[Canman]

The dark and shiny surface of this can is tough to photograph with a point and shoot camera. It doesn't show the glow of the dark woodgrain well, which is beautiful.

The w11jpn is in one word: engaging. This is the set it and forget it type of headphone. In other words, just press play and enjoy. Here are some listening notes about the sound and feel:

•Coming from headphones that I consider analytical (AKG K1000 and Sennheiser HD600) it took some serious time to get used to the AT sound signature and just enjoy. I am not sure that I gave the L3000 the same chance when I had it in house. Sort of a mental burn in. I’ll get more into this later.
•The W11jpn lives in the midrange. It is lush and present. Where the Sennheiser HD600 has an upper midrange dip and the associated “veil”, comparatively the AT has an upper midrange accentuation in this area. This allows more detail to be present in the midrange frequency. Voices sound convincing. For example, on National, The Boxer, Berninger’s throaty vocals are reproduced with great depth. They become the focus of the music. On the Sennheiser HD600 the vocals are further back on the stage so the rhythm and instrumentation are more focused. For female vocals in particular, the W11jpn’s midrange presentation is addictive. The lush midrange is akin to a good tube amp. A similarity to the RS-1 comes to mind, but the AT doesn’t exhibit the peakiness that I find annoying in the RS-1. Perhaps it’s the wood?
•Jazz is incredible on the AT W11jpn. On Joey DeFrancisco, Organic Vibes, each hit of the vibes is vibrant and metallic, just incredibly present. The forward midrange allows me to hear details like breathing and the creaking of organ pedals in the foreground. The soundstage is coherent and well focused. The bass is rounded and with less detail and precision than the higher frequencies; however each organ bass pedal note is distinct. More on the bass below. The space of the small group is well rendered. Most importantly, each instrument is conveyed with a purity of tone in terms of texture and emotion.
•On bass, one of my favorite songs is Patricia Barber, A Fortnight in France Live, Blues Prelude. It is a “trio” featuring Patricia Barber’s smoky voice, upright bass, and piano. The AT is not convincing for me here because the fine bass detail is important to the rhythm and timing of the tune. The bass roll-off is apparent here and takes away from the overall experience. The HD600 fares much better in this regard. On most material, the low bass detail is less important to the music.
•While midrange detail is more focused on the AT W11jpn, overall detail is not as impressive as the Sennheiser HD600. But being the more engaging and less analytical headphone, slightly less detail does not detract from the experience.
•On classical music: the W11jpn does not fare well with large scale symphonies. The W11jpn gets confused with dynamic swings by showing serious compression. What I mean here is that when a symphony moves from quiet passages with several instruments playing to entire symphony playing, the sound becomes muddled and unfocused. Most headphones have trouble with these large dynamic swings. The HD600 fares much better in this regard and as such is more suited to symphonic works. For simpler music like chamber works, the W11jpn is much more convincing but the HD600’s more analytical nature is just more convincing for me. The W11jpn is not a great headphone for classical music.
•For hard rock like Led Zep, the W11jpn fares better than classical but still shows some of the same problems. For one thing, the W11jpn is more forgiving with the notoriously thin sounding Zeppelin recordings. On the other hand, the bass drum hits harder on the HD600. The Sennheiser is the better toe tapper here.
•Like many headphones, positioning the drivers in the right spot over your ear is important in getting the best sound. On my head, the W11jpn fared best with the earcups towards the back of my head (ears towards the front of the cups) and the headband tilted slightly forwards.
•I used the Sennheiser HD600 for comparison because I think overall the two cans are similar in sound quality but worlds apart in presentation. I have owned an HD-600 for most of the past eight years. I still consider the HD600 to be one of the most balanced headphones and one of the best deals in high end headphones. The W11jpn was tested using a Benchmark DAC-1 into a Singlepower MPX3 amp as well as an iPod/Hornet setup.
•The W11jpn scores huge on comfort, visual appeal, and build quality. The w11jpn is slightly heavier than the HD600 but both the soft earpad and floating headband designs make it more comfortable. The W11jpn is a lighter headphone than the L3000.

So there it is. The W11jpn favors music that lives in the midrange like vocals and jazz. Its faults prevent it from being an all around headphone for someone who craves the analytical (I am a K1000 kind of guy). But with the right material, the W11jpn just makes music.

 

[jjcha]

Wow, congratulations man, what a great pickup!

Your impressions are on the dot -- there are just so many areas in which the W11JPN is clearly deficient -- but they just do what they do and don't try to be everything to everyone.

It's also not surprising to me that you might have been more seduced by these than your time with the L3000. To some degree, the L3000 is easy to pass over because it has, at least in my opinion, less of a character that just grabs you than the W11JPNs and the like. I think I was in a similar boat, that since I had my HD600s and K 1000, the L3000, as nice as it was, didn't leave much of an impression on me. But going back later, having gone down the audio-technica route, revisiting the L3000 did make me listen more to what it does do well and it is a great can.

But back to the JPNs -- definitely excels jazz (and that Barber recording is so well done, no wonder you're missing the bass detail), I also enjoy it with alternative music like My Bloody Valentine where the lushness of the JPNs just add to the slightly syrupy seductiveness of it all.

Also, don't forget that if you want extra leathery luxury goodness, L3000 or W2002 pads fit on them just fine.

Best,

-Jason

 

[Canman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjcha /img/forum/go_quote.gif Also, don't forget that if you want extra leathery luxury goodness, L3000 or W2002 pads fit on them just fine.

Do the leather pads have effect on the sound?

 

[d-cee]

wow congrats on finding a pair!

these are definitely hard to come by...

look like they're in fantastic condition