[thanksalot]

I have been reading and lurking doing research on head fi for a little while before deciding to purchase some headphones and earphones. I am just visiting Hong Kong and decided to purchase these new headphones that just hit the market here. I tested these against the Beyerdynamic DT770's,DT880 and Ultrasone 650 and the old ATH-A900.
Like I said, I am a newb here so take everything with a grain of salt. That said I am no stranger to the audiophile scene as I am very much into home audio.
 
Before I start my review let me start by saying that I like my headphones to be a little more balanced than most and also that I listen to a variety of music from hip hop, pop, instrumental, to classical and opera. I also like my headphones to be more tighter in than spacious. I like the music or singer to be right in front of me rather than overly spacious.
 
Here we go.
 
The new a900x is very similiar sounding to the older a900. It does have a little better bass but not significant. The 900x sounded a little stronger in the bass out of the box than the a900 that was already burned in. This made the 900x just a little more balanced than the a900. I also compared it to the DT770 and found these to be superior in sound quality to the DT770in all aspects. The DT770 IMO just doesn't have the detail in the mids or highs and sounded muffled even though it was more spatial. The base in the DT770 was stronger but I prefered the a900x more due to better reproduction of and balance. The DT880 is significantly more and I found it to be the best of all the headphones I tested but ended with the a900x because even though the Dt880  sounded better to me, it was not so much better to justify the difference in price. The DT880 had better bass and was even more balance and clarity out of the box than the a900x, Cannot comment how they both will compare once both are burned in though. The DT880 is a semi open/open design so I wouldn't be able to use it in public places like on a plane so that was another reason I got the a900x rather than the DT880. I also tried the Ultrasone 650 and the 650 had better bass but the mids and highs were not as clear. They sounded fairly good but when it was back to back testing, the a900x mids and highs clearly outshined the ultrasone 650 in that area.
 
If any of you have questions don't hesitate to ask.
 
I will post an update when these get burned in properly.

 

[manveru]

Hey there. Thanks for the review! So, any additional thoughts?

 

[Arvan]

How is the build quality? They look sturdy to me. I have never listened on some audio technicas...Maby its time to open up the good ole wallet once again

 

[cifani090]

Pretty decent review. Congrats!

 

[Gr33nL34f]

good review fellow noob. 

 

[thanksalot]

Update.
The sibiliance on first use is nearly gone after about 50hrs of use. The bass is slowly improving. The main difference from the old 900 is that the bass is improved but the mids seem ever so slightly more muffled but the highs are still good. This is based on portable source and mp3 at 320kbps. Once I get back home from Hong Kong I will be able to assess the headphones better with my home Hi Fi system. So far I would say these are better balanced compared to the older 900 if you listen to a variety of music but if you listen to music with more mids and highs you might want to hold on to your 900.
So far enjoying the musicality of the headphones. I have probably listened to over 50 headphones in the last 3 weeks and I must say that some headphones may have sounded superior to the A900X but only a few have the same musicality. These don't have the best highs nor the lowest of the lows. It is not the most balalnced either but it somehow just sounds right to my ears. For example I am listening to Vanessa Williams song save the best for last, and the lows in the song are perfectly balanced with the highs. This song played on with the Beyerdynamic T50p sounded horrible. The base was low but was too low and too pronounced and sounded separated from the mids and highs. IMO Audio Technica has been successful in building a relatively balanced headphone without being so balanced that it becomes boring.
As for build quality I preferred the quality of the Beyerdynamics. These look cool, but they seem flimsy compared to the Beyerdynamics. They are comfortable though and I have no complaints in this area. They have leather or leather like material but I like the felt material better that was on some other headphones I tried.
As far as value it is hard to beat if you are looking at closed headphones. I got these for around $235cdn. and for anything that comes close in closed headphones you are looking atleast headphones in the area of $350cdn. This of course depends on the music you listen to and of course your ears differ from mine.
 

 

[Leba]

Thanks for the review! If you wouldn't mind can you tell where in Hong Kong you got them from? Is it that headphone store called LK Sound? I certainly would love to have a listen with these if that's possible.
 
Hope you're enjoying your time in Hong Kong mate.

 

[thanksalot]

It's called China Club Audi and Video. Ask for Sunny Yao. Internet site is www.ccav.hk. You can go there for the address. Go to the Mong Kok location.

 

[vlenbo]

Nice review, not a noob one though, as you have more headphones than I ever own right now. You sure it's not very balanced? What makes it not so? I'm just curious. Which do you like better, A900 or A900x, and to ask again, and if you can compare the high differences in both a900 and a900x it'd be helpful, not trying to put more work on you, sorry if I am.

 

[thanksalot]

Quote:

Nice review, not a noob one though, as you have more headphones than I ever own right now. You sure it's not very balanced? What makes it not so? I'm just curious. Which do you like better, A900 or A900x, and to ask again, and if you can compare the high differences in both a900 and a900x it'd be helpful, not trying to put more work on you, sorry if I am.

When I say that these aren't the most balanced of the headphones that I have tried doesn't mean that these are not balanced. What I was saying is that the Dt880 and the Ultrasones were more balanced imo but they are also more expensive. What makes them more balanced imo is that the bass mids and highs seam to me to all be strong and evenly accentuated. The A900x imo is more balanced than the a900x because after about 50hrs of burn in it already has slightly more bass than the a900. The a900 was also a pretty balanced headphone but the bass was just slightly weaker than the phenomenal mids and highs. No difference in highs really mostly the difference is in the mids, but again it isn't huge.
Honestly if you have a900 already I wouldn't bother trading in for the a900x as the difference is present but ever so slightly that it isn't even worth mentioning if this wasn't a audiophile forum.
 

 

[vlenbo]

Quote:

When I say that these aren't the most balanced of the headphones that I have tried doesn't mean that these are not balanced. What I was saying is that the Dt880 and the Ultrasones were more balanced imo but they are also more expensive. What makes them more balanced imo is that the bass mids and highs seam to me to all be strong and evenly accentuated. The A900x imo is more balanced than the a900x because after about 50hrs of burn in it already has slightly more bass than the a900. The a900 was also a pretty balanced headphone but the bass was just slightly weaker than the phenomenal mids and highs. No difference in highs really mostly the difference is in the mids, but again it isn't huge.
Honestly if you have a900 already I wouldn't bother trading in for the a900x as the difference is present but ever so slightly that it isn't even worth mentioning if this wasn't a audiophile forum.
 

Whoops, my bad. Didn't mean to say it like that, but I understand that they are balanced, but not as much as the other two competitors. Strong meaning they're presented more clearer? I understand it now, and you believe it is a bit better than the predecessor, but if you've got the old one don't trade it in. Good thing I got this new one instead, thanks.

 

[sdfx]

Hmm I can get the A900 for roughly ~160 and the A900X for $255.. lol is the price justified?

 

[gelocks]

I guess that if you want a bit more bass, you could go with the A900X. But it seems that
there is not who lot of difference (so if you want to save some $$$, you can go with the A900s... unless you are
eyeing others) But I have not yet tried them. Just ordered them this week... we'll see when they arrive.
 
BTW, I had not seen this review and bought the A900X blindly... Seems a few members have these but have not been very vocal
(either because they haven't had time or maybe they don't find them good?!? :eeek:
 
Hopefully more people will chime in...

 

[Alystair]

Are you located in Toronto? I have a pair of ATH-A900 and would love to compare the two

 

[Tennobanzai]

Great review. I love mine in every aspect expect the earpads hurt after 1-2 hours. I'm thinking of swapping them for my old A700 pads, which I find to be perfect for my ears.