[spraggih]

Well thanks to a great Head-fier I have been able to get my hands on a W11JPN.

Here are some pictures (along with my CD3000 to give a sense of the size of the W11JPNs. You can see how much bigger the CD3000s are as they overlap the tube buffer and are more oblong shape)




Initial Thoughts

Aesthetics
Really nice looking - stylish, IMO high quality materials and velour cups that are very soft to the touch. Very shiny - there are no marks on the cups. Any marks on the pictures above are either glare/reflection or dust. Also the "wood" (I guess) 1/4 adapter plug is really cool - it reads "Japan" in cursive.

Fit
Fit very snuggly due to the "wings" and small cup size. My head is medium size so they fit on very well. The CD3000s feel very nice also but in a different way -- the cups are smoother on the CD3000s but the overall fit is better is better on the W11JPNs

Sound (How does it sound you ask?)
It they are a kind of an enigma. They sound really good. Let me define it is audiophile terms. It's their ummm, yeah... ummm -- I can't put my hands on it. It's not one thing like liquidity, details, PRaT, soundstage, imaging, etc. I don't know - they are like Apple Jacks Cereal - I don't know why I like them - I just do!

I wish I could offer a review. I could do a review for my Eggos or for my CD3000s but for the W11JPNs I probably cannot. My review would be simple - they just are fun to listen to - with nothing particular (I suppose other than the midrange) that sounds super great. Also they are very forgiving (not like God - but still very forgiving). A number of recordings just sound better with the W11JPNs. Obviously because the cups are smaller the soundstage is smaller. Most importantly for me is a like more treble extension on those really high notes - I guess a little more transparency. But the midrange, the bass and the fun factor along with its ability to project ambient sounds in the music is great. I was playing some bad recordings and thought - wow, maybe these W11JPNs are not sounding so good-- then I put on the CD3000s and realized it was a really bad recording because the CD3000s sounded worst -- after some more research it was an older recording from a scratched CD that was first copied at 192K then (before I knew better) I up converted it to 320K. So the recording was awful.

So I suppose over time (only had them for a little over 24 hours) I will have more to say. Thanks!

 

[jjcha]

Congrats man, the W11JPN is well sought after for good reason. They have a warmth and musicality to them that's just magical. I still stand by my theory that there was a little old Japanese engineer/designer in audio-technica who knew how to create headphones that sounded good to him - and he made the W10VTG then improved on that with the W11JPN, but somehow was ignored or overridden by the younger up-starts in the other cans, and eventually kicked out by the time the W1000 came out (though he managed to sneak in and tweaked the L3000 designs a bit in the middle of the night. Go ninja ojii-san, go!

)

Enjoy!

-Jason

 

[ecclesand]

I hate Apple Jacks cereal...

 

[spraggih]

Jason,
The cans are really good. I am really surprised - after hearing the Grados, AKGs, Sonys, Sennheisers and others I thought I had heard all the ways music could sound. Then came the ATs - and now the music sounds different than all the others. I just wish I could describe the music because musicality and good and fun sound (no pun intended) so subjective. But that is the only way I can describe the phones. O well over time I might even try the L3000s.

 

[spraggih]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ecclesand /img/forum/go_quote.gif I hate Apple Jacks cereal...

Everybody likes AJs - they just don't know why.

 

[threEchelon]

Can you come to the Philadelphia meet?

 

[terance]

i don't like apple jacks because they tear the skin off of the roof of my mouth


do these tear the skin off the roof of your mouth?

bye

 

[rhythmicmoose]

I found your review very helpful, but do you think you could do a side by side comparison between the W11JPN and Apple Cinnamon Cheerios?

 

[roastpuff]

I'm so envious.

 

[denl82]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spraggih /img/forum/go_quote.gif Also they are very forgiving (not like God - but still very forgiving).

Roflmao!!!!!!!!!!

 

[ayt999]

congrats.

they look nice.

 

[spraggih]

Thank you all for your words.

I keep thinking of posting impressions on the headphones especially because I like their sound and because they are not perfect. But every time I go to explain their sound I cannot - they just sound good (not perfect) and are fun to listen to.

I am finding a lot more music I like that I did not like so much before. The same thing happened with the CD3000 but there were still songs I did not like-- now my like is extended.

Before CD3000 - music library that I liked was 'x'
After CD3000 - music library that I liked was 'x+y' where y was larger than x
After W11JPN - music library that I like is 'x+y+z' where z is as large as y.

I may not need more equipment but more songs!

But again before I sound like a fanboy they are not perfect. On some songs I want them to extend the treble further and be a bit more transparent. But everything (and I mean everything) is better than before!! Yippee!!

 

[spraggih]

Quote:

Originally Posted by threEchelon /img/forum/go_quote.gif Can you come to the Philadelphia meet?

Sorry about that did not see your message. I am booked solid weekdays and weekends until post May (work - we are doing a major launch, weekend mentoring program, church, kids, begging the Misses for ... enough said there).

But given you are in Wayne maybe something can be done.

 

[ej82m]

Congrats on the the JPN's! I do not like Apple Jack's, but I definitely loved the JPN's when I had them.

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

Welcome to the club! They certainly are a very fun headphone, with no glaring deficiencies. The W5000 does give that added detail and openness, but isn't as forgiving or seductive. The two make a pretty good team. I just put some new pads on my W11's, and comfort is definitely up there with the 5000 now, as before my ears could touch the drivers in the W11.