[braddo]

How hard are VTG's to obtain? I'm sure VTG's and W5000 are both great phones, just depends on availability i guess. By the way, If this question can be answered or understood (probably not!), which phone reproduces the most neutral sound?, or closest to live 'studio' sound?

 

[grawk]

They may be hard to quantify, but they are easier to hear than graphs in a brochure.

 

[Blackmore]

Just recentely W5000 went for USD500 and I almost p.m. the seller, cos I had quite heavy debate with my lovely wife about GS1000 sound lackage. I own ESW9, but they arent even close to the GS1k level, so my next step would be closed back, maybe W5k, not sure yet, cos do like JVC X1000 as well, but never tried W5k, hmmm...
I need my own space, better than spending on phones because of such situation, imo.

 

[grawk]

Neither is particularly neutral, and the VTGs are reasonably hard to come by, but can be had if you try.

 

[braddo]

Thanks Grawk. I just purchased W5000 and would like to know where they stand with other phones besides K701. At the moment compared to K701 and with the music i like and the type of sound i like they are tremendous to me.

 

[GlendaleViper]

How in God's name is musicality and PRaT totally meaningless? Sorry, but I'm with Grawk on this one, because I'll always take a headphone that sounds realistic over one that may be more technically proficient. Of course, the best do both well.

FWIW, I just wanted to get in here to double up on the fit issues. I have yet to get one of AT's suspension harness phones to fit properly. To be fair, I have only heard other peoples' (read: used and possibly bent to fit their head better - most definitely bent in the case of the W5000 I heard).

 

[mnemonix]

Quote:

Originally Posted by braddo /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks Grawk. I just purchased W5000 and would like to know where they stand with other phones besides K701. At the moment compared to K701 and with the music i like and the type of sound i like they are tremendous to me.

I'd stop worrying if I were you then

Given that you do like them, it probably wouldn't be worth considering an alternative less than Stax Omega (available) or L3000, R10 (rare). Nothing else can do what the W5000's do.

 

[mnemonix]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GlendaleViper /img/forum/go_quote.gif How in God's name is musicality and PRaT totally meaningless?

Music is musical, nothing about a headphone can be.

Whether a headphone helps you enjoy the music is another matter, but that will be a result of other more tangible & quantifyable attributes. I can't agree that musicality conveys any useful information about a headphone to anyone but the specific listener using the word, for whom both its meaning & requirements are personal.

I don't believe anyone said prat is meaningless.

edit...

I understand the desire to expand our language and ability to describe and convey every nuance of the subject we're passionate about, but I don't think it helps to adopt lazy & meaningless jargon which superficially gives a sense of meaning but ultimately says nothing.

 

[braddo]

You don't know how happy i am to hear that since my purchase was a quick decision bought second hand. You can imagine how i felt bending these things after the price i paid but it's all for the sound. I even had to suspend the wings because the timber is heavy and was weighing them down off my ears. But all is well now.

 

[GlendaleViper]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mnemonix /img/forum/go_quote.gif Music is musical, nothing about a headphone can be. Whether a headphone helps you enjoy the music is another matter, but that will be a result of other more tangible & quantifyable attributes. I can't agree that musicality conveys any useful information about a headphone to anyone but the specific listener using the word, for whom both its meaning & requirements are personal. I don't believe anyone said prat is meaningless.

This is a really good point, actually, but I still disagree when it comes to a headphone being capable of portraying music musically. Subjective though it may be - and subsequently difficult to quantify without a first-hand listen, to me the musicality of the phone is those other more "tangible and quantifiable" attributes, or a collection thereof... one of which is tone and most certainly PRaT (and in my case, warmth over ultra-detail). Subjective though these things may be, I can tell you that the headphones I've read as being musical from members I've learned to heed over the years have rarely disappointed. And I did miss the mark on the PRaT comment, sorry.

[EDIT for the EDIT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mnemonix /img/forum/go_quote.gif I understand the desire to expand our language and ability to describe and convey every nuance of the subject we're passionate about, but I don't think it helps to adopt lazy & meaningless jargon which superficially gives a sense of meaning but ultimately says nothing.

Use and abuse are not one and the same. Coming from the right people, a musical headphone is all the information I need to, at the very least, pique my interest in hearing the referenced product. Laziness is something altogether different, of course. If someone were reviewing or posting full impressions on a headphone and relied on simply claiming musicality then, yes, that's not helpful. But using that in conjunction with the base criteria that work to make the headphone musical is most certainly valuable to me.

 

[mnemonix]

for sure, it's all about context & reference, and I agree with pretty much everything you say. laziness referred to the adoption of a term like musicality in to common parlance without the valuable context you refer to - which is a problem given the very public nature of these forums.

 

[Andrew_WOT]

W5000, I just can't think of anything else in this price range.

 

[AgainstTheGrain]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew_WOT /img/forum/go_quote.gif W5000, I just can't think of anything else in this price range.

so i take it they are better than the denon d5000?

btw i am upgrading my source. i'm gettin a cowon x5 and for home i'm leaning toward a darkvoice 336 or little dot mkIII

 

[Andrew_WOT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AgainstTheGrain /img/forum/go_quote.gif so i take it they are better than the denon d5000? btw i am upgrading my source. i'm gettin a cowon x5 and for home i'm leaning toward a darkvoice 336 or little dot mkIII

Hands down, haven't heard markled though.

 

[Rednamalas1]

I should mention that W5000 definitely has less bass (in quantity) than Denons and DT770s. So give them a listen at a local meet