[MuppetFace]

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True, listening to these is not a waste of time! And about the finish, for the last time (;D), seems like you edited one of your posts, which caused a misunderstanding because I did not notice it. After all we agree, it seems. Earlier you also mentioned highlights and the finish being lighter, which would obviously mean a thinner layer of lacquer, as I don't think it's possible to accurately use multiple different types of lacquer on such small areas.
 
EDIT: The fit is definitely worse than ATH-W1000X. I needed to bend these A LOT to get a decent fit. (And still these are clearly less comfortable than ATH-W1000X.) It was rather slow because I didn't dare to use too much force, obviously. Appears to be rather durable after all, even though the arches and their assembly seems somewhat flimsy at times.
 
In any case, the sound is heavenly! = )

Not sure which post you mean, but I do think the finish itself is responsible for the highlighted effect around the edges. Whether it's because of some sort of property of the lacquer around the edges that makes it appear highlighted, or some sort of result of the process involved in applying it. Again, I don't know the intricacies of the Echizen technique; it's a master-level artform that is quite complex and beyond me. But yes, seeing as no other headphone has this sort of effect, and all of the "Japan" ATs with edges on the earcups do, it seems logical to conclude Echizen is what leads to the ring effect. Also my previous point about the ESW10JPN is that the ring highlight has variation in it: I can see uneven coloration---some lighter and some darker areas--- and globs of lacquer in the highlighting underneath the clear coats. That suggests it's part of the finnish to me.
 
Anyway, I'm going to stop talking about Echizen now. Moving on: the fit hasn't given me many problems thus far, at least not enough to compell me to bend the arc. But then, I have a high tolerance for fit discomfort, being a somewhat diminutive person. Most headphones are large on me. Also I know I've mentioned this before, but these sound stupidly good straight out of a MacBook without a DAC or amp. They seem more forgiving in terms of amping requirements compared to some of the other ATs like the W2002.
 

 

[purrin]

Measurements and notes:
 
The AT woodies are difficult to get an accurate reading on. The driver baffle is semi-open to allow a delayed back wave to augment the forward wave. This probably accounts for their romantic or weird sound depending upon how you hear it. Because of the short reflections emanating from inside the cup, I don't think the measurements for the area between 2kHz and 12kHz is totally accurate. However, the region below 2k appears to be good and corroborates what I hear. As always, no smoothing is applied.
 
Audio Technica ATH-W3000ANV Frequency Response

 
For the second measurement below I removed the baffle and driver from the headphone to get a direct measurement to eliminate the effects of the pads and the internal cup reflections. This was done to get a good reading on the area from 2kHz to 12kHz. Now we clearly see the funky upper middles. The middle treble measures (and sounds) smooth and is not too terribly elevated.
 
Audio Technica ATH-W3000ANV Frequency Response (driver baffle only)

 
I haven't pulled up the CSDs yet, but I know there's some ringing in the lower treble and it's got a little bit of that upper middle spike similar to the ATH-AD2000 and Grado RS1. There are indications of that in the graph directly above. The null at 8kHz is where I suspect a driver resonance node is (in other words, it's one of those instances, measurement artifact or whatever, where the null is really a peak.)
 
We'll see with the waterfall plots. To be continued...
 

 

[purrin]

 
Regular ol' waterfalls:
 
Lot of resonance modes, but they don't stay high magnitude for more than 2 or 3ms.

Grado RS1 for reference and comparison:

 
 
 
 
Experimental stuff. Moving the floor down: -30db, -35db, -40db:
~500Hz to 20kHz from left to right. 5ms window from top to bottom.

 

[TheOtus]

I meant this post. But in any case, it definitely is a natural aspect of the lacquer and I like it. = )
 
Back on the most important, the sound itself. My pair appears to gain more weight on the bass. And the amount of detail amazes me over and over again. Seriously loving these, I'm not buying new headphones in a while for sure!

 

[purrin]

 
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Also I know I've mentioned this before, but these sound stupidly good straight out of a MacBook without a DAC or amp. They seem more forgiving in terms of amping requirements compared to some of the other ATs like the W2002.

Been moving around the house with these being powered by a Sony Walkman - getting 80% of their potential. I can't do that with the HD800 or LCD3.
 

 

[Aethelred]

Can anybody compare them to W5000? How is the midrange? More pronounced than w5000? I'm still torn as if this is real improvement over w5000.

 

[wind016]

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Measurements and notes:
 
The AT woodies are difficult to get an accurate reading on. The driver baffle is semi-open to allow a delayed back wave to augment the forward wave. This probably accounts for their romantic or weird sound depending upon how you hear it. Because of the short reflections emanating from inside the cup, I don't think the measurements for the area between 2kHz and 12kHz is totally accurate. However, the region below 2k appears to be good and corroborates what I hear. As always, no smoothing is applied.
 
Audio Technica ATH-W3000ANV Frequency Response

 
For the second measurement below I removed the baffle and driver from the headphone to get a direct measurement to eliminate the effects of the pads and the internal cup reflections. This was done to get a good reading on the area from 2kHz to 12kHz. Now we clearly see the funky upper middles. The middle treble measures (and sounds) smooth and is not too terribly elevated.
 
Audio Technica ATH-W3000ANV Frequency Response (driver baffle only)

 
I haven't pulled up the CSDs yet, but I know there's some ringing in the lower treble and it's got a little bit of that upper middle spike similar to the ATH-AD2000 and Grado RS1. There are indications of that in the graph directly above. The null at 8kHz is where I suspect a driver resonance node is (in other words, it's one of those instances, measurement artifact or whatever, where the null is really a peak.)
 
We'll see with the waterfall plots. To be continued...
 

Thanks for the measurements Purrin! What I hear mostly matches the first graph; upper-mid recession, dips in the treble in various areas, and some pretty good bass response. I actually don't mind the funky treble. The dips keep them from being overly bright, but there's enough treble for a bit of a crispy detail sound. What I'm really surprised is that it says they have a big dip around the 6K frequency. That was the exact location of my complaints about the W11R. I always lowered the frequency there and explicitly stated that in my review thread many times. So they seemed to have answered that with a big dip.
 
"Hey, wind016 doesn't like 6K?! Let's flippin' remove that #@$! He's also upper-mid sensitive. Let's dip the hell out of it! He's also a basshead. Let's make sure he's happy folks." Thank you, I love you.

 

[purrin]

 
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Thanks for the measurements Purrin! What I hear mostly matches the first graph; upper-mid recession, dips in the treble in various areas, and some pretty good bass response.

 
I agree. The second graph is more indicative of where possible resonances might be.
 
The cup/baffle design seems to blend things around enough so that while there are still peaks and dips, the peaks don't appear to cross the line of neutrality (at least so far as) to make your ears bleed, i.e. Grado. Audio-Technica really pulled a rabbit out of the hat this time. While there are definitely what I could call "trouble" spots, they get pulled back right before the threshold of what I would find annoying. As others have commented: very good detail, good speed, and good control (I didn't hear these things in the W1000X). One thing to note is the middle treble is very smooth.
 
Anaxilus has heard my pair. He suggested that indeed it would be a good idea for me to "invest" in a second pair so he could safeguard them for me since I have a tendency of getting scratches and nicks on my headphones.
 

---

 
In case anyone wants to re-terminate to balanced:
 
Four wires all the way down to the plug makes this possible.

 
Red is right
Clear is left
Use a DMM to figure out the grounds.
 

 

[TheOtus]

Where you got the pic? Your own headphones? =O

 

[purrin]

LOL. Yeah. I just re-terminated to balanced 4-pin XLR. Now need to spray paint the plug a dark red/brown and finish off with a glossy clear coat.

 

[TheOtus]

MY GOD! =D Well, I had that sort of things on my mind too... Kinda lost the urge though.

 

[marcelo61]

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Can anybody compare them to W5000? How is the midrange? More pronounced than w5000? I'm still torn as if this is real improvement over w5000.

 
the w3k is warmer than the w5k in my rig(ml39+zana),for me the w3k has the old ath house sound back,at lease when i listen to the ACG.

 

[MuppetFace]

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The cup/baffle design seems to blend things around enough so that while there are still peaks and dips, the peaks don't appear to cross the line of neutrality (at least so far as) to make your ears bleed, i.e. Grado. Audio-Technica really pulled a rabbit out of the hat this time. While there are definitely what I could call "trouble" spots, they get pulled back right before the threshold of what I would find annoying. As others have commented: very good detail, good speed, and good control (I didn't hear these things in the W1000X). One thing to note is the middle treble is very smooth.
 

I totally agree with this. Audio-Techinca at their best make headphones that sound really unique, but not so far out there as to eschew what makes things listenable. They've got character and, as you yourself put it, "do weird right." The W3000ANV seems to strike a nice balance, appealing to both longtime Audio-Techinca fans and garnering new fans in the process.

 

[MuppetFace]

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I meant this post. But in any case, it definitely is a natural aspect of the lacquer and I like it. = )
 

Ah, gotcha. I often find my expressing myself doesn't go according to plan, so I tend to edit my posts a lot. I didn't want to sound like I fancied myself an expert of Japanese lacquering techniques. "Natural aspect" is a good way of putting it though, as the lacquer is considered by artisans to be a living thing derived from nature (obviously not 'alive' in the scientific sense, but poetically speaking). I like what one critic said about Echizen lacquerware: that it was just sort of 'there,' existing like something found in nature.

 

[TheOtus]

I edit my posts sometimes too, no problem. And that was a good post there!