Rednamalas1
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2008
- Posts
- 4,968
- Likes
- 20
Whoa,
I recently got my AD2000 yesterday in a trade, and WOW!
It should be noted that I couldn't stand bassy headphones before - HD600.HD650,D2000,DT770 etc. But these blew my mind... oh boy.
This headphone made me re-think about my headphone preference - Initially I thought I hated large amount of bass, but it seems that I was simply too critical about bass quality.
I used X5L 30G FLAC as the source, coupled with Corda MOVE/ BADA PH-12 with stock tubes. AD2000s had ~300 hours on them, fully burnt in. First thing I noticed was this massive, tightly controlled, accurate, fast paced bass.
First track I've listen to was "Numb" by portishead. Bass was growlingly deep, with fast attack and very quick decay - very hard to find in bass-heavy headphones, with midrange lush, full, and just so seductive.
Bass, AD2000, I like - I live very much.
Next track: Breakthrough, by Modest mouse. All right, I didn't expect too much from AD2000 for rock - nevertheless, it was still impressive how their drum set, guitar, bass guitar, and vocals all came together to be just musical- not in the same sense as Grado/Alessandro, but pretty darn good - and those vocals - amazing!
Next track: Shoot me down -Norah Jones. I also didn't expect too much from these cans when it comes to Norah Jones - but I was wrong! These may be better than K701s in terms of presenting Norah Jone's voice - Pianos sounded especially awesome - deep, weighted piano sound that blends with guitar so well - and that midrange - especially vocals that tingles your spine every time! Okay - enough ranting, I cannot objectively judge these cans - I like them too much at the moment! Time for a break...
After lunch, I came back testing yet another track: Where did you sleep last night - from Nirvana Unplugged album.
Wow - This is great live performance! I assume you know AD2000's strength already, if it was not emphasized much already. Live acoustic-guitar tracks? better than MS2i IMO. You just feel like you're part of select few listening to Kurt Cobain perform live - HE's BACK!! One another thing I want to mention is that these cans do SUBLIME job of conveying emotion in vocals - I felt Cobain's pain as if it was my own - These cans are going to make me suicidal! I can't listen to Mr.Cobain no more!!
Next up: Lacrimosa from Mozart's requiem. Another piece that makes me air-conduct - even more so this time!! Just so involving - even in classical music. I rarely like involving classical music - I like analytic, layered response of K701 better for classical, but these headphones force me to be air-conducting. Can you talk about good compliment to K701? wow!
These are only bass-heavy 'phones that I liked so far - and after good time listening, that statement is strengthened even more.
Bass from AD2000 just has more presence, tight, blazing quick, with SLAM SLAM on it. Oh, and the best part? Midrange+treble isn't buried by presence of large bass.
And its midrange is one of the best I've heard - perhaps THE best?
Yes, it's colored - but it's so involving, so seductive, and so much emotion involved with this vocal/acoustic guitar/violin/drums/ so forth - It's very hard not to like these 'phones.
Treble is there, with good extension - not emphasized as much as their midrange, that's all. I might need a better amp to test its limits - not constricted at all!
Soundstage? It's there, but AD2000 is very un-analytical, it's hard to notice that soundstage - great instrument separation but I was just too busy singing along and tapping my feet (along with air-guitar, air-drum, air-violin etc)
Detail? not bad - but not as much as DT880 or K1000. You'll notice recording flaws, but it's not as annoying as DT880 or K1000.
EDIT: after careful listening session, there IS as much detail as DT880 - just not as prominent! While DT880 made tape hiss, cough in the crowd stand out like a noticeable pimple, AD2000 tends to diffuse (not too sure if that's the right word) those mistakes/ poor recordings, letting you focus on the musical aspect of the recording. Oh, and these cans definitely are more detailed than K701, especially in Bass/midrange section even with my low-mid fi setup.
Amplification: Very easy to drive - even straight out of mp3 player - more than decent. I didn't notice any hiss or any type of problem with my BADA PH-12 so far - it may emphasize its bass little too much though. My Meier Audio MOVE did well as well on low gain. I should look into getting a AT amp for these, though.
Comfort: I'm impressed - I know AT's fit isn't for everyone, but my head (which is large-ish side) had no problem with them - even in extended listening sessions for hours, these are not fatiguing at all, despite all the impact of BOOM BOOM SLAP SLAP SLAM SLAM!
That's it folks! These are still initial impressions - and I'll probably update them later on! Sorry for my noobish review
I recently got my AD2000 yesterday in a trade, and WOW!
It should be noted that I couldn't stand bassy headphones before - HD600.HD650,D2000,DT770 etc. But these blew my mind... oh boy.
This headphone made me re-think about my headphone preference - Initially I thought I hated large amount of bass, but it seems that I was simply too critical about bass quality.
I used X5L 30G FLAC as the source, coupled with Corda MOVE/ BADA PH-12 with stock tubes. AD2000s had ~300 hours on them, fully burnt in. First thing I noticed was this massive, tightly controlled, accurate, fast paced bass.
First track I've listen to was "Numb" by portishead. Bass was growlingly deep, with fast attack and very quick decay - very hard to find in bass-heavy headphones, with midrange lush, full, and just so seductive.
Bass, AD2000, I like - I live very much.
Next track: Breakthrough, by Modest mouse. All right, I didn't expect too much from AD2000 for rock - nevertheless, it was still impressive how their drum set, guitar, bass guitar, and vocals all came together to be just musical- not in the same sense as Grado/Alessandro, but pretty darn good - and those vocals - amazing!
Next track: Shoot me down -Norah Jones. I also didn't expect too much from these cans when it comes to Norah Jones - but I was wrong! These may be better than K701s in terms of presenting Norah Jone's voice - Pianos sounded especially awesome - deep, weighted piano sound that blends with guitar so well - and that midrange - especially vocals that tingles your spine every time! Okay - enough ranting, I cannot objectively judge these cans - I like them too much at the moment! Time for a break...
After lunch, I came back testing yet another track: Where did you sleep last night - from Nirvana Unplugged album.
Wow - This is great live performance! I assume you know AD2000's strength already, if it was not emphasized much already. Live acoustic-guitar tracks? better than MS2i IMO. You just feel like you're part of select few listening to Kurt Cobain perform live - HE's BACK!! One another thing I want to mention is that these cans do SUBLIME job of conveying emotion in vocals - I felt Cobain's pain as if it was my own - These cans are going to make me suicidal! I can't listen to Mr.Cobain no more!!
Next up: Lacrimosa from Mozart's requiem. Another piece that makes me air-conduct - even more so this time!! Just so involving - even in classical music. I rarely like involving classical music - I like analytic, layered response of K701 better for classical, but these headphones force me to be air-conducting. Can you talk about good compliment to K701? wow!
These are only bass-heavy 'phones that I liked so far - and after good time listening, that statement is strengthened even more.
Bass from AD2000 just has more presence, tight, blazing quick, with SLAM SLAM on it. Oh, and the best part? Midrange+treble isn't buried by presence of large bass.
And its midrange is one of the best I've heard - perhaps THE best?
Yes, it's colored - but it's so involving, so seductive, and so much emotion involved with this vocal/acoustic guitar/violin/drums/ so forth - It's very hard not to like these 'phones.
Treble is there, with good extension - not emphasized as much as their midrange, that's all. I might need a better amp to test its limits - not constricted at all!
Soundstage? It's there, but AD2000 is very un-analytical, it's hard to notice that soundstage - great instrument separation but I was just too busy singing along and tapping my feet (along with air-guitar, air-drum, air-violin etc)
Detail? not bad - but not as much as DT880 or K1000. You'll notice recording flaws, but it's not as annoying as DT880 or K1000.
EDIT: after careful listening session, there IS as much detail as DT880 - just not as prominent! While DT880 made tape hiss, cough in the crowd stand out like a noticeable pimple, AD2000 tends to diffuse (not too sure if that's the right word) those mistakes/ poor recordings, letting you focus on the musical aspect of the recording. Oh, and these cans definitely are more detailed than K701, especially in Bass/midrange section even with my low-mid fi setup.
Amplification: Very easy to drive - even straight out of mp3 player - more than decent. I didn't notice any hiss or any type of problem with my BADA PH-12 so far - it may emphasize its bass little too much though. My Meier Audio MOVE did well as well on low gain. I should look into getting a AT amp for these, though.
Comfort: I'm impressed - I know AT's fit isn't for everyone, but my head (which is large-ish side) had no problem with them - even in extended listening sessions for hours, these are not fatiguing at all, despite all the impact of BOOM BOOM SLAP SLAP SLAM SLAM!
That's it folks! These are still initial impressions - and I'll probably update them later on! Sorry for my noobish review
