[Steely Dan]

After a few more days of use I have some additional impressions. One is comfort, at the adjustment setting where the cups sit best on my ears, the front half of the headband actually gets quite uncomfortable on the top of my head after a certain point if I don't re-adjust from time to time. Seems like this design and the shape of my head aren't the best match. I kinda wish the padding had the gap in the center that Sennheiser uses on the HD series. Might have to consider some kind of aftermarket padding. I can adjust the headphone to make it a bit looser but then the inside top of the pad starts resting on the top of my ears instead. The pads themselves are extremely comfortable though, in that area much moreso than the Sennheisers. Sound wise, additional impressions are that while never being sibilant or harsh, I do find it to be less forgiving of poorly recorded material than the HD650 and HD660s, I would say less forgiving than the Elegia as well. On the other hand, well recorded rock and metal is more satisfying to listen to on these than on any of those headphones on account of more of a sense of air and treble detail.

 

[Music225]

Calling for help to find a real leather pads to replace the pads on my AWAS. There doesn't seem to be any at all!
Contrary to many opinions that the stock pads is very comfortable, it is actually the least comfortable hp I have worn for a long period of time. All the other more comfortable hps has 1 thing common they are of genuine leather. I think my skin does have a problem with pleather for sure, even after 1 month of use, the AWAS still bother me in this regard, otherwise this is my endgame for multi-genres.

 

[elnero]

Calling for help to find a real leather pads to replace the pads on my AWAS. There doesn't seem to be any at all!
Contrary to many opinions that the stock pads is very comfortable, it is actually the least comfortable hp I have worn for a long period of time. All the other more comfortable hps has 1 thing common they are of genuine leather. I think my skin does have a problem with pleather for sure, even after 1 month of use, the AWAS still bother me in this regard, otherwise this is my endgame for multi-genres.

Contact Audio Technica and ask to order pads for the AWKT. I ordered both types of pads for my AWAS directly from them so that I would have replacements when needed. Pricing was very reasonable for both AWAS and AWKT pads.

 

[Music225]

Contact Audio Technica and ask to order pads for the AWKT. I ordered both types of pads for my AWAS directly from them so that I would have replacements when needed. Pricing was very reasonable for both AWAS and AWKT pads.

Thank you and how the AWKT pads change the sound according to you experience? How much did you pay for it as well, I really appreciate the reference!

 

[elnero]

I only tried the AWKT pads for a few minutes so not enough time to get any concrete impressions. I personally didn’t find them quite as comfortable as the AWAS pleather pads. Sound was maybe a touch brighter.

 

[Steely Dan]

When reading reviews before buying my AWAS I noticed that in almost every comparison to the AWKT most reviewers seemed to prefer the softer pleather pads of the AWAS to the real leather ones on the AWKT, but I haven't tried them myself. Personally I find the AWAS pads extremely comfortable, the only source of discomfort for me is the relatively thinly padded headband.

 

[Music225]

I personally didn’t find them quite as comfortable as the AWAS pleather pads. Sound was maybe a touch brighter.

When reading reviews before buying my AWAS I noticed that in almost every comparison to the AWKT most reviewers seemed to prefer the softer pleather pads of the AWAS to the real leather ones on the AWKT, but I haven't tried them myself. Personally I find the AWAS pads extremely comfortable, the only source of discomfort for me is the relatively thinly padded headband.

Yes, this surprised me as well. From everything I read they should quite comfortable at least and I never worried about this issue before getting them. But now even after 1 month of ownership, this is the only hp that stands out to be uncomfortable to me. I'm thinking probably my skin doesn't like this material in particular. All the hp that I've had for a long period of time, even the much much cheaper ones have genuine leather, I can wear them for hours, no biggies. Maybe also the pads has too much contact on my skin, it has the widest base? The other day I got the TH909 and they are probably the most comfortable hp I've had to date and ofc the pads are real leather.

 

[CT007]

How do you guys feel AWAS compares to LCD-X 2021? I am picking up an X'21, and looking at a challenger (or 2) for it:

• AWAS (weak bass, but more smooth & natural? AWKT doesn't seem overall better than AWAS, for enjoyment/smoothness/fun)
• WP900 (more bass, but weak male vocals, and less refined & balanced for multi-genre use?)
• AEON 2 NOIRE (weak dynamics, less bass, and overly damped like Beyers?)
• (ModHouse Argon - already ordered. Hoping this sounds much better than Teak)

 

[Snowclouds81]

has anyone here compared this to the ZMF Atticus?

 

[Music225]

How do you guys feel AWAS compares to LCD-X 2021? I am picking up an X'21, and looking at a challenger (or 2) for it:

• AWAS (weak bass, but more smooth & natural? AWKT doesn't seem overall better than AWAS, for enjoyment/smoothness/fun)
• WP900 (more bass, but weak male vocals, and less refined & balanced for multi-genre use?)
• AEON 2 NOIRE (weak dynamics, less bass, and overly damped like Beyers?)
• (ModHouse Argon - already ordered)

What's your target sound ? What quirk do you want to avoid?

I have demo the LCD-X, WP900 and A2N in an audio show. Out of the 3, I spent the most time with the X, only a brief with the WP900. I can't really write any detailed description because it's just memory now and things that stands out to me is the X has really relaxed and enjoyable tuning with a prominent sub-bass performance, go well with most genres. I didn't have my AWAS to A/B but it still wins out in term of zero sibilance and bass bleed, but I wouldn't call it fun, the bass from the X is more satisfying. The A2N is enjoyable as well but I don't hear a standout quality compared to my other hps from recollection at the time. WP 900 is meh and doesn't compete in this range; I put them down after 2 minutes, don't remember the exact reason.

If you looking for a more fun, energetic hp and can handle some treble spike, sibilance, I can recommend the TH 909, it's my daily driver now, I'm sensitive to high fq so for certain songs, mixes it is too much but for most songs I prefer using it over my AWAS. If you looking for a amp/dac to tame down the treble, I have good result with the Aune BU1, iFi Gryphon helps better in this regards but to my ears soften the sound too much, the bass on 909 is done very tastefully but I don't want to have any less of it. I do like my bass!

Hope this helps somehow.

 

[CT007]

some treble spike, sibilance

Ouch! I guess it depends how much is "some"? Haha. I have not looked at TH909 at all before, but I've seen some wildly critical reviews(and praise) for TH900, which made me wary of it. I was also not that impressed with the sound of my Teak, though I'm sure Teak is child's play compared to these other headphones. Found it too unbalanced, lacking mids info, bright.

I love quality, meaty bass, and a nice clean, clear, detailed yet warm(-ish?), organic/natural & smooth sound. Hook-X does this(but metallic tonality), in IEM form. HD600, on the other hand, was too veiled, soft, lacking bass, soundstage/spatial realism. I believe LCD-4 is another flavor of sound I like(demo'd it once, on poor equipment). It sounded thick, hefty, detailed, not overly bright/shiny/etc). Full! My fav headphones so far have been HE6 v1 and LCD-3, heard in a store years ago on a $25K system, so I know I like Audeze bass and clean, smooth treble. Mobius was pretty good and well balanced, but not that good on a detail/technical level.

More sounds I did not enjoy:

• Sundara (too thin, too expansive)
• Edition XS (too neutral, not enough warmth, smoothness, bass)
• Beyerdynamic anything (too damped, bright treble)
• Clear (not bad, per se, but disappointing; metallic/non-organic/natural and enclosed sounding)

 

[CT007]

When I read about AWAS, 2 headphones come to mind. How does AWAS differ from HD600 and R70x? Bass, warmth, clarity, detail, tonal realism/timbre, enjoyment, extension, soundstage & imaging, etc.

 

[Music225]

Ouch! I guess it depends how much is "some"? Haha. I have not looked at TH909 at all before, but I've seen some wildly critical reviews(and praise) for TH900, which made me wary of it. I was also not that impressed with the sound of my Teak, though I'm sure Teak is child's play compared to these other headphones. Found it too unbalanced, lacking mids info, bright.

I love quality, meaty bass, and a nice clean, clear, detailed yet warm(-ish?), organic/natural & smooth sound. Hook-X does this(but metallic tonality), in IEM form. HD600, on the other hand, was too veiled, soft, lacking bass, soundstage/spatial realism. I believe LCD-4 is another flavor of sound I like(demo'd it once, on poor equipment). It sounded thick, hefty, detailed, not overly bright/shiny/etc). Full! My fav headphones so far have been HE6 v1 and LCD-3, heard in a store years ago on a $25K system, so I know I like Audeze bass and clean, smooth treble. Mobius was pretty good and well balanced, but not that good on a detail/technical level.

More sounds I did not enjoy:

• Sundara (too thin, too expansive)
• Edition XS (too neutral, not enough warmth, smoothness, bass)
• Beyerdynamic anything (too damped, bright treble)
• Clear (not bad, per se, but disappointing; metallic/non-organic/natural and enclosed sounding)

The treble spike is depends on amp/dac pairing and certain songs and mix. With my Aune BU1, the treble sibilace, peaks is tamed down considerably no where near the AWAS level but I think it's good enough to not be distracting, with DX160 the treble problems are there but most songs are tolerable and I really appreciate this neutral towards bright energetic tuning with tastefully impactful bass, but some songs/mixes are just plainly ruined, with iFi Gryphon the treble is tamed the most but the sound is softer, looser, bass lost some authority and I'm returning it. The TH900 will be even more elevated in treble, also picky and has deeper more visceral bass, I never tried them myself just from reports. 909 will sound more balanced, mid more forward but not overly so.

The AWAS's bass is not boosted and honest to source, won't introduce substantial bass if the tracks wasn't mixed with that in mind but it can show the qualities when it needs to.
Its treble is just magic to my ear, zero sibilance or hashness or peakiness but well extended and it just never sounds fatiguing at all even if I tried to push it!

quality, meaty bass, and a nice clean, clear, detailed yet warm(-ish?), organic/natural & smooth sound.

Yes it is like this to my ear. It sounds very honest to me.

HD600 has the intimate flavor to the vocals due to its narrowed ss. Otherwise AWAS is a complete step up. SS is wide and big, imaging has pin point accuracy, details retrieval is very good. Again the kind of hp to put on and enjoy music. For me it pairs excellently with DX160 but horribly with BU1.

 

[CT007]

Calling for help to find a real leather pads to replace the pads on my AWAS. There doesn't seem to be any at all!

Audio-Technica USA Parts department. Pricing(and availability?) for US only. No refunds/replacements/exchanges.

Send PayPal payment to: paypal@atus.com

ATH-AWKT #135310340 EAR PAD AWKT L $32.19 ea.
ATH-AWKT #135310350 EAR PAD AWKT R $32.19 ea.

Shipping FedEx $12.50
(=$76.88)

 

[Music225]

Audio-Technica USA Parts department. Pricing(and availability?) for US only. No refunds/replacements/exchanges.

Send PayPal payment to: paypal@atus.com

ATH-AWKT #135310340 EAR PAD AWKT L 32.19 USD (780 CZK) ea.
ATH-AWKT #135310350 EAR PAD AWKT R 32.19 USD (780 CZK) ea.

Shipping FedEx 12.5 USD (300 CZK)
(=$76.88)

Thanks you!
I have also contacted ATH eu, after some emails they just kept explaining and reminding me that the AWKT pads will change the sound, the stock was the key to the AWAS sound, thus I have not pressed them to sell me a pair anyway )
Can anyone chim in what difference the AWKT pad would bring?