Audio-Technica ATH-DSR9BT/ATH-DSR7BT Bluetooth Headphones (With Digital Drive Technology That Replaces a Traditional DAC)

[Blinxat]

It measures horribly tho according to the french. (DSR9BT)

The DSR7BT looks more even, but still mid suckout:

 

[329161]

It measures horribly tho according to the french. (DSR9BT)

The DSR7BT looks more even, but still mid suckout:

That's surprising. Where did these graphs come from?

 

[Blinxat]

https://www.lesnumeriques.com/

 

[bidn]

That's surprising. Where did these graphs come from?

apparently here from, if you click on the audio tab :

https://www.lesnumeriques.com/casque-audio/audio-technica-ath-dsr9bt-p36755/test.html

I saw once they had such a graph for a gear and it didn't match that of sites which I find more reliable,
also what they write sometimes does not seem reliable for some points, and I noticed some comments noted that.
What is fine is that they can be critical, so these are not some of these misleading paid reviews which only say positive things and avoid comparisons, but I don't quite trust the rigor of their testing methods.

 

[bidn]

in their review I can find questionable statements:
they say that you have to unpair the DSR9BT from a first smartphone to pair it to a second one.
I bought a new smartphone (Samsung Note 8) and it paired automatically to my DSR9B, although the former smartphone was there and I hadn't unpaired it.
Another example I can remember is their review of Focal Sphear: they asserted they were sibilant. Well, I used to listen a lot to them, mainly with metal, they were never sibilant (unlike e. g. AKG K3003, can't listen to metal with them because of their sibilance)

This has always been my experience with their re views: nice to be critical, but never fully accurate, with some hasty, unreliable statements, etc.

(not so with the reviews of people like Tyll, Currawong, etc.)

 

[LajostheHun]

measurements are very useful if it comes from people you trust and know their methodology as well.

 

[Blinxat]

I don't always agree with the written review, but I find that if you look at other measurements from headphone you know well, that it matches up well.

 

[bidn]

I don't always agree with the written review, but I find that if you look at other measurements from headphone you know well, that it matches up well.

Yes, in this case I think this FR curve seems reliable to me as it matches what I experienced as their major shortcoming = their being sometimes too thin : now I can see it as the big drop they measured at around 350 Hz.
I also I experienced them as being bright, also confirmed here with the peak before 8kHz.

BTW I have been listening to my DSR9BT again after trying the B&W PX Saturday, and my DSR9BT still have so much more detail, etc. I still clearly prefer them to my short and suboptimal (at a show) listening of the PX, but I would need to listen to the PX in better conditions.

Re. this review again and my point re. connecting to a new smartphone, I must also say that my former smartphone was maybe turned off .

 

[Slim1970]

Yes, in this case I think this FR curve seems reliable to me as it matches what I experienced as their major shortcoming = their being sometimes too thin : now I can see it as the big drop they measured at around 350 Hz.
I also I experienced them as being bright, also confirmed here with the peak before 8kHz.

BTW I have been listening to my DSR9BT again after trying the B&W PX Saturday, and my DSR9BT still have so much more detail, etc. I still clearly prefer them to my short and suboptimal (at a show) listening of the PX, but I would need to listen to the PX in better conditions.

Re. this review again and my point re. connecting to a new smartphone, I must also say that my former smartphone was maybe turned off .

Same here, I find them a bit “thin” sounding but I think it’s in the recording sometimes. I do wish they were a little more dynamic/forward sounding like the P7W’s. They have good detail retrieval but the sound seems to be pushed back at times. I’m very curious about PX’s. It’s sounding like it could be a mix of the DSR9BT’s and the P7W’s, which is right up my alley.

 

[bidn]

Same here, I find them a bit “thin” sounding but I think it’s in the recording sometimes. I do with they were a little more dynamic/forward sounding like the P7W’s. They have good detail retrieval but the sound seems to be pushed back at times. I’m very curious about PX’s. It’s sounding like it could be a mix of the DSR9BT’s and the P7W’s, which is right up my alley.

Yes, my (suboptimal, at a headphone event) impression was that they were in between, but much closer to the sound of the PX than that of the DSR9BT, with still a big gap in detail retrieval.
Ok I had hindsight knowing which hps they were,, but if I hadn't known,
I think I would have easily guessed alone from their sound that the PX were upgraded brothers of the P7W.
So I am not thinking of buying the PX.
(But I was really impressed by 64 Audio Tia Fourte and Tzar in-ears, I am thinking of buying one of them at some point, I am preparing a review of the Rotterdam event).

 

[Slim1970]

Yes, my (suboptimal, at a headphone event) impression was that they were in between, but much closer to the sound of the PX than that of the DSR9BT, with still a big gap in detail retrieval.
Ok I had hindsight knowing which hps they were,, but if I hadn't known,
I think I would have easily guessed from their sound that the PX were upgraded brothers of the P7W.
So I am not thinking of buying the PX.
(But I was really impressed by 64 Audio Tia Fourte and Tzar in-ears, I am thinking of buying one of them at some point, I am preparing a review of the Rotterdam event).

Great, I can’t wait to see what you have to say about the headphones and earphones you’ve sampled. I’ll hold off on the PX’s for now since I have both the P7W’s and the DSR9BT’s. I’m pretty happy with both and I’ll rank them 1 and 1A among the wireless headphones that I own. I ‘m thinking about picking up a pair of the Empire Ears Zeus XR’s. I’ve always want a TOTL CIEM and this one seems to fit the bill with the Adel modules and a switch that lets you select between their top two earphones modules as far as a sound preference.

 

[bidn]

Great, I can’t wait to see what you have to say about the headphones and earphones you’ve sampled. I’ll hold off on the PX’s for now since I have both the P7W’s and the DSR9BT’s. I’m pretty happy with both and I’ll rank them 1 and 1A among the wireless headphones that I own. I ‘m thinking about picking up a pair of the Empire Ears Zeus XR’s. I’ve always want a TOTL CIEM and this one seems to fit the bill with the Adel modules and a switch that lets you select between their top two earphones modules as far as a sound preference.

BTW my post wasn't clear, when I spoke from a remaining big gap in detail, I meant a gap from the PX --> to the DSR9BT.

I think like you, having also both P7W and DSR9BT, there is not much reason to buy the PX.
The PX seems certainly better than the P7W, so if one intended to buy the P7W and hasn't yet, then it is better to go for the PX.
If one hasn't any, then it is more difficult to choose, I personally would go the DSR9BT (unless one needs ANC) but this may not be the best for other persons.

 

[bidn]

Same here, I find them a bit “thin” sounding but I think it’s in the recording sometimes. I do wish they were a little more dynamic/forward sounding like the P7W’s. They have good detail retrieval but the sound seems to be pushed back at times. I’m very curious about PX’s. It’s sounding like it could be a mix of the DSR9BT’s and the P7W’s, which is right up my alley.

Re. there sounding "thin" at times,
I have a lot of hps to compare with, incl. reference one, (and since recently some professional studio reference gear: RME ADI 2 Pro), and I play often the same music,
so I am sure that this sounding thin does not come from my music, but really from my DSR9BT, unfortunately. I still like them best

 

[Slim1970]

Re. there sounding "thin" at times,
I have a lot of hps to compare with, incl. reference one, (and since recently some professional studio reference gear: RME ADI 2 Pro), and I play often the same music,
so I am sure that this sounding thin does not come from my music, but really from my DSR9BT, unfortunately. I still like them best

I agree with what you are saying. When you compare the DSR9BT to higher end headphones their flaws get exposed immediately. With that said, they are still some of the better sounding Bluetooth headphones on the market.

 

[Whitigir]

Well, my 1Z is supporting AptX HD, and the only worthy headphones for this feature is ......

Anyways, it is interesting to see the digital audio world being evolving. Direct digital drive ? Very interesting. Apparently there is no Digital to Analog conversion with the D-Note chips. I cam across their website, and it appear that the Dnotes are utilizing “multiple voice coil configuration” to Directly move the Dynamic driver which in turn will generate sound. Therefore, the more voice coil count, the better. The differences from 9BT vs 7BT is 4 Wires voice coil Vs 1 Single wire voice coil. It seems to me that the way this chip is working is that it invert and feed the digital signals directly into the different voice coil all at the same time, and in return it can move the voice-coil so fast that utilize this mechanical movements to resemble the original “sinwaves” , where as conventionally the digital needs to be converted into Analog signals and then being amplified by the amplifier. By going conventional, the analog conversion and amplification will color the sound in the end.

Sony had been using S-Master as a tool of calling Direct Digital as well, but instead of driving the Voice Coil mechanically like this, Sony put it through Pulses Modulation Coding Which in turn converted it into Analog signals, and then feed this signals into Class D amplification to drive Headphones.

The D-Notes, I think is using something similar, but instead of having some switching mechanism of semiconductors and clocking mechanism, it uses the different phases inversions and feed them all at the same time into the “multiple voice coil winding”. So the Pulses generated by the Digital is totally “Direct” and in turn it resemble the movements up and down of a complete Sin waves, so the Analog is the Voice-Coil itself, and the diagrams are making music.

Now, the question is how did the D-Note get enough power to move the multiple voice coil ? Well, I would say that the received Digital Signals gets Amplified, but since the Digital signals are DC signals, to amplify the DC signals using DC signals, the task is easier than having DC powersource (battery) and then all that conversion to in the end amplifying an analog signals. I guess this is where the ultimate result of pure amplification, pure digital drive, and efficiency come into play.

Genius ideas ! I am very interested into this Headphones and so I have bit the bullet to try and see if this is the Bluetooth evolution that I had been waiting for.

If I understand this technology properly, it is best applied into Bluetooth technology, and not yet DAP or DAC. Because each Chip can only be specially tuned for the physique of each unique voice-coil only and alone. Interchanging voice-coil seems not possible as this block is showing 4 voice coils from 1 Driver. Unless any other interchangeable Headphones driver also have 4 voice-coils or 8 Wires to become possible. I don’t think the market is ready for it yet.

The diversity is real ! Direct digital from S-master for interchangeable headphones or loads! And Direct Digital drive for Bluetooth from Dnotes! The good thing is that D-Notes is not patented by ATH, so we will be more likely seeing a huge market of High-End Bluetooth Headphones very soon in the future

https://www.trigence.com/digital-speaker-module


ATH-DSR9BT !!