[Smugsie]

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I'm looking to pick up a pair of these... how well do they pair with EDM? Are they considered a fun sounding headphone? 

Of course they are a fun sounding headphone, they are amazing in vocals, instrumentals, soundtracks, and classical is ok with them.

Without enough current, you won't hear any satisfying bass kicks and the bass won't extend as you'd like them to. Meaning an amplifier is recommended.
When amplified, the a900x gives a nice punch to the bass. Compared to the K550's I tried which sub bass was more present, but I preferred the a900x's bass kicks for EDM.
The mids on the a900x are not only good for vocals, but they play synthesizers very well. (E.g. Punks by F.O.O.L).
The soundstaging on these headphones mix in well with the other genres of techno. (E.g. Murder by The Crystal Method)

It is true that sometimes I crave for more bass quantity sometimes out of the a900x, but the EQ boost in FiiO amplifiers are enough to make me smile.

 

[joshwalnut]

Quote:

Of course they are a fun sounding headphone, they are amazing in vocals, instrumentals, soundtracks, and classical is ok with them.

Without enough current, you won't hear any satisfying bass kicks and the bass won't extend as you'd like them to. Meaning an amplifier is recommended.
When amplified, the a900x gives a nice punch to the bass. Compared to the K550's I tried which sub bass was more present, but I preferred the a900x's bass kicks for EDM.
The mids on the a900x are not only good for vocals, but they play synthesizers very well. (E.g. Punks by F.O.O.L).
The soundstaging on these headphones mix in well with the other genres of techno. (E.g. Murder by The Crystal Method)

It is true that sometimes I crave for more bass quantity sometimes out of the a900x, but the EQ boost in FiiO amplifiers are enough to make me smile.

 
Well that's good. I already have the E10 dac/amp so if i need more bass kick i'll turn on the bass boost if need be. I'm not a bass head neither so it should work out fine. I was looking into the v-moda m-100's but i think they might have too much bass quantity, when i mostly want quality and just some quantity.. lol I also prefer mid bass over sub bass... so there's another plus for the a900x.
 
Thanks for your help. 

 

[Smugsie]

Quote:

 
Well that's good. I already have the E10 dac/amp so if i need more bass kick i'll turn on the bass boost if need be. I'm not a bass head neither so it should work out fine. I was looking into the v-moda m-100's but i think they might have too much bass quantity, when i mostly want quality and just some quantity.. lol I also prefer mid bass over sub bass... so there's another plus for the a900x.
 
Thanks for your help. 

You're welcome

But as you know, there is a peak at the 10khz range with the a900x. If any of your songs are sibilant, this will be an issue for the first ~100 hours of playback. After that, it's your ears that will do the rest of the burn in.

 

[aural bliss]

Anyone know where I can get a good deal on these

 

[joshwalnut]

Quote:

You're welcome

But as you know, there is a peak at the 10khz range with the a900x. If any of your songs are sibilant, this will be an issue for the first ~100 hours of playback. After that, it's your ears that will do the rest of the burn in.

 
Yeah, i can just EQ that part for the time being if it's too harsh. Thanks again for your help. 
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Anyone know where I can get a good deal on these

Do you want them new or used? I'm going to pick up a refurbished pair on amazon.com or buydig from around $130-$150. Usually i wouldn't bother with the refurbished, but the way i see it is- person buys the a900x's brand new, tries it on, doesn't like the wing system/ear cups sag on their head, doesn't know about the elastic trick, sends them back to the manufacturer, manufacturer has to re-sell them as refurbished.
 
...And i reap all the benefits!!.... muhahahahahahah... MUHAHAHAHAHAHA.... >.> lol

 

[Smugsie]

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Anyone know where I can get a good deal on these

You could always buy them refurbished on amazon.com. Refurbs just mean audio technica did a quality check on these, compared to only 1 quality check when first shipped out.
In my honest opinion, these were even worth the $240 I spent on. I don't see myself buying another closed back headphone any time soon

 

[commando]

I don't think an amp is required with these at all. I used the A900 non-X for years without an amp straight from a portable source and they worked great. I found little improvement when I used an amp, they're just super easy headphones to drive.

 

[joshwalnut]

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I don't think an amp is required with these at all. I used the A900 non-X for years without an amp straight from a portable source and they worked great. I found little improvement when I used an amp, they're just super easy headphones to drive.

Really though? I mean, my laptop output jack (which is horrible) can drive my HD 558's no problem, but the bass is weak, the mids don't have any fullness to them at all and the soundstage is mediocre. Once i plug them into my FiiO E10 dac/amp, everything changes for the best. The bass improves 2-fold, mids are more forward and the soundstage kicks ass... but maybe that's because my laptop output jack is so bad? I don't know, but for me, the difference is night and day. If you own a mac or some other expensive laptop you might not need anything... but then again, whatever the impedance is, the a900x has 53mm drivers, common sense tells me you need some more juice, lol
 
As mike from headfonia always says, every full sized headphone will benefit from an amplifier, regardless on impedance and sensitivity.

 

[Smugsie]

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Really though? I mean, my laptop output jack (which is horrible) can drive my HD 558's no problem, but the bass is weak, the mids don't have any fullness to them at all and the soundstage is mediocre. Once i plug them into my FiiO E10 dac/amp, everything changes for the best. The bass improves 2-fold, mids are more forward and the soundstage kicks ass... but maybe that's because my laptop output jack is so bad? I don't know, but for me, the difference is night and day. If you own a mac or some other expensive laptop you might not need anything... but then again, whatever the impedance is, the a900x has 53mm drivers, common sense tells me you need some more juice, lol
 
As mike from headfonia always says, every full sized headphone will benefit from an amplifier, regardless on impedance and sensitivity.

Since we use FiiO amplifiers, they are naturally known to sound warm. The warmth helps the A900x's gradual slope near the bass end. It also balances out the sharp treble peak.
Also, your HD 558's are 50 ohms, 8 more than a900x's 42 ohms.

 

[commando]

Quote:

Really though? I mean, my laptop output jack (which is horrible) can drive my HD 558's no problem, but the bass is weak, the mids don't have any fullness to them at all and the soundstage is mediocre. Once i plug them into my FiiO E10 dac/amp, everything changes for the best. The bass improves 2-fold, mids are more forward and the soundstage kicks ass... but maybe that's because my laptop output jack is so bad? I don't know, but for me, the difference is night and day. If you own a mac or some other expensive laptop you might not need anything... but then again, whatever the impedance is, the a900x has 53mm drivers, common sense tells me you need some more juice, lol
 
As mike from headfonia always says, every full sized headphone will benefit from an amplifier, regardless on impedance and sensitivity.

 
I tend to trust my ears. The LCD2 gets a bit better with an amp, but it's not night and day, and the A900s are MUCH easier to drive than LCD2. My hearing seems pretty good, it's not like I'm deaf or anything - I was tested as having slightly better than normal hearing

 

[joshwalnut]

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Since we use FiiO amplifiers, they are naturally known to sound warm. The warmth helps the A900x's gradual slope near the bass end. It also balances out the sharp treble peak.
Also, your HD 558's are 50 ohms, 8 more than a900x's 42 ohms.

 
Yeah they're pretty close, then again.. one is open backed and the other is closed back... i've read that open backs are almost always harder to drive, regardless of impedance, someone might have to confirm that though.
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I tend to trust my ears. The LCD2 gets a bit better with an amp, but it's not night and day, and the A900s are MUCH easier to drive than LCD2. My hearing seems pretty good, it's not like I'm deaf or anything - I was tested as having slightly better than normal hearing

 
I wasn't calling you a liar or anything. But i've seen people say the same thing about the HD 5x8 series and i now know that it's simply not true (for my case anyhow). I'm talking about 2 completely different headphones here though, and i do trust your judgement. I'm still going to see for myself though when i pick up a pair 

 
I also forgot, i have an ipod nano (i rarely play them through that though, anyhow), and the 558's sound better on that then on my output jack on my laptop... but still not as good when playing through my e10. I'm pretty sure it's not placebo. 
 
If only i could hook my 558's up to a $3000 tube amp, what outcome would that bring? Oh my, lmao
 
Errrrm, sorry for going off topic 

 

[commando]

You may have super ears, like the signature of your amp, convince yourself it's better amped, or there may be a tiny improvement that you like. Either way, since you haven't listened to them best wait until you have
 
Aside - I heard the 598 a few days ago, with my phone as a source. I was really quite impressed. Good bass, good detail, good balance, great value.

 

[Aleckazee]

What are these like compared with akg k167s? I thought the highs could be clearer in them, nice resolution but they had sibalance. I really liked the quality and quantity of bass in the k167s, how do the a900x compare in that regard? 

 

[JHern]

I've used my A900-X on my MBP (October 2012 vintage), through a Marantz M-CR603, in addition to a Luxman DA-100 (probably overkill for this level of headphones), and I would have to agree with commando...although there is some change in quality, it isn't nearly as much as I expected...these big cans do perform surprisingly well on the lower power systems, although I suspect you would hit the wall at the iPod end of the power spectrum.

 

[chili dude96]

They actually work suprisingly well through my phone (kyeocera rise.)