[frozncore]

What amp and DAC were you usaing?

 

[euclid]

i had SA5000 for awhile and for me the vocal sibilance was the downfall.

the OP mentions that they punish bad recordings which is true, but IMHO they will also take a decent or at least passable recording and ruin it with overboosted highs. the major strength of these headphones is instrumental and electronic music without vocals, then the highs can bring out energy.

i feel the AD2000 are a better all around choice although not as hyper detailed. and although more expensive a well-fitting pair of W5000 make the SA5000 redundant, the W5000 has all the upper detail and clarity but with total refinement that the SA5000 lacks, the build and comfort of the Audio Technica phones is definitely a step higher.

 

[BobMajor]

With regard to comfort, I think you are relying too much on the top part to hold it on. The tension applied by the phones themselves should be enough to hold it on your head with bearly any pressure on the top of the head. Change the top pressure by lowering the phones themselves.
I think these are the most comfortable headphones I've ever worn.
Most complaints about the sound are due to distortion in the source or the recordings themselves.
(I listen mostly to the Grado GS1000 but use the Sony for movies-wow!)

 

[ER4 Lover]

the sound stage for SA5000 is huge.
It is like listening music in the wild, and HD600 is like listening in the school gym.

 

[alexpea]

Quote:

Originally Posted by frozncore /img/forum/go_quote.gif What amp and DAC were you usaing?

At firt I just connected them into my M-audio Firewire Solo external soundcard. It has its own amp and DAC inside, and sounds good to my ears. But everything got different when I hooked them up to my speaker-amplifier with a dedicated headphone-output. Sounded more massive, everything

 

[ast]

Very nice review!


I totally agree that SA5000 is one of the best headphones out there. Some of its qualities, e.g. details and speed, have no competition.



now back to enjoy my SA5000.

 

[alexpea]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ast /img/forum/go_quote.gif Very nice review! I totally agree that SA5000 is one of the best headphones out there. Some of its qualities, e.g. details and speed, have no competition. now back to enjoy my SA5000.

Thanx. They sure sound awesome! I'm going to get myself a quality dedicated amp to spice things even more up. Btw your nick is very similar to another head-fier who calls himself asr, hehe

Enjoy those phones, mate !!

 

[ast]

like good single malt, SA5000 has the delicate, detail, clean after taste,... Yummy!!!

 

[alexpea]

Woohoo, nice picture mate

I'm still enjoying these cans very much!!

 

[dlorde]

There's no doubt in my mind that these 'phones need a good amplifier to shine.

I bought my SA5000's to replace a pair of HD 650s that I found disappointingly bass-heavy and even boomy. The Sonys are so much clearer and cleaner I'm wondering whether the 650s were faulty...

 

[BobMajor]

I recently purchased an Eddie Currant Zana Deux amplifier to replace my Headroom Max 2004 amp.
I hadn't used the SA5000 in about a year since I got Grado GS1000 headphones. On the Headroom Max the GS1000 sounded so much better than the SA5000. On the Zana Deux the SA5000 really shine so much better than I had realized they could. However, the GS1000 just sound so much more natural with a better balanced presentation tonewise and with better ambient detail.

 

[Stevesebastianb]

Kudos for the great review. Hmmm,now I need to go and test drive a pair. I will probably end up getting a pair.

Steve

 

[BobMajor]

I should note that I am listening to files played on a computer (FLAC lossless) which are converted with a high-quality USB to S/PDIF convertor by Empirical Audio into a Channel Islands VDA-2 DAC. The point I wanted to share is that using computer audio I have the use of an equalizer. The GS1000 has a peak at 7 khz and the lower bass is a touch strong. This can make the GS1000 without equalization seem someone midrange weak. Those without equalization find that it's just right if listened to a lower volume since the peaks are exactly those used in the old "loudness" switches which were designed to make any audio system sound its best at low listening levels.

 

[Sovkiller]

Guys sorry to water your soup but the SA5000 is pretty anemic on the bass dpt, the performance leave a lot to be desired. If you want far better bass get the Ultrasone PL2500 or the big brother the UE9 (but that is a different price) the SA5000 in comparison to many other headphones is nothing to write home about in the bass dpt...It has a lot of strengths, as mnay had stated here, it is insanelly detailed, the highs are crist and clear as a bell, a very fast heapdhone, and it is very comfortable and light, but sorry the bass is not one of them....at all, the main reason I sold mine the next week I got them...they are also not very musical, indeed very cold and analytic sounding. I feel that for some they could be very enjoyable, of course, as any high end can, but to say that the bass is good, is IMO not very accurate...

 

[panda]

i'm going to have to disagree, any anemic sound is the fault of what ever is upstream. they have plenty of bass if fed right. they might not be weighty and thick sounding like a lot of other fones, but they're pretty awesome for bass if you're into actual bass detail portrayal. what might cause people to think they are a bit shy is that they don't have any bass overhang which is a coloration (there needs to be SOME decay in the bass). the ultrasones on the other hand are completely bloated and are pretty much 'consumer voiced'.