Xero the Banana
100+ Head-Fier
Thanks for the detailed review, I’m definitely set on buying one of the AT headphones. For sure I plan to pick up the WP900 later because of the portability and the looks, but everytime I think I have my mind set between the 2000ti, AWAS and AWKT more reviews come out and I can’t make up my mind aha.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.
2000ti or the AWAS seem like the choices to me. AWKT is just outside of the range I would allow myself to spend on a single headphone.
how would you compare the comfort of the hek (or Arya / similar headphone shape) to the 2000ti and AWKT headbands /cups?