[Vesperal Max]

I just ordered these @Bluetin. I hope they'll come real quick (and without any custom fees

)! BTW, now's the right time to order the ES10s on this site, since the yen currency went down during the week-end. Anyway, you can expect a little feedback/review as soon as I get 'em (and then, after some lil' burn in)

 

[Mad Max]

Take your time and have fun, too =]

 

[cn11]

I love the look of the ES10's... I shall keep my eyes out for these later down the road- hopefully the price and availability will get better later.

 

[aragornmustdie]

Hi guys, tried them today, out of my NW-HD3

It is priced at 729 Singapore dollars here, which is roughly 530 US dollars.

Well, first, the looks. I'm not a big fan of the looks.. man do they look cheap and so shiny. But not classy shiny... it's more like a tin can shiny. I don't know how ATH come up with this design, IMO ES7 is still the best looking as it fits perfectly as a whole.

This design looks very cheap and not on par with the price. Well but again what does in the head-fi world? We had Grados, lol. They look rugged and strong, though- they feel sturdy, and from certain angles the connection between the drivers and the headband look DT48-ish, if you know what I mean- that mechanical, simple German look.

These are slightly bigger in circumference compared to the predecessors, but they still rest on the ears. The pads are of different material- not as nice as the ESW9 and 10 lambskin pads. But not as cheap as ES7s as well.

Now on to the sound. Well, I'm not impressed at all. I think it sounds really coloured with that usual honky ATH midrange, and a tad boomy bass. But take this with a grain of salt, as I am used to my HD600 sound sig now. My ES7 barely has time on my head recently. So yeah.

I thought ES10 sounds so weird, hence I compared it to ESW10 which is also there in the store- and yes, my ears notice the honky, closed feel straightaway as well as the ATH colour, so I can again say that my ears had been attuned to the HD600.

Within context though,
I think ESW10jpn sounds a bit better than ES10 because the former isn't as boomy and exhibit smoother midrange throughout. ES10 really sounds.. bitter.. and very closed in. The aluminium chamber doesn't really help I guess. The bass is boomy, but doesn't have a good slam- ES7 is much more PRAT-ty and fun. ES10 exhibited that Ultrasone-esque awkward feel if you know what I mean (sorry for Ultrasonistas).

Therefore, to conclude, I think neither ES10 nor ESW10jpn is a good value for money. Really. I don't know what AT is thinking- maybe they intend to continue grabbing on the ESW10jpn market on that price point? But at least the woody one is limited and it looks beautiful. I don't know about the ES10, but if it's not a limited run I really think it's such a waste. IMO the best value of the bunch is still ES7, and for the more refined taste/comfort/wood, ESW9, but that's about it.

I apologize if my impression is blurry and doesn't really help much, I am too saturated (or desaturated?) by my HD600 at that time and the store is quite noisy as well, though I managed to sit for roughly half an hour. I listened to my usual Led Zeppelin/ Rolling Stones stuff.

Do ask me questions if you want to.

Nathan

 

[cn11]

Hmmmmm... that is a bit of a disappointment for sure. Perhaps they were fresh out of the box, and the drivers were still completely not broken in. I would hope they'd sound bigger, and more open after some time, especially with that 53mm driver.

Thanks for the report though!

 

[aragornmustdie]

Yes, I hope so too, because my ES7 sounds as bitter out of the box as well. I hope my opinions regarding both are still valid enough and not saturated by my HD600. Yeah. I'll get back on it if I had the chance. In the meanwhile some may have already received theirs so yeah.

 

[Mad Max]

Sounds like the same deal as my A2000X, but the honkiness has gone away quite a bit with burn-in. I'm not finished burning those in though.

How's the nasalness? On my 'phones, it's caused by a few treble spikes, probably because of those titanium cups, but it is not so bad right now. Also, they are a bit closed-in in sound, just a bit more than my DT880PRO, but it does not bother me too much. The soundstage is still very, very defined. Mine do not have boomy bass, though, but it has excellent slam, insane articulation, and zero bloat.
I have an HD600 as well, so I know just what you mean about being so used to it. =]
I hope the ES10's bass is much tighter and faster at least, right?
How are the highs?

(Instead of "blurry" use "vague" and instead of "saturated by" use "accustomed to".) n__n

 

[aragornmustdie]

^ You are talking about your A2000X there, right?

Well, luckily I detected no treble spikes, which is good because I'm intolerant to highs. ES7 is the worse in that regard I guess.
The soundstage is much more closed-in, my goodness, it mix everything together. I think it's even smaller than my ES7, as well as PK3, with the latter being an earbud (open design).
The bass is NOT tighter than HD600. It may be as fast, but that boominess kinda of smears the bass. IMO the bass is not appealing to me, unlike ED8.

 

[obentou]

At $550 this is damn expensive..

 

[Vesperal Max]

For your information, it is already at 400USD on some websites

For my part, I still have to wait till next week, 'cause the ATH-SJ5s I ordered for a friend were out of stock... Time feels so slow, now

 

[Mad Max]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aragornmustdie /img/forum/go_quote.gif ^ You are talking about your A2000X there, right? Well, luckily I detected no treble spikes, which is good because I'm intolerant to highs. ES7 is the worse in that regard I guess. The soundstage is much more closed-in, my goodness, it mix everything together. I think it's even smaller than my ES7, as well as PK3, with the latter being an earbud (open design). The bass is NOT tighter than HD600. It may be as fast, but that boominess kinda of smears the bass. IMO the bass is not appealing to me, unlike ED8.

That's a bummer. I guess I'll be skipping out on these then.

I've been playing pink noise into my A2000X when I'm not enjoying them, and the nasalness/honkiness seems to be gone

It's still a bit closed-in in sound.

 

[Yukster]

Went to Yodobashi Camera today, and saw that they had the ES10 right next to a ESW9. The ESW9 was 29,800 yen, and the ES10 was 39,900 yen. So I guess in Japan, they are marketed as being the next step up from the ESW9. Since Yodobashi plays music with them from store open to store close, I assume they were pretty burned in. My quick impression was that the ES10 was more clearer than the ESW9, with a larger soundstage, and faster cleaner bass. It was a really quick listen, but I felt that the ES10 was worth the extra 10,000 or so yen...

 

[Vesperal Max]

I just got these this morning (with heavy custom fees, though). I haven't stopped listening to music with them since then. I'll review the ES10s this week-end, but I must say that it keeps getting better and better (^w^)

 

[jyle_t]

Wow, 29800 yen (460+ SGD) is pretty expensive for ESW9, i could get one locally for < 400 SGD, and the shop gives a free AT case with it.

Anyways bluetin.com are selling them at 400USD now, quite a good price if you ask me. Just note they're more like a refined ESW9 than similar to ESW10.

 

[Vesperal Max]

So, here's my little review concerning these new ATH-ES10s. First of all, I'm gonna be honest with you and say that my feelings are mixed, as of now. Indeed, there really are some plus with these cans, but also some setbacks that can't be easily forgotten.
Before I go any further, I should tell first that the ATH-ES10s made a really good impression with my friends. In my opinion, the design is slick and also street-smart (i.e it looks great but not too fancy either, which is good). The brushed titanium is nice to look at, so is the leather which is on the headband.
Yet, however nice it may look, it may already have some setbacks. If, like me, you're wearing glasses (hopefully, I'm planning to undergo eye surgery) stay away from these headphones : it's gonna hurt like hell. It puts too much pressure on your glasse's branches... Still, it is really comfy without my glasses on : quite frustrating indeed...
There is also something else that's almost driving me crazy : the cord... It tangles like hell (and I'm always really doing my utmost to avoid that kinda thing alright...). For such a pricetag, they could have put some good cables instead of that crap that isn't even made correctly(I mean, the left and right cables have, like, a 5mm difference size-wise on mine).
Without any further ado, let's speak of sound. Thank god, it sounds really good ! Otherwise I would have smashed these already... The bass are the best I've heard so far : well-defined and well-balanced. In other words, you can hear the basses and not only feel them

The medium are lacking a little but they aren't missing too much either. And finally, the highs are as great as the basses ! Plus, there is no honkiness or sibilance after some burn-in (30 hours or so) !
All in all, the ATH-ES10s sound great, have quite a wide soundstage but may not be comfortable at all if you're four-eyed. What's more, the cord is bound to drive you mad if you care about it being tangled. Believe me. I'll call for Null Audio services soon, so as to replace that damned cord !
I'm sorry that I can't dwell on this little review, but I have to study for several exams next week. Feel free to ask any question !