[Golden Monkey]

Obviously, directly comparing these two and saying one is better than the other wouldn't be fair to either.  Since they are very different in terms of sound signature, I'm wondering if anyone with experience with both phones (like Skylab...but he's owned everything, lol) can chime in and give me some compare/contrast impressions between them.  Can you tell me what you like/dislike about either, and which you prefer?  Also, please describe their strengths/weaknesses regarding music choices, amplification, etc.
 
Would they make good "companion" phones, in that they both sound great but bring different things to the table, or are they TOO different from each other in that if I like one I wouldn't like the other?  I'm coming from an "I like warm and detailed" ala HD650 point of reference, and primarily listen to rock/metal/industrial (but I pretty much listen to everything in equal measure really) if that helps.  As always, thanks in advance for any info.

 

[mythless]

I haev the T50P and have heard the ESW9A (unamped only) extensively.  I felt that both are very good at what they do, and it's really up to personal taste.  I would say if you have one you don't need the other unless you had the cash to spend on your curiosity.  That being said becaused I have the T50P I never really thought about getting the ESW9A.
 
T50P is brighter, colder, faster, analytical more treble focused.  The ESW9A is smoother, warmer, fuller and mellow more mid and bass focused (when compared to the T50P).  T50P can be played unamped but really likes to be amped, especially from a warm sounding amplifier.  It sounds pretty good, imo.  Never heard the ESW9A amped so no comment. 
 
They are completely different from each other.  I say if you got the Sennheisier go for the T50P for a different taste.

 

[Golden Monkey]

Thanks for the impressions!  My AT's arrive tomorrow...and the T50p's next week

.  Stupid Head-Fi...I hate this place, lol.  If I don't like one or the other, I can always re-flog here, but  Ihave a feeling I'll be keeping both.
 
Next thought...break/burn-in...are the T50p's a phone requiring a long break-in period, or are they comparable to any other dynamic driver?

 

[mythless]

I think I burned them in for 200 hours.  Both are completely different, so if you keep both you know they aren't the same.  When I was deciding it was between the ESW9A, ESW10jpn and the T50P as my "portable" and whatever I get I wouldn't go after the others to save my wallet.  I really like the T50P and even listening to the ESW9A I felt both were great for what they did, either one of them are good buys especially if you like the sound.

 

[Golden Monkey]

ESW9's arrived today.  For the record, I ordered them from Beach Camera.  I did digging around, and it appears over the years many people have bought these from them, but there have been questions (not that Beach did anything wrong, mind you) about their reliability, pricing, real/fake, etc. due to them being usually the lowest price.  Well, just to document my experience instead of replying to OLD threads, yes, these are legit ESW9's, and I had no issues shopping with Beach.  I didn't have any real interaction with them, just ordered online, but email communication and shipping info was timely, and shipping was free, despite being FedEx.  package arrived safe and secure and on time as promised.  My ONLY complaint is with AT actually, lol...getting them out of the box is a real pain in the ass. 
 
Cursory two minute listen after fitting them (yes, they are very light and comfortable, and simply gorgeous) was exactly what I expected them to sound like...warm, large soundstage, deep bass, smooth highs, and sweet mids.  Hung them up to begin the long burn-in process, but they sound awesome right out of the box.

 

[soundeffect]

Yup I agree.  Very sweet headphone.  Performs much better than what I expected considering the size of them although the only other small headphone I owned were the es7.  The es7 didn't wow me like the esw9's did.  I'm still impress with them.  They perform well enough that I find them able to compete with the larger headphones.

 

[Golden Monkey]

Oh joyous day...the Beyers arrived this morning, and they are currently undergoing pink noise/sine sweeps break in.  Seriously sexy and awesome feeling piece of masterful Teutonic engineering...
 
I'm changing the title of this thread to "AT ESW9A vs. Beyer T50p (impressions forthcoming)", as I'll be able to do a little comparison soon.  I'll need more time with both phones first though...but they are both keepers. 

 

[mythless]

 
Quote:

Oh joyous day...the Beyers arrived this morning, and they are currently undergoing pink noise/sine sweeps break in.  Seriously sexy and awesome feeling piece of masterful Teutonic engineering...
 
I'm changing the title of this thread to "AT ESW9A vs. Beyer T50p (impressions forthcoming)", as I'll be able to do a little comparison soon.  I'll need more time with both phones first though...but they are both keepers. 

lol Teutonic, that's a word I rarely hear these days.  Did you get a chance to hear it before you sent it off to undergo the break in process?

 

[Golden Monkey]

Quote:

 
Quote:

Oh joyous day...the Beyers arrived this morning, and they are currently undergoing pink noise/sine sweeps break in.  Seriously sexy and awesome feeling piece of masterful Teutonic engineering...
 
I'm changing the title of this thread to "AT ESW9A vs. Beyer T50p (impressions forthcoming)", as I'll be able to do a little comparison soon.  I'll need more time with both phones first though...but they are both keepers. 

lol Teutonic, that's a word I rarely hear these days.  Did you get a chance to hear it before you sent it off to undergo the break in process?

Yes, initial impressions are..."WOW!  These sound like nothing else I've ever heard!".  Very clean, clear, bright, detailed.  They remind me of a fresh pair of AKG K701's, in that they are almost overly-bright right out of the box.  Not strident in any way, but powerful in the upper range (which is weird, because "powerful" is usually more of a low frequency term, lol).  They are just blasting away in the other room, freaking my dog out once they hit the upper end of the frequency sweeps, but I just wanted to give them a couple of hours before I put them on for some initial critical listening.  Updates later today, I promise.

 

[WyldRage]

I also have both, and let me say that the ESW9 has been gathering dust ever since I got the T50p. For my genres (Metal and Rock), I can't get over how slow the ESW9 sounds, or how sweaty my ears feel. I find the T50p a bit too small for my tastes (always fidgetting with them), but that's the cost of portables. I like the speed and detail, the isolation and the fact that they did not interfere with my glasses (until I no longer needed them). The frequency response is good, but I would take a bit more bass.

 

[soundeffect]

My bet between the two are place on "depending on music genre."

 
I'm sure they both sound good in different ways and are probable just two different sounding portables period. Just guessing as I never tried the T50p, but I do know the esw9 sounds good though.

 

[Golden Monkey]

Yeah, they sound VERY different from each other, and going from one to the other is a weird experience...their presentations are not really "opposites", but they have very different ideas on music, lol.  I think it'll definitely come down to types of music. 

 

[soundeffect]

lol, looks like you are having fun.  I guess that's the beauty of headphone, is to try them out.  I'm telling you when I try out headphones, it's like trying out different restaurants.  You have your favorite, but still each one have there specialties that makes you keep coming back.  The way how they present themselves, the type of things they offer for you to taste, their manners, and your moods all affect your experience.  When you think you found something better, you go back to the old one and the old one remind you of what make them special.  In the end, you always open your wallet and think about the next place to hit.

 
Hopefully I'm not the only one who is like this because I just spilled my beans.

 
Quote:

Yeah, they sound VERY different from each other, and going from one to the other is a weird experience...their presentations are not really "opposites", but they have very different ideas on music, lol.  I think it'll definitely come down to types of music. 

 

[MaxwellDemon]

 
Quote:

lol, looks like you are having fun.  I guess that's the beauty of headphone, is to try them out.  I'm telling you when I try out headphones, it's like trying out different restaurants.  You have your favorite, but still each one have there specialties that makes you keep coming back.  The way how they present themselves, the type of things they offer for you to taste, their manners, and your moods all affect your experience.  When you think you found something better, you go back to the old one and the old one remind you of what make them special.  In the end, you always open your wallet and think about the next place to hit.

 
Hopefully I'm not the only one who is like this because I just spilled my beans.

 
Quote:

Yeah, they sound VERY different from each other, and going from one to the other is a weird experience...their presentations are not really "opposites", but they have very different ideas on music, lol.  I think it'll definitely come down to types of music. 

I don't think you are the only one. I try to have such an objective way of listening, my friends are starting to joke that I'll have a closet just for earphones and headphones... Like you said, I have my favorite, but for everything I have auditioned, I can easily imagine what makes them great.
 
And then sometimes, I kinda just want to buy them just because they are great in that special way, even if I know they might not be my main portable/home phones.

 

[Golden Monkey]

We have a sickness gents...lol.  The restaurant analogy is very true...except many times with food I can accept a less than perfect meal, and with audio I'm always chasing elusive nirvana...
 
I'm doing that snobby eliteist audiophile thing right now and listening to a FLAC rip of Diana Krall's "Live in Paris" on the J3 with the Beyers, and...

 it's one of those moments of pure trancendant joy, when everything comes together...a fantastic recording, a brilliant performance, a great file/media/rip, awesome hardware, and stellar cans (the Beyers, not Dianas, lol).  I'm very much NOT a jazz fan, but my god, I could melt into this recording.  The T50p's still have a long ways to go as far as being settled in...there's a hint of sibilance in the upper registers of some notes, bass is shy, but the mids are fantastic!  There's detail and speed and clarity that I've never encountered before...the brushes on the snare on "Maybe You'll Be There" for example: it's not just a "shush"ing noise, you can hear the difference when the drummer changes direction.  Instrument placement is spot perfect.  The natural reverb of the venue adds much dimensionality that the Beyers capture beautifully. The hammers falling on the strings in her piano and the transients...wow to all of it. 
 
I'd listen to it all again with the AT's but they are in a room that I have a guest sleeping in at the moment, so I can't do a back and forth comparison at this time unfortunately.  Much more to come later. 
 
Oh, and I said before that I could always keep one pair and sell the other, but that just isn't going to happen.  It's perfectly acceptable to have a favorite

 Japanese and a favorite

 German restaurant.