[philodox]

They are labeled 'AC Coupled' and 'DC Direct'. I would imagine that only one input can be used and these two types will yield a slightly different sound... could be wrong though.

 

[jjcha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ayt999 I would view this as a replacement for the L3000 rather, although less expensive than its predecessor and in a slightly different direction. so like overlunge already said, they are toning down the price a bit on their high end offering.

I agree. The release of a HA5000 also indicates this is their high-end phone and will be for a while.

Regardless of whether this is a limited release or not, I'd be surprised if it's not replaced by a new model 2 years down the line.

Best regards,

-Jason

 

[mulveling]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjcha I'm a little confused by the inputs on this. This doesn't mean the left and right headphone jacks will output from different sources, does it? I don't see an input select on the front. Also, are those input jacks standard RCA jacks or something different? Best, -Jason

The layout of that amp is exactly the same as the ha2002! The only visual difference is the wood and color of metals (silver instead of gold). They are standard RCA jacks, but those are not switchable inputs - you choose to use one or the other. For each channel, the AC coupled input has a capacitor, in series, between the input jack and the amp section. The DC direct input bypasses the capacitor and is a direct wire from input to amp. I know caps in the signal path can add rolloff at the lowest freuencies (even if it's not audible; plus the less components in the signal path the better I figure) so I've been using the DC inputs without problem. However, someone (I forget who) mentioned that the AC coupled inputs may be meant to provide circuit protection from sources that have a high output level? I'm not really sure of the details on that, but the G08 has not posed any problems for the amp.

 

[jjcha]

Thanks philodox, mulveling, that explains it.

Best,

-Jason

 

[mulveling]

The relase of the W5000 is pretty much exactly what purk and I were expecting. I figured that AT did not like having those L3000's hanging around unsold for 2 years - and I thought they'd want to avoid it again by lowering the price of the next big can closer to w2002 level (look how fast those sold out; I think they may have been unpleasantly surprised by how long it took to sell the L3000 by comparison). It was pretty obvious there wouldn't be another leather AT can; I think I read somewhere that Connolly told AT flat out "500 headphones; that's it". So, I was expecting another wood can in the 100,000 yen range. Pretty close, though I'm wasn't expecting the ha2002 clone with it

The L3000 was their statement product for at least 2 iterations, and perhaps the "biggest" statement they'll have for a several more iterations.

Now let's see how long I can resist buying them...

 

[philodox]

We need some comparisons between this new woody and the L3000... it might sound better, you never know.

 

[shplorgh]

My flavor of the month sense is tingling....

 

[edisonwu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjcha I'm a little confused by the inputs on this. This doesn't mean the left and right headphone jacks will output from different sources, does it? I don't see an input select on the front. Also, are those input jacks standard RCA jacks or something different? They finally implemented the 3d wings into the W series. Don't know if I'm a big fan of the metal headband arches. Best, -Jason

There are two types of input, one is "AC coupled", the other is "DC direct". Mulveling once metioned the differences between those two input types in his HA2002 review post. However I can remember what exactly Mulveling said....

edison

 

[edisonwu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mulveling The layout of that amp is exactly the same as the ha2002! The only visual difference is the wood and color of metals (silver instead of gold). They are standard RCA jacks, but those are not switchable inputs - you choose to use one or the other. For each channel, the AC coupled input has a capacitor, in series, between the input jack and the amp section. The DC direct input bypasses the capacitor and is a direct wire from input to amp. I know caps in the signal path can add rolloff at the lowest freuencies (even if it's not audible; plus the less components in the signal path the better I figure) so I've been using the DC inputs without problem. However, someone (I forget who) mentioned that the AC coupled inputs may be meant to provide circuit protection from sources that have a high output level? I'm not really sure of the details on that, but the G08 has not posed any problems for the amp.

oh , mike, you did it...

 

[Voltron]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fatko

Damn, a lot has been going on this morning.

I like the way the model's hair matches the color tones on the cans. The low profile striped ebony looks amazing and it should give individual cans more variation and uniqueness compared to the tight-grained or almost-no-grained woods used on most of the ealier AT woodies. But, I agree with Jason that the flat metal bands are suspect. Of course, I still want 'em!

 

[Sugano-san]

These phones look very noble, and so does the amp. Very nice.

 

[adhoc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mulveling For each channel, the AC coupled input has a capacitor, in series, between the input jack and the amp section. The DC direct input bypasses the capacitor and is a direct wire from input to amp.

the only reason i can think of offhand of adding a capacitor (cap) in series is to provide protection from DC offset; music is AC - DC offset is when some constant DC creeps into an AC signal, shifting the waveform up the y-axis.

why is DC offset bad? when it goes through the amplification circuit, it too is amplified along with the AC signal. if amplified sufficiently, DC can damage headphones by either forcing the driver to be 'offset' in one direction or by heating the driver coils.

sources with 'hotter' outputs typically have more DC offset - however since the gain of the amp remains constant, the potential for damage resulting from DC offset is greater. eg - if i had an amp with a maximum gain of 10, an input DC offset of 3mV is going to become roughly 30mV maximum at the output, while a 'hotter' input signal with 6mV of offset has the potential to give 60mV DC offset at the output.

i believe the danger level for headphones is 15-20mV of offset at the output. you could also put a cap in series right before the output to stop DC offset dead in its tracks but that would affect the sound negatively.

EDIT: i forgot to mention why caps are placed in series!

caps block DC, while letting AC pass relatively unchanged.

 

[adhoc]

and fwiw, i'm not sure if anyone noticed, but the HA5000 is a mosfet-based design.

 

[soupy]

well well, least I know what to buy next the next time I go to Japan

. I'm beginning to see a pattern everytime I go there

.
Glad that I can always count on Audio-Technica on releasing new models on a regular schedule. Keeps things fresh. Would be kind of neat if Sony could reply to this woody-crazy by AT and JVC with another woody of their own, but with their financial situation, guess not

.

 

[mattigol]

Quote:

Originally Posted by adhoc and fwiw, i'm not sure if anyone noticed, but the HA5000 is a mosfet-based design.

I take this is a good thing?

Anyway - I sure hope it pairs well with a PPX3 SLAM.