[Ge03]

I'm considering adding the W5000 to my assortment of 'phones but have read someone's comment that the driver sits quite close to the ear and can press against the body of the ear when trying to get a good snug fit from the pads to generate the bass.

This is my biggest deal breaker for headphones as either I've got weird ears or overly sensitive ears, as I find anything that presses on the ear to be uncomfortable to the point of being painful. Unfortunately this isn't always obvious in a brief try-out in the dealers so any feedback from owners would help.

 

[jackmccabe]

I find them extremely comfortable, they are actually the most comfortable headphones I have ever worn.
Although occasionally if I put them on incorrectly the back of my ear can ouch the driver which can be
quite uncomfortable, but this can easily be fixed by stuffing something under the pad.
 
I do think a lot of people have a problem with getting a tight seal, as people comment that it lacks bass,
where as I think they have the perfect amount and impact. With a good seal I think these are one of the
best cans for rock I have heard.
 

 

[Butler]

Quote:

I find them extremely comfortable, they are actually the most comfortable headphones I have ever worn.
Although occasionally if I put them on incorrectly the back of my ear can ouch the driver which can be
quite uncomfortable, but this can easily be fixed by stuffing something under the pad.
 
I do think a lot of people have a problem with getting a tight seal, as people comment that it lacks bass,
where as I think they have the perfect amount and impact. With a good seal I think these are one of the
best cans for rock I have heard.
 

That's my biggest complaint as well. However, the bands can be bent by bringing the cups together which will make the clamp a little tighter. This only helps somewhat with the bass. If you're looking for bass however, these honestly arn't the cans for you. If you want a beautiful AT woody that has bass- Hit up the W1000X. 
 
 

 

[visualguy]

 
I find the W5000 comfortable even though the pads press on the ears, but I don't wear headphones for more than an hour or so at a time.
 
I get a good seal with them.
 
In my opinion, the biggest disadvantage of the W5000 is that their sound is somewhat "thin" and not full-bodied. The brain gets used to it pretty quickly, but when I put them on after listening to other headphones (T1, HE-6, SR-007, etc.) it feels for a short while like I'm now listening to one of those small transistor radios from the old days (in terms of the thinness of the sound, not the quality).
 
 

 

[Butler]

Quote:

 
I find the W5000 comfortable even though the pads press on the ears, but I don't wear headphones for more than an hour or so at a time.
 
I get a good seal with them.
 
In my opinion, the biggest disadvantage of the W5000 is that their sound is somewhat "thin" and not full-bodied. The brain gets used to it pretty quickly, but when I put them on after listening to other headphones (T1, HE-6, SR-007, etc.) it feels for a short while like I'm now listening to one of those small transistor radios from the old days (in terms of the thinness of the sound, not the quality).
 
 

In my opinion, you maybe mixing a lack of powerful bass for a thinness in sound- But this could also be attributed to what you were listening to. These are great for mids and highs, they make the acoustic guitar simply shine- you can almost feel the rattle of the strings against the fret board. I feel as if the sound is full enough- not super full- but that's okay because the huge soundstage makes everything feel alive around you.
 
Also, I'm curious if you haver larger than average ears- these are big cans!

 

[visualguy]

Quote:

In my opinion, you maybe mixing a lack of powerful bass for a thinness in sound- But this could also be attributed to what you were listening to. These are great for mids and highs, they make the acoustic guitar simply shine- you can almost feel the rattle of the strings against the fret board. I feel as if the sound is full enough- not super full- but that's okay because the huge soundstage makes everything feel alive around you.
 

I found the sound not to be full-enough for orchestral classical music, for example, but the brain adjusts quickly as I said, so it's not a huge problem in reality. As to string instruments - it's kind of a mixed bag with the W5000. For example, the cello doesn't sound right to me on the W5000.
 

 

[Proglover]

Acoustical gitars can be fantastic on W5000, but I also think it's too thin and lacks body in it's sound.
 
Detail is absolutely great with these, but there's not much more they do for me then that. With W5000, I can hear a lot, but I simply don't enjoy the music.
 
Comfort is do-able, but can be better, especially in high-end class.
 
One other big disadvantage for me were the microphonics; every time I moved, I heard things crack when I had these on.

 

[jackmccabe]

Strange I have none of these problems, I find them far more full bodied than my rs-1's and I don't have any problems with microphonics.
Obviously I have a very good fit with them or an especially bassy pair as mine have a lot more bass than the hd800's, rs-1's and dt880's.

 

[visualguy]

 
Quote:

Acoustical gitars can be fantastic on W5000, but I also think it's too thin and lacks body in it's sound.
 
Detail is absolutely great with these, but there's not much more they do for me then that. With W5000, I can hear a lot, but I simply don't enjoy the music.
 
Comfort is do-able, but can be better, especially in high-end class.
 
One other big disadvantage for me were the microphonics; every time I moved, I heard things crack when I had these on.

I agree in general, although I do enjoy listening to them from time to time when I feel like I want to get all the details.
 
I believe that the noise that you hear is from the moving pads ("wings") that hold the headphones on your head. As I move my head while wearing the W5000, I sometimes hear creaking noises coming from the pivoting points of these wings. I just try not to move my head...
 

 

[Proglover]

yes, that's correct
 
Quote:

 
I believe that the noise that you hear is from the moving pads ("wings") that hold the headphones on your head.

 

[Mkubota1]

Quote:

I'm considering adding the W5000 to my assortment of 'phones but have read someone's comment that the driver sits quite close to the ear and can press against the body of the ear when trying to get a good snug fit from the pads to generate the bass.
 

 
I think I know what you are talking about.  And after a few brief demos with these (and the 1000x's), I can say for me they definitely do not touch my outer ear.  The pads are deep enough and the driver surface is recessed enough so that it does not touch my outer ear.  I definitely did notice that on some of their other headphones, perhaps the open-air ones that look somewhat similar, the cloth pads were really shallow and the drivers sat right on my ears.  At first I thought maybe the pads were worn or something.  But apparently they're supposed to be like that.  But if your ears are like mine (and who's aren't?

), you should be fine with the 5000s.

 

[Ra97oR]

W5000 is one of the most picky about amps, W1000X is actually pretty undetailed compared to the W5000. Compared to the ATs I have now, the W5000 is too smooth for my liking but certainly not lacking in bass, it can go very deep and have great texture when driven with enough power.

 

[visualguy]

 
Quote:

W5000 is one of the most picky about amps, W1000X is actually pretty undetailed compared to the W5000. Compared to the ATs I have now, the W5000 is too smooth for my liking but certainly not lacking in bass, it can go very deep and have great texture when driven with enough power.

The W5000 sound  the same to me on all the amps that I tried them on: HA5000, Beta 22, GS-X, and even just the headphones out of the Benchmark DAC1. I don't know why people say that the HA5000 has some particular synergy with the W5000. If anything, the gain on the HA5000 is way too high for the W5000. In terms of sound, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between any of those amps with the W5000 in a blind test.
 
I agree that the W5000 can go low when the seal is good. The problem of the lack of body in the presentation of the music doesn't come from a lack of bass. Even music with no bass in the recording suffers from a thin presentation. It's just how these drivers sound. I remember having a similar impression of the Sony SA5000, but I sold those years ago, so I can't do a comparison now.
 

 

[Butler]

My E7/E9 does a great job at making the W5000 sound stronger, compared to unamped that is. Not necessarily warmer. But, like all AT's- They're an easy drive. Understandably- The W5000's are best suited for the HA-5000 but who can afford something like that? I'm not even sure if they're still in production. 
 
I can say that my AD700's sit closer to my ear and occasionally my ear will touch the insides. Not a huge deal, but not terribly desirable either.

 

[visualguy]

 
Quote:

The W5000's are best suited for the HA-5000 but who can afford something like that? I'm not even sure if they're still in production. 
 

That has been repeated often, but to my ears the W5000 sound no different with the HA5000 than they do with my other amps. As I said, the HA5000 is actually somewhat problematic with the W5000 because of its high gain of 6X which makes precise volume control difficult - it gets too loud too quickly when turning the volume knob.
 
I actually find the HA5000 amp to be a better fit for the Beyer T1.