headphonejunkie
1000+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2006
- Posts
- 1,493
- Likes
- 10
I just recently purchased these little guys and wanted to give my opinion of them. I do have to say I am pleasantly surprised. Considering the mixed reviews on these I did not know what to expect.I thought they would sound very anemic and not be worth the $121.00 I spent for them. Let me tell you right off they are quite impressive.The cymbals I hear thru these remind me of my sr225 and sr80 grados. Very crisp and clean and shimmery. Drums also have that grado sound to them. If you are a gradofan like me you may want to pick these up. They are a great alternative for grados when you can’t wear them.
Listening to my pk2’s now makes them seem muddy and lacking detail. I used to like these but now I don’t think I will wear them much.The jack on my pk2’s recently broke and I managed to cut the cable end and resolder the end back on. I am not impressed with these anymore though.
That is another thing I like about the ew9’s they are put together so much better than the pk2’s. At least if a cable breaks I should be able to recable these a lot easier too.
The ew9’s do not have a large soundstage but neither do my grados so this was not a problem for me. They do present a good soundstage when it is on the recording. Listening to jack johnsons song “staple it together” is really quite impressive. I feel like I am wearing my old pair of grado sr80’s all over again. It is almost the same thing. I don’t have these anymore so I couldn’t do an A/B test.
These do great with amplification too. This really brings out their better side. From my Ipod though they sound good too. I have to put the volume to about 80 percent but that is how I like to listen with my grado 225’s too.I will have to do a comparison but I think the ew9’s may have a little more detail than my 225’s. I will check that later.
As for burn in. they definitely need at least 30 to 40 hours burnin to come to life. At first, they sounded very harsh and the highs were a bit unbearable. After burnin though they become a different headphone altogether.
The wood on these is very nice. I like the cherry and black pads. They are put together quite well. The metal swing arm looks solid and there is a lot of play with adjustment. The cords on these is very small. That is probably the only downside. I feel I need to be careful with these. They are little works of art afterall.
I do have to say that there is bass on these. It is tight and maybe not there as much as my 225’s but that makes me wonder if the 225’s are not adding something that shouldn’t be there. I may be wrong and it could be just the opposite. That is another thing about these. These keep all the notes very tight. Everything sounds very clean and crisp.
Either way they are fun sounding and make you want to get involved with the music. They are almost as fun as my 225’s. Notice I said almost.
The clip on thing takes a little getting used to. I feel like they may fall off on ocassion. Not because they are moving around but because they don’t seem to be making much contact with my ears. I don’t think I would do jumping jacks with these on but sitting here at work and moving around they are fine. Jogging may not be a good thing either. I don’t know I don’t jog. That is what I didn’t like about the ksc 75’s they don’t hold onto your ears very securely. These do but don’t feel like it. This is probably from my being used to my grados and other on ear phones.I do find my left ear getting sore after a while. This is more of an adjustment issue I think. I just readjust and it is fine.There is a small screw that holds the spring mechanism in place. This should be able to be adjusted to change the amount of tension against your ears.
Well, this is my quick tale one these little beauties. They are nice and worth the $121 I paid for them.
