you may not quite grasp how pronounced this can be. Well, you will now
- Suffers greatly in a bad system. This isn't meant for small SMD-ridden amps (with or without "tubes") fed from iPhones or a PC. Not talking synergy or matching here, am talking cheap/bad system, advertising/hype for it notwithstanding.
- Anemic, flat and near dead on an amp lacking juice. Like proper juice, these headphones need power. The expensive kind.
-/+ Stage, depiction and/or placement thereof is very good, but not 2500 euro good. Its one and only achilles heel. Not average, not good, it really is very good. But at this price range you can find better elsewhere, albeit you'd literally lose on everything else. Mind, all this on a proper system. On anything subpar, i can see why some use the term "imagery".
Note to you folks, you may need a better system for this pair. Sorry :S
* Also, the above applies for, say a full orchestra piece, if like me you listen to 'classical'. For 3, 4 instruments tops? I doubt you'd find anything to complain about. Again, on a system worthy of such a pair of headphones.
-/+ For me a clear positive, but knowing the trends today, let's mark it a 'so so'; low frequencies are quality, not quantity, are well-driven STAX like. Texture, shape, sheen, growth and spread, correct staggered decay, but with no 'oomph' or artifical 'bloom', which masks other frequencies and as such is unwanted. Says i.
+ Slam is there, there is impact. If your amp is solid; see above. "Boom", to use a nephew term, there is not. And i thank the Lord for that too.

To say i recommend them is an understatement. Honestly the best dynamic i've ever heard and by far. And -since other types do exist- with the timbre where it is? Honestly not sure if i'd ever look at planars after this pair.
As for those such as myself listening with STAX headphones you'd ask? What about the other extreme? Dual answer.. You'll never, ever have the attack, air and responsiveness only STAX can provide you with (given a good amp). But what it amounts to? This wonderful juxtaposition of grace and speed without being tiring, detail and nuance without being jarring or icepicky? It's not realistic; it's not. It's a wonderful re..-re-presentation of an actuality you just won't get to hear.
To this day, nothing gives you the "timbre" a good dynamic can give you. Nothing.
So, you pick your poison

And thank you for reading my wall-o-text! Unless i've forgotten anything i think that's it, in nice and plain a langue hopefully

I wholeheartedly agree these headphones are extremely chain sensitive/picky.

I've used them with 11 amps, and really like them with only 2 of them. But on those amps, they are just fantastic. They are:

• Decware/ZMF Reference OTL (review)
• Riviera AIC10

The former provides that beautiful decay of higher impedance headphones paired with higher output impedance (5687 tubes offering extra clarity). A warm but clear presentation. The latter offers astonishing speed and crispness of attack (as compared to each other).

 

[Remusz911]

Had quite some time with this one, almost two months now;

Originally bought as a gift for a nephew, but trust young people not to appreciate what they've got, so naturally he didn't like it. At all. A conclusion he vehemently reached within the short span of a mere few hours. Anyhow.
2500 euro isn't small change for yours truly, so i thought i'd give it a shot myself. Not a stranger to Audio Technica, just have not had anything theirs since the Ikeda days.

If you can't be asked reading further?
Best dynamic headphone i have ever heard. By far. And close to five decades now as a professional, i've heard a lot. E-xce-ptio-nal.

- This thing needs many, many days to reach its full potential. It showed me what it can fully do close to two weeks later -yes, really- and i do mean close to 2 full weeks later, playing non-stop all that time. So for those that listened to it and formed an opinion, should your impressions have been made prior to such a lengthy burn-in period, well, conclusions self-evident.
- The stock cable is not microphonic. Seen this mentioned from various (different) people, not sure how i could phrase this politely, but after a point, one should perhaps grasp the basics prior to presuming they're in a position to make any judgements. Experts the lot of them mind, both here and in another forum.
- The stock cable does not need an upgrade IMHO. I find it perfect; it's well balanced, it suits the capabilities of the drivers, it compliments the auditory result, it doesn't cut or inhibit anywhere within the spectrum, it doesn't colour or lay over, in any a way.
* the XLR variant that's sold separately is made from the exact same cable, albeit obviously, we now have 2 separate earths. As such, you can expect what you'd expect in any such rare apples-to-apples comparison. The single-ended gives you a bit more 'cohesion' overall, the balanced a bit more spread-out and perhaps, case depending, 'dynamic' a representation. That's it, unless
** your amp is built such that its single-ended output suffers. Say it's a truly balanced design, ergo its harmonics are.. what they are when you do that.. i won't go into the XLR craze here, but suffice it to say physics don't change no matter what boutique builders would like you to believe. If your amp is unfortunate enough to be a truly balanced design as is the trend for deaf people today, perhaps buying the balanced cable is truly an option. Otherwise, i'd stick to what AT intended.

As to the headphone itelf? You've more or less read all this elsewhere, but in my own words:

+ To use a term i disagree with but see written a lot? Timbre. Timbre. Timbre. Name the instrument, it doesn't matter, you haven't ever heard it so well and realistically defined before. We're firmly within proper, expensive loudspeakers territory; that good.
+ Stupidly fast. For a dynamic mind. Saying this because i've seen two different people compare it to STAX's 009.. all i can say to both of them is that either their ears suffer, greatly, or their electrostatic amp is crap; or perhaps both? It's insanely fast a headphone, yes. For a dynamic. The air it moves (for a dynamic) is truly staggering, at high volumes you experience it much the same way you would if close to a loudspeaker. Naught to do with volume (albeir it is the cause), this is literally the air reaching your ears at speeds high enough to be felt physically, as an on the skin pressure. It's that fast.
+ Contrary to what graphs portray, empirically speaking it comes off as natural, well-balanced and even, in a very shall i say stereotypical "Japanese" quality sound way of approach.
+ A.C.C.U.R.A.T.E. Have you ever had a Graham or an SME tonearm and then switched to an 'SS' Ikeda? That kind of accurate. Someone performs laser surgery, or could have.
+ On good recordings, and only on good recordings, it comes alive. And it blows my bald skull out. Haven't sweated from excitement while listening to music in a looong time. Did and do now. I literally stop to wipe my bald pate, lol. It's.. moving an experience. Not STAX attack kind of alive, this is more like the kind of 'bam', you're now transported, fasten your seatbelts kind of alive. Everything expands, micro and macro blend better, attack and decay become more natural, the flow is crystal spring water-like.
+ It scales and scales and scales. All the way up to my main system's Zanden DAC -> TAD amp. First headphone i get that does that.
- Brutal on bad recordings. And i mean brutal. Most of you know this (the better the system and so on), but some of you may not quite grasp how pronounced this can be. Well, you will now
- Suffers greatly in a bad system. This isn't meant for small SMD-ridden amps (with or without "tubes") fed from iPhones or a PC. Not talking synergy or matching here, am talking cheap/bad system, advertising/hype for it notwithstanding.
- Anemic, flat and near dead on an amp lacking juice. Like proper juice, these headphones need power. The expensive kind.
-/+ Stage, depiction and/or placement thereof is very good, but not 2500 euro good. Its one and only achilles heel. Not average, not good, it really is very good. But at this price range you can find better elsewhere, albeit you'd literally lose on everything else. Mind, all this on a proper system. On anything subpar, i can see why some use the term "imagery".
Note to you folks, you may need a better system for this pair. Sorry :S
* Also, the above applies for, say a full orchestra piece, if like me you listen to 'classical'. For 3, 4 instruments tops? I doubt you'd find anything to complain about. Again, on a system worthy of such a pair of headphones.
-/+ For me a clear positive, but knowing the trends today, let's mark it a 'so so'; low frequencies are quality, not quantity, are well-driven STAX like. Texture, shape, sheen, growth and spread, correct staggered decay, but with no 'oomph' or artifical 'bloom', which masks other frequencies and as such is unwanted. Says i.
+ Slam is there, there is impact. If your amp is solid; see above. "Boom", to use a nephew term, there is not. And i thank the Lord for that too.

To say i recommend them is an understatement. Honestly the best dynamic i've ever heard and by far. And -since other types do exist- with the timbre where it is? Honestly not sure if i'd ever look at planars after this pair.
As for those such as myself listening with STAX headphones you'd ask? What about the other extreme? Dual answer.. You'll never, ever have the attack, air and responsiveness only STAX can provide you with (given a good amp). But what it amounts to? This wonderful juxtaposition of grace and speed without being tiring, detail and nuance without being jarring or icepicky? It's not realistic; it's not. It's a wonderful re..-re-presentation of an actuality you just won't get to hear.
To this day, nothing gives you the "timbre" a good dynamic can give you. Nothing.
So, you pick your poison

And thank you for reading my wall-o-text! Unless i've forgotten anything i think that's it, in nice and plain a langue hopefully

Who would refuse such a gift? Maybe your nephew was just humble, and didn't want to accept such an expensive gift from you.
Maybe it was not paired well with his amp+dac, so it was a disappointment. If not paired well, you might not like it.
Many people say it's a bit too bright. It is, but you can cancel this out with a warm amp or dac, problem solved, you get an excellent sound. The stock pads also may be disliked, then just buy better pads.
But on the other hand, young people don't appreciate the ADX5000 that much, it's more for middle-aged men or older.

I agree with your assessment, it is probably the best dynamic headphone, in my view it's better than the HD800S and some say better or comparable to the much more expensive Focal Utopia, which I haven't heard yet. Probably depends on your taste.

The stock cable is indeed microphonic, but otherwise does the job. I use a short aliexpress silver cable which brings out even more detail and transparency, without sounding too harsh in my system.

Comparing it to the HD800S, I had both for 3 weeks: The ADX5000 sounds nicer, clearer or more beautiful, albeit with a slightly smaller soundstage. If you try heavy metal, the bass was distorted on the HD800S, whereas the ADX5000 could fully reproduce the heavy metal bass. It just shows which is better. Choice of material and looks is also way better on the AT.

Compared to the Susvara, I wouldn't say the Susvara was better, I think it just gives music to you with a different taste. The Susvara was smooth, comfortable and relaxing, whereas the ADX5000 was detailed, direct and fast. The AT was more realistic, especially in the vocals. I could say it's the same category soundwise, just depends on what you prefer.

But a very nice review from you, thanks for sharing your thoughts on this great headphone! Just some people don't realize this and go with the hyped HD800S.

 

[jamesjames]

Who would refuse such a gift? Maybe your nephew was just humble, and didn't want to accept such an expensive gift from you.
Maybe it was not paired well with his amp+dac, so it was a disappointment. If not paired well, you might not like it.
Many people say it's a bit too bright. It is, but you can cancel this out with a warm amp or dac, problem solved, you get an excellent sound. The stock pads also may be disliked, then just buy better pads.
But on the other hand, young people don't appreciate the ADX5000 that much, it's more for middle-aged men or older.

I agree with your assessment, it is probably the best dynamic headphone, in my view it's better than the HD800S and some say better or comparable to the much more expensive Focal Utopia, which I haven't heard yet. Probably depends on your taste.

The stock cable is indeed microphonic, but otherwise does the job. I use a short aliexpress silver cable which brings out even more detail and transparency, without sounding too harsh in my system.

Comparing it to the HD800S, I had both for 3 weeks: The ADX5000 sounds nicer, clearer or more beautiful, albeit with a slightly smaller soundstage. If you try heavy metal, the bass was distorted on the HD800S, whereas the ADX5000 could fully reproduce the heavy metal bass. It just shows which is better. Choice of material and looks is also way better on the AT.

Compared to the Susvara, I wouldn't say the Susvara was better, I think it just gives music to you with a different taste. The Susvara was smooth, comfortable and relaxing, whereas the ADX5000 was detailed, direct and fast. The AT was more realistic, especially in the vocals. I could say it's the same category soundwise, just depends on what you prefer.

But a very nice review from you, thanks for sharing your thoughts on this great headphone! Just some people don't realize this and go with the hyped HD800S.

A bit harsh re the HD800S I think ... but couldn't agree more re the Susvara.

 

[jamesjames]

A bit harsh re the HD800S I think ... but couldn't agree more re the Susvara.

It occurs to me that I've never listened to heavy metal on the HD800S (or any other phones for that matter) - so I guess I would have to accept it might push the HD800S into audible distortion. That said, with acoustic music, I don't generally hear differences in distortion levels between the HD800S and ADX5000 - although I think the ADX is slightly more prone to resonance and some sibilance through the 2-5k presence band. So perhaps, once again, listening preferences will be quite relevant here. I recall with the MySphere there was certainly a practical ceiling for gain - below which performance was, however, sublime. Re the Utopia, I feel anyone who appreciates the wide-open spaces of the HD800S or ADX5000 is unlikely to prefer it.

 

[jamesjames]

Anyone interested in measurements for the ADX5000, HD800S and Utopia can find them at Keith Howard's Headphone Test Lab site: https://headphonetestlab.co.uk/home-welcome.

 

[LostHisMarbles]

Had quite some time with this one, almost two months now;

Originally bought as a gift for a nephew, but trust young people not to appreciate what they've got, so naturally he didn't like it. At all. A conclusion he vehemently reached within the short span of a mere few hours. Anyhow.
2500 euro isn't small change for yours truly, so i thought i'd give it a shot myself. Not a stranger to Audio Technica, just have not had anything theirs since the Ikeda days.

If you can't be asked reading further?
Best dynamic headphone i have ever heard. By far. And close to five decades now as a professional, i've heard a lot. E-xce-ptio-nal.

- This thing needs many, many days to reach its full potential. It showed me what it can fully do close to two weeks later -yes, really- and i do mean close to 2 full weeks later, playing non-stop all that time. So for those that listened to it and formed an opinion, should your impressions have been made prior to such a lengthy burn-in period, well, conclusions self-evident.
- The stock cable is not microphonic. Seen this mentioned from various (different) people, not sure how i could phrase this politely, but after a point, one should perhaps grasp the basics prior to presuming they're in a position to make any judgements. Experts the lot of them mind, both here and in another forum.
- The stock cable does not need an upgrade IMHO. I find it perfect; it's well balanced, it suits the capabilities of the drivers, it compliments the auditory result, it doesn't cut or inhibit anywhere within the spectrum, it doesn't colour or lay over, in any a way.
* the XLR variant that's sold separately is made from the exact same cable, albeit obviously, we now have 2 separate earths. As such, you can expect what you'd expect in any such rare apples-to-apples comparison. The single-ended gives you a bit more 'cohesion' overall, the balanced a bit more spread-out and perhaps, case depending, 'dynamic' a representation. That's it, unless
** your amp is built such that its single-ended output suffers. Say it's a truly balanced design, ergo its harmonics are.. what they are when you do that.. i won't go into the XLR craze here, but suffice it to say physics don't change no matter what boutique builders would like you to believe. If your amp is unfortunate enough to be a truly balanced design as is the trend for deaf people today, perhaps buying the balanced cable is truly an option. Otherwise, i'd stick to what AT intended.

As to the headphone itelf? You've more or less read all this elsewhere, but in my own words:

+ To use a term i disagree with but see written a lot? Timbre. Timbre. Timbre. Name the instrument, it doesn't matter, you haven't ever heard it so well and realistically defined before. We're firmly within proper, expensive loudspeakers territory; that good.
+ Stupidly fast. For a dynamic mind. Saying this because i've seen two different people compare it to STAX's 009.. all i can say to both of them is that either their ears suffer, greatly, or their electrostatic amp is crap; or perhaps both? It's insanely fast a headphone, yes. For a dynamic. The air it moves (for a dynamic) is truly staggering, at high volumes you experience it much the same way you would if close to a loudspeaker. Naught to do with volume (albeir it is the cause), this is literally the air reaching your ears at speeds high enough to be felt physically, as an on the skin pressure. It's that fast.
+ Contrary to what graphs portray, empirically speaking it comes off as natural, well-balanced and even, in a very shall i say stereotypical "Japanese" quality sound way of approach.
+ A.C.C.U.R.A.T.E. Have you ever had a Graham or an SME tonearm and then switched to an 'SS' Ikeda? That kind of accurate. Someone performs laser surgery, or could have.
+ On good recordings, and only on good recordings, it comes alive. And it blows my bald skull out. Haven't sweated from excitement while listening to music in a looong time. Did and do now. I literally stop to wipe my bald pate, lol. It's.. moving an experience. Not STAX attack kind of alive, this is more like the kind of 'bam', you're now transported, fasten your seatbelts kind of alive. Everything expands, micro and macro blend better, attack and decay become more natural, the flow is crystal spring water-like.
+ It scales and scales and scales. All the way up to my main system's Zanden DAC -> TAD amp. First headphone i get that does that.
- Brutal on bad recordings. And i mean brutal. Most of you know this (the better the system and so on), but some of you may not quite grasp how pronounced this can be. Well, you will now
- Suffers greatly in a bad system. This isn't meant for small SMD-ridden amps (with or without "tubes") fed from iPhones or a PC. Not talking synergy or matching here, am talking cheap/bad system, advertising/hype for it notwithstanding.
- Anemic, flat and near dead on an amp lacking juice. Like proper juice, these headphones need power. The expensive kind.
-/+ Stage, depiction and/or placement thereof is very good, but not 2500 euro good. Its one and only achilles heel. Not average, not good, it really is very good. But at this price range you can find better elsewhere, albeit you'd literally lose on everything else. Mind, all this on a proper system. On anything subpar, i can see why some use the term "imagery".
Note to you folks, you may need a better system for this pair. Sorry :S
* Also, the above applies for, say a full orchestra piece, if like me you listen to 'classical'. For 3, 4 instruments tops? I doubt you'd find anything to complain about. Again, on a system worthy of such a pair of headphones.
-/+ For me a clear positive, but knowing the trends today, let's mark it a 'so so'; low frequencies are quality, not quantity, are well-driven STAX like. Texture, shape, sheen, growth and spread, correct staggered decay, but with no 'oomph' or artifical 'bloom', which masks other frequencies and as such is unwanted. Says i.
+ Slam is there, there is impact. If your amp is solid; see above. "Boom", to use a nephew term, there is not. And i thank the Lord for that too.

To say i recommend them is an understatement. Honestly the best dynamic i've ever heard and by far. And -since other types do exist- with the timbre where it is? Honestly not sure if i'd ever look at planars after this pair.
As for those such as myself listening with STAX headphones you'd ask? What about the other extreme? Dual answer.. You'll never, ever have the attack, air and responsiveness only STAX can provide you with (given a good amp). But what it amounts to? This wonderful juxtaposition of grace and speed without being tiring, detail and nuance without being jarring or icepicky? It's not realistic; it's not. It's a wonderful re..-re-presentation of an actuality you just won't get to hear.
To this day, nothing gives you the "timbre" a good dynamic can give you. Nothing.
So, you pick your poison

And thank you for reading my wall-o-text! Unless i've forgotten anything i think that's it, in nice and plain a langue hopefully

Some additions, as i keep coming back to this headphone.
(believe it or not, considering i listen[ed] exclusively with a 009BK + a T2 made by me)

- I can hear parts/elements in certain recordings i had not, ever, heard before with headphones. And other than the BK, may i note i also owned the original Ωmega and the 9000.
Overly busy recordings, with lots of instruments piled in are a revelation to re-listen with the ATH-ADX5000.
Not just in classical, take Derek and the Domino's Layla. Always a complaint of mine, Duane's Les Paul and how it sounded in the solo (almost not as it turns out!) through my STAXes, versus how clear (albeit still in the background) and distinct it is with my 5000. Same for many other pieces too, across the genres. Enya Watermark, Isao Tomita, etc. etc.
I hear things i had not ever heard before on a headphone. Period.
* this is a big one. We have, technically speaking, surpassed the giants. Meaning i need reconsider, well, everything *

- Showing my age here, but.. once upon a time, people actually left home and went to listen to live music, because thank the Lord Almighty, we didn't have the internet back then.
Have you ever heard an overdriven ALNICO speaker? And i mean bleeding to death overdriven, a couple of hundred watt pure valve Marshall heads killing it?
It has a distinctive sound! Lost now, nobody plays so loud (Albie King, we miss you dearly) anymore. And you guessed where this is going, yeah..
First time ever, again, with headphones, that i have a pair capable of accurately reproducing that special ALNICO sound, when we're way past breakup and that Marshall golden goodness destroys your ears, but the shrooms or acid were so good man and it's all fiiine? Yeah.
You ever happen to get a pair of these, put Crossroads from the Wheels of Fire (recorded live at the Fillmore i think?) album on with them. Goddamn.

- It takes longer than two weeks for them to burn in, lol.
They have improved further, almost exclusively in the staging.

- I insist that the stock cable is the best you can get, true.. unless you can afford this one: https://www.transparentcable.com/products/ultra-headphone-cable
Worth it.
Note however that you will additionally need someone to solder A2DC connectors for you. Transparent can do it for you, but as it's not offered by default, you go to 'custom' for that and you wouldn't want to, they tend to charge accordingly.

Will now design a proper, big b- ##$ -lls amp for the ADX5000 and sell both the T2 and the 009BK locally. Am done with electrostats after this one.
And i listen mostly to classical!
Yeap..

P.S. You might want to try the Auter pads, lambskin, non-perforated, from ZMF. Not a recommendation for everyone, but they tip the scale ever so slightly towards something perhaps more palatable for those with, err, more "modern" tastes in music. See? I can be polite, lol. Extra bonus that with them on the headphone sits better on the head, bit.. wobbly with the alcantaras on mine.
P.P.S. Likewise with the headband, albeit obviously strictly for comfort. Made my local seamstress stitch me one from lambskin and, same thing. The headphone 'sits' properly now, much preferred i would say.

 

[vaporsynthwave]

P.S. You might want to try the Auter pads, lambskin, non-perforated, from ZMF. Not a recommendation for everyone, but they tip the scale ever so slightly towards something perhaps more palatable for those with, err, more "modern" tastes in music. See? I can be polite, lol. Extra bonus that with them on the headphone sits better on the head, bit.. wobbly with the alcantaras on mine.
P.P.S. Likewise with the headband, albeit obviously strictly for comfort. Made my local seamstress stitch me one from lambskin and, same thing. The headphone 'sits' properly now, much preferred i would say.

I agree with zmf pads making them sit more comfortably on the head, recently threw on some BE2 lambskin perf and I've been enjoying the different, less in your face sound. I'm curious about the thin caldera pads since they are closer to the stock pad's thickness. Care to show off that headband cover? I've been thinking of copying someone that I saw on here who put sennheiser HD-25 padding on the headband.

After neglecting the ADX-5000 in favor of iems/other headphones I'm back and loving them again. even with the burson 3xp instead of tube amplification.

 

[LostHisMarbles]

@vaporsynthwave i don't have a smart phone! I'll croak without ever having bought one and i'll be proud to have made it thus

Next time the nephew pops over i'll ask him to take a couple; if i don't forget mind, always a possibility.
I steer clear from Sennheiser, so wouldn't know about that headband, but since you mentioned it, would advise you to go for something as thin as you can have it, comfort-wise. Mine is thin to medium and even so, i had to pull the cups all the way down for the headphones to fit; any more and i'd have had to throw it away.
(medium size noggin)

* It's the internet and i keep forgetting.. i steer clear as in personally, am explaining, not preaching, to each their own and all that plus my apologies. But after the 5846352628 euro Orpheus fiasco and the screamingly artificial, over-bloated sound stage of the "famous" 800 that somehow everybody "loved" for some reason? No thanks. Again, just me.

 

[goldwerger]

Care to show off that headband cover? I've been thinking of copying someone that I saw on here who put sennheiser HD-25 padding on the headband.

I recommend the headband cover from Brautoful Audio:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/201...ship-ath-adx5000.857632/page-96#post-17705327

 

[LostHisMarbles]

So i have a stoopid idea.
..she's also gonna try and kill me, but what's life without adventure!
(plus it's been too quiet lately, man has to spice things up in a relationship)

I want to get this right here:

https://www.luxman.com/product/detail.php?id=17

And turn it to a headphone amp for the 5000. Because i can
Also because you can't beat stoopid.

* And its color matches my turntable. Which naturally makes it totally worth it, right?

Edit: Ordered one this evening! I also bought her a new juice blender, so she can't complain either! Talk about dollar for dollar, yessir, am nothing if not fair. Oh, and magnanimous. Goes without saying.

 

[Remusz911]