ayt999
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2004
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since there aren't enough W5000 threads around, I've made yet another.
I'll be posting links from various blogs and whatnot from Japan to get other opinions on them... at least I hope I can do that since so far information about them seems to be pretty minimal, although there are some here and there. most of this stuff are from sometime in November and I could have done this earlier, but I was a bit busy and also not too interested (I should be heading to Japan one of these days so I was thinking of waiting until then to form an opinion about the can or buy one) so thus the delay.
comments in parentheses are mine btw....
1.
someone's blog site:
http://www.ashrization.com/mt/archiv.../athw5000.html
here, the guy attended a prerelease W5000 listening session at Dynamic Audio 5555 (a high-end store in Akihabara). he explains that the headphone is easy on the head and wears loosely (although in relation to what I don't know, the AT headphones are generally comfortable too), the sound leaks a decent amount but isolation is decent, from the external characteristics (such as the ebony wood trim) you might imagine a heavy and dark sound but on the contrary it is the exact opposite with a bright and clear (effortless) sound to the point that it might be too clear, on the surface it doesn't sound bad but it seems that the clearness becomes overwhelming and the depth perception becomes thin, seems that a phrase such as closed-type that's like an open headphone describes the sound well, seems that small compilation classic and female vocals such as in pop music matches the headphone well, and one of the participants explained that listening to it confirmed his predictions that its sound was of the W1000-type, which the blogger agrees. he asks himself whether he'll buy it or not, to which he explains that he is a bit hesitant to do so, because he thinks that the W5000's character doesn't seem to match the type of music he listens to, and not because of the price, which he thinks the headphone deserves.
2.
not really anything of use to this thread, but noticed some pictures that I don't think I've seen yet.
http://plusd.itmedia.co.jp/lifestyle...3/news046.html
isn't this dude a more appropriate model for the headphone since after all he seems to match the W5000 end-user more.
http://image.itmedia.co.jp/lifestyle...3/mn_at01a.jpg
http://image.itmedia.co.jp/lifestyle...13/mn_at02.jpg
the article itself is the usual marketing blurb, but this CK7 picture seems to show it a bit differently than the rest with its shiny body so that was interesting.
http://image.itmedia.co.jp/lifestyle...13/mn_at07.jpg
all the others seem to give it a duller appearance. here's a nice page with some non-stock photos IMO.
http://www.assiston.co.jp/?item=1235
3.
now we come to the insanely popular Japanese internet forum (the largest in the world) and see what they have to offer.
http://hobby7.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/av/1128569522/l50
mainly all we find here (in a thread titled the "greatest closed headphones part 5") are some rankings. (I'll use a $1 = 100 yen conversion for simplicity)
post 434:
~$1h: A500
$1h~$2h: A900
$2h~$3h: A900LTD
$3h~$5h: W1000
$5h~$1k: W5000
$1k~: L3000
(he says that he tried to do it as a joke but apparently it didn't work out so well.... fanboy.
)
post 438: (which apparently is based on post 429)
~$1h: A500 /SE-M870
$1h~$2h: A900 / DJ1PRO
$2h~$3h: Proline 750 / HD25
$3h~$5h: W1000 / CD3000
$5h~$1k: DX1000 / W5000
$1k~: 4070 / Edition 7
says he listed the more well-rounded multi-purpose cans on the left...
(this list is pretty intresting since it has a few that isn't generally talked about on Head-Fi for one reason or another, along with a few that seem to have highly polarized opinions, mostly unfavorable than favorable as far as I can tell, namely the DX1000 and the E7. seems that more posts with similar rankings continue for a bit, changing the DJ1PRO for the K271 at times, or going with a DJ1PRO / K271 at other times along with getting rid of the W5k, one person mentions the R10 as his pick for over $1k.... all again just personal opinions and I have no clue how they came to this conclusion.
)
here's post 429 just because I mentioned it above:
~$1h: A500
$1h~$2h: A900
$2h~$3h: HD25 / Proline 750
$3h~$5h: CD3000
$5h~$1k: DX1000 / W5000
$1k~: 4070 / Edition 7 / Omega-II
for all these rankings who knows if they actually listened to them all and are basing it on a knowledgable comparison or just going by online reviews or whatever... so I guess they are not that useful.
4.
searching around other parts of the 2ch forum we come to the mass that is the "nice headphone" series of threads, currently at part 79.
somewhere around post 762, part 77... someone mentions that he's heard the W5000. (it being Nov 11th and before the launch date he gets quite a few requests that he post impressions. I guess he attended that dynamic audio prerelease thing too.)
so post 769:
first, he mentions that he's new to this and that he seems out of place in the listening session among the O2, L3000 and E7 owners, so he follows the lead of the others with the impressions.... the headphone is lightweight contrary to how it appears and easy to wear, the sound also contrary to its appearance practically the exact opposite (which apparently is the opinion of everyone present), the sound is light (he uses the term "light-tasting" so he probably means an effortless sound as opposed to a syrupy and thick sound which would be described as "thick-tasting") and beautiful, supposedly the sound is close to the STAX sound (to me this seems contradictory to the other stuff written though... no?), it doesn't have rumbling bass and is more geared towards jazz and classical music, the thing is flat (I guess in the context of it having a pretty neutral frequency response I guess?) and is an excelling headphone so you can say it is a headphone suited for anything in some regard (apparently this is something the AT rep who was at the listening session also mentioned.), the dude says that the can's personality is pretty thin so he's troubled as to how exactly to use the headphone, the W5000 is along the lines of the AD2000 in terms of sound (supposedly also mentioned by the AT rep), rock and jazz vocals is too light and unsatisfactory but female vocals are glowing, the headphone goes well with acoustic sounds, its sound is flat and has a wide range and positioning is well defined (contrary to how the AD2000 does positioning), imaging is monitor-like but the soundstage itself is wide, the headphone leaks sound but isolation is pretty good, and the headphone has enough of an open-headphone characteristic that you cannot believe it is a closed headphone (seems that the AT rep also pushes the W5000's openness and soundstaging). he says that to describe it in a word, "clear and refreshing" comes to mind. he says that the headphone seems to be more of an evolution of the AD2000 than the W1000.
a while later in post 801 another dude that went to the same preview event posts his thoughts:
first he introduces himself as the dude in the white shirt at the event. (I guess other event attendees knowing who's posting is important....) he first mentions that the W5000 uncharacteristically doesn't have much of the closed-headphone feel. rather than the thickness of the sound it emphasizes wide-range sonics and rather than a glossy sound the sound is more gentle. in terms of quality it seems equal to the W2002, but the character might be far more different than what he originally imagined. regarding the bass supposedly it extends further to the lower limits with a flat curve than before. for the treble and the upper extreme supposedly it is more accurate than the W2002 or the L3000 he had on hand, maybe a bit too much so, so he didn't have any impulse impressions (I guess what he means here is that if it were more flawed than the two he would have something to say, but since it is more accurate he isn't complaining?). he says that he has a good impression of it himself, but isn't sure whether it suites the tastes of others and it might be toss-up. to sum it up the W5000 is something like the rival unit to the DX1000 whose character doesn't overlap at all. he also mentions that it might be a statistical variation of the W5000 test unit, but he says that the earpad's shape may have changed slightly from previous models. also he says that it had the least feeling of oddness when worn compared to the other cans in the ATH-W series.
a random post I found that's sort of related to this... post 949:
says that the W5000 isn't something he needs to buy since at least through his understanding of the reviews, the DX1000 is more appealing to him (which I guess is a headphone he owns or has on order from the way he's talking).
post 964:
here we read that for this dude the DX1000 and W5000 are pretty much on equal terms and the rest would depend on which fits the user's tastes more.
5. and 6. are in post #5.
--------------------
I hope most of this is new stuff, but I think I've seen most of the W5000 discussion here so far and haven't seen this so it probably is new for this site. I also hope it adds other opinions and views on the new headphone in a good way.
I didn't select these at all and simply posted anything worth posting in the mass of google hits I got so it should be pretty unbiased and encompassing the range of opinion.
comments in parentheses are mine btw....
1.
someone's blog site:
http://www.ashrization.com/mt/archiv.../athw5000.html
here, the guy attended a prerelease W5000 listening session at Dynamic Audio 5555 (a high-end store in Akihabara). he explains that the headphone is easy on the head and wears loosely (although in relation to what I don't know, the AT headphones are generally comfortable too), the sound leaks a decent amount but isolation is decent, from the external characteristics (such as the ebony wood trim) you might imagine a heavy and dark sound but on the contrary it is the exact opposite with a bright and clear (effortless) sound to the point that it might be too clear, on the surface it doesn't sound bad but it seems that the clearness becomes overwhelming and the depth perception becomes thin, seems that a phrase such as closed-type that's like an open headphone describes the sound well, seems that small compilation classic and female vocals such as in pop music matches the headphone well, and one of the participants explained that listening to it confirmed his predictions that its sound was of the W1000-type, which the blogger agrees. he asks himself whether he'll buy it or not, to which he explains that he is a bit hesitant to do so, because he thinks that the W5000's character doesn't seem to match the type of music he listens to, and not because of the price, which he thinks the headphone deserves.
2.
not really anything of use to this thread, but noticed some pictures that I don't think I've seen yet.
http://plusd.itmedia.co.jp/lifestyle...3/news046.html
isn't this dude a more appropriate model for the headphone since after all he seems to match the W5000 end-user more.
http://image.itmedia.co.jp/lifestyle...3/mn_at01a.jpg
http://image.itmedia.co.jp/lifestyle...13/mn_at02.jpg
the article itself is the usual marketing blurb, but this CK7 picture seems to show it a bit differently than the rest with its shiny body so that was interesting.
http://image.itmedia.co.jp/lifestyle...13/mn_at07.jpg
all the others seem to give it a duller appearance. here's a nice page with some non-stock photos IMO.
http://www.assiston.co.jp/?item=1235
3.
now we come to the insanely popular Japanese internet forum (the largest in the world) and see what they have to offer.
http://hobby7.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/av/1128569522/l50
mainly all we find here (in a thread titled the "greatest closed headphones part 5") are some rankings. (I'll use a $1 = 100 yen conversion for simplicity)
post 434:
~$1h: A500
$1h~$2h: A900
$2h~$3h: A900LTD
$3h~$5h: W1000
$5h~$1k: W5000
$1k~: L3000
(he says that he tried to do it as a joke but apparently it didn't work out so well.... fanboy.
post 438: (which apparently is based on post 429)
~$1h: A500 /SE-M870
$1h~$2h: A900 / DJ1PRO
$2h~$3h: Proline 750 / HD25
$3h~$5h: W1000 / CD3000
$5h~$1k: DX1000 / W5000
$1k~: 4070 / Edition 7
says he listed the more well-rounded multi-purpose cans on the left...
(this list is pretty intresting since it has a few that isn't generally talked about on Head-Fi for one reason or another, along with a few that seem to have highly polarized opinions, mostly unfavorable than favorable as far as I can tell, namely the DX1000 and the E7. seems that more posts with similar rankings continue for a bit, changing the DJ1PRO for the K271 at times, or going with a DJ1PRO / K271 at other times along with getting rid of the W5k, one person mentions the R10 as his pick for over $1k.... all again just personal opinions and I have no clue how they came to this conclusion.
here's post 429 just because I mentioned it above:
~$1h: A500
$1h~$2h: A900
$2h~$3h: HD25 / Proline 750
$3h~$5h: CD3000
$5h~$1k: DX1000 / W5000
$1k~: 4070 / Edition 7 / Omega-II
for all these rankings who knows if they actually listened to them all and are basing it on a knowledgable comparison or just going by online reviews or whatever... so I guess they are not that useful.
4.
searching around other parts of the 2ch forum we come to the mass that is the "nice headphone" series of threads, currently at part 79.
somewhere around post 762, part 77... someone mentions that he's heard the W5000. (it being Nov 11th and before the launch date he gets quite a few requests that he post impressions. I guess he attended that dynamic audio prerelease thing too.)
so post 769:
first, he mentions that he's new to this and that he seems out of place in the listening session among the O2, L3000 and E7 owners, so he follows the lead of the others with the impressions.... the headphone is lightweight contrary to how it appears and easy to wear, the sound also contrary to its appearance practically the exact opposite (which apparently is the opinion of everyone present), the sound is light (he uses the term "light-tasting" so he probably means an effortless sound as opposed to a syrupy and thick sound which would be described as "thick-tasting") and beautiful, supposedly the sound is close to the STAX sound (to me this seems contradictory to the other stuff written though... no?), it doesn't have rumbling bass and is more geared towards jazz and classical music, the thing is flat (I guess in the context of it having a pretty neutral frequency response I guess?) and is an excelling headphone so you can say it is a headphone suited for anything in some regard (apparently this is something the AT rep who was at the listening session also mentioned.), the dude says that the can's personality is pretty thin so he's troubled as to how exactly to use the headphone, the W5000 is along the lines of the AD2000 in terms of sound (supposedly also mentioned by the AT rep), rock and jazz vocals is too light and unsatisfactory but female vocals are glowing, the headphone goes well with acoustic sounds, its sound is flat and has a wide range and positioning is well defined (contrary to how the AD2000 does positioning), imaging is monitor-like but the soundstage itself is wide, the headphone leaks sound but isolation is pretty good, and the headphone has enough of an open-headphone characteristic that you cannot believe it is a closed headphone (seems that the AT rep also pushes the W5000's openness and soundstaging). he says that to describe it in a word, "clear and refreshing" comes to mind. he says that the headphone seems to be more of an evolution of the AD2000 than the W1000.
a while later in post 801 another dude that went to the same preview event posts his thoughts:
first he introduces himself as the dude in the white shirt at the event. (I guess other event attendees knowing who's posting is important....) he first mentions that the W5000 uncharacteristically doesn't have much of the closed-headphone feel. rather than the thickness of the sound it emphasizes wide-range sonics and rather than a glossy sound the sound is more gentle. in terms of quality it seems equal to the W2002, but the character might be far more different than what he originally imagined. regarding the bass supposedly it extends further to the lower limits with a flat curve than before. for the treble and the upper extreme supposedly it is more accurate than the W2002 or the L3000 he had on hand, maybe a bit too much so, so he didn't have any impulse impressions (I guess what he means here is that if it were more flawed than the two he would have something to say, but since it is more accurate he isn't complaining?). he says that he has a good impression of it himself, but isn't sure whether it suites the tastes of others and it might be toss-up. to sum it up the W5000 is something like the rival unit to the DX1000 whose character doesn't overlap at all. he also mentions that it might be a statistical variation of the W5000 test unit, but he says that the earpad's shape may have changed slightly from previous models. also he says that it had the least feeling of oddness when worn compared to the other cans in the ATH-W series.
a random post I found that's sort of related to this... post 949:
says that the W5000 isn't something he needs to buy since at least through his understanding of the reviews, the DX1000 is more appealing to him (which I guess is a headphone he owns or has on order from the way he's talking).
post 964:
here we read that for this dude the DX1000 and W5000 are pretty much on equal terms and the rest would depend on which fits the user's tastes more.
5. and 6. are in post #5.
--------------------
I hope most of this is new stuff, but I think I've seen most of the W5000 discussion here so far and haven't seen this so it probably is new for this site. I also hope it adds other opinions and views on the new headphone in a good way.