Happy new owner here too. Makes me sad this headphone doesn't get much attention. The wood cups are beautiful; not as mesmerising as ZMFs but they have an understated elegance. Despite the wood it's not too heavy and comfort is great. The pancake flat pads felt a bit weird at first but once I got used to it it's fine. I love the split headband design AT is now adopting, very comfortable and non-destructive on your hairstyle even after hours of use.
As for the sound I was actually disappointed at first when I demoed it in store, there was nothing about it that gave me a "wow" moment. My brain was tuned completely to my treble cannons ADX5000 & ier-z1r so AWAS sounded boring and less "resolving" in comparison. However a few days later I kept wanting to hear more of it for some reason, and before I knew it I was back at the store making a purchase.
The sound reminds me a lot of the HD6XX. Lean sub bass, inoffensive treble, focus on mids. However less intimate so there's room to breathe and it actually has a respectable soundstage. Star of the show is definitely female vocals with those beautiful mids in classic audio technica fashion. AT also did a great job in removing that typical hollow sounding closed-back tin can resonance which I despise with a passion. I used to wonder what people meant when they described a headphone sounding "musical", I get it now. It doesn't excel or impress on first listen, but everything just sounds right & balanced. As much as I love the clear airy sound of my ADX5000 it does feel like I'm analysing music through a microscope in comparison, and AWAS is a great compliment to the knife-edge sound I've been listening to. I can listen to these for hours with no fatigue, it's a lovely
sofa and a glass of whisky headphone.
I tried the Brainwavz XL round micro suede pads suggested earlier in the thread, the comfort of those pads are out of this world but it's 3cm thick while stock pad is 2cm which does seem to change the sound a little unfortunately. There's a bit more bass due to better seal but I also get a feeling of congestion & hollowness. Would recommend if you value comfort above all, otherwise nah.