[sokolov91]

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They don't sound alike at all I think.

Well I meant in terms of overall sound quality, not necessarily sound sig. They do sound fairly different.

 
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That's funny, because I have both the HD650 and W1000X, and my HD650 get a ton more head time than my W1000X. To me, stringed instruments and pianos sound better on the HD650. Plus I find the HD650's really relaxing to listen to, as 90% of the time when I listen to them, I fall asleep really easily. Love the laid back sound more. I almost never use my W1000X. It's lame, but I only keep the W1000X around, because they're soooo pretty. hahaha.
 

The HD 600/650 have great tonality and sound "correct", but the drivers are painfully slow.
 
Have you tried listening to the W1000X at low volumes? They are more linear at low volumes, and still pretty detailed. They were my favorite low listening headphone. Usually I cranked my HD 600 because they have so little attack and weight.

 
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Tonality is always the HD600/HD650's strongest point. Things sound you know, right with them. Violins sound like violins, cymbals sound like cymbals etc. My only problem is that their presentation is recessed which is less ideal for me personally for certain genre of music.
 
W1000X, like many other Audio Technica cans, seem to have an EQ built-in. It's very hard to put in words but they seem to sound shout-y? This is very obvious in the midrange to upper midrange area. It's a pleasant hear of course but ultimately I find the W1000X to be too colored for my liking
 

I never found the AT to be super coloured, but they were not dead neutral, but neither are the HD 600/650 for that matter. Again, at low levels, they were pretty linear, but at loudish volumes the bass and highs do get a little overwhelming. 
 
At the end of the day though its all personal preference. I found the W1000X to be extremely musical, and an stellar overall headphone. My HD 600 were great, but pretty boring.

 

[PANGES]

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The HD 600/650 have great tonality and sound "correct", but the drivers are painfully slow.
 
Have you tried listening to the W1000X at low volumes? They are more linear at low volumes, and still pretty detailed. They were my favorite low listening headphone. Usually I cranked my HD 600 because they have so little attack and weight.

 

90% of the time, my headphones are listened to at low volumes, as I usually listen to them pretty late at night when my girlfriend is sleeping. Usually at that point, I'm not listening too critically for details, as I'm just enjoying the overall sound of the headphones and dozing off to sleep. hehe.
 

 

[K3cT]

Well at the end of day, I will take the W1000X over W5000 anytime.

 
HD600/HD650 is not "neutral" sure but I find them natural which is for me, an important point for a headphone to merit my serious consideration.
 
orkey brought up a very good point, the W1000X sounds "sunlit" and perhaps shouty is a little bit too harsh and is more reserved for the ultra-bright W5000. I really need to listen to it again one of these days. 
 

 

[sokolov91]

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Well at the end of day, I will take the W1000X over W5000 anytime.

 
HD600/HD650 is not "neutral" sure but I find them natural which is for me, an important point for a headphone to merit my serious consideration.
 
orkey brought up a very good point, the W1000X sounds "sunlit" and perhaps shouty is a little bit too harsh and is more reserved for the ultra-bright W5000. I really need to listen to it again one of these days. 
 

Sunlit is a pretty good way to name it, however abstract as that is haha. Slightly hot highs, warm bass, creamy mids... sounds sunny to me!

 

[Nanago]

Initial impressions of my newly received AT-W1000X's, courtesy of khatch who was absolutely wonderful to deal with. Apparently these weren't his cup of tea and he only spent 90 minutes on them, meaning I basically got NIB AT-W1000X's for a steal

. And let me tell you, I definitely understood where he came from the first time I plugged it in straight into my laptop for some serious listening. (At this point my audio-gd Sparrow is still being shipped

)
 
Anyways, here comes the impressions. When I first plugged in the headphones, I cringed. One of my favorite songs features female vocals and a solo violin accompaniment and the high E on the entrance note from the violin at the beginning was almost harsh and sibilant. I definitely wasn't used to a bright signature, seeing as how my previous experience involved veiled Sennheisers and the Mid-centric ESW9's, so I was fairly surprised by the brightness of the W1000X. The AT signature house sound, the "forward mids" were still there, although not as forward as I remembered them being on the W1000X's.
 
Cymbals and drums were prominent and again my ear couldn't handle the sharpness of the high notes. Thankfully the tight and punchy bass sort of balanced the rest of the song out, but I was already having buyer's remorse. I skipped ahead to test soundstage and detail on Chopin's "Tristesse", and Mozart's Alla Turca, and wow! The W1000X truly began to shine, seperating notes cleanly and placing the piano in an exact location, something I didn't know headphones were capable of. I noticed that there truly was a "soundstage" rather than a "distance" at which instruments operated, and more importantly, that the Steinway had distinguished itself from the Yamaha or Kawai I had imagined it being. For the first time, I felt like I enjoyed the W1000X's.
 
However, with other songs of the rock, pop, and techno genre the W1000X's seemed like a bust. The "naturalness" of the sound seemed to fatigue me quicker on poorly recorded or encoded songs. At this point, I could almost feel the potential of these headphones on certain songs, but for the rest I felt like I could care less and regretted the purchase. Feeling a bit exhausted after a long audition, I rolled onto bed for a short and uneasy rest.
 
When I awoke, I wasn't feeling any better, but I decided to try the W1000X's with some Norah Jones to calm my nerves. And immediately, a difference! Just like that, I felt like everything had become balanced with the W1000X: the highs stopped being harsh, the mids seemed to really bloom, and the bass was just the right mix of punchy and tight. I'd thought that maybe the W1000X simply had synergy with the Jazz genre, but when I went back to the other songs I had previously tested, the sound seemed to balance itself out... Suddenly, the W1000Xs truly seemed to be "balanced", or as balanced an Audio-technica headphone can become. I don't know what happened over a quick three hour nap, maybe placebo or something set in, but I couldn't be happier. The highs were bright, but not as piercing, the mids just a bit forward but not overbearing, and the bass as punchy and tight as I remembered them being. Soundstage and detail are amazing and bring out instrument seperation like no other headphones I've heard before. At this point, the W1000X was well worth the money.
 
This impression is, of course, just an impression. It's my first real full-sized headphone and I want to point out that my impressions are likely influenced by placebo, which means you must take this with a bucket of salt. I can tell that these headphones need a better source and maybe some extra juice from an amp, but right now it seems to run smoothly on my laptop alone - maybe when an amp is connected the highs will smooth out some more and the bass will gain more presence. When my Sparrow arrives I hope to further detail the synergy of these particular headphones and audio-gd amps, but until then I think I appreciate these ravishing cans a bit more, or at least until the sun begins peeking in my shades.
 
Edited: Way too long and boring, so I crushed up the fluff in favor for more analysis.

 

[Suigeneris]

^Did your sparrow fly in yet?
If it did, did it address all the problems you mentioned above?

 

[Nanago]

Yes it did, but no, it didn't. Whoa that was confusing haha. My Sparrow has arrived! but the highs turned even more sibilant than before and the bass might've become too punchy if such a thing is possible. My initial impressions can be read here: http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/483188/official-audio-gd-sparrow-thread/585#post_6951018. I won't be giving them up just yet because the detail it gives my W1000x's on classical pieces are impressive, but we'll see if they can "burn-in", if such a thing is possible.

 

[sokolov91]

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Yes it did, but no, it didn't. Whoa that was confusing haha. My Sparrow has arrived! but the highs turned even more sibilant than before and the bass might've become too punchy if such a thing is possible. My initial impressions can be read here: http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/483188/official-audio-gd-sparrow-thread/585#post_6951018. I won't be giving them up just yet because the detail it gives my W1000x's on classical pieces are impressive, but we'll see if they can "burn-in", if such a thing is possible.

uh oh, hopefully you end up liking them... if not they do sell pretty easily though.
 
I found my W1000X to be very good with classical music too.

 

[Suigeneris]

Hey Sokolov91, I see you've had the PS Audio GCHA before as well as the W1000x. Were they a good pair?
I'm looking for amps that will work well for the W1000x in case my LD I+ doesn't cut it (my W1000x is coming in
sometime this week). I was also looking at the Burson HA 160. Any input is highly appreciated.

 

[sokolov91]

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Hey Sokolov91, I see you've had the PS Audio GCHA before as well as the W1000x. Were they a good pair?
I'm looking for amps that will work well for the W1000x in case my LD I+ doesn't cut it (my W1000x is coming in
sometime this week). I was also looking at the Burson HA 160. Any input is highly appreciated.

Yeah I had them at the same time, I also had my concerto at the same time too.
 
So my biases are clear, I preferred the concerto greatly over the GCHA. I did however like the GCHA very much, especially with the DX 700.
 
The GCHA had roll off in the extreme lows and highs, offered an expansive soundstage, and was rather musical.
 
I much preferred the tighter imaging of the concerto, and its iron fist control of the sound spectrum, as well as its apparent neutrality. It is by no means "analytical" it is just more neutral and to me more real, and better suited for all music, instead of certain types.
 
Both set ups were very good, but it would say the concerto was definitely the better amp over all. One could argue subjectively that the GCHA was more pleasant, but objectively the Concerto was much better, and more what I wanted. 
 
I would have kept the GCHA had I infinite funds and still had a big collection of headphones, but I no longer own a ton of headphones, and could only reasonably keep one amp.
 
 
One thing I would stress is that you should not view the GHCA as a deal at its new 499.99 price tag. It should never have retailed for 999.99. So, it is by no means a deal at 499.99... so don't let that change your perception of value. 
 
Bursons advertising campaign is a little questionable too. IC are not necessarily worse than discrete designs and can sound very good.
 
The Burson and Concerto are definitely two good picks though at that price range. The Concerto is cheaper and more of an all rounder, where with the burson you are limited to low impedance headphones. 
 
 
 
 
All this being said, the W1000X definitely are not the most amp sensitive headphones, and will generally sound good on whatever. My portable headsix did a good job of driving them.
 
So, while the LD 1+ might not be the best amp out there, and might not be the best suited for low impedance headphones, it will by no means sound bad if you like the W1000X as a headphone. 
 
Hope this helps

 

[Suigeneris]

Thanks Sokolov,
helped me a ton

Yeah, I must admit I was looking at the GCHA as a great deal at the new price.
I have heard that AT headphones aren't really sensitive to different amps
so I'll keep that in mind now.

Thanks again!
 

 

[sokolov91]

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Thanks Sokolov,
helped me a ton

Yeah, I must admit I was looking at the GCHA as a great deal at the new price.
I have heard that AT headphones aren't really sensitive to different amps
so I'll keep that in mind now.

Thanks again!
 

Glad to hear.
 
I would agree the few AT I have heard were not particularly amp sensitive, but IIRC the LD 1+ is OTL, so it might exhibit similar roll off to the GCHA with a low impedance can like the W1000X, but it is by no means a 700$ caveat and should sound very good.

 

[aL69]

Hmm... should I get this, even if i already have the W10VTG? 
...
...
...
they look so shiny... and the sound's promising too... and they're shiny...

 

[orkney]

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One thing I would stress is that you should not view the GHCA as a deal at its new 499.99 price tag. It should never have retailed for 999.99. So, it is by no means a deal at 499.99... so don't let that change your perception of value.   
All this being said, the W1000X definitely are not the most amp sensitive headphones, and will generally sound good on whatever. My portable headsix did a good job of driving them.  

 
BBM. Not sure I agree. The GCHA sold for 4-5 years at its price of 999.00, and was considered a pretty fair value even then, going by reviews. The design is discontinued, hence the recent discounting to 499.00 or less. I'm not sure that "it should never have retailed for 999.000." It did. For years. It's a flexible and good-sounding design with nice asthetics and build quality and will drive most phones. There are better-sounding designs, no doubt, above, at and perhaps even below the 500.00 price point. By all means listen to anything you can -- I imagine an M^3 would sound terrific with the 1000x. The Matrix didn't impress me with these phones when I had it but there are dozens of good amps to choose from in the price range you (Sui Generis) are considering.
 
BBM. I agree -- the W1000xs are fairly easy to drive. They can become a tad strident, however, and looking for a smoother-sounding amp that will neither slow them down nor hype them up isn't a bad idea. They really are superbly musical, and if you can achieve a good fit, do almost everything well.
 
best,
 
o

 

[francisdemarte]

 
I'll admit that coming from the HD650's and the original W1000, the W1000x's sharper highs and forward mids felt like a punch in the face. I gave them a bit more head time and now they are my favorite closed phone.
 
 
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Glad to hear.
 
I would agree the few AT I have heard were not particularly amp sensitive, but IIRC the LD 1+ is OTL, so it might exhibit similar roll off to the GCHA with a low impedance can like the W1000X, but it is by no means a 700$ caveat and should sound very good.

I agree with this statement 100%. Most AT are not hard to drive at all, so you won't necessarily need an expensive amp for them. I prefer them more from my EF5 tube hybrid than from the solid state Lovely Cube with the stock opamp (which is a Lehmann Black Cube linear clone like the M-Stage). The Lovely Cube is a faster and more exciting sounding amp with these phones and worked better with rock and pop.  I like a bit of body and lushness that the EF5 provides, but this is purely personal preference.