[waynes world]

Quote:

I've been listening to these cans for about 3 months now. I was perfectly fine with my Audio Technica ATH-M50 cans but I wanted to keep them permanently in my studio and have another pair to listen to with iPod at night. I found these in Japan while visiting my in-laws, but they're also available from Amazon. I'm not going to give a lengthy review or comparison. First of all, the ATH-M50 is not as flat as some people would have you believe. The lows are definitely boosted. By the way I use a FiiO E17 Alpen headphone amp. The mids are what sold me on the ATH-A900x. I would always have a problem trying to hear a bass guitar play anything higher than a D. Not anymore. The bass is ok but don't think you're going to enjoy these with Miami bass type of stuff. It will definitely hit but it is distorted at times. These cans are more for jazz, pop, classical, bossa nova type of music. I always skip past my hip hop stuff when listening with these. They do grow on you and I'm definitely enjoying them. All parts of music are important but when you're a producer (semi-pro) you need to be able to crisp mids and these cans deliver that. Great balance of highs and lows as well. I don't care for a lot of bass these days. As far as the headphone amplification; I switch between 6 and 12 db often. I can't make up my mind which is better. 12db was the obvious choice with the ATH-M50 but you have some options with the ATH-A900x. Cheers.

 
Nice impressions - thanks! I've had the AD900X's about 2-3 months myself (not sure how different they are from the A900X's), and recently got the WS99 Solid Bass headphones. I didn't think that I cared for a lot of bass these days either lol, but the quality of the WS99's bass is pretty darned addictive and pleasing to listen to. Having said that, I don't find the bass of the AD900X's to be lacking at all. Between those two headphones, I'm in a pretty happy place right now

 

[J-Fly]

I failed to mention that these cans do a good job of locking in sound. My wife said that she couldn't hear any sound when sitting next to me.

 

[Kerblooy]

Thanks for the review! You've persuaded me to jump for these
(love the eye candy too )

 

[Sladeophile]

Can any of you AT freaks comment on these compared to the ATH-A900LTD?  I have them (though I need to replace the wings, so I haven't used them for quite a while), and with these being $130 right now, I was wondering if the sound differed enough (or much at all?) for me to consider picking these up.  I know the LTD is not very common, so it may be a long-shot asking this.
 
Thanks!

 

[tinhsi]

I just received my from buydig and I gotta say I'm not very impress with these cans. Out the box, Comparing them to the m50s the bass on these are so lacking that it makes music sounds harsh. I'm not too sure if mine are defective but I'm going to give them some more time to burn in and see if I can get some of the bass back. The bass on the 50s is solid and tight. on these, for the lack of words, sound soft though they suppose to have more bass. at this point I can't recommend these to anyone

 

[gelocks]

If you bought the A900x for the bass then you chose wrong.
You probably find them harsh because the mids are upfront something the M50 lacks...

 

[USCdeacon]

deleted* forgot to add the quote I was replying to

 

[USCdeacon]

Quote:

I just received my from buydig and I gotta say I'm not very impress with these cans. Out the box, Comparing them to the m50s the bass on these are so lacking that it makes music sounds harsh. I'm not too sure if mine are defective but I'm going to give them some more time to burn in and see if I can get some of the bass back. The bass on the 50s is solid and tight. on these, for the lack of words, sound soft though they suppose to have more bass. at this point I can't recommend these to anyone

 
I just got my pair from the Buydig sale and I initially had the same opinion as you.  It's probably secondary to my ears being so accustomed to the M50's for the past couple of years, but I definitely didn't like the sound of the A900X's right out of box.  Treble was a bit too sharp (to the point where my ears hurt afterwards!  and I wasn't even cranking the volume up), bass was a bit too "loose", but the mids/vocals were immediately more refined, as opposed to being a bit veiled/recessed on the M50s.
 
I've only had them burning in for about a day now and the story is slowly beginning to change - hopefully for the better!
 
One positive that's remained pretty consistent is the soundstage - wow!  Definitely excellent soundstage for a closed set of cans.  I'm loving that aspect of them without a doubt.
 
(for those wondering, audio chain is MBP-->ALAC/FLAC-->nuForce uDAC-->A900X)
 
Keep us updated on your progress with the A900X's - hope the burn in helps!

 

[kriegszeit]

I just received my from buydig and I gotta say I'm not very impress with these cans. Out the box, Comparing them to the m50s the bass on these are so lacking that it makes music sounds harsh. I'm not too sure if mine are defective but I'm going to give them some more time to burn in and see if I can get some of the bass back. The bass on the 50s is solid and tight. on these, for the lack of words, sound soft though they suppose to have more bass. at this point I can't recommend these to anyone

I have the same rolled off bass problem and I'm not a basshead but I was beginning to think it was just me, but after seeing your posts I am convinced they are defective. I contacted MalVeauX, who was extremely helpful in the matter, and he said the bass on these is comparable to the DT770 and D2000. I've seen the A900X likened to those headphones by others too, so I expected decent bass to say the least. The bass on my pair is significantly worse than my ATH-A700 and from everything I've read in comparison of these models, which is to say everything Google has picked up on the topic, these are supposed to be improved over both the lower 700 model and the old non-X series.

I've been burning them in but it hasn't made a difference. With several of these incidents popping up I think we got a bad batch or something. Contact BuyDig, the problem is Audio-Technica's QC issues and not theirs. They had great customer service and were quick to replace my previous defective pair that had mismatched drivers. I'm trying to return them now but there seems to be a simple misunderstanding:

We only compensate for return shipping when the product is defective . Since this product is is not defective you would need to pay for the return shipping .

So if more people report this anemic bass defect, they will better understand the scope of the problem here.

If you bought the A900x for the bass then you chose wrong.
You probably find them harsh because the mids are upfront something the M50 lacks...

We didn't buy them for the bass; it's that the bass is so rolled off that the sub-bass is practically inaudible.

I just received my from buydig and I gotta say I'm not very impress with these cans. Out the box, Comparing them to the m50s the bass on these are so lacking that it makes music sounds harsh. I'm not too sure if mine are defective but I'm going to give them some more time to burn in and see if I can get some of the bass back. The bass on the 50s is solid and tight. on these, for the lack of words, sound soft though they suppose to have more bass. at this point I can't recommend these to anyone

I just got my pair from the Buydig sale and I initially had the same opinion as you.  It's probably secondary to my ears being so accustomed to the M50's for the past couple of years, but I definitely didn't like the sound of the A900X's right out of box.  Treble was a bit too sharp (to the point where my ears hurt afterwards!  and I wasn't even cranking the volume up), bass was a bit too "loose", but the mids/vocals were immediately more refined, as opposed to being a bit veiled/recessed on the M50s.


 


I've only had them burning in for about a day now and the story is slowly beginning to change - hopefully for the better!


 


One positive that's remained pretty consistent is the soundstage - wow!  Definitely excellent soundstage for a closed set of cans.  I'm loving that aspect of them without a doubt.


 


(for those wondering, audio chain is MBP-->ALAC/FLAC-->nuForce uDAC-->A900X)


 


Keep us updated on your progress with the A900X's - hope the burn in helps!

I share the same story as you in that the rest of the headphone is exactly what I expected - excellent soundstage etc. Unfortunately for me burn in has had no effect on the lack of bass thus far. Comparing them to my ATH-A700 really shows how evident the problem is

 

[tonythenart]

[size=small]Can someone help me out? I jumped on the Buydig deal as well but I think my pair might be defective. I'm still pretty new to all this and this was my first big headphone purchase. I just tried doing the Quality Bass Shaker test from this [/size][size=small]website[/size][size=small] and I would get this buzz (on the left side) that lasted barley a second and it would still do it every time I ran the test. The buzz kinda hurt my ear as well, like something was poking it. I thought maybe this was normal but tried doing the same test with my MEElectronics A161P IEM and there was no buzz at all. Is it because I still need to "burn" them in or did I really get a defective set? Thanks![/size]

 

[Jodiuh]

Quote:

[size=small]Can someone help me out? I jumped on the Buydig deal as well but I think my pair might be defective. I'm still pretty new to all this and this was my first big headphone purchase. I just tried doing the Quality Bass Shaker test from this [/size][size=small]website[/size][size=small] and I would get this buzz (on the left side) that lasted barley a second and it would still do it every time I ran the test. The buzz kinda hurt my ear as well, like something was poking it. I thought maybe this was normal but tried doing the same test with my MEElectronics A161P IEM and there was no buzz at all. Is it because I still need to "burn" them in or did I really get a defective set? Thanks![/size]

 
This one?
 
"The first file tests your headphones' bass extension. Play back the file until you start hearing the underlying sweeping tone as it rises."
 
10 Hz >> 200 Hz
+ Voice Over
 
??
 
Edit: Anyone thinking their A900X is broke/bass light can PM me for a flac music file that I find has plenty of bass on my A900X's.

 

[tonythenart]

Quote:

 
This one?
 
"The first file tests your headphones' bass extension. Play back the file until you start hearing the underlying sweeping tone as it rises."
 
10 Hz >> 200 Hz
+ Voice Over
 
??
 
Edit: Anyone thinking their A900X is broke/bass light can PM me for a flac music file that I find has plenty of bass on my A900X's.

 
Nope it's the Quality test, the "Bass Shaker" one. It would only make the buzz at 100% full volume (it occurred at the start and the end of the test). I know the a900x aren't bass heavy headphones but I assumed good headphones aren't supposed to buzz at all, even at full volume. 

 

[Tangster]

Quote:

 
Nope it's the Quality test, the "Bass Shaker" one. It would only make the buzz at 100% full volume (it occurred at the start and the end of the test). I know the a900x aren't bass heavy headphones but I assumed good headphones aren't supposed to buzz at all, even at full volume. 

Could be hair in the driver. Mine doesn't buzz.

 

[TrashBoat1]

I bought a pair of these off amazon about a week ago. When I saw the buydig sale I figured i'd buy another pair. Well, I have them both now and there are some odd differences. The pair from amazon was bought through BeachCamera I believe.
 
The one from amazon seems to have weak bass relative to the buydig. However, the sound output of the buydig is louder on the left side than the right. I can correct this buy going into my sound card software and changing the balance of the right side to increase in volume by 7%.
 
Amazon left, buydig right:
Notice the thickness of the chrome lip. This pic is of the right can of both headphones

Amazon left, buydig right:
Something I didn't notice earlier is look at the ear padding. The buydig one looks awful and also does not completely cover the entire...whatever it's called lol (sry i'm a headphone noob) The pair from amazon not only covers but is nicely tucked inside the crevice

Amazon:

Buydig:

Pic of the boxes. The one from amazon had a little sticker that said 2012-03 and the one from buydig had a sticker that said 2012-05. Other than that the boxes were 100% identical

 
 
I'm just looking for some insight. Are these defective? fake? are they working within normal expectations?

 

[kriegszeit]

However, the sound output of the buydig is louder on the left side than the right. I can correct this buy going into my sound card software and changing the balance of the right side to increase in volume by 7%.

This is a sure sign of mismatched drivers, which seems to be a common issue with these. You may think the problem is solved with the driver setting, but it is likely that there are certain frequencies which are reproduced at different volumes by the drivers. Play the full range sweep test here to see what I mean. When I had this same problem, the mids were much louder in one piece but the in the same piece the bass and treble was out of whack as well, so changing the stereo volume was not a solution. Also run the bass shaker test, which may reveal buzzing / rattling.

Something I didn't notice earlier is look at the ear padding.

This is probably due to the design of the earcups and the angled drivers, where the back part of the earcup extends farther out than the front, so that it provides a better seal behind your ears. Because of this the earpads must be adjusted to the right spot. Try twisting the pads around the cup.

The one from amazon had a little sticker that said 2012-03
...
The one from amazon seems to have weak bass

My current pair that has weak bass also has the 2012-03 sticker. Looks like I was right about it being a bad batch

However, the sound output of the buydig is louder on the left side than the right.
...
the one from buydig had a sticker that said 2012-05

Another bad batch, my old pair with the mismatched drivers had the 2012-05 sticker as well.

Beach Camera is the same as BuyDig so that part is probably irrelevant. I think the problem here is Audio-Technica's failed QC. I'd be interested in whether the other people with the ones lacking bass were also manufactured in March 2012, I'd assume so.