If you have the T1s I would go for the w1000x since they are more complementary to the T1 (since they are closed, more 'fun', and very nice cosmetically) - if you had both the HD650 and T1 I'd be surprised if you spent alot of time with the HD650s... Pricejapan is highly reliable but the price seems a bit high (the w1000x is usually available for under $400 in the USA)..
Comparing the HE400 (with velour pads) against the W1000X at the moment. (Could anybody advise on this comparison?)
It seems that in the UK the W1000X is so much more expensive than in the States. Amazon UK is around £570, and on the AT shop it's over £600 ... seems quite steep.
Also PriceJapan website states that if you select DHL delivery then there is no customs fees... I wonder whether that means there are no other extra charges? The W1000X with DHL delivery still comes to £361.00.
Sorry not experienced with buying internationally...
I have both the HE-400 and W1000X...
The HE-400 lacks the comfort the W1000X has, especially with the velours pads. The HE-400 is or at least feels heavier. Also, big difference is that the W1000X is closed back and the HE-400 is open. That is almost comparing apples with pears.
I use the HE-400 in my office with a tube amp, the Woo Audio WA7 and the W1000X at home with a solid state amp, the Bryston BHA-1.
I have to say that with the tube amp the HE-400 sounds real good. Very open, easy to listen to for hours, in my ears nice and neutral leaning to the bass side of neutral.
The W1000X does nothing wrong in my ears, very comfortable, easy to listen to for hours, detailed yet not emotionless and just right on the bass. Nothing really sticks out (in the positive way), just real nice all over the board. Biggest difference though is that the W1000X do not disturb the misses as much as the HE-400.
Comparing both to the HD 650, they both beat it by a mile (which might not be true for other people, but it is for me). The HD650 almost feels claustrophobic on my head. The sound is too dark, but the sound stage is real nice.
I don't use fancy words, just try to put to words what I hear. This is purely my opinion and not a 'neutral' comparison.
I imported mine from the US it arrived via parcel force duty vat customs fee and then the £18 parcel force handling fee had to be paid prior to release. In total it was came to just under £100 including the shipping.
I don't know about DHL but this calculator might help
I do international shipments only with the postal service. They don't charge customs fees and sometimes you get lucky and they get passed through customs without taxes. Shipping with DHL, UPS and FedEx will guarantee you a nice fee and customs taxes.
So even though HiFiMan call them leather pads, they're actually pleather?
Also, can someone who has tried the VELOUR pads (on these 'phones) please tell me, do they squish in the same as the AT standard ones, or do they have more resistance and thus keep the drivers a bit further from the ear? I don't like the way the standard AT ones just collapse under the pressure and sort of suction the whole set onto your head.
I have both and sound quality wise imo the w1000x are not in the same ballpark as the T1. However on first listen you might not actually find them to different in character. I do find the T1 is more refined and accurate in timbre and tone, resolving of details and textures that the ath only hints at. The ath are defiantly more resolving than my HD650's and less coloured while not being quiet so natural in tone.
The W1000X has a nice if slightly forward midrange which is a touch on the smooth side while pleasant it can lack a bit of bite or attack at times and sometimes can feel a little flat. Its the same with the bass its their but a touch to smooth and not as fast punchy or controlled as the T1 which itself doesn't deliver masses of bass but it makes up for it with quality of what is available.
The sound stage width depth is similar to the T1 though separation of instruments within it is not quiet as precise. I use my ath for listening at night in bed as they offer a relaxing signature and some isolation for my other halfs benefit. I find the T1's are more intense not as relaxing to listen to.
I will say the ath are competent and very enjoyable cans that are a good listen but they have not immersed me in the music the way the T1's can. I always feel I'm listening to a reproduction of the music with them while the T1 can be absolutely beguiling and does (at times) take me there.
Edit the HD650'S most probably offer a more difference in sound to the T1's than the ath if you are in the UK I do have a ath w1000x listed that would I consider offers on.
Once you do Purrins Mod, I did mine a little differently than his. I damped the deeper part of the cups, which gave the upper mids some nice bite ad tighten the low mids and bass
But after I did my Mod, my w1000x was a little sterile and a touch aggressive, I pair it with my Hm801 and pb2 [getting my w1000x balanced WOOT this week finally!] and with the hm801 and pb2 It's wonderful! The mids are crystal clear with a nice touch of body. It's super duper great, and I'm uber excited to hear the w1000x out of the balanced Out of the Pb2, the pb2 with lme 49990 ops is about as clean sounding as my NFB 10ES2, which means it pairs nice with the thick organic sound of the hm801! I really do love the hm801, it goes well with all my slighty bright cans lol.
Still Purrins mod +L3000 pads make the W1000x winner! It's easily as deep as my HE 4, the instrument seperation is better on the HE 4, but both the w1000x and HE 4 have equall 3D presentation, the W1000x is noticeably narrower, but it's presentation is very accurate, I found the w1000x to have a more accurate spacial sound than my DT 880. It resented depth and direction better than the DT 880, and it's still on par with the HE 4.
SO again, for on the go I do love my W1000x, but at home the HE 4 is king.
Still I'll have pics of my w10000x recable when it's done in about 2 weeks or so, I'm shipping them out tommorow. getting mini 4pin XLR earings on my HE 4 and W1000x, so they can share one cable [after all I can't use 2 headphones at once] so I think it will work nicely. I'm getting a half sleeve on the cable so it should look nice to! [assuming Brian doesn't kill me first] I'm rather specific with my order, cost me about $200 for the Cable and Earings for just the W1000x, another $60 for the HE 4 earings and Brian was nice enough to install my Wood cups on my HE 4 for free [he has to take apart the plastic houseing to installed the earings so he's not an extra step]
I have both the HE-400 and W1000X...
The HE-400 lacks the comfort the W1000X has, especially with the velours pads. The HE-400 is or at least feels heavier. Also, big difference is that the W1000X is closed back and the HE-400 is open. That is almost comparing apples with pears.
I use the HE-400 in my office with a tube amp, the Woo Audio WA7 and the W1000X at home with a solid state amp, the Bryston BHA-1.
I have to say that with the tube amp the HE-400 sounds real good. Very open, easy to listen to for hours, in my ears nice and neutral leaning to the bass side of neutral.
The W1000X does nothing wrong in my ears, very comfortable, easy to listen to for hours, detailed yet not emotionless and just right on the bass. Nothing really sticks out (in the positive way), just real nice all over the board. Biggest difference though is that the W1000X do not disturb the misses as much as the HE-400.
Comparing both to the HD 650, they both beat it by a mile (which might not be true for other people, but it is for me). The HD650 almost feels claustrophobic on my head. The sound is too dark, but the sound stage is real nice.
I don't use fancy words, just try to put to words what I hear. This is purely my opinion and not a 'neutral' comparison.
Sorry for the double post, but It's nice to see another owner who owns a Hifiman Planar and the W1000x togther ^^ [I've had the w1000x for a year now] and I can imagine the HE 400 out of a tube sounds pretty nice. But after I modded and L3000 Padded my w1000x, the upper mids had a nice attack to them, and the sound staged deepend a little more, try the mod if you can. It shouldn't bother the bass, but again I felt the stock w1000x had to much bass, so after I modded mine I liked it more, tighter bass without as much decay. Still I do like the edge the upper mids have on my w1000x, the D2k in comparison [mine has Driver Dampens, Cocbolo Wood cups, a OCC Copper Balanced Cable and Lawton pads] still can't match the w1000x mids, treble or sound stage. But sadly the D2k has a nice linear Sub bass response, so it's better for EDM than the W1000x will ever be <.<
But that Said I miss my w1000x, I've not listened to it in about 6 weeks, been getting to know my D2k more. So I'm excited to hear it again after It's been balanced! Looking forward to that WOW factor I got the first time I heard it.
Hello all, I've decided to go with the W1000X route.
I think either the HE400 or the W1000X would be good companions to the T1. The the wooden closed ears appealed to me more in this instance. Also as I tend to use headphones in long stretches I felt the more lightweight AT would be more suitable for my needs. I listen to a lot of acoustic/classical music so I think it will be a good match.
Most importantly I would like to thank everyone who gave their time providing me accounts of their experiences, their opnions and advice so clearly and thoughtfully for me. It's an invaluable guide for someone relatively new to this hobby. It's a great community to be part of.
I'll make sure to post back my thoughts once I've spent some time with the headphones.
I don't like closed headphone simply for their closed in nature. Everything sounds a bit constraint.
Save for Alpha Dogs and LCD-X, I will give these the benefit of the doubts.
I actually find IEMs more open sounding usually but then the soundstage is definitely better with closed.
I don't like closed headphone simply for their closed in nature. Everything sounds a bit constraint.
Save for Alpha Dogs and LCD-X, I will give these the benefit of the doubts.
I actually find IEMs more open sounding usually but then the soundstage is definitely better with closed.
The w1000x is narrow but it's very deep! and very spacious in the sound, after you mod the w1000x, there was a fellow who felt the Alpha was a side grade to a modded w1000x
Well, as I have done more mods to other headphones, I have found that with the right combination of dampening materials to dampen reflections from the ear cups, pretty much any closed-back headphone can be made to have large expansive soundstage, so both width and depth can be improved upon.
I guess manufacturers have to cut down on cost of production, so they opted for simple dampening techniques instead of going for much more intricate ones that would make their headphones far better, but would also drive cost up by a significant margin.
Open headphones don't have to worry about enclosure resonance as much, so they typically sound more open without much of an effort on dampening. But that isn't a guarantee that all open headphones would sound open. Take the HD600 and HD650 for instance... they sound a bit claustrophobic even compared to up-front Audio Technica headphones, though they are open headphones.
For me, often Planars lack spaciousness or openness. I have not heard the LCD-X, HE6 or LCD3 yet though. I have heard the Alpha Dog but I don't think that is terribly spacious either, but I did enjoy it for the brief time with the Suicide Mission theme from ME2
I'm intending to hear the W1000X soon if I can. I mainly listen to EDM, Soundtracks, Prog Rock, Prog Metal and acoustic + acoustic live albums.
If you have the T1s I would go for the w1000x since they are more complementary to the T1 (since they are closed, more 'fun', and very nice cosmetically) - if you had both the HD650 and T1 I'd be surprised if you spent alot of time with the HD650s... Pricejapan is highly reliable but the price seems a bit high (the w1000x is usually available for under $400 in the USA)..
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