[Josz27]

any pads that works well with the a2000z? bought a second hand pair but not entirely sure if the pads had been flatten over the years from storage (which the previous owner did by putting it on a headphone stand) so it fits kinda wonky and not sealing properly..

You can buy 100% original parts directly from audio technica if you are in usa, you have to email their parts department, they costed me like 20usd the pair and it is a very good price considering they feel good and that other pairs of pads of other headphones are much more expensive

 

[Magol79]

any pads that works well with the a2000z? bought a second hand pair but not entirely sure if the pads had been flatten over the years from storage (which the previous owner did by putting it on a headphone stand) so it fits kinda wonky and not sealing properly..

Dekoni had replacement pads when I had my A2000Z. They were pretty much a 1:1 copy of the OG pads, but made from real lambskin leather.

Edit: yeah, as Josz27 said. There's nothing wrong with the OG pads, go for them if you can get them.

 

[crossfire]

i'll give AT an email in my country but unfortunately, i don't live in the US and i notice that the a1000z and a2000z are discontinued according to their website.

 

[Quartzwald]

There are a few of them on ebay. I bought original pads for about $22 from an ebay seller in Japan.

 

[Lionlian]

Brainwavz XL size also works fine

 

[crossfire]

Brainwavz XL size also works fine

thanks will try them. i did get oem pads straight from japan but the holes are too small for my big ears and i feel like there's something weird going on with the sealing due to no cup adjustments :\

 

[Josz27]

thanks will try them. i did get oem pads straight from japan but the holes are too small for my big ears and i feel like there's something weird going on with the sealing due to no cup adjustments :\

I don't recommend trying other pads that are not from audio technica and the supposedly duplicates from dekoni.
I asked several people and they all said non audio technica pads changed the sound in a bad way, i think a guy tried those pads(the brainwavz).
I have tried the AD line pads on A2000Z and A1000Z and it ****ed them, made them extremely thin, so you would need an original pair of ART pads or the dekoni pads xD

 

[Josz27]

That treble coloration is from the magnesium parts, I've found out. You can mitigate it by placing Dynamat Xtreme on the primary driver chamber, exposed here in inertianinja's photo:




purrin demonstrates here using fiberglass tape on W1000X: http://www.head-fi.org/t/544507/ath-w1000x-mods
But that stuff releases toxic airborne fibers, apparently, hohoho. Nope.
Dynamat Xtreme is safe, however. Fat Mat and sorbothane can also be used, but sorbo will require more care as you can very easily use a little too much and hurt sound quality, I'm told. Much more potent stuff.

Done it to AD700 with superb results, now I want to try out AD900x, apart from A2000Z.

Lol this is too old but I want to ask, What headphone is the one of the photo? Because A1000Z and A2000Z have some pieces there (and in your photo they are not there)
Do you have tried dynamat on those headphones? I tried 2 types of "Dynamat" that is not really dynamat to try to nerf treble grain on A1000Z and not noticeable results in my side, Maybe because I don't tried the 100% real dynamat? who knows.

 

[Ruiqi]

I liked the vocals of the a1000z.

 

[Ruiqi]

I also found the bass to be better than the hd6xx although it's been a few years.

 

[Mad Max]

Lol this is too old but I want to ask, What headphone is the one of the photo? Because A1000Z and A2000Z have some pieces there (and in your photo they are not there)
Do you have tried dynamat on those headphones? I tried 2 types of "Dynamat" that is not really dynamat to try to nerf treble grain on A1000Z and not noticeable results in my side, Maybe because I don't tried the 100% real dynamat? who knows.

The headphone is partly disassembled, the foam rings that sit in there normally for the X or Z versions would obviously get in the way, but the photo is someone else's as I said there, I have not done the detachable cable mod to my headphone.

And try real Dynamat if you can, or try sorbothane, just beware that sorbothane is pretty potent, it is super easy to overdo it and get poor results, I've been warned. I have yet to mess with sorbothane. Dynamat did refine the sound for me.

 

[Lionlian]

just try A2000z and its one of the most euphonic sounding headphone by far, female vocal and treble are especially so dreaming

totally worth the day and night

 

[Josz27]

just try A2000z and its one of the most euphonic sounding headphone by far, female vocal and treble are especially so dreaming

totally worth the day and night

I agree, I really like that headphone xD

 

[mrjayviper]

Is the a2000z hard to drive? Thanks

I will be listening to any genre (classical to EDM and anything in between)

Thanks

 

[Josz27]

Is the a2000z hard to drive? Thanks

I will be listening to any genre (classical to EDM and anything in between)

Thanks

I think they require yes or yes a quality source... Straight of my laptop they sound like garbage while ad2000x sounds good with almost anything.

But here is the thing... More than exactly more power they need a good "sinergy" , for example Asgard 3 while being a very good amp do not seem to take advantage of a2000z treble qualities, it sounds like a normal headphone there, yeah it sounds warm and still has detail but with that combo I don't see(hear) what is special from A2000Z.

In comparison a2000z, with the HRT Microstreamer, The a2000z gets very very clear highs that surpasses ad2000x, a1000z, r70x, w1000x etc in clarity , also sometimes the imaging gets special qualities that differentiate it from a1000z in some songs,
I would say it has a "plasma effect" like the one you find in alien grenades from HALO, yeah LOL, but basically it enlightens some sounds of the stage and they become more clear than other headphones, I disassembled them and I noticed it was a combination of the Titanium housing design and the drivers.

I really think it's a shame how underrated is a2000z being how special it can be with the RIGHT gear.

When using Lg v30 (ESS sabre phone) a2000z does not sound like this... Or at least not at their best, It sounds more like a normal headphone at least when using blackplayer...( and V30 is not warm , but it just does not get as good dynamics or treble than from the HRT)

I don't have my topping stack anymore so I don't know how it behaves there .

With Burson Soloist 3xp it also gets the special treble qualities ( and I would say "maybe" it's the best amp for a2000z treble I have heard) I would say that if you want to get the best of a2000z you should get a neutral to neutral-bright amp/combo but maybe don't do over sterile setups.

If one wants a warm headphone they could look elsewhere, a2000z needs a quality source with at least neutral treble to let them show you what they are capable in the highs( main difference between them and a1000z when listening to them in a correct setup) but also while it's easy to get them loud, they can sound like garbage from poor dacs /sources.

I mean you could ignore the sinergy thing and pair it with a muddy very warm low quality source but you will not find what a2000z can do over a1000z, ad2000x etc , they will sound more like a normal headphone... And not worth the price over things like k553 MK II ( which I have too )