[mlantinen]

Just cruised this thread quick. Sounds like the A900's should work better for you due to the comfort issue, however you need to give them time to break in as well. The A900's are closed so that should help with the bass right off the bat, but they will need a few weeks of break in I would think.

 

[joomongj]

Write a few words once you've received em. I thought of suggesting d2k but its narrower soundstage made me steer otherwise. I'm interested in your after-purchase thoughts.

 

[MomijiTMO]

Hmm I was thinking of the d2ks. Pretty good imaging for a closed phone. It is also way too bassy for me which sounds like you'd like them.

 

[fixedcan218]

I am very interested to see your comparison of the ad700 to the a900. I really like my a900 for movies and music but have never done FPS with them. I'm into strategy games and am usually listening to music while playing. There is some music that I prefer the a900s to my Grado 325is - like Van Morrison.

 

[mikeloxlong]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brandon7s /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ok, I'm going to order the AT-A900s. If I'm going to do this headphones thing, it's not worth it having itchy ears and thin explosions - if this pair doesn't work out for me, I'll just keep the AT-A700 and hope the comfort factor settles itself, and live with the sound being kinda thin; it's not that big of a deal for 90USD. I'll let you guys know what I think of the AT-A900 when I get it. Shipping them 1-3 day shipping, total of 270USD on amazon.. I coulda got a better deal on audiocubes but I've never used them, and especially never sent anything back to them, so I'd rather use a place I'm comfortable with. This'll be interesting. I have a feeling these will definitely be better for the music I listen to, if not for gaming as well. 80% of my music is pop/rock. The AD700 just sound weak with that kind of music, from what I've listened to thus far.

I am also returning/selling my AD700s because of exactly what you described.

Did you research JVC HA-RX900 with the mod from here at Head-fi

also, I put a non-audiophilic review at AVSForum gaming section

I wanted a pair of cans for the office that didn't break the bank but sounded better than what I had; old Sony noise canceling headphones. The punchier JVC won out even though the sound stage wasn't as defined

The only thing I would argue against this so far is the extended gaming will make your ears hot which is the case for all closed design headphones so I suppose it doesn't really matter if you are after punch and based in a closed headphone.

Anyways, something to think about at far less than what you had originally bought.

 

[blackzarg]

Oops, sorry, I did mean the AKG K250 MK II. My mistake.

Good luck with the A900, though!

 

[Brandon7s]

Thanks

They should be coming in on Friday, which is the same day that the Astro Mixamp is coming in as well. After a thorough testing of both, I will let y'all know what I think.

Oh, and while I was playing MW2 today, I put on my pair of Sony MDR7509HD's, and man.. it was UGLY. I didn't realize how much better the AD700 set was until I went back to the Sony's. They were muddy, thin, except for a bloated low-mid, with much less detailed sound, and terrible separation. Much harder to pinpoint locations and whatnot. The only good point was that they didn't itch.

Just thought I'd let anyone that had those Sony headphones know how I'd compare them in case they were looking to get the AD700 headphones.

 

[Eric_C]

I hope you enjoy the new setup (I'm pretty sure you will).
Man...A900 paired with the MixAmp. I am so jealous!

 

[Flognuts]

I got the ad900's on an essence and they sound amazing.

your gonna love the a900's

 

[High Fidelity]

I just received the Mixamp myself and my ATH-AD700s were delivered yesterday. I didn't try try them out because I thought I needed the Y-Adapter, which is out of stock until March, but I've been informed that it is only necessary for 3rd party headsets or if you want to use a mic with headphones. I also purchased the HD595s, which should be here next week.

If I feel confident enough (kidding, kind of) I'll post my impressions. I'm new to all the headphone jargon and these will be my first sets of quality headphones so bear that in mind.

Hopefully one of the two will be what I'm looking for. I already tried the Triton AX720s, but didn't like them, so back they went. I'm also eyeballing the DT770/DT880 (mainly the latter), but I'm balking at the price.

 

[Palpatine]

Yup...but you can get the y-adapter at Radio Shack, or The Source. A nice little clip on mic is the AT ATR 35s. If you don't want the mic, you don't need the adapter.

 

[High Fidelity]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Palpatine /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yup...but you can get the y-adapter at Radio Shack, or The Source. A nice little clip on mic is the AT ATR 35s. If you don't want the mic, you don't need the adapter.

I knew about Radio Shack. I'll look at The Source. I wonder if there is any difference compaired to the Astro Y-Adapter (read, is it better)? Maybe I'll check out mlgpro and see what they say.

 

[Brandon7s]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Palpatine /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yup...but you can get the y-adapter at Radio Shack, or The Source. A nice little clip on mic is the AT ATR 35s. If you don't want the mic, you don't need the adapter.

Really? I looked around long and hard at my radioshack store and I could find nothing that would substitute the y-splitter from astro. Can you point me in the right direction? I DO have a mic solution (USB audio input adapter+Zalman mic), but it'd be nice to be able to use the mic control from the mixamp.

Quote:

Originally Posted by High Fidelity /img/forum/go_quote.gif I also purchased the HD595s, which should be here next week.

I'd be interesting in hearing your opinion on those, once you get them. I've been very curious about them and the 555s.

Quote:

Hopefully one of the two will be what I'm looking for. I already tried the Triton AX720s, but didn't like them, so back they went. I'm also eyeballing the DT770/DT880 (mainly the latter), but I'm balking at the price.

I was thinking about the DT880s as well, but I heard that the material the padding is made of is basically the same stuff used on the AD700. Plus, it's much harder to drive.


I've been reading through reviews of the AT-A900, and it seems that most of the folks that tried them think they greatly benefited from ~20 hours of burn in. So I will give my impression of them right out of the box, and again after the burn in.

 

[wmf]

"I was thinking about the DT880s as well, but I heard that the material the padding is made of is basically the same stuff used on the AD700. Plus, it's much harder to drive."

i believe the DT880s is plush velour, dont think the AD700s are, some people are complaining of itchiness with the AD700 material??....

 

[Brandon7s]

Ok folks, I got my Astro Mixamp and the AT-A900s in earlier today. I just finished a gaming four hour session on Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (PS3), using both of those pieces of equipment. I haven't tried them with Modern Warfare 2 yet, but in any case, I'm keeping these cans.

Comfort: Hey, no itchiness!

- they clamp a good bit tighter than my AD700, but nothing like the Senn HD280 I had; it's not even close to that bad. After four hours of straight wear, the only discomfort is kinda warm ears. That's not something I mind much though; and all closed headphones are going to have that side effect.

Sound: It's tough to compare these to the A700. Maybe it's just because they aren't open-air cans, but they give me a fairly different vibe, if that makes any sense. They are more "in-your-face", more impact, with quite a lot more lows and lower mids. Gun shots and explosions don't sound "poofy", but like actual bangs and booms. Nothing ear-rattling, but plenty enough to make them fun, especially compared to the AD700s. The highs aren't as pronounced; which I think is a good thing. The sibilance on the 700s could be pretty harsh at times. I think this difference is one of the reasons I could go 4 hours without ear fatigue while wearing the A900s, but the AD700s wore me out after only an an hour and a half or so. The highs don't seem AS detailed as the AD700s, but I haven't done any A/B testing yet so I can't say for sure.

I can't comment on the soundstage too much because I haven't played BF:BC2 with the AD700s, nor have I played MW2 with the A900s. I'll tell you what though, I felt entirely immersed in the game's audio while I was playing BC2. The Mixamp helped with this, of course, as turning off the Dolby Decoding made the sound feel much more 2 dimensional, but I think this spaciousness can be attributed to the cans as well. I'll post here again giving a more informed opinion once I've played MW2 for a few hours with both sets of gear. In any case, I don't think there's any way I'll be disappointed when I start the A/B testing.

So, these pretty much solved all of my sound problems. They have impact, depth, and detail, with plenty of comfort. All around, I consider them more fun headphones; and I feel that they are capable of playing much more varieties of music than the AD700 is able to do justice to. One note though: I burned them in for about 4 hours before I listened to these, and from what I hear, the burn-in peak is around 30 hours. That means the sound will only be getting better.

Style: I LOVE how these A900s look. Deep midnight blue aluminum cup-backs, everything else is black. It's somehow a much more... "serious" and professional look, compared to the rather strange purple and gold of the AD700s. I wouldn't be caught dead in public with that color scheme on my head

- I might actually not mind being seen wearing the A900s, other than they are still very large. Plus, I have some YUINs and Ety's ER4s for a reason.

-- So, the AT-A900 headphones definitely get a thumbs up from me; though, I don't have anything better/more expensive to compare them to. But for my purposes of 60% gaming, 30% music, and 10% movies/TV, I am very pleased with their performance. I still have more testing to do, but that's more out of curiosity than to see if I like 'em. Cause I like 'em.

Oh, and I have decided to keep my AD700s. They are just too good to take back, honestly. For acoustic/classical music, they are just fantastic. I was listening to some Kings of Convenience through them the other day, and man.. it was just gorgeous. Then I put some Jimmy Eat World on and was immediately disappointed; but for when they play something well, they play it wonderfully. Also, I have found that I love recording with open-ear headphones. I'm a guitarist, and a wanna-be singer, and I just had a great time with them last night while I spent a few hours recording. They were mighty itchy, but I was having enough fun to overcome that problem

- also, my brother really likes them, so if I find that I just don't use the AD700s much anymore, I'll just give them to him.

I will post a more comprehensive comparison of the AD700 vs the A900 once I've put time into A/B testing them, and once they get close to their burn-in potential.