[blipblop]

I had spent a considerable amount of time on this forum trying to determine the best headphone to purchase. Little did I know when I first arrived here that I'd have to consider many things in my search - audio range, pre-amplification, etc. After a long search I decided upon the A900 for several reasons:

1. It could be driven wonderfully by the "outs" on most audio devices. No need for an amp to make them sound good.

1. It had wonderful, depthful bass. Definitely more in line with my inclination towards house, techno and hip-hop music

1. The A900's were known to sound warm and rich and give life to the music, and more so than the others headphone choices (like Sennheiser) which are more bent towards reproductive accuracy.

Sadly, my A900 has been battered and is now breaking apart. Rather than buy another, I was wondering if there are now other headphones available that are along the same lines as the a900. Are there? Any headphones that are considered the successor to the A900? Or is the A900 still in its own special corner?

 

[cheechoz]

I would consider the Beyerdynamic)))) DT990. It has a wonderfull tight, and controlled bass response. I think you will find it an upgrade to the A900's.

 

[slwiser]

Why not stay with what you have and enjoy? You can get them for less than 200 now or get the A900LTD for less than $300. I do not think the sound will be exactly the same with either....

 

[bangraman]

Hunt for the CD3000. Like the A900, but better.

 

[blipblop]

Slwiser: You are right. I will keep it till it dies, but before I go ahead and buy the same exact thing I just wanted to make sure there's nothing that has cropped up as a better choice since I purchased the a900.

Cheechoz: Doesn't the DT990 need to be driven by an amp?

 

[blipblop]

Bangraman: I remember you! You were the resident expert on Audio-Technicas.

1. If I remember correctly, the CD3000 was discontinued by Sony and people were having some sort of warranty problems with them. Am I correct?

2. Do these need to be driven by an amplifier?

 

[legcramp]

yes I think the cd3000 needs to be ampified I mean it is a 300+ bucks headphone

 

[bangraman]

Yes blipblop, I was the resident A-T nut for a while. Now with an Orpheus and Omega II, I must admit I'm no longer as interested in what they have to offer unless it is a better work of headphonic art than the W2002

The CD3000 can be driven unamped, although how 'unamped' you are running I don't know. It'll be roughly comparable to the A900. I suppose it needs more dispassionate assessment as to whether certain headphone amps are doing anything soundwise if the phones are sufficiently well driven by the current and voltage reserves of whatever you're using that's 'unamped'. I've used a switch test for a while (which I've made a little more scientific as of late but not that much has changed), and I've had some interesting experiences. While I've found no giant-killers as such, I have confirmed that there are headphone amps that actually work, although I have also definitely found lots of overpriced / overcomplicated / overhyped junk.


I don't know about the warranty issues. I guess that's something to bear in mind. If you would rather take no risk and you're happy with the A900, I suppose it might be worth sticking with it. New A-series might be coming next year since it'll have been 4 years since the introduction of the Ax00 series.


Quote:

yes I think the cd3000 needs to be ampified I mean it is a 300+ bucks headphone

I use a $2,600 headphone unamped portably most of the time, which is electrically sufficiently well powered by many unamped sources. I have no major issues with that.

 

[[AK]Zip]

The CD3000's don't need an amp, but an amp will help. I honestly would have to say get the W100's if you liked the A900's and had them for 2 years. They are no longer made so you will have to buy them used.

-Alex-

 

[slwiser]

blipblop

Since I just made a purchase of the ATH-A900LTD what exactly has broke on your ATH-A900s that I need to be aware of as having a weakness. This itself, may be a real big issue that they are falling apart...?

Quote:

Originally Posted by blipblop Slwiser: You are right. I will keep it till it dies, but before I go ahead and buy the same exact thing I just wanted to make sure there's nothing that has cropped up as a better choice since I purchased the a900.

 

[KZEE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by blipblop The A900's were known to sound warm and rich and give life to the music, and more so than the others headphone choices (like Sennheiser) which are more bent towards reproductive accuracy.

Huh?! Live music is warm and rich and full of life, and thus a piece of audio gear that is warm and rich and full of life is the one that is the more accurate - and neutral - reproducer of music.

 

[Daniel L]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bangraman Yes blipblop, I was the resident A-T nut for a while. Now with an Orpheus and Omega II, I must admit I'm no longer as interested in what they have to offer unless it is a better work of headphonic art than the W2002 The CD3000 can be driven unamped, although how 'unamped' you are running I don't know. It'll be roughly comparable to the A900. I suppose it needs more dispassionate assessment as to whether certain headphone amps are doing anything soundwise if the phones are sufficiently well driven by the current and voltage reserves of whatever you're using that's 'unamped'. I've used a switch test for a while (which I've made a little more scientific as of late but not that much has changed), and I've had some interesting experiences. While I've found no giant-killers as such, I have confirmed that there are headphone amps that actually work, although I have also definitely found lots of overpriced / overcomplicated / overhyped junk. I don't know about the warranty issues. I guess that's something to bear in mind. If you would rather take no risk and you're happy with the A900, I suppose it might be worth sticking with it. New A-series might be coming next year since it'll have been 4 years since the introduction of the Ax00 series. I use a $2,600 headphone unamped portably most of the time, which is electrically sufficiently well powered by many unamped sources. I have no major issues with that.

Finally, I've read a post by someone with experience that says amps are unnecessary when a sufficient source/headphone combo is used.

 

[ScubaSteve87]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KZEE Huh?! Live music is warm and rich and full of life, and thus a piece of audio gear that is warm and rich and full of life is the one that is the more accurate - and neutral - reproducer of music.

Idk about this at all, some cans just give you a different impression of the sound. I found the Ety ER4p extremely accurate in reproduction, but it just doesn't have that "musical" feeling to it. In contrast, the SR-80 is much more musical to my ears, but has worse reproduction of sound. I also thinks this depends on your amp and source (eg. solid state vs tube)

Maybe try a higher level audio technica. As I just got the AD2000 of course I am going to put in a plug for them, but how about the new W5000?

 

[bangraman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daniel L Finally, I've read a post by someone with experience that says amps are unnecessary when a sufficient source/headphone combo is used.

The only caveat with that is that some sources are cleaned up noticeably with the addition of external amplification. "You need an amp" "You don't need an amp" are not blanket statements and it's something you've got to figure out for yourself... with appropriate experience of course if you want to be anywhere near authoritative. Unfortunately that means buying lots of sources and amps and testing them. Hanging onto a midrange reference amp (NOT a PPA), an audio switch, RMAA (volume matching for the listening test... I wouldn't bother with the rest of the measurements) and some decent cables certainly wouldn't hurt if you want to check whether you're losing anything by going unamped.


On the other hand, if you feel you don't need amping because whatever you are getting out of your existing source is fine, then it's probably best to remain that way. Just don't go claiming it as gospel as you could be wrong. In my experience, the capability of the source and the front-end are the most important factors. Super-clean amping adds a further dimension but IMO it is the least important piece of the puzzle as long as what you have already is of decent quality.