[xrM]

Does anybody have a FC700 and can compared them to the ES5?

 

[gjsi]

any new updates about these phones?

 

[nickosiris]

I can't compare the ES55 to the phones requested here, but I can say that I'm really enjoying them. Been using PX200 for years while out and about, but these are my new portable favourites (although they are slightly less portable than the PX200 as they don't fold down as much).

More authority and scale in the bass, tidier around the sibilants, and just small enough so you don't look a fool on the bus; they're made for me. I'm not sure what competition there is really if smaller size is important to you, and you don't enjoy the in-ear experience. Unless someone can suggest otherwise?

 

[Buddha]

How is the clamping force for those of us with xl heads?

 

[nickosiris]

Absolutely fine. I have a large head!

 

[nickosiris]

Update: Nearly 5 months on, I'm liking these more and more. My Image X5 are supposed to be my No.1 headphones, but I find I'm taking the ES55 out with me wherever possible. We spent a delightful Mediterranean holiday together in April, and became very close...
Also: They really blossomed after a lengthy running in period - be patient to get the best out of them.

 

[Knarfje]

I'm looking for some clean sounding portable headphones, but don't know which one to get yet. Some while ago I got some AKG K414, but they sounded terrible in my opinion (way too bass heavy and recessed mids). After that I got some K324P in-ears, which I could live with for a while, but in-ears are actually not really my thingy, and the soundwas not really what I was looking for.
 
As i really like the sound of my good old K400's, I had hoped that I could get about similar sound from their portables. Not I've read quite some rave reviews, both here and other sources, about the K81/518, but in lot of those reviews they mention the very present bass. So i guess these cans are not my stuff ) About the K430 and K450 I read different reviews.
 
So how about some other brand? The ATH-ES55 seem to be pretty good and from the pictures they also look great. Are they quite clean sounding (as in natural)? Looking at eBay i've bumped into this:
 
http://cgi.ebay.nl/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330446747108&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_7330wt_934
 
As far as I can see this is well below the normal selling price. Can this be true? Or could these be fakes? The pictures look quite good tho ...
 
Or maybe some other suggestions for portable headphones with a nice clean sound?

 

[Knarfje]

Ah well I think I will pass that ATH-ES55 offer on eBay. I've done some searching, including head-fi, and it appears that there are a lot fake Audio Technica's around. I just didn't realise that, as I thought that Audio Technica is not that mainstream to make fakes worthwhile.
 
Anyone got some tips for on-ear portable cans with a nice clean sound (a little similar to the AKG K400)?
 
Thanks,
Frank

 

[2rooi123]

^ i got mine from seyo shop
definitely not fakes
i like the sound better than the es7
looks better and more comfy

 

[sbruno33]

Just received a pair.
Came into work today and waiting on my chair was a package from  Accessory Jack.
Very impressed on first listen, plugged straight into Ipod, (5th gen).
With a quick listen, impressions are that they are detailed, musical.
Nice highs, ok mids, bass isn't too sloppy.
Afraid i won't be happy with PX100s at work anymore.....
Will see how the ATH-ES55s do with a little burn-in. 
 

 

[archer1234]

I have had these for about 5 months know they r so good and good value for money get them NOW!!!

 

[Knarfje]

Hmm. I've bought a pair of ATH-ES55 last week after reading lots of positive reviews but to be honest i'm hugely disappointed. I find they sound pretty much muffled, not balanced, not a very open and detailed sound. In my opinion absolutely not worth the € 109 i've paid for. I've compared them mostly with my beloved AKG K400 which sound way better. To be sure I'm burning the ES55 in for some time now (about 40 hours) but I hardly hear any improvement so far. I will try to listen to them some more, but I think I will return them.

 

[jant71]

A little bit off topic but where is the ES77? ES7 release date was Oct. 21, 2005. It's about time

. Even the ES55 are over two years old!

 

[threEchelon]

I'm in Japan, and I bought a pair of ES55's for the Japanese going rate, which was around $85. I owned a pair of ES7's a while ago, but they went missing after I left them in a classroom for 10 or 15 minutes, so I don't have them to compare.
 
The ES55's are much smaller, lighter, and more comfortable that the ES7's, and they fit closer to my head, making them look less awkward. Also the cups don't press into my neck, like the ES7's did, while I'm not listening to them. My ears do start to hurt a bit after wearing them for extended periods, but the clamping force is less than the ES7's, so the pain is not as bad. Isolation is light, maybe less than the ES7, but fine enough for walking around.
 
As for the sound, the low end is warm and slightly prominent, but I think this is a good thing for portable headphones, as the low end is the first thing that you lose when you go outside; in my opinon, the ES55's are well balanced in portable use. I don't find anything very noteworthy about the midrange; maybe it just sounds "good enough". I think treble is the weakest aspect of these headphones. Treble sounds, like cymbal crashes and the top end of snares and drums, sound somewhat "pshh"-like sound instead of the detailed, sparkly sound I get from my RS-1's (Are the RS-1's spoiling me?). Anyway, this was really bad when I first got them, but I must say that it has improved considerably since then. The treble of the ES55's does sound better out of my Mint, but I don't expect people with a decent portable setup to be using headphones of this echelon, so it's a moot point.
 
Soundstaging and separation are fairly good in my opinion, maybe the two most noteworthy aspects of the ES55 sound; I can focus in on sounds and follow them with relative ease. On the other hand, I wouldn't call these cans detail kings. The overall sound signature feels fairly neutral (and not just in terms of frequency response) on the move, but definitely gets warm and fuzzy when you're in a quiet place inside, because of the bass quantity. If I recall correctly, the ES7's may have had less bass and a more colored (weird), plastic-y, but fun sound; it's hard to recall exactly, though.
 
I don't currently have any other headphones in the price range of the ES55's, but I'm fairly confident it doesn't blow any of them out of the water. However, the ES55's are a headphone that I can get into without thinking about it's flaws and get into the music, which is the best thing you can ask for a headphone and what makes me satisfied in keeping these. I'm not sure if I would pay another $45, or roughly 1.5x I paid, for them, though. For that price, you could probably buy some better, used headphone.
 
 
Notes:
 
I wrote this on a whim when I saw this thread come up as the one Portable Headphones thread featured on the Forums page, so I'll try to update it if I feel like these impressions are somehow totally irreflective of the ES55's. I also apologize for my wishy-washy language, but at the same time, I feel like it does reflect my feelings better than more polarizing words. And I have to reiterate that I don't have any other headphones with me besides a pair of recabled KSC-75's and RS-1's so take my opinion with a grain of salt.
 
For my portable sources, I use a 2G iPod Touch, which has a flat, dull sound, and a 1G Shuffle, which is more lively and punchy. 

 

[threEchelon]

Bonus pictures: