[rayjuodas]

 
Quote:

 
Excellent set of reviews!
 
On the 900's - the reason I didn't keep mine had to do with the "wings".  I could hear them microphonically whenever I'd move my head.
It was a subtle squeaking sound from their spring mechanism.
 
I guess, with hindsight, that I could have phoned AT USA in Ohio and asked for advice - maybe there's some lube or some other way to quiet
that sound...

 
Yep, I can confirm that I hear it too. There is an occasional "tense spring" sound, when you move your head or change your listening position. Apart from the thing you describe as "spring mechanism", their cable is also too sensitive, because every time it touches a part of your body or any other object, you hear this in your ear cups (as well as with other headphones, of course, but with these it seems more pronounced). This is what also contributes to what I referred to as "plasticky" feel of these headphones in my comparison. They seem too "touchy-feely" in some regards. You have to learn to be completely still, if you want to enjoy music with them  

 

[zazex]

Quote:

 
 You have to learn to be completely still, if you want to enjoy music with them  

Yes - well said and very true indeed.
 
I was not able be completely still on a consistent basis while listening, so I eventually sold them.
 
 
 

 

[rezel]

Question for the OP: What are your thoughts on Grado/Alessandro cans? General consensus seems to be that they are 'good' for rock, have a forward sound, and some don't like the treble/highs. I've been a bit curious about these cans.
 
Also, maybe I'm in the minority here but I don't mind the highs on Ultrasone cans. I own a a Pro 900 and the first ~20 hours I endured fatigue after two hour sessions but I loved the bright sound. Now I don't seem to get as fatigued and can go for 3+ hours. Brain burn in?
 
Thanks for your impressions. It's quite an interesting perspective to hear a real musician reviewing cans.

 

[rayjuodas]

Quote:

Question for the OP: What are your thoughts on Grado/Alessandro cans? General consensus seems to be that they are 'good' for rock, have a forward sound, and some don't like the treble/highs. I've been a bit curious about these cans.
 
Also, maybe I'm in the minority here but I don't mind the highs on Ultrasone cans. I own a a Pro 900 and the first ~20 hours I endured fatigue after two hour sessions but I loved the bright sound. Now I don't seem to get as fatigued and can go for 3+ hours. Brain burn in?
 
Thanks for your impressions. It's quite an interesting perspective to hear a real musician reviewing cans.

 
 
Well, I haven't listened to Grados, I only listened to / owned Alessandros, so I can only express my opinion about them. First of all, I always found this "consensus" strange, because I personally have never found that any of the headphones are better for some particular style of music because they exaggerate a certain frequency range, and Alessandros do. A lot. To me they were too shrill and mid-centric, a lot more than Shures are, as far as I remember (I didn't compare them side by side, obviously, so I might be wrong to some extent here). I could not live with the way Alessandros presented music, they were too shouty (ear bleed comes to mind, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration, at least to me), they were bright (I hate bright presentation!), they had no soundstage (left - right - that's pretty much it), and it was such I relief when I exchanged them for Sennheiser HD595! So if someone asked me for an opinion - I would not recommend them, I'd recommend HD595 (although they have their weaknesses too (see the article), but those weaknesses don't spoil the music enjoyment as much, imo), but the best I could really suggest is to listen to the headphones for yourself, because I understand this is quite subjective, and if you like Ultrasone sound, you probably will perceive Alessandros and Grados differently.
 
Yes, I think it's a brain burn in But what do I know
 
I would suggest reading as much as you can on this matter and make up your own mind:
http://www.csicop.org/si/show/belief_engine
http://www.ecoustics.com/electronics/products/articles/127865.html
http://www.nousaine.com/pdfs/dynaudio.pdf
http://www.nousaine.com/pdfs/Can%20You%20Trust%20Your%20Ears.pdf
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYTlN6wjcvQ
http://www.nousaine.com/pdfs/AudiourbanLegendsTheAudioCritic.pdf
 
I hope I helped.       

 

[rezel]

Thanks for the comprehensive reply. 

 

[xCheckmate]

If the OP could help me out a bit...
 
I just bought a pair of M50s, so they're not burned in. However, compared to the pair of Alessandro MS1is I have, I honestly don't feel they're too much different. (I was looking for something different and neutral compared to the Alessandros). From what I can hear, the M50s are just as bright in the highs, and even showing more sibilance in the highs. Bass is perhaps a little bit better, but still, for now, not a great improvement as I was hoping. At the moment, I'm quite disappointed, but hopefully burn-in can help this?
 
Yeah, I'm really hoping that burn in can take out some of that harsh treble (<- especially this) on the M50's and make it smoother and more bass-centric.
 
Thanks!

 

[rayjuodas]

 
xCheckmate, 
 
I think your experience depends on what you expected from them, to some degree, and also from your experience in hearing what’s going on frequency wise. Alessandros are a capable headphone, and detail wise you'll hear same stuff on both of these headphones, to the larger extent, except for differences in frequency range (if you know how and what to look for, you can try directly comparing the two - you definitely should hear the difference, as their sound signatures are quite different), and also depending on the music you're listening to. If you're listening to a simple pop or country song, don't expect it to be a huge difference, as mostly you will not find many extremities (frequency wise) in these styles of music (there are always exceptions, of course!). Try some Massive Attack (i.e. "Angel") and see how the bass compares, you should be amazed. While I did not compare Alessandros and M50 side by side (when I got my first pair of M50, Alessandros were long gone), but I did compare Alessandros to HD595, and much later HD595 to the M50. I found that Alessandros sounded more shrill, compared to the HD595, with accentuated "pain" or “listening fatigue” frequency (probably around 5 khz), and generally brighter sound (bass wise they were quite similar, to my ears, with HD595 having more pronounced bass and fuller sound). While, comparing HD595 to the M50, HD595 were accentuated in the mids (i.e. metal music sounded a lot more pleasing to the ear, guitar wise, and it took some time to adjust to the M50’s sound after them) and had a narrow scoop at around 10 khz, which made the hi hats or ride cymbals almost disappear on certain recording, while M50 overall sounded more balanced to me. 
 
After some time M50 will definitely lose this slight “shrillness” of highs (or a general rubbery sound signature - can't find a better explanation ), but not due to burn-in, rather from the ear pads getting older and worn, plus adjusting to your head profile. Anyway, that’s my experience with them.

 

[xCheckmate]

Thanks for the thorough reply. Just to clarify though, I was expecting the M50 to be a neutral headphone with an emphasis on the bass, exactly like how a lot of reviewers described them. Just like you said, I've been able to hear some differences between the two - to me the MS1i sounds more airy? I'm not sure how to describe it, but it's actually something I like better with my rock music. (Then again, I bought the M50 in hopes of a good can for pop and electronica, and I'm still hopeful that they'll turn out this way). I also still honestly think the M50 has a certain frequency of high that is more piercing than the MS1i, but I'll see. It's interesting that you mentioned breaking in the pads; I've never really thought about that before. Thanks .
 
I've left my M50 playing the whole night, so I'll go check the bass again and compare them with my MS1i. Regardless, I'll give them some time to settle in before I make my final decision about them. Thanks again rayjuodas.

 

[drtturnip]

I wonder if that amp has the typical higher output impedance. I would be afraid that some cans wouldn't like it.

 

[peck1234]

Great Review. Thanks 

 

[Faithless]

Great Job...
Was a big help for me.
Thanks.

 

[rayjuodas]

Thanks, Faithless.
 
If you ever have a chance, try the German Maestro GMP 8.35 D. Most probably my favorite out of all closed headphones I've tried, |I just recently bought them. Amazing detail, yet very balanced and smooth. Soundstage is the only minus, compared to, say, ATH-M50, but the incredible sound quality more than compensates for it, IMO. Have not tried them on my studio project yet, but I already see it as a nice alternative, used in parallel with ATH-M50.
 
Cheers!

 

[OJNeg]

Quote:

Audio-Technica ATH-A900
 
This is my 2^nd pair of ATH-A900, which only shows my favorable view regarding these headphones. I owned them for a short while (bought strictly for evaluation purposes, in response to largely favorable reviews they gets), then sold them, then missed their soothing comfort and calm reassuring presentation, bought them again to re-evaluate what I have been missing, and now I’m in an indecisive agony once again :/. Do I need them or not? Obviously, I don’t need them, since they don't offer anything M50 or RH-300 don’t have, except for a bigger soundstage (it is huge on the A900) and the calmness they ooze (500 hz is also not as prominent as on M50 or RH-300). Generally they sound thinner, compared to M50 or RH-300, but they are really well balanced and enjoyable, more relaxing, in a way. A lot of people are complaining about the recessed mids (same as with the ATH-M50), but I would rather call them not overblown, compared to some other headphones. The highs seem a bit subdued, compared to Dynaudio BM15 monitor, with one apparent discrepancy in the presentation freq. range of the A900 – a slight very narrow boost in the 12 khz region, which exaggerates some components of musical instruments that have high freq. content in them (like hi-hats or ride cymbals on some recordings), although to me it rarely spoiled the music enjoyment that this fine headphone provides, rather compensated for the ever so slightly subdued high frequency content (again - compared to BM15). If you want an example of this “mis-behaviour”, try this link of Deftones’ “Knife Party” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAP0w51Yjig and go to 3’24”, or slightly before that. The ride cymbal comes in at 3’24”, and it’s a bit too pronounced and piercing on A900, compared to M50 or BM15 (on these two it sounds more natural and not as sharp, you can clearly hear it, yet it doesn’t stand out and is not as piercing as on the A900. Overall the sound is full (while being a bit thin – get your heads around this one, sound lovers! J) and enjoyable, there's a bit of muddiness to it, but I don't view this headphone as a mixing or monitoring tool, it sounds coherent enough and I’d say I prefer it to anything I’ve tried so far for casual music listening, especially before going to sleep - A900 lulls and calms you like no other headphone, but still has enough punch in its arsenal, if and when you need it!
The only other drawback of the A900 is aesthetical. It has a “plasticky” feel to it, which is misleading, as its ear cups are not made from plastic, they are actually aluminum, from what I have read. But the pleather ear pads are really cheap (I believe they are borrowed from its younger brother ATH-A700), and sub-par to the overall feel of this headphone. Because of them the overall quality feels lacking somehow. I know I could try replacing them with the ATH-A1000 pads, which are more leathery-like but, from my experience, it might change the sound and I might not like it L Anyway, I’ll see, maybe I’ll try them out eventually, if I keep these headphones this time, that is, and not decide to buy another 5 pairs of headphones in search for the perfect one J
If you are not as picky as I am – buy these headphones, you will not regret it!
 

 
Great to see another A900 fan out there. I think these cans are severely underrated. Like you mentioned, they give a real smooth, relaxed presentation with plenty of soundstage for a closed can. In fact, I think for under $200, this is one of the best closed cans out there. Not great for all genres, but for jazz, classical, and instrumental music, these headphones really do shine.

 

[kkl10]

Rayjuodas, will you add any impressions of the GMP 8.35D in the first post?
I've been looking for a reasonable closed headphone and the GMP have caught my attention latelly...
 
Thanks for the review!

 

[lejaz]

Nice review....you definitely got me interested in the Rolands...and the m50 to a lesser extent. Forgive me if I missed it, but other than being closed vs. open, how would you compare the sound signature of the m50 to the hd600/580, which to my ears, sounds more balanced than any other phones that I've heard. I've got the 580 which seems to have close to a perfect balance between all the frequencies....except perhaps at the extremes of the highs and lows.