[DavidMahler]

I bought my second pair today to give them one more shot on my system which is much better than when I first owned them.  
 
Upon opening the box I noticed two things I didn't like and I want to clarify that at least one of them is normal.
 
1. The writing on the ear cup is raised meaning theres nothing covering it from being smudged, very much like the Denon D5000s.  Has your writing smudged over time?
 
2. My particular pair (which was new) was packed in such a way that the cable on the left side was pressed up against the leather pad and left an indentation in the leather.  It must have been packed this way for a good year or 2.  This indentation does not effect the comfort but it sure does effect the looks in my opinion.  Considering how beautiful these headphones are, its such a shame to see it like this in new condition.  I treat my headphones extremely carefully even down to the cardboard box and none of my headphones have a blemish like this.  Should I expect that the leather indent will flatten as I use it?  Should I return them for another pair? 
 
What do you think?
 
Thanks!

 

[MrSpenkelink]

My you are fussy. The lettering on the ear cups is raised and shows no sign of wear on mine. The ear pads are very soft; hopefully the misshapen one should revert to normal over time. But if it bothers you that much then perhaps you should send it back.  
 
What puzzles me is why you would buy a headphone that you have previously panned? 

 

[DavidMahler]

Quote:

My you are fussy. The lettering on the ear cups is raised and shows no sign of wear on mine. The ear pads are very soft; hopefully the misshapen one should revert to normal over time. But if it bothers you that much then perhaps you should send it back.  
 
What puzzles me is why you would buy a headphone that you have previously panned? 

It's clear you don't like me since you comment on so many of threads in a critical way.  But that's ok.  I don't think I'm ultimately too fussy, because I intend to keep all my headphones in optimal condition for decades and to receive a new one with a massive indent in the leather is disappointing.  I bought them again for 2 reasons, one my system is much better now and the general concensus about W5000 is that they are amp-dependent.  I'm not sure that I agree yet or not.  The other reason is that it is known to me that there were a number of defective W5000 in the first run and that's when I had them.
 
Thank you though for informing me of the lettering.  When I had the D5000, the lettering came off on the second day and it was very disappointing especially when the retailer would not take them back.

 

[MrSpenkelink]

^ It's not a matter of liking or disliking you; I'm just genuinely perplexed. I am aware that some of the early models had a rattling driver defect but your damning comments about this headphone have related to its sound signature, which has not changed since its introduction.
 
I suspect that this headphone is picky with amplification but no amplifier should fundamentally change its sound signature.
 
With regard to the indentation to the ear pad, these pads are susceptible to that happening but recover soon enough in my experience.
 
Anyhow, I hope that you find it more satisfactory on your second or potentially third time around.

 

[DavidMahler]

I've been noticing a little bit of what I would call rattle, I'm wondering if my pair is defective?
 
The manager of J&R told me personally that they cannot sell the W5000, that they've been trying for a few years and they landed up having to lower their retail cost very close to their wholesale cost.
 
I really thought my dislike of it was from an amp issue since so many seem to like it, but so far I just can't like the sound here.  I have 14 days to return with a restocking fee, so I'll pay extra attention.
 
Do you find it nasal and a bit harsh on the ears?  The sound feels very closed in and tinny to my ears.  They look like a million bucks to me, which honestly may be why I want to like it so much.  Sound-wise, I genuinely don't feel they are as good as a basic Sennheiser model such as the HD280.  I know that sounds absurd, but I just want to like them so bad, and I can't.  I feel bad believe it or not.  These headphones are just gorgeous.

 

[MrSpenkelink]

^ Yours may be defective.
 
I don't find it nasally or harsh. However, there are those who have described it as having honky mids, no bass and a bright presentation overall.
 
I find its presentation quite airy and more akin to an open than closed headphone.
 
The W5000 tends to polarise opinion (what headphone doesn't really?). There are those who adore it and those who loathe it. Maybe you fall into the latter group. At least your initial impression has been confirmed. 

 

[wind016]

How do you feel about Audio Technicas in general? The first couple days that I had my W1000, I thought they were incredibly nasal sounding. (I was coming from AKG K701s, Denon D7000s, Sennheiser HD280, Ultrasones, etc etc. Their mids were not as pronounced as ATHs.)  However, I committed a few days to grow accustomed to the W1000 since I already had them anyways. Now, they are the headphones I still prefer even after hearing the likes of T1, HD800, W1000X, K501, and whatever else there is. I also sold both my Denons and AKGs. After getting used to them, vocals just feel more upfront rather than nasal and no other headphone has been able to match that intimacy.
 
As for the W5000 specifically, I sold them in a week. I tried to like them, but I couldn't find anything that I cared much for in them. The W1000 had more intimate vocals than it but I admit that the fit was terrible, so that is most likely the reason.

 

[DavidMahler]

Alex of A Pure Sound has told me that there are 2 versions of the W5000.  One of them sounds defective and the other one sounds good in his opinion.  He said the only visible difference is that the defective one has a more oval-shaped headband as opposed to rounder headband of the better version.  Is there any way for me to tell this in photos?  He said that the serial number would not tell me anything about this unfortunately.

 

[MrSpenkelink]

^ I never came across this distinction when I was researching the W5000. All I'm aware of is a few reports of a driver rattle problem. I don't know whether this was a rare or common occurrence. I would imagine that audio-technica's quality control would be of a very high standard. Not unlike Sennheiser and there have been reports of even the mighty HD800 having squeaks and less than perfect paint work.   

 

[DavidMahler]

Quote:

^ I never came across this distinction when I was researching the W5000. All I'm aware of is a few reports of a driver rattle problem. I don't know whether this was a rare or common occurrence. I would imagine that audio-technica's quality control would be of a very high standard. Not unlike Sennheiser and there have been reports of even the mighty HD800 having squeaks and less than perfect paint work.   

He told me according to him the headphones sounded completely different as if the drivers were entirely changed and the people criticizing the headphone may be listening to an entirely different headphone.
 

 

[MrSpenkelink]

^ Well that really is news to me but maybe more knowledgeable Head-Fi'ers than I can confirm or deny this alleged phenomenon.  

 

[darkswordsman17]

I've never heard anything about there being different versions, and even the defect was pretty limited from what I remember, but maybe its more pronounced (I'd guess that Alex has seen/heard more W5000s than I have, and he's almost certainly seen inside more of them). I've heard several W5000s and they all sounded the same to me. Well, the first one I owned had a rattle but it wasn't the drivers, it was the frame. If you weren't still it would squeak/creek/rattle and be annoying. The fit was also worse than the other ones, although the other ones I had were more worn so that might have made them fit better. The drivers looked the same on all the ones I've seen too (granted that doesn't mean they might not be different, but I didn't see anything that really looked different).
 
Personally, I like the stock sound, but if I had stuck with that, I'd likely have moved on to a different headphone. I'd recommend trying two very simple mods to see if it gets the sound more to where you want it.
 
The first is for the bass. Open them up and remove the white ring. Then, use tak or something to block one of the two ports on the side of the frame. Bass should increase, not drastically but a noticeable amount. It should retain the speed and punchiness from stock, but with a bit extra oomph/slam. If you want even more bass don't block either port, but I felt that lost too much of what I liked about the W5000 bass (texture, speed, detail).
 
The second will adjust the mids. You unscrew that internal baffle/housing and you'll see a black foam cylinder in a hole on the back of each driver. If you remove it the mids get real thick (relative to stock, not absolutely, as I'd say its still nowhere near say HD650) and kinda funky sounding (really pronounced). If you stick something more dense in there it will cause the mids to suck out. What I do is pull the foam out and cut it about in half, and then pull it apart so that its roughly the same size as before, just less dense. It gives the mids some extra sweetness without going too far.
 
Both are very easy to do, and reversible (well the second one you'll have to source some replacement foam, but its not hard to get something that offers the same), so if they don't help you can go back and you won't mess up anything.
 
Oh, and a note on opening them, I'd recommend unscrewing the large silver wood screws, its easier, and as long as you don't get in the habit of doing it a lot its not going to strip the cups out. Actually, this would be a good time to put on a protective coat on the cups of you're concerned about the lettering. Some people have even polished it so that the cups end up very shiny, which I like, but I like the stock satin finish as well. To prevent wear on the cups (from the screws), you can just hold the cups in place to see if you like the changes to the sound from the mods. If not, you could try your own (or the Fitz).
 
And yes, even though I'm a W5000 fanboy, I will readily admit, that stock, these are some great, but ultimately flawed headphones. I still have no idea what they were thinking with the way they bent the headband so that its near impossible to get a good fit. They could have at least made the pads a bit thicker to compensate. I have a pretty large noggin and its never fit well for me, so I can only imagine how bad it is for people with smaller head sizes.
 
A side note on fit. You can actually improve the fit by wearing a hat as it helps close that gap between the pads and the top of your ear.
 
Oh, and OP, I share your disappointment on small things like the lettering. The MSRP for the W5000 is like $1600, and they just basically silk-screened the lettering/logo on? Plus, the fit issues (how hard would it have been to make the earpads rectify that?), and then some had rattles (I've heard others mention the frame rattling/squeaking). The flight case is a disappointment too. The inside is nice, but then the outside is thin plastic so it really doesn't offer much protection. Why even bother if you have to baby the case as well?

 

[DavidMahler]

I don't know that I can be satisfied that anyone loves this headphone unless I know that this headphone on my head right now is defective.  In the case of what I am hearing right now this cannot be subjective.  I agree some may love the Omegas more than the HD800 and some may love the T1 more than the K701, and some may even love the HD650 over the HD800, etc......but what I am hearing right now (and I am listening to classical, which is the preferred genre with this model) cannot simply be loved by anyone.  My pair has to be defective, and what makes me sad is they sound identical to how I remember them so I'm fearful that they are not defective and this is simply the sound.  I can't express in words how wrong these headphones sound to me presently, both out of the 307a and the Woo Audio 5.  Nothing would make me happier than to love them and keep them.  I consider them amongst the 2 or 3 best looking headphones in the world, but hearing the ones on my head has sharpened my original dislike of them.  It's not even that there's not enough bass or whatever the usual criticisms are.  The bass is fine and fairly impactful even compared to what I remember.  The headphone's sound actually HURTS my ear.  Not because it sounds bad or loud, the angle and the way in which the sound impacts me hurts my ear tremendously and causes me a headache.  It is SO honky that to me it sounds broken.
 
 If you take a Grado and press your hands against the outside of the chasis of the earcup, that deflated awful sound is approximately what my W5000s sound like.  I have never felt this way about a headphone.  There is clearly something wrong with this headphone's design (my particular one, cannot speak for all other W5000s) but i've heard 3 and they all seem to sound like this no matter how I amp them. I already wrote Audio Technica asking them if they could provide me with any factual evidence of 2 different drivers.
 
If not, I will be returning these which is such a shame because they are quite appealing on the eyes.  If they were 50 bucks, I'd keep them and just display them.  But I genuinely have heard 50 dollar headphones which sound superior to these.  This is not me talking hyperbole, because no headphone hurts my ears like these do.  Even if the tonal balance is superior to an HD280, the HD280 produces sound that does not grate on my ears.

 

[CFabian]

I'm not surprised to hear there may be two versions of the W5000. The slight changes made to their build and pads over time has already been documented. In fact, excluding the new W1000X, all of the other non-Limited Edition woodies are known to have two different versions (this includes W10VTG, W100, and W1000). The differences between the two W1000s are said to be rather minimal, but the various VTGs and W100s are supposedly very different with the V2 drivers sounding noticeably better. So in all likelihood there are two sets of drivers for the W5000 as well. I have to say I wasn't impressed with the W5000 when I listened to it either, their technical merits were good but I couldn't get over their strange tone. The fatiguing sensation you are feeling with them is likely from their emphasized upper mids which is present on all of the more recent AT woodies.

 

[MrSpenkelink]

This thread is beginning to resemble a hammy whodunit.