I made my way to the sorta-nearby audio/video megashop in Osaka today to check out the new Audio Technicas; A2000X & A1000X. I had a very brief listen with unfamiliar equipment and mostly unfamiliar music in a noisy environment. I had them on my head for no more than seven minutes I would guess. I did my best to go in with an open mind but I did have hopes for a mass production modern day L3000 and not a lower end take on the W5000. I tried to describe them objectively and clearly show my subjective preferences, but you would be advised to wait for others to speak up before drawing any final conclusions.
There are a few general descriptions that I think will be consistent with what most will think.
They are fairly bright (I am sensitive to that) maybe slightly less than the W5000s.
They are detailed and somewhat transparent, but maybe not quite up to the W5000s standards.
They are bass light.
(I really like the bass of the W5000 but of the acoustic variety only. It is not my preference for faster or bigger bass music. It is just too shy for my tastes. I can say with reasonable certainty that these new ones are too bass shy for me as well. I would guess that others who appreciate a healthy respect paid to the lower end would be dissatisfied with these. I am one.)
They are very light-weight. Pretty amazingly.
As for more subjective views (Proceed with caution)…
Nothing really jumped out at me as special with these headphones. It is difficult to get that feeling in an audio store, but I really found no hints of anything interesting to me.
The appearance was nothing special for me. For either one. The A2000Xs cups looked like brushed steel and the orange-ish copper of the A1000Xs didn’t stand out either.
They were not a great fit. Not as bad as the W5000s. I am one of those who found those uncomfortable. They just aren’t as comfortable as the W1000s or L3000s. I do not understand why AT is using this other design. If lightness counts to you as part of ‘fit,’ then they are very light and that was a plus in the comfort column. Overall, just not my preferred fit. Maybe for others.
I listened mostly to rock and soul tracks that I knew. Probably not going to be their strong suit.
I could not really tell the difference in sound between A2000X & A1000X. The conditions were not good and I did not really try very hard. The whole sound-signature picture was not at all what I prefer. So I just did not stay there very long. I listened to a lot of other phones (HP-DX1000, K701, RS-1, RS-2, D2000, D5000, D7000, DT48E, OII, SA5000 to name a few
) and just about each and every one of them I would have preferred to take home on a whim over the A2000X & A1000X. The W5000, W1000, and AD2000 (all of which I have owned) were right next to me. I prefered all three of the older models.
Of the others I listened to, the ones that stuck out were the ESW10s. Very nice sounding, very very nice looking.
Back to the hard facts…
Many people will hear these headphones and completely disagree with me. You may be one.
I will try to go in for another listen sometime later with some familiar music and see if my impressions change.
There are a few general descriptions that I think will be consistent with what most will think.
They are fairly bright (I am sensitive to that) maybe slightly less than the W5000s.
They are detailed and somewhat transparent, but maybe not quite up to the W5000s standards.
They are bass light.
(I really like the bass of the W5000 but of the acoustic variety only. It is not my preference for faster or bigger bass music. It is just too shy for my tastes. I can say with reasonable certainty that these new ones are too bass shy for me as well. I would guess that others who appreciate a healthy respect paid to the lower end would be dissatisfied with these. I am one.)
They are very light-weight. Pretty amazingly.
As for more subjective views (Proceed with caution)…
Nothing really jumped out at me as special with these headphones. It is difficult to get that feeling in an audio store, but I really found no hints of anything interesting to me.
The appearance was nothing special for me. For either one. The A2000Xs cups looked like brushed steel and the orange-ish copper of the A1000Xs didn’t stand out either.
They were not a great fit. Not as bad as the W5000s. I am one of those who found those uncomfortable. They just aren’t as comfortable as the W1000s or L3000s. I do not understand why AT is using this other design. If lightness counts to you as part of ‘fit,’ then they are very light and that was a plus in the comfort column. Overall, just not my preferred fit. Maybe for others.
I listened mostly to rock and soul tracks that I knew. Probably not going to be their strong suit.
I could not really tell the difference in sound between A2000X & A1000X. The conditions were not good and I did not really try very hard. The whole sound-signature picture was not at all what I prefer. So I just did not stay there very long. I listened to a lot of other phones (HP-DX1000, K701, RS-1, RS-2, D2000, D5000, D7000, DT48E, OII, SA5000 to name a few
Of the others I listened to, the ones that stuck out were the ESW10s. Very nice sounding, very very nice looking.
Back to the hard facts…
Many people will hear these headphones and completely disagree with me. You may be one.
I will try to go in for another listen sometime later with some familiar music and see if my impressions change.
