[Yazen]

  A $100 amp whether USB or portable/battery or stand alone or in a sound card would be an improvement. Next step would be adding a DAC in the same variations USB, etc. Then there is the combined combination i.e. amp with DAC, gain in USB, ... etc. Maybe price is a consideration or not but you have to narrow down what you want out of your headphones first along with what you are willing to spend. As long as you buy well known equipment, it will be money well spen

+1
 
I thought the AD700 wasn't worth it if running on integrated/poorly implemented sources.  AD1000x is a great headphone.  If you're looking at a budget prices for quality and can do a bit of soldering, check out the Bravo V2 amp.  I've read that $20-$30 and a bit of know how can get it sounding real snazzy

 
http://www.head-fi.org/products/bravo-audio-tube-amplifier-v2/reviews/4896
 
Can get under MSRP from a "forbidden to discuss about site", ends in 1 day.  Good luck

 

[viralcow]

I see there's a lot of comparison in-between AD models in this thread. But can anyone give a comparison to other well-known headphones like the K701 or HE500, and how much detail and soundstage are you getting with the AD2000X?

 

[razzz42]

 
+1
 
I thought the AD700 wasn't worth it if running on integrated/poorly implemented sources.  AD1000x is a great headphone.  If you're looking at a budget prices for quality and can do a bit of soldering, check out the Bravo V2 amp.  I've read that $20-$30 and a bit of know how can get it sounding real snazzy

 
http://www.head-fi.org/products/bravo-audio-tube-amplifier-v2/reviews/4896
 
Can get under MSRP from a "forbidden to discuss about site", ends in 1 day.  Good luck

That would be true of any headphone, speaker, earpiece, etc. When people talk about rollings op-amps and how they sound different, if I have the op-amp and tried it, I can hear what they are referring to when wearing the AD700. Wearing lesser phones would just prove how crappy they are in sound production. I might be missing some high end sounds by wearing the AD700 but not by much. ( I noticed they have jumped up in price recently, $30+).
 
 Magni would be my choice for an amp only. Limited in options due to its price range but can drive any set of phones with plenty of  clean  power. Designed like higher end boards. Manufacturer also has all the high end models.

 

[Yanoflies]

I don't know why I've been finding my AD900X sounding sort of flat lately.
 
Xonar DGX / iPod Classic -> FiiO E12 -> AD900X
 
I listen to a lot of jpop/jrock, and I find the female vocals to sound very flat. Most instruments sound lovely, but the piano and some guitarsseem too /flat/ as well. I don't know if flat is the correct term, but I just feel like it's two dimensional. Is it just me not quite liking how these sound?

 

[marts30]

Still loving my ad1000x. Comfort issues really subside after a few weeks (barely notice driver touching ear now)
 
Barely touched my Magnum v5/Alessandro MS2/Shure 940 for quite a while.

 

[tooloveying]

Always wanted to try the AD2000's, hopefully these are indeed an improvement. thank you

 

[razzz42]

  I don't know why I've been finding my AD900X sounding sort of flat lately.
 
Xonar DGX / iPod Classic -> FiiO E12 -> AD900X
 
I listen to a lot of jpop/jrock, and I find the female vocals to sound very flat. Most instruments sound lovely, but the piano and some guitarsseem too /flat/ as well. I don't know if flat is the correct term, but I just feel like it's two dimensional. Is it just me not quite liking how these sound?

You can't expect much out of that Xonar sound card, it is actually pretty dark sounding. Your E12 is not going to change to sound much except to give you a cleaner signal and boost the bass a little bit.
 
So it sounds like it is your music files themselves that are not close to the original CD sounds. If you are on a desktop computer, you could use an equalizer (Foobar 2000, Windows and the like) and see if you can change the sounds to your liking but remember you are running the signal through the Xonar which doesn't help much.

 

[Yanoflies]

I don't think it's my source, since I get the same flat feeling from my iPod Classic and all my files are definitely the best of quality. I probably just don't fit the sound of the AD900X when it comes to jpop/jrock too well.
 
I'll see about getting a decent DAC in the future.

 

[Muinarc]

I see there's a lot of comparison in-between AD models in this thread. But can anyone give a comparison to other well-known headphones like the K701 or HE500, and how much detail and soundstage are you getting with the AD2000X?

 


I listened to the AD2000x and Q701 back to back earlier this year. To me, personally, the Audio Technica and AKG open headphones are cut from the same cloth.

That being said, between those two, I preferred the AD2000x over the AKG. I own the K501 and K712, but for some reason I just couldn't connect with the K701/02 or Q701. The AT headphones were more spacious in thier soundstaging and seemed more balanced top to bottom to me. Really the only reason I didn't buy them was that I feel I have that covered with my k501 and I was in the market for something different.... the sin of the AD2000x being that it wasn't different enough, and that's not a bad thing.

 

[waynes world]

  You can't expect much out of that Xonar sound card, it is actually pretty dark sounding. Your E12 is not going to change to sound much except to give you a cleaner signal and boost the bass a little bit.
 
So it sounds like it is your music files themselves that are not close to the original CD sounds. If you are on a desktop computer, you could use an equalizer (Foobar 2000, Windows and the like) and see if you can change the sounds to your liking but remember you are running the signal through the Xonar which doesn't help much.

 
Good advice. Fwiw, I really enjoy the AD900X's off of my laptop --> Foobar 2000 (using RPGWIZaRDS's dolby headphone "forward" config --> HifimeDIY sabre dac --> E12 --> AD900X. Definitely not flat or boring with the music I listen to (mainly rock, progressive rock and trance). I do though get people's complaints about the non-precise imaging with the AD900X's, but it's not a huge deal for me (might be if I was a gamer).

 

[ZenErik]

This isn't exactly the right thread for this, but the A2000X thread seems pretty dead.

Anyone have any thoughts on the A2000X compared to some of my favorites: AD2000X, AD2000, and W5000. Been thinking of getting a A2000X if it's a nice complement/contrast to my AD2000X.

 

[Yazen]

  I don't think it's my source, since I get the same flat feeling from my iPod Classic and all my files are definitely the best of quality. I probably just don't fit the sound of the AD900X when it comes to jpop/jrock too well.
 
I'll see about getting a decent DAC in the future.

DGX isn't too great really, I thought the STX wasn't special either haha. The Aune T1 rocks with my DT880 but leaves the mids on my A900x sounding tinny. I wonder how it will stack with the AD900x.
 
Musiland 02 was a leap from dg imo, you could try the 03/dragon under $100.

 

[Yazen]

This isn't exactly the right thread for this, but the A2000X thread seems pretty dead.

Anyone have any thoughts on the A2000X compared to some of my favorites: AD2000X, AD2000, and W5000. Been thinking of getting a A2000X if it's a nice complement/contrast to my AD2000X.

sorry for the double post, using my phone. ive been really interested un the A2000x as well, cannot find reviews that hit the same mark.

 

[razzz42]

  I don't think it's my source, since I get the same flat feeling from my iPod Classic and all my files are definitely the best of quality. I probably just don't fit the sound of the AD900X when it comes to jpop/jrock too well.
 
I'll see about getting a decent DAC in the future.

You could go plugging into friend's or store's sound systems and see if you can tell a difference using your favorite phones and your own music for testing. I might add that the recording itself makes a huge difference during the mixing and output format including what mikes were used for pickup. I list music here once in awhile but only to show the quality in a recording as that music has been done by award winning artists and studio production people in their various categories i.e. nominations/winners. A newer BluRay player might even produce better sound playing back CD/DVD than what you are currently listening to or even a big screen TV will have newer electronics in it for playback. Some music sounds like crap no matter what you play it through.
 
Do you have a PCI slot available in your computer?

 

[Yazen]

Don't like soundcards, sorry

 
My mITX would fit either a full sized GPU or a PCI-E..
 
Not that I've ever had installed a soundcard and had noticeable interference issues.  The best soundcards available today are less attractive compared to similar sounding and cheaper standalone DACs.  Could argue latency, depends on the motherboard.  But for music should not be an issue