i have the ath esw10jpn since 1 month and even they sound great out of my ipod g4, The addition of an ampli (rsa predator) brings them the basses which they miss them and it's very good for music like rock'n roll !
I have had my ew10jpn for about a year now and have been enjoying them on a very regular basis. Usually I have it connected to my Nano / P-51 Rig, but have lately been listening straight out of the iPod jack. On my very high quality vinyl-rip recordings (from VPI scoutmaster turntable) and from high quality MFSL recordings, I have to try really hard to hear much difference with or without the amp. The amp obviously adds a little bit or coloration (a little more bass definition) but its nothing that really enhances the sound stage or definition of the recording. I just think this is a testament to how good these headphones sound in general.
It would seem that with the popular poortable amps the differences can be slight or perhaps more noticable depending on the quality of recording.
On the other hand I am hearing that tube amps may be able to offer something else and if we are for example talking about say $600 for a Lisa, well a Woo WA6 comes in at $620.00 - its just not portable though you could carry it from one place to another taking care not to crush the glass =:-O
It would be good to hear some more comparisans in this space but the feedback from everyone has been very educating.
I agree with foly, that my ESW10s have better bass with the Predator, but then I was also using it as a DAC, so I can't say its a fair thing to say, changing the amp and the source.
In general, I find that a Shadow/Predator/whatever quality amp you like will extend the bass and possibly the treble and provide better control of these when compared to inboard iPod amps.
That being said, I have gotten used to using my UE-10pros straight from my iPod Touch for most my travelling, unless the flights are longer and getting the Shadow set up in to the rig. At my beach house, I routinely use the MacBookPro > Predator > ESW10 combo, and do prefer it to the headphone out.
I've owned my pair for about half a year now, and I used to have the iQube for it. I sold it off after I realised they sound pretty darn good on their own. I still regularly use them out of my iPod/laptop headphone jack and they still sound great. I don't think they need to be amped much. Even with my Ear+ HD, they did not improve as much as my RS-1 did.
Is the improvement with your tube amp worth writing home about? I would have hoped bass and treble would be better defined with some soundstage improvement.
there can only be improvement if there is something that can be improved upon. a new amp will only make a difference if the old amp isn't good enough, the esw10 doesn't need much.
Where can you even buy the ESW10? I never see them on Amazon....and since the ESW9A seems to be such an easy headphone to make fakes of, I never look on Ebay.
Since it's stated, that esw9 and esw10 are the same to this discussion, I want to add, that I find my (APS V3 recabled) esw9 to improve some when using iBasso T4. I find it to improve a lot with iQube V1. Source is iAudio7 or Foobar>Pico Dac both with FLAC files.
No the esw9 and the esw10 are FAR FROM THE SAME - the driver is wholly re-designed and they don't even share the same sound signature. The esw9 sounds much lusher but less detailed, while the esw10 presentation is somewhat drier, but much crisper, detailed with significantly better definition and seperation. soundstage is more or less the same though.
Since it's stated, that esw9 and esw10 are the same to this discussion, I want to add, that I find my (APS V3 recabled) esw9 to improve some when using iBasso T4. I find it to improve a lot with iQube V1. Source is iAudio7 or Foobar>Pico Dac both with FLAC files.
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