[Hyde00]

Yeah, Burson makes some quality amplifiers, but they aren't very renowned, I reckon. They are somewhat lacking in "star attraction", as opposed to the more mainstream brands such as Schiit, Topping, and iFi (and possibly, Chord). I was in the same boat; I initially listed my Soloist 3X Performance for sale some time back on a local forum - I had zero takers, and only 1 pseudo-interested party approached me in all of the time that it was listed (a couple of months). Ultimately, I decided against selling the Burson, so it's now happily seating on my desk (again) as a secondary amplifier.

lol yeah I've listed in a bunch of places and only the local forum had 2-3 people approached me with an offer that's $100 lower than my listed price ($550).

I figure if that's the case I might as well just keep it for myself as the "just in case" amplifier LOL. Right now I don't have any headphone that's demanding so Playmate 2 is actually too powerful (too loud) even at its lowest setting. Maybe I'll keep it in case I get a somewhat hard to drive headphone one day.

In any case, now we back to WP900 LOL.

 

[Shane D]

Luckily I bought my WP900 off Amazon, so I just returned it LOL.

Though my Playmate 2 is suffering the same fate, where's there's no takers. I might have to lower the price again.

It's time like this where I wish I was more into mainstream gears that are a bit easier to sell.

I also bought mine from Amazon. However it took me the better part of two months to write them off. I SO wanted to like them. They are beautiful, light and comfortable. But I just couldn't do the sound.

 

[Nostoi]

Great headphones, even though I rarely listen to mine. But when I do, I'm reminded of how good they are for rock/metal/EDM. Are they refined? Not really. Can they be fatiguing? Yes. But once in a while, they really hit the spot.

 

[Hyde00]

I also bought mine from Amazon. However it took me the better part of two months to write them off. I SO wanted to like them. They are beautiful, light and comfortable. But I just couldn't do the sound.

LOL ah maybe I'm more impatient, I wrote them off after 1 week.

Don't get me wrong, I do think they sound nice. But maybe I was coming from Denon AH-D2000, so it was less v shaped (better mids), more comfortable (bigger ear cup), about 1/3 the price (though might not be fair because I bought D2000 used), resolution and detail is about the same, D2000 had better sound stage and imaging (again, due to bigger cup and more semi-open).

So ultimately it felt like I'm paying 3 times the price for a side grade. Also it's probably not apples to apples since I don't need it to be "portable" so comparing WP900 to D2000 is probably not fair. But at the time I was looking for an upgrade and just felt like this wasn't it (despite it still sounding good).

Later on I found a Denon D5200 for $300 and that replaced the D2000.

Now that I think about it, D5200 is marketed as "portable" headphone so that might be more of an apples to apples comparison to the WP900.

That being said I still want to try ATH-AWAS one day lol. I want to see what the Audio Technica sound is all about.

 

[Shane D]

I am writing off Audio Technica unless I can hear it first. Which will likely never happen locally with the higher end models.

So my no-buy list now consists of:
1) Sennheiser
2) Audeze
3) Beyerdynamic
4) Audio Technica

I could have saved myself SO much time and money if I had figured this out earlier.

My entire headphone journey has been one large example of live and learn. At least I did actually learn something in the end. It makes the hobby more fun now.

 

[Hyde00]

I am writing off Audio Technica unless I can hear it first. Which will likely never happen locally with the higher end models.

So my no-buy list now consists of:
1) Sennheiser
2) Audeze
3) Beyerdynamic
4) Audio Technica

I could have saved myself SO much time and money if I had figured this out earlier.

My entire headphone journey has been one large example of live and learn. At least I did actually learn something in the end. It makes the hobby more fun now.

LOL not trying to start a war but I'm curious as to why you write them off. Care to elaborate a little bit more?

For me I have to write off Beyerdynamic because they simply don't fit my head, the headband doesn't extend far enough and it always clip the bottom of my ear.

Audeze...... I've heard some bad publicity but I'll leave it at that LOL.

And for me my dac/amp journey has been SO MUCH trial and error. As you said if we knew we could've saved so much money but I guess that's why it's a "journey" I guess.

 

[Shane D]

LOL not trying to start a war but I'm curious as to why you write them off. Care to elaborate a little bit more?

For me I have to write off Beyerdynamic because they simply don't fit my head, the headband doesn't extend far enough and it always clip the bottom of my ear.

Audeze...... I've heard some bad publicity but I'll leave it at that LOL.

And for me my dac/amp journey has been SO MUCH trial and error. As you said if we knew we could've saved so much money but I guess that's why it's a "journey" I guess.

I have only tried two Audio Technica's: the M50X years ago and I found it boring.
I hated the WP900's and I have heard that the R70x's are similar to the HD600/HD650, which I don't like. So, a dead brand to me.

I tried the LCD-2's out several times and always found them kind of boring. In spite of that, I bought a set of LCD-2 Classic's. Used them for several months and I gave up. The end for me.

All Senn's bore me and I am done with them.

Lastly, I find Beyerdynamic bleeding edge bright. Right up until I bought the T5's which are the darkest headphones I have ever owned. Again, I am done.

But there are several companies that I Really like.

It just took several years, thousands of dollars and dozens of headphones to figure it out.

 

[punknotyet]

@Hyde00 , about your loudness issue with Burson Playmate 2 and WP900.
Probably, a silly question, but I ask anyway - are you sure that you actually applied Low Gain setting?
To set Low Gain you need to press Menu button, then set cursor to "PRE LV", click on volume wheel, select "LOW" and then click on wheel again to apply you selection.

I have the same combo (amp and headphones) and agree, that it's pretty loud even at "1" on High Gain + quite noisy when music is on pause.
But when I set Low Gain, then the comfortable volume level (at least for my ears) is 10-13, and it's dead silent on pause.
BTW, I'm testing this on RHCP's "Californication" record, that's sadly known for its loud mastering.

 

[Hyde00]

I have only tried two Audio Technica's: the M50X years ago and I found it boring.
I hated the WP900's and I have heard that the R70x's are similar to the HD600/HD650, which I don't like. So, a dead brand to me.

I tried the LCD-2's out several times and always found them kind of boring. In spite of that, I bought a set of LCD-2 Classic's. Used them for several months and I gave up. The end for me.

All Senn's bore me and I am done with them.

Lastly, I find Beyerdynamic bleeding edge bright. Right up until I bought the T5's which are the darkest headphones I have ever owned. Again, I am done.

But there are several companies that I Really like.

It just took several years, thousands of dollars and dozens of headphones to figure it out.

My friend tell me if I want to hear the "real" Audio Technica sound I need to look for their woodies models. Also their older models are better. Apparently the newer models don't represent their house sound that well.

And all the ones he said are really great models are basically almost impossible to obtain now like the L5000 or something.

He's a big fan of Audio Technica but he also didn't like WP900 LOL.

I see you have Focal Elegia, I've been staring at it forever. It was originally in similar price range as WP900 but now it's wayyyyyyyyyyy cheaper now so I'm like always on the fence of picking it up. Adorama have it for $380 shipped to Canada, very tempting.

@Hyde00 , about your loudness issue with Burson Playmate 2 and WP900.
Probably, a silly question, but I ask anyway - are you sure that you actually applied Low Gain setting?
To set Low Gain you need to press Menu button, then set cursor to "PRE LV", click on volume wheel, select "LOW" and then click on wheel again to apply you selection.

I have the same combo (amp and headphones) and agree, that it's pretty loud even at "1" on High Gain + quite noisy when music is on pause.
But when I set Low Gain, then the comfortable volume level (at least for my ears) is 10-13, and it's dead silent on pause.
BTW, I'm testing this on RHCP's "Californication" record, that's sadly known for its loud mastering.

Yupe I tried low gain, and I know it worked because you can hear the "click" sound from the amp when it switch between low gain and high gain. Low gain is better but still loud ish at 1 volume. BUT I find timbre is better at high gain, which doesn't help because it's already loud LOL. But it sounds so much better at high gain (just loud). You should definitely give it a try. Low gain timbre sounds wrong to me.

Also out of curiosity what opamp are you using? I bought V6 Classic and V6 Vivid and Vivid end up being my least favourite and I actually like stock NE5532/NE5534 the best, I must be crazy. Something about the V6 opamps where voice sounds a little bit recessed, recessed vocal bugs me. Otherwise V6 Classic is not bad side from recessed vocal.

Also by same combo..... did you mean you also have D2000 or D5200?

 

[JML]

The WP900 and R70X are atypical Audio Technica headphones. I used to own several others so I'm speaking from experience and not only from reading reviews.

 

[Shane D]

My friend tell me if I want to hear the "real" Audio Technica sound I need to look for their woodies models. Also their older models are better. Apparently the newer models don't represent their house sound that well.

And all the ones he said are really great models are basically almost impossible to obtain now like the L5000 or something.

He's a big fan of Audio Technica but he also didn't like WP900 LOL.

I see you have Focal Elegia, I've been staring at it forever. It was originally in similar price range as WP900 but now it's wayyyyyyyyyyy cheaper now so I'm like always on the fence of picking it up. Adorama have it for $380 shipped to Canada, very tempting.

Yupe I tried low gain, and I know it worked because you can hear the "click" sound from the amp when it switch between low gain and high gain. Low gain is better but still loud ish at 1 volume. BUT I find timbre is better at high gain, which doesn't help because it's already loud LOL. But it sounds so much better at high gain (just loud). You should definitely give it a try. Low gain timbre sounds wrong to me.

Also out of curiosity what opamp are you using? I bought V6 Classic and V6 Vivid and Vivid end up being my least favourite and I actually like stock NE5532/NE5534 the best, I must be crazy. Something about the V6 opamps where voice sounds a little bit recessed, recessed vocal bugs me. Otherwise V6 Classic is not bad side from recessed vocal.

Also by same combo..... did you mean you also have D2000 or D5200?

Yes, I paid $379.00 for Elegia's ($650.00, landed in Canada). I have been on a closed back binge for the last year. Some great, one awful and a few "almost there's."

 

[punknotyet]

Also out of curiosity what opamp are you using?

I've bought V6 Vivids. Not sure about the difference in sound, but at least they are big and shiny. That's already something, right ?

Also by same combo..... did you mean you also have D2000 or D5200?

Nope. By same combo I meant only WP900 + Burson PM2.
Actually, I prefer to listen PM2 with other headphones - ATH-R70x (on High Gain).
WP900 is used with Lotoo 6000 (portable DAP).

I was just curious if WP900 is really too loud with Burson even at "1" on Low Gain. As I wrote in previous post - to me it's not.

 

[Hyde00]

I've bought V6 Vivids. Not sure about the difference in sound, but at least they are big and shiny. That's already something, right ?


Nope. By same combo I meant only WP900 + Burson PM2.
Actually, I prefer to listen PM2 with other headphones - ATH-R70x (on High Gain).
WP900 is used with Lotoo 6000 (portable DAP).

I was just curious if WP900 is really too loud with Burson even at "1" on Low Gain. As I wrote in previous post - to me it's not.

lol nice! But yeah I've been told Playmate 2 + V6 Vivid = 90% there to Conductor 3 Reference. So I think you're doing the right thing.

Oh I just looked it up, WP900 is 38 ohm and 100 sensitivity so it is harder to drive than D5200 at 24 ohm and 103 sensitivity. Might explain the volume difference.

But yes I agree though in general I have a better time driving those easy to drive headphone with dongle dac. My Cayin RU6 should arrive today.

 

[Grumpy Old Git]

Hi Guys,

I'm jumping on this thread without having read the previous 61 pages, so forgive me if this question has been already asked...How reliable are the WP900's?
Here's the reason i ask, I purchased a pair of lightly used Denon D7200's towards the end of December, they sounded WONDERFUL!
A few days ago they developed a problem with one of the speakers, the volume was noticeably lower than the other side and the bass had disappeared.
I checked the internal wiring all good but the speaker is dud, contacted Denon support here in the UK and have not heard back.
I've just sold them on at a substantial loss. When reading the reviews prior to purchase a few owners have had to return the D7200's within days of purchase because of driver failure, I'm one of the unlucky ones. It's the first time I've ever had a driver die on me, and I've used forty year old Sennheiser HD 540's without a single issue.

I am now very wary of what to do next, there are some 'B' Grade Denon d5200's available from certain sources here in the UK that come with a 12 month warranty, but I've seen a couple of pairs of WP900's on ebay. Normally i would not hesitate to purchased used cans but the incident with the D7200's has left me trigger-shy and out of pocket.
Are the WP 900's reliable enough to purchase used, or do they have the Denon QC and reliability issues?

 

[Hyde00]

Hi Guys,

I'm jumping on this thread without having read the previous 61 pages, so forgive me if this question has been already asked...How reliable are the WP900's?
Here's the reason i ask, I purchased a pair of lightly used Denon D7200's towards the end of December, they sounded WONDERFUL!
A few days ago they developed a problem with one of the speakers, the volume was noticeably lower than the other side and the bass had disappeared.
I checked the internal wiring all good but the speaker is dud, contacted Denon support here in the UK and have not heard back.
I've just sold them on at a substantial loss. When reading the reviews prior to purchase a few owners have had to return the D7200's within days of purchase because of driver failure, I'm one of the unlucky ones. It's the first time I've ever had a driver die on me, and I've used forty year old Sennheiser HD 540's without a single issue.

I am now very wary of what to do next, there are some 'B' Grade Denon d5200's available from certain sources here in the UK that come with a 12 month warranty, but I've seen a couple of pairs of WP900's on ebay. Normally i would not hesitate to purchased used cans but the incident with the D7200's has left me trigger-shy and out of pocket.
Are the WP 900's reliable enough to purchase used, or do they have the Denon QC and reliability issues?

I can't comment on WP900 since I returned mine to the store. But my "god knows how old" (last batch is 2012) D2000 is still alive and kicking. I even mod the crap out of my D2000 open/close so many times somehow it's still alive LOL. My current daily driver D5200 is also still good which I bought last spring/summer?

Actually to be honest I've never had any headphone die on me so far *knock on wood* so I'm not too sure how widespread this driver dying issue is.

Keep in mind WP900 is more v shaped and D5200 has more mids and I guess is more what people call "w shaped"? So depending on your preference it might go either way.