FourierMakesFunk
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Just posting to get down my thoughts before I forget them.
I today got my ATH-AD1000s in the mail. I am going to be doing lots of intense listening over the weeks and will then write a review of them (as no longer reviews exist for these) comparing them to my Grado 325i's.
Here are some quick notes after a my about one hour session with them fresh from the box (that BEAUTIFUL box):
Comfortable! They fit my head well. I must say they feel a little strange, but this is a very different design. It took a little fidgeting to home in on the right placement, but once they were there they were nice.
First up:
" Moanin' " - Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers
Dynamics are real nice. The drums come out nicely and the upright bass is brought forward; the bass solo sounds so good, nicest I've heard in a while (When I close my eyes I can see Jymie Merritt plucking each note. The rounded attack and fast decay of pizzicato bass are wonderful and correct).
The fact it was recorded in 1958 is audible: the faults of the technology and recording are apparent, though not annoyingly. The tenor sax and trumpet are sounding a bit odd, but I know this recording well and they sound different to begin with, so this may not be the AD1000s fault.
Mellowing down a bit more we come to:
" Gatekeeper " (original version off of Let it Die (which, for those who don't know, is more of a mid-fi album, but this is for a certain aesthetic, and it works)) - Fiest
The echo/reverb come out, lends well to the airy nature of the song. The guitar sounds right. Vocals are great. Just sounds like the players are lonely and isolated, as they should.
Cheering things up on this album:
" Mushabom " - Fiest
All sounds good. Percussion is coming in like I haven't heard it come in before; this is to say the layering is really coming clear and everything seems to have it's own space, no mushing together of instruments.
Micro-details are being really well resolved and these cans seem to have amazing speed. The snaps are so dead on and fast. Vocals again are clear and beautiful.
But can they handle this! :
"Drut Gat in Tintal on Sitar" (Raga Nat Bhairav) Manilal Nag
Sitar. The king of piercing highs, and with around 11 sympathetic strings, and a total of 19 to 20 strings: we are talking harmonics and complex sounds to give a driver trouble up the wa-zoo.
Please note Indian classical pieces take upwards of an hour (or more) so I'll deal with them more over the coming days to get a better idea. Let me just say now that these 'phones are handling the rich nature of this music like it was nothing. I went on a magical carpet ride for a bit and was lost in the sonic landscape presented to me. Amazing sitar playing with the tabla drums so clear, it's bell like tones and the deep hollow sound of the bol, was a real treat
Now I love my 325i's, so as you can tell, I have a high tolerance for treble. These headphones are bright, and their mids are in no way colored like Grados, but these aren't ruler flat. Sound-stage isn't the mammoth size of what I've read AD700s have, but it is good medium size (angled off set drivers help with imaging too.).
I got these for jazz and classical (European and Indian), and as a nice compliment to my 325i's. So far I'm happy. They aren't perfect and I'm hearing their flaws, but since I got them for $249 I'm a happy camper so far. Full review will come in a couple of weeks.
I today got my ATH-AD1000s in the mail. I am going to be doing lots of intense listening over the weeks and will then write a review of them (as no longer reviews exist for these) comparing them to my Grado 325i's.
Here are some quick notes after a my about one hour session with them fresh from the box (that BEAUTIFUL box):
Comfortable! They fit my head well. I must say they feel a little strange, but this is a very different design. It took a little fidgeting to home in on the right placement, but once they were there they were nice.
First up:
" Moanin' " - Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers
Dynamics are real nice. The drums come out nicely and the upright bass is brought forward; the bass solo sounds so good, nicest I've heard in a while (When I close my eyes I can see Jymie Merritt plucking each note. The rounded attack and fast decay of pizzicato bass are wonderful and correct).
The fact it was recorded in 1958 is audible: the faults of the technology and recording are apparent, though not annoyingly. The tenor sax and trumpet are sounding a bit odd, but I know this recording well and they sound different to begin with, so this may not be the AD1000s fault.
Mellowing down a bit more we come to:
" Gatekeeper " (original version off of Let it Die (which, for those who don't know, is more of a mid-fi album, but this is for a certain aesthetic, and it works)) - Fiest
The echo/reverb come out, lends well to the airy nature of the song. The guitar sounds right. Vocals are great. Just sounds like the players are lonely and isolated, as they should.
Cheering things up on this album:
" Mushabom " - Fiest
All sounds good. Percussion is coming in like I haven't heard it come in before; this is to say the layering is really coming clear and everything seems to have it's own space, no mushing together of instruments.
Micro-details are being really well resolved and these cans seem to have amazing speed. The snaps are so dead on and fast. Vocals again are clear and beautiful.
But can they handle this! :
"Drut Gat in Tintal on Sitar" (Raga Nat Bhairav) Manilal Nag
Sitar. The king of piercing highs, and with around 11 sympathetic strings, and a total of 19 to 20 strings: we are talking harmonics and complex sounds to give a driver trouble up the wa-zoo.
Please note Indian classical pieces take upwards of an hour (or more) so I'll deal with them more over the coming days to get a better idea. Let me just say now that these 'phones are handling the rich nature of this music like it was nothing. I went on a magical carpet ride for a bit and was lost in the sonic landscape presented to me. Amazing sitar playing with the tabla drums so clear, it's bell like tones and the deep hollow sound of the bol, was a real treat
Now I love my 325i's, so as you can tell, I have a high tolerance for treble. These headphones are bright, and their mids are in no way colored like Grados, but these aren't ruler flat. Sound-stage isn't the mammoth size of what I've read AD700s have, but it is good medium size (angled off set drivers help with imaging too.).
I got these for jazz and classical (European and Indian), and as a nice compliment to my 325i's. So far I'm happy. They aren't perfect and I'm hearing their flaws, but since I got them for $249 I'm a happy camper so far. Full review will come in a couple of weeks.
