[Novaldex]

 
Hello : )
 
I already hear some of you, at the mere sight of the title, shouting and crying, saying that you don't buy 600€ to use them unamped, that a mobile phone will sound better, that i should burn in the fires of hell. Please read (a bit) further (or just skip the post and read the tl,dr version at the end if you don’t have time to lose).
I have so far a (as the title says) a DT770/80 that is, if not dying, at least pretty sick: it rattles, the pads are destroyed, the bass is completely gone and it doesn't isolate at all anymore. Most of that is probably due to the pads, but that's probably an opportunity to buy new headphones

. I used it straight from an essence STX, and as far as i could tell, its tiny amp was enough.
 
So i was looking for a pretty similar type of headphone (read a sort of perfected DT770, as I was wery pleased with it) and i stumbled across the ATH-W1000X. I read as much as i could about it, and it seems on paper they are pretty much ideal : closed, lots of bass, but with a good extension and controlled, good mids, confortable, not infamous to drive.
 
The problem is I’m only a student, and I obviously can’t throw money out the window. I thought I could buy some proper headphones that sound pretty good (yet not optimal, I’m well aware of that) without an amp at first, to buy an adequate source/amp later.
 
Keep in mind that I don’t consider myself as an audiophile : audio gear is, as far as I’m concerned, not a passion, but a mere way of listening to music. I don’t want perfection, but only a good sounding setup.
 
So would the W1000X be a worthy replacement for the DT770 ? And most importantly, could I use the W1000X, at least at first, on my essence stx ? Ultimately, I’m going to buy an adequate amp, probably change my source as well, but not right now. It might be in a month, it might be in a year. So the audio technicas have to sound pretty good with just the essence stx feeding them.
 
Tl,dr : Would the ATH-W1000X sound good enough out of my essence stx until I get a proper amp ? 

 

[TheMiddleSky]

well, W1000X is simply easier to drive compare to 770/80, so quantity wise, your SC should be enough. (Grandioso is a bit revealing though, but we already talk about quality here)
 
I think you already at the right path, moving up from 770/80 to W1000X, just don't expect bigger bass and better isolation.
 
Regarding about your plan to get amp, why just don't get dac+amp combo instead? nowdays seems there're many good option about them. (just depend on your budget), and anyway, to feed W1000X I think it's wise to more focus about quality than quantity.
 

 

[nanaholic]

The W1000X is quite easy to drive and I found amping them only makes very small differences, for example I get pretty decent sound just plugging them into my phone (!).  
 
Also I think you can stick with the STX, the DAC portion of the Essences cards are fairly good but the headphone amp is a little underwhelming.  You can probably spend about 300 dollars for a Schiit amp and get some really good results until you are ready to move to much higher end stuff.

 

[Chris_Himself]

Most ATH headphones are remarkably easy to drive. I listened to a pair of W1000x's out of my iBasso D3 w/ upgraded opamps, and a Meier Audio CORDA Concerto, it's pretty dang easy to drive. Not my particular cup of tea for that kind of money, but yes, it's easy to drive.
 
As for needing to replace your Xonar Stx, part of me doubts that you'd really need to. Just roll opamps and that should keep you plenty entertained. You're lucky the Xonar has socketed DIP's, I had to solder all mine lol

 

[Clownzor]

Have a 1/4in socket - 1/8in plug adapter coming in the mail next week (the W1000x comes with 1/4in plug and no adapter) - so I'll let you know how it sounds out of various sources. It is very easy to drive though, using the Fiio E9 or Audio-GD NFB-12 it is about as easy as an AD700 or Ultrasone HFi580 to drive, and both of those are easily driven by an ipod nano. The W1000x is also quite forgiving in regard to amps (unlike other A-T woodies) so the soundcard SHOULD (but I cannot be certain) be fine.

 

[Novaldex]

Well, sounds good to me. Thanks for the info chaps.

 

[Clownzor]

Adapter arrived. Listening to the W1000x out of an ipod nano right now (on about 1/2 volume). Sounds surprisingly good. Loses a bit of detail, punchiness and soundstage compared to a better source/amp, but all in all is very listenable, and a credit to how easy the W1000x is to drive.

 

[Novaldex]

Thank you for the update Clownzor.