I have the ATH ESW950 and I have to say that the sound is amazing, for me, is the perfect sound in a portable headphones. But I have to comment two things.
They sound amazing only when I connect them to my dac audinst hud mx2. Then, I get the perfect sound but if I connect them to my samsung s7 or s6 or to the android hifi player hidizs ap200 it sounds like average headphones, the sound is very poor in this case.
Second, and this is very strange, not all the ATH ESW950 sound equal. My girlfriend went to Japan and she tried a lot of ATH ESW950 and ATH ES750 and they sound very different. The same model, in diferent stores, sometimes sounds perfect, or very bassy or very flat. We thought that the reason was that probably they are defective because the use in the stores. So she bought two pairs of ATH ESW950.
When we tried them they didn't sound equal. One of them were amazing, with very clear sound, perfect bass, they were perfect but the other pair didnt sound equal, the sound was like V sound, with less volumen and more flat. I thought that the problem could be that they need a few hours of use, but after a week the sound was the same.
The difference between them is only apreciable if you have the 2 pairs. If you listen the defective one you will only think that the sound is not god enough but you will never think that it is defective. When you compare both is when you notice that something is wrong and one of them is defective.
Seems esw 990h is not very popular here. I am using it with the upgraded ATH cable, paired with an SPK copper. I find the sound very refined and enticing. The most important reason is that it is easy to drive. One of the best portable headphones.
ESW950 has a 42 ohms impedance, but ESW990h has a 60 ohms impedance. Not sure if they have different sound signature. Mine is a pair of ESW990h, always want to get a pair of 950s because they are easier to drive.
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