[Infoseeker]

Question, is the upcoming Ath-awkt and the ath-AWAS just modded versions of this headphones drivers? Cause the ap2000ti seems like it would appeal to me more being more industrial looking and lighter.

Though with the new headband then awkt/awas would probably fit better.

Ath-AWKT
https://www.audio-technica.com/cms/headphones/d8ebe987e17217c7/index.html


Ath-AWAS
https://www.audio-technica.com/cms/headphones/3c02fc180e67f6e9/index.html

 

[Silent Xaxal]

Question, is the upcoming Ath-awkt and the ath-AWAS just modded versions of this headphones drivers? Cause the ap2000ti seems like it would appeal to me more being more industrial looking and lighter.

Though with the new headband then awkt/awas would probably fit better.

Ath-AWKT
https://www.audio-technica.com/cms/headphones/d8ebe987e17217c7/index.html


Ath-AWAS
https://www.audio-technica.com/cms/headphones/3c02fc180e67f6e9/index.html

Would like to know too, seeing as the existence of these two are preventing me from jumping on the W3000ANV.

 

[Slim1970]

I love my AP2000Ti’s. I wonder what the tuning on these variants will sound like?

 

[Shuon]

I am kind of surprised that Audio Technica did not promote AP2000ti well. I bought it without demoing when I found WP900 sounded awesome, which changed my opinion about Audio Technica. They can actually make some nice closed back portable headphone without too much distortion or weak bass. And AP2000ti is a real surprise. In the past two days, I demoed L5000, AWKT, and AWAS, and now I realize AP2000ti is really something that lies between AWKT and AWAS, and owns some sound signature of L5000. AP2000ti is marketed as a portable headphone, but which does not mean it sounds like portable headphones. There are some high price portable headphones on the market, like the aeon flow (two generations). Both generations sound horrible to me. The biggest reason is those two ones are both hard to drive, and the sounds are both flat: bass and treble are just weak, which makes the sound boring. They have the advantages how they are advertised: like clean sound, good sound stage, nice fit and design, but which don't make them good headphones. Closed back Aeons have good noise isolation, but which I believe is also the key to the disadvantages, which means they have to cut off a lot of bass to make the sound clean enough, and the lack of air low of the back makes them less sensitive and hard to drive. AP2000ti, although with a higher price (actually there are some special offers around $800) and worse noise isolation(Audio Technica closed back headphones all have big enough vent and are actually semi-closed, and this should be the case for almost all Japanese closed back headphones), does a better job as a portable headphone: easy enough to drive, balanced and fun sound, and its own great sound signature over the high and mid-high frequency. The sound can be compared to all closed back headphone at this price range, instead of portable ones. The $1250 is accurate, although most people don't think or believe so, and Audio Technica already makes the price much lower in some way. Now when they have the new wood full size headphones, people are more interested and have more confidence and expectation, but AP2000ti is actually at the same level if you only care about the sound.

 

[Infoseeker]

I am kind of surprised that Audio Technica did not promote AP2000ti well. I bought it without demoing when I found WP900 sounded awesome, which changed my opinion about Audio Technica. They can actually make some nice closed back portable headphone without too much distortion or weak bass. And AP2000ti is a real surprise. In the past two days, I demoed L5000, AWKT, and AWAS, and now I realize AP2000ti is really something that lies between AWKT and AWAS, and owns some sound signature of L5000. AP2000ti is marketed as a portable headphone, but which does not mean it sounds like portable headphones. There are some high price portable headphones on the market, like the aeon flow (two generations). Both generations sound horrible to me. The biggest reason is those two ones are both hard to drive, and the sounds are both flat: bass and treble are just weak, which makes the sound boring. They have the advantages how they are advertised: like clean sound, good sound stage, nice fit and design, but which don't make them good headphones. Closed back Aeons have good noise isolation, but which I believe is also the key to the disadvantages, which means they have to cut off a lot of bass to make the sound clean enough, and the lack of air low of the back makes them less sensitive and hard to drive. AP2000ti, although with a higher price (actually there are some special offers around $800) and worse noise isolation(Audio Technica closed back headphones all have big enough vent and are actually semi-closed, and this should be the case for almost all Japanese closed back headphones), does a better job as a portable headphone: easy enough to drive, balanced and fun sound, and its own great sound signature over the high and mid-high frequency. The sound can be compared to all closed back headphone at this price range, instead of portable ones. The $1250 is accurate, although most people don't think or believe so, and Audio Technica already makes the price much lower in some way. Now when they have the new wood full size headphones, people are more interested and have more confidence and expectation, but AP2000ti is actually at the same level if you only care about the sound.

Wow, thank you that really helps me with my decision.

 

[InsanityOne]

As some others have stated, I would also be very curious to hear more exact details on how the ATH-AP2000Ti ($1249) sounds compared to the new ATH-AWKT ($1799) and ATH-AWAS ($1299). I am wondering if the differences between these three headphones are minuscule or if there are more overarching changes going on behind the scenes for the new wooden models?

 

[Nostoi]

Would an owner of these in the darker finish be kind enough to take a photo of cups? There seems to be some confusion on what the actual finish is, and I just want to see it from an actual user. Thanks.

 

[Nostoi]

As some others have stated, I would also be very curious to hear more exact details on how the ATH-AP2000Ti ($1249) sounds compared to the new ATH-AWKT ($1799) and ATH-AWAS ($1299). I am wondering if the differences between these three headphones are minuscule or if there are more overarching changes going on behind the scenes for the new wooden models?

Also curious about this.

 

[Xero the Banana]

This review by Sandal Audio seems to be the best I can find regarding the differences between the AP2000ti, AWKT, AWAS and WP900. Google translate was enough for me to understand the review pretty well.

 

[Slim1970]

This review by Sandal Audio seems to be the best I can find regarding the differences between the AP2000ti, AWKT, AWAS and WP900. Google translate was enough for me to understand the review pretty well.

Nice review. I had the AP2000Ti’s and them in favor of the AWKT’s.

 

[Xero the Banana]

Nice review. I had the AP2000Ti’s and them in favor of the AWKT’s.

How would you compare the AP2000ti to the AWKT?

Also, if you’ve tried any of the Hifiman series, how would you compare the new AT headphones to the Hifiman sound?

 

[Slim1970]

How would you compare the AP2000ti to the AWKT?

Also, if you’ve tried any of the Hifiman series, how would you compare the new AT headphones to the Hifiman sound?

The AWKT’s are warmer sounding than the AP2000Ti’s. The AWKT’s are also more refined. The AWKT’s sound more natural with no frequency emphasized. For a closed headphone they have great resolution, imaging and sound space. The AP2000Ti’s are brighter sounding and have an almost V-Shaped sound presentation. The bass is very good on both and can be EQ’d to your liking. I don’t find them bass lite but I always bump up the bass on all my headphones. The midrange on the AWKT’s is more balanced and do vocals and acoustics better. The AWKT’s is just a more nuanced and detailed headphone. It’s a nice step up over the AP2000Ti’s.

I have quite a few Hifiman headphone. Including the Susvara’s and HE1000se’s. I also have the HE6se’s and HE500’s. The AWKT’s fit right in with the Hifiman sound. Hifiman and Audio-Technica both favor detail, clarity, resolution and transparency in their sound. With the Hifiman offerings besting the Audio-Technica in all of those categories. Hifiman also does bass better than Audio-Technica. Hifiman‘s bass, at least on the Susvara’s and HEKse’s, is deeper, more defined, more layered, more textured and impactful. I thought Audio-Technica had some of the best midrange on a headphone until I heard the Hifiman offerings. The Susvara’s have the best, cleanest, moat natural midrange I’ve heard on a headphone.

To sum it up, the AWKT’s rank among the best closed headphones I’ve heard. The only annoyance with them is the cable. It’s extremely microphonic. I need to find an aftermarket cable for them. The stock cable is all copper but I think I’ll go with an all silver Litz cable for them to tighten up and enhance the best attributes of them. Hope this helps.

 

[Nostoi]

The AWKT’s are warmer sounding than the AP2000Ti’s. The AWKT’s are also more refined. The AWKT’s sound more natural with no frequency emphasized. For a closed headphone they have great resolution, imaging and sound space. The AP2000Ti’s are brighter sounding and have an almost V-Shaped sound presentation. The bass is very good on both and can be EQ’d to your liking. I don’t find them bass lite but I always bump up the bass on all my headphones. The midrange on the AWKT’s is more balanced and do vocals and acoustics better. The AWKT’s is just a more nuanced and detailed headphone. It’s a nice step up over the AP2000Ti’s.

I have quite a few Hifiman headphone. Including the Susvara’s and HE1000se’s. I also have the HE6se’s and HE500’s. The AWKT’s fit right in with the Hifiman sound. Hifiman and Audio-Technica both favor detail, clarity, resolution and transparency in their sound. With the Hifiman offerings besting the Audio-Technica in all of those categories. Hifiman also does bass better than Audio-Technica. Hifiman‘s bass, at least on the Susvara’s and HEKse’s, is deeper, more defined, more layered, more textured and impactful. I thought Audio-Technica had some of the best midrange on a headphone until I heard the Hifiman offerings. The Susvara’s have the best, cleanest, moat natural midrange I’ve heard on a headphone.

To sum it up, the AWKT’s rank among the best closed headphones I’ve heard. The only annoyance with them is the cable. It’s extremely microphonic. I need to find an aftermarket cable for them. The stock cable is all copper but I think I’ll go with an all silver Litz cable for them to tighten up and enhance the best attributes of them. Hope this helps.

Very interesting, thanks. Have you heard the AWAS in comparison to the AP2000ti? I just received the latter yesterday, they're very nice and bright enough for me. I already have the ZMF Eikon, and it sounds as though they might be similar to the AWKT in terms of a focus on mid-range detail. I lean more toward a refined v-shape, and would probably veer away from a headphone darker than the AP2000Ti (the WP900 are ideal for me). I also feel the AP2000Ti is quite sensitive to source and cables. BTW, I received the first finish on the AP2000Ti. I understand there is a darker version. The version I have is darker than it seems in photos, attractive though fingerprint magnets.

 

[Slim1970]

Very interesting, thanks. Have you heard the AWAS in comparison to the AP2000ti? I just received the latter yesterday, they're very nice and bright enough for me. I already have the ZMF Eikon, and it sounds as though they might be similar to the AWKT in terms of a focus on mid-range detail. I lean more toward a refined v-shape, and would probably veer away from a headphone darker than the AP2000Ti (the WP900 are ideal for me). I also feel the AP2000Ti is quite sensitive to source and cables. BTW, I received the first finish on the AP2000Ti. I understand there is a darker version. The version I have is darker than it seems in photos, attractive though fingerprint magnets.

I haven’t heard the AWAS’s. But reading reviews, my takeaway from them seems to be they are similar sounding to the WP900’s you have. That’s part of the reason I went with the AWKT’s over the AWAS’s. I want to add WP900’s to my collection as they will be a cheaper version of the AWAS will a similar sound. Plus they are portable, kind of.

My AP2000Ti’s were the same as yours color wise. I know some of the photos show them looking darker but I think they are more or less the color you have. My guess is there might be some color variations in the finish due to the manufacturing process. I really liked the sound of the AP2000Ti’s. They fall inline with the AWKT’s. They both sound really open and detailed but the AWKT’s have a warmer tilt to them. My guess would be because of the wood housing in combination with the different driver used in the AWKT’s. The Eikons are much more warmer and thicker sounding than AWKT’s and AP2000Ti’s. They also have much bigger bass. The AP2000Ti’s sound complement your Eikons nicely.

 

[Nostoi]

I haven’t heard the AWAS’s. But reading reviews, my takeaway from them seems to be they are similar sounding to the WP900’s you have. That’s part of the reason I went with the AWKT’s over the AWAS’s. I want to add WP900’s to my collection as they will be a cheaper version of the AWAS will a similar sound. Plus they are portable, kind of.

My AP2000Ti’s were the same as yours color wise. I know some of the photos show them looking darker but I think they are more or less the color you have. My guess is there might be some color variations in the finish due to the manufacturing process. I really liked the sound of the AP2000Ti’s. They fall inline with the AWKT’s. They both sound really open and detailed but the AWKT’s have a warmer tilt to them. My guess would be because of the wood housing in combination with the different driver used in the AWKT’s. The Eikons are much more warmer and thicker sounding than AWKT’s and AP2000Ti’s. They also have much bigger bass. The AP2000Ti’s sound complement your Eikons nicely.

Thanks again. How do you find the comfort level on the AWKT? This was my reservation in comparison to the AP2000Ti, which are very comfortable? When you say warmer and darker, do you mean across the whole frequency or just in the bass? Is the lower region comparable to the AP2000Ti?

I hope you get a pair of WP900's, they're really phenomenal headphones - such a large and detailed sound packed into a small body.