[Ridleyguy]

A few first impressions right out of the box.

They are very 3 dimensional in sound to me and of my main headphones (HD650s & K701s) they are the only ones that truly position Stringed Quartets and Trios (for Chamber Music) so that it's immediately obvious where everyone is sitting.

I find they have a very deep soundstage and of my 3, the only ones that can reproduce Holst's The Planets "Mars" in 3-D space which this piece requires. The K701s do it in width but not depth.

They must bring out certain parts of the music differently, as in one track I know quite well, cymbals (with brushes) are much more noticeable with these headphones.

They make some MP3 tracks of lower quality sound far worse than on my other headphones - I would describe it as a lack of body in the sound.

I played the first part of Beethoven's 9th Symphony, and didn't notice part of the orchestra being out in front in an artificial way, but I need to hear a lot more of my recordings before I can form a meaningful opinion - even for myself.

Oh, and they are very comfortable and light - far more comfortable than my K701s. Their sound isolation though is poor to fair at best - not much better in terms of letting sound in than my open cans, which surprised me. My P5s are far superior in this regard.

Please take these initial impressions as only that - initial impressions.

 

[monsieurguzel]

Thanks for the great first impressions Ridleyguy! Its good to hear that these are competent closed headphones, especially compared to the K701s and HD650s. I'm sure they are quite comparable to the Denon DX00 series with the added bonus of not having to tinker and spend a fortune upgrading them

I'd love to hear some impressions from other types of music than classical to see how they do with more contemporary music or jazz.

I'm impatiently waiting for mine to arrive but I'm also guessing that they are stuck in customs...hopefully not for too long though.

 

[Ridleyguy]

I appreciate your post monsieurguzel and hope yours come soon! Having a few bad experiences with Customs delays in the past myself, I used DHL, and had immediate Customs clearance and received them before noon today, after being picked up by DHL in Tokyo on Friday.

I see you have owned a lot of different headphones, and I am sure will be able to provide very helpful impressions to people considering the W1000X.

The strangest thing about these headphones on some tracks ...if the music has cymbals in it, - not the crashing of cymbals struck together, but struck with brushes, drumsticks or foot pedal, these headphones will feature the cymbals almost as a solo instrument. That may be the strangest comment about any headphones, but I have already encountered it on a few tracks where it was very noticeable to me.

I don't have that many headphones to compare them against, but I see these as being almost a no-brainer for Chamber Music, because of the 3D sound which at first seems as dramatic musically as switching from black & white to colour T.V. Large choral works also appear to me to be another great strength, as these works are very dependent on depth of soundstage as well as width - and the W1000Xs have both. Sure the K701s pick out detail well, but their lack of a deep soundstage only presents the front row in detail, whereas the W1000X clearly separates all the layers.

I have also noticed that they seem to be very recording dependent, and on a couple of tracks, not many, they have sounded off key to me. But I haven't noticed this happening with my K701s or HD650s on any tracks.

For me, my first impressions are probably the most reliable ones, before I start rationalizing everything I am hearing, and I'm eager to see what others have to say.

 

[LevA]

Ridleyguy,

nice first impressions! I was also impressed with the almost 3D quality depth in soundstage. alas, did find the mids out of place (bit forward) at the time but hope to try them out again soon as it might just have been the setup.
anyway, enjoy your beautiful headphones and keep the impressions coming! and if you get a chance to try them out with portable amps please let us know how they are. nothing detail, just a short impression. currently have the D10 but I am seriously considering getting TTVJ Hybrid millet portable in the hopes that they might match with these nicely.

PS. anyone know what kind of lacquer they are using on these beauties? is it echizen urushi like the es10jpns?

 

[Ridleyguy]

Thanks very much LevA. I cleaned up my post a bit!

I have a HeadRoom Total BitHead and I'll give them a try on that and let you know. On my main amp I have the volume for them at less than 9 o'clock, down from 11 o'clock where I have it for my K701s & HD650s.

I agree with you on the mids being more present, but I find my reaction to this is very recording dependent. With classical music, I find the placement of a solo instrument like the piano too far out front can be an issue - but a lot depends also on mic. placement, studio size, concert hall, etc. so it's not an all or nothing issue. A lot of classical concerto recordings are also guilty of having the orchestra overpower the soloist often burying the bass line completely, and the W1000Xs help mitigate this.

 

[monsieurguzel]

I doubt that these are the echizen urushi lacquer since it is crazy expensive to do and also gives a very different and darker finish than on the W1000X. My esw10jpn have that finish and are really beautiful.

 

[LevA]

monsierguzel,

yeah, I'm fascinated by urushi after living in Japan for so long. though still not very knowledgeable, now slowly trying to lear more about it. I also like the esw10jpns echizen urushi very much, but got to admit the w1000x urushi is also very nice once you see in person. just love how AT mixes design with art when it comes to headphones..

Ridleyguy,

thanks alot for your help. I agree on the mic placement, unfortunately some are done so bad that I just avoid listening on hps. my prime example would be Love supreme by coltrane. as much as I love the album, close mic.ing just kills it for me.
Never had a chance to listen with classical music on the w1000x so all your impressions are much appreciated!
cheers

 

[Rideau]

Finally they have arrived and I must say these are so Sexy.

 

[angle_sh00ter]

Cool. Looking forward to reading your impressions of them.

 

[knubbe]

Been listening/burning in to my just set which just arrived. I'm sure someone else already mentioned this but the drivers are angled so that they're kind of in front of your ear. Very impressed with the bass coming out of my Caliente. Great impact and texture. Still a little sibilant at high volume, which others have said, but will wait til more burn in before making any judgment.

They feel a little strange on your ears and head at first, but never uncomfortable. Once you get used to them they're probably the most comfortable headphones I've worn. No pressure on the ears at all.

Bass actually seems more powerful than I remember the D2000s being. More emphasis on mid-bass while the D2000s actually didn't have much midbass but had a good amount of sub-bass. The W1000X have a good amount of sub-bass too, extending very deep.

 

[LevA]

Rideau and Knubbe,

YO, GUYS!! TAKE OFF THE HEADPHONES!!

Looks like you guys are having fun with your new toys.

If you guys can muster the will to take off the phones, let us know how they are doing!

oh, and don't show up without pictures!!

enjoy

 

[Ridleyguy]

lol. LevA I have mine on but I'll post again.

I find the W1000Xs are complimentary to both my HD650s and K701s. They have a rich but very detailed sound to me, with the mids slightly/noticeably forward and substantial bass. Their soundstage and ability to place/pinpoint performers on a stage, etc, is by far superior to either the HD650s or K701s, IMO. When this point is raised in most reviews, I have a lot of trouble hearing it with my other headphones, but the tremendous depth of the soundstage of the W1000Xs separates the performers to such a degree that I think everyone will hear this.

I am only comfortable commenting on Classical music as I have heard the selections, with various artists often thousands of times, so I can hear differences easily. I will leave it up to others who are more familiar than me with other genres to comment on those.

One bold statement ... if you listen exclusively to Chamber Music and/or Choral ...you must own these headphones if you are buying headphones in this price range. It doesn't matter what other headphones do well, if they cannot reproduce a 3D soundstage of the same dimension, the W1000x will blow them out of the water.

Better than the HD650s? They aren't really directly comparable to me. If I go to a live Classical concert, in a hall with proper acoustics, and sit about 10-20 rows back - the HD650s very accurately reproduce the sound that comes from the orchestra, i.e dampened acoustics. The W1000Xs will put you closer because of the mids (?), and will give you more depth if it is present in the music - and the reproduction of the instruments is great, to my ears, with no sibilance on tracks so far - but that may be because of my amp., an RWA Isabellina HPA.

There is a tendency I am sure to fall in love with every new addition to one's headphones family, so please take my comments in that context, plus the fact that these are my first Audio-Technicas, and I haven't heard any Denons or Beyerdynamics to compare them to - which is likely quite important. Cheers.

 

[LevA]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ridleyguy /img/forum/go_quote.gif lol. LevA I have mine on but I'll post again. I find the W1000Xs are complimentary to both my HD650s and K701s. They have a rich but very detailed sound to me, with the mids slightly/noticeably forward and substantial bass. Their soundstage and ability to place/pinpoint performers on a stage, etc, is by far superior to either the HD650s or K701s, IMO. When this point is raised in most reviews, I have a lot of trouble hearing it with my other headphones, but the tremendous depth of the soundstage of the W1000Xs separates the performers to such a degree that I think everyone will hear this. I am only comfortable commenting on Classical music as I have heard the selections, with various artists often thousands of times, so I can hear differences easily. I will leave it up to others who are more familiar than me with other genres to comment on those. One bold statement ... if you listen exclusively to Chamber Music and/or Choral ...you must own these headphones if you are buying headphones in this price range. It doesn't matter what other headphones do well, if they cannot reproduce a 3D soundstage of the same dimension, the W1000x will blow them out of the water. Better than the HD650s? They aren't really directly comparable to me. If I go to a live Classical concert, in a hall with proper acoustics, and sit about 10-20 rows back - the HD650s very accurately reproduce the sound that comes from the orchestra, i.e dampened acoustics. The W1000Xs will put you closer because of the mids (?), and will give you more depth if it is present in the music - and the reproduction of the instruments is great, to my ears, with no sibilance on tracks so far - but that may be because of my amp., an RWA Isabellina HPA. There is a tendency I am sure to fall in love with every new addition to one's headphones family, so please take my comments in that context, plus the fact that these are my first Audio-Technicas, and I haven't heard any Denons or Beyerdynamics to compare them to - which is likely quite important. Cheers.

Ridleyguy, you the man!!

Great to see you enjoy the w1000x. As for the soundstage depth, I think I agree with you, as that was one of two things that got me impressed on my very short audition (the other being the bass - very tight, tuneful and powerful). Also agree with your comparison to 650's, the w1000x gives a more intimate feeling, yet plenty of depth due to instrument placement.

just placed an order for the TTVJ Hybrid portable tube amp and hopefuly will give the w1000x a try and see how they drive them next month when visiting Japan (alas, a poor mans substitute to the RWA Isabellina HP..a very poor man...

)

Now off to the organ mafia to see how much they will give for my other kidney...

btw, anyone tried them through portable amps yet?? still waiting

 

[Ridleyguy]

Thanks LevaA. Very nice of you.

I tried them last night with my HeadRoom TotalBithead, and the volume was so low on the dial I had to check and see if I had accidentally switched it to High gain ...but it was on Low.

I have all my non-classical music on my iPod, such as the B&W Society of Sound albums - none of which I know well, so I will need to put my classical albums on the iPod to be able to make any comments/comparisons, other than the fact that they sounded great generally to me, although they do not flatter low quality MP3 files.

I'll try them with the BitHead and iPod w/o amp. on tracks I know well, and will try to give you some impressions by the weekend. One thing for certain though, they don't need amplification to play very loud, as they are very easily driven.

 

[LevA]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ridleyguy /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks LevaA. Very nice of you. I tried them last night with my HeadRoom TotalBithead, and the volume was so low on the dial I had to check and see if I had accidentally switched it to High gain ...but it was on Low. I have all my non-classical music on my iPod, such as the B&W Society of Sound albums - none of which I know well, so I will need to put my classical albums on the iPod to be able to make any comments/comparisons, other than the fact that they sounded great generally to me, although they do not flatter low quality MP3 files. I'll try them with the BitHead and iPod w/o amp. on tracks I know well, and will try to give you some impressions by the weekend. One thing for certain though, they don't need amplification to play very loud, as they are very easily driven.

Thanks Ridleyguy,

really happy they sound good with the TotalBithead. so looks like these will be fine for those of us mortals who don't have a great set up yet. I'm sure they will be much better with desktop amps, but enjoyable with portables nevertheless.

look forward to your further impressions !
cheers