[florinbaiduc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by user18 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Made a new smilie for it

Thanks - now let's add it to the collection so that every ATH user can select it - it's an accurate representation of my look with these on

)

 

[jarnauga]

50+ hours of burn-in (since sunday afternoon). Half-way.

I test them with "Towards the Within" from Dead Can Dance. Details, transparency and... revealing. The forgiving nature is lost at this moment. Energy in treble, more "saturation" (sibilances?, congestion? no, it's crisp), also more open, less natural and less fun. They don't remember either the sweet or creamy sound that deliver in their first hours, or intimacy. And, except bass, by now, they are like HD595 without control. They lost their warm sound! More cold and bright. Yes, it's like a roller coaster.

Thrown them to their "jail" inside shoes box. Until +hundred hours. Patience.

 

[aegisofrime]

It's times like this I wish I possessed the aural memory you guys have. My lack of aural memory makes it hard to do these kind of subtle comparisons.

 

[Superpredator]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aegisofrime /img/forum/go_quote.gif It's times like this I wish I possessed the aural memory you guys have. My lack of aural memory makes it hard to do these kind of subtle comparisons.

My aural memory is going to steal your aural memory's lunch money.

 

[Elephas]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aegisofrime /img/forum/go_quote.gif It's times like this I wish I possessed the aural memory you guys have. My lack of aural memory makes it hard to do these kind of subtle comparisons.

Why this comment about aural memory?

If it'll make you feel better, I think I have close to zero amount of aural memory. I often forget how a headphone sounds the instant "Stop" is pressed.

I don't usually try to listen for burn-in changes, since they'll probably change the next time I listen and I won't remember how it sounded before anyway.

This also makes posting impressions on Head-Fi a bit tricky. Often, I'm actually listening to the headphone while typing the impressions.

I'm more of a "direct comparisons of two headphones" type: an amp with two outputs, some volume adjustments and a couple of cushions to throw one headphone down on while picking up the other.

 

[jarnauga]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aegisofrime /img/forum/go_quote.gif It's times like this I wish I possessed the aural memory you guys have. My lack of aural memory makes it hard to do these kind of subtle comparisons.

I'm not a big fan on reviews. Mainly because it's hard to put in words the feelings (IMHO) and reviewers tend to explain better their enthusiasm that anything else. I believe all of us feel enough, hear enough but to translate these feelings into words is a big problem. And our feelings are contaminated easily by our mood. So I need to read many reviews of a product and other reviews of the same person to begin to understand the matter.

Today the cans are reached +100 hours. So this afternoon I test them again and I'll accept the sound signature that I can encounter. I hope the sweetest version, I enjoyed it very much.

 

[slwiser]

I have said that my experience is with the A900LTDs (2) and with both they sounded their worst between 75-100 hours. It took them to 200 to get back to where they sounded almost like they were out of the box.

 

[norseman8485]

I auditioned a brand new pair some time ago, 1st AT cans I've ever listened to. For some reason, they sounded a bit 'off' to me. Can't really pinpoint what, maybe I'm just not used to the sound sig. I much prefered the sound of the dt990 the 1st time I tried it. It also looked a bit plastiky-cheap for a limited edition can.

 

[slwiser]

It is good that you found a sound with the DT990 that you enjoy, others I am sure will find the A950LTD very enjoyable and be their sound. Everyone, wins with the great options we have today. The sound sig of the AT is different and that is the thing about it that I enjoy most. It provides an emotional involvement which some other house sigs just don't bring to me. The journey of discovery is one of the most fun things about this hobby. That is, the discovery about one's self if we but take a pause and check.

Quote:

Originally Posted by norseman8485 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I auditioned a brand new pair some time ago, 1st AT cans I've ever listened to. For some reason, they sounded a bit 'off' to me. Can't really pinpoint what, maybe I'm just not used to the sound sig. I much prefered the sound of the dt990 the 1st time I tried it. It also looked a bit plastiky-cheap for a limited edition can.

 

[jarnauga]

Quote:

Originally Posted by slwiser /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have said that my experience is with the A900LTDs (2) and with both they sounded their worst between 75-100 hours. It took them to 200 to get back to where they sounded almost like they were out of the box.

Oh! I sure you my a950ltd sounded awful when I test them with 60-70 hours, more or less. Of course, awfully regarding to their first hours. 200 hours are looong time but if they need this amount to reach the sound that show earlier (it was very addictive and beautiful, you know), it's OK.

 

[jarnauga]

+120 hours

I'm in bad mood so maybe my impressions will be biased towards negative qualities

Slightly better than +60 hours but they are disappointing me. No more intimacy here and they have more soundstage. This is good if the "energy" of the bass and the treble would have remained the same but they have increased, especially the bass, a lot. The treble crisp noticeably and some sibilance. The middle remains good but with the rest of the spectrum "raising" this frequency band seems a little recessed. The volume pot have to be raising over to obtain the same subjective sound pressure. More mechanical and "metal" sound, more cheaper and is not natural at all. There is no control and with tracks without complex sound or formations. An applause isn't an applause, it seems a weird or ancient percussion instrument. And the bass is disturbing the pleasure of hearing the track. But I don't understand what happens with the treble (maybe it's not the treble exactly but upper midrange). With -5 hours they were different, totally different. My sense tell me that I am hearing some kind of noise not music.

Is it possible they never sound like the very first hours out of the box?

I'll try to burn-in again to reach +200 hours.

(Test tracks from U2 Rattle and Hum and Josua Tree, and Dead Can Dance Live CD Towards the Within)

 

[jarnauga]

Some stormy days here so the burn-in period took more days than I expected.

To surpass 200 hours I had to spend almost ten days. It wasn't funny, it was very boring. But, at least, the cans finally recover their taste. Well, they almost recover their sound sig. The Senns HD595 didn't fluctuate too much in comparison. The bass recover control but is slightly more powerful than out of the box (now the aluminium vibrates). Soundstage is also a bit better, more open. Midrange is fabulous (male voices are creamy, liquid and continuous) and the treble has some problem. I explain it better: upper female voice register (ie:awesome Lisa Gerard), complex chorus passages, higher notes of a Sakuhachi flute (the last two examples more notably) show some kind of "blur", or distortion. I remember this problem with HD595 too. But out of the box was very mitigate and I proclaimed then that this cans were obviously better than Sensa model. Now I think they are better but no in a large gap, not so "obviously". Or they need some more time -I hope- or I have a problem with all my cheap sources -for sure-. These are my final thoughts: warm and sweet AND detail. But makers tend to look alike these days. The sig. in higher models of the main makers (maybe no high-end, of course) are more the same every day passed, if we believe in other post about the sig of the new versions of Beyer, for example. If it happen a miracle with this AT I tell you, for sure. And with five hours out of the box this cans were a miracle (I'm sorry I can't hear yet a Supra SDS-Senn 650 combo, so I couldn't "measure" the miracle

).

 

[plainsong]

Mine don't have nearly as many hours, but I've not experienced the roller coaster you have. Sure there were "ouch" at first, and they settled down quickly into something that's just very reliable and nice. I haven't formed any more opinion than that, so hardly very specific yet.

Are they worth the coin? Hard to say at this point. I never had a900's, only a500, so on that basis, of course they are step up. They sound nice, but it's too early to really listen critically yet. What I like about them is that they sound good from my macbook, in that way they retain the a500/a900 characteristic. They frankly suck from my main setup though. That may change, but it doesn't really matter, since I'm not using them with my main setup.

So early days yet still, but sure, they're nice. I think that most of the price is that premium for AT looks and "collector" appeal. We all know that going in though.

 

[Cyrilix]

I just have a comment to make about the something that might sound 'off' with the Audio-Technica headphones. To me, this is a sweetening of the midrange, a coloration that makes instrumental music sound less natural but has the effect of making female vocals sound more heavenly. It just seems to me like with guitar music, the DT880 does it more "right" than my A900 LTD.

 

[jarnauga]

I'm not an experienced person neither in the AT brand nor in realizing "burn-in" periods nor in explaining or describing a sound.

I came from a model that is fairly describe as "boring",

the Senn HD595. So, maybe, I was very impressed by the sweetness of the sound. But I like it very much. My biggest statement was the surprise when I discover that is possible to deliver a sweet, creamy or mellow sound without obscuring passages of music, making changes in the timbre or lack details of information. Sure with a closed cans and a very sweet sound you can easily be tired

. But I would to experience those feelings and to taste the brand with a good model. And now I am very happy with my decision although it was a blinded shot. The quality or the limited edition are good additions to me but they aren't the main reason. I like music better with this cans than before with the Senns. The only regret is that they changed a lot or I was using wrongly my volume pot. This time are passed now and the treble -I'm stupidly sensible and I don't like my own ears for that

- is settle down and the bass too. I believe my amp and source has some responsibilities in the lacks of quality that I notice, with both models, like the upper midrange blur. And the uncontrolled bass of the ATs when I was realizing the burn-in period would be caused by abuse of the volume pot -when the midrange tend to lose presence and magic, and bass was predominant-. But these things are noticed now because these cans delivers information as a whole not like a train with three coaches. An imbalance in frequencies is an aberration to me, and weird timbres with voices or acoustic instruments. The quality that I liked from my (now sold to a friend) Senns was continuity, so complex music could be expressed in the way that I enjoy the most. My principal reference (with timbre) is live classical concerts (with chorus too). So when I hear an instrument like that Cello in Edison Woods' "Nest of Machines" with the very low notes that it delivers and I hear the female voice plentiful, I am very satisfied because my brain recognizes the instrument and sense the beauty of the voice. It can enjoy the music.

Some qualities or changes are subtle (like blur) but other changes aren't (like increment in bass

). To my untrained ears the whole sound signature isn't very different (but this difference exists) to my former Senn. But the differences are enough to understand the effort that different makers try to do. I hope all makers don't try to reach accuracy and neutrality as a holy grail of quality. The most natural sound that I have heard come from the soul and breast of a soprano years ago, in a church near home

. If a very neutral headphone analyzes her interpretation and present me the information regardless of feelings importance but with "flat" frequencies response I should have lost an astonishing experience that changed my mind about the lyrical genre. I need to look depth to understand (I need detail for that) I don't need to obtain a "wide" sound presentation -I don't use sheet music or study piano keys attacks-. I can't explain better with my English skills at the moment, so I'm very sorry for my long post.