maverick777
Head-Fier
- Joined
- Feb 15, 2006
- Posts
- 70
- Likes
- 10
I'd just like to take a moment to thank all the incredibly knowledgeable and helpful people on this forum. This site has been of immense value to me since I started reading it. Recently I decided to get full sized cans to compliment my Super.fi 5 Pros. The SF5P's are great in there own right, but I just wanted something dedicated to my desktop rig for when I'm at home. I got the SF5P's mainly for going on planes to drown out the noise and for going to the gym.
I read up on many full sized cans in the $200 price range. Read about which phones were good for which type of music. And I read about the pros and cons of open vs. closed phones. I compared Beyers, Senns, AT's, Grados, and everything else that had good/decent low end bass.
In the end I chose the A900's because I read that it appealed to a wide variety of music. I listen to everything from Trance/Techno, to Classical/Jazz, to R&B Hiphop, etc. So I needed something flexible. At the same time, I wanted to use these phones for gaming and watching movies, so impactful/punchy bass was important. Especially since I am upgrading from some Sony MDR-XD400's which have very good bass for their price.
So about the mini review.... (please note that I'm in no way an Audiophile and these are my first "High end" headphones)
Build Quality
Let me just say, pictures on the internet do not do these phones justice. The blue color on the phones are not quite as vibrant as most pictures depict. Which to me is a good thing. They're much darker and look fantastic. The fact that they're made of aluminum just exudes quality. Much better than the all plastic XD400's I came from. The head bands seems very nicely contracted, although they're made from plastic. The cable is top notch, compared to the XD400's. They are thicker and just seem much more durable. I also love the way AT designed the phone jack adapter, because when you put them on, it doesn't look like and adapter at all. It's designed to screw on and fit flush with the jack and looks just like the rest of the design. It's the first one I've seen like this. Maybe all "high end" headphones designed like this, but it was a first for me and a very nice touch. These phones also have a significant heft to them. The are noticeably heavier than my XD400's and it just makes them feel that much more high quality and expensive.
Comfort
The "3D Wings" do seem to work as advertised. They feel very comfortable when you put them on. The pads are also VERY comfortable. But like some others have commented, your ears do get warm after awhile, but lifting the pads for just a sec to give your ears a breather is an easy fix.
Sound Quality
The A900's sounded great even out of the box. BUT....the bass just wasn't quite there yet. Compared to my SF5P's and even the XD400's to an extent, it just seemed slightly lacking. I mean the bass was there and deep, but just not punchy enough or in your face enough for my liking.
Through my readings here I the forums, I learned that burning in headphones makes a noticeable difference. Whether it's a placebo effect or ears adjusting to the sound is debatable. But I read that running pink noise through phones is a good way to do it. So every night since I've had them I've run pink noise in FLAC format through the phones. I also leave it on while I'm at work. So on average I burn them in 15 hours a day at 30% volume. Which means I've burned them in for about 75 hours now.
So yesterday I decided that it's been long enough, so I tested them out using a variety of music. I tried Beyonce's "Deja Vu", Usher's "Yeah", and some trance. WOW! The bass was just incredible. I couldn't believe was listening to the same headphones that I just listened to a few days ago. The bass was deep and had such impact I thought I had a subwoofer in my head. Even better than my SF5P's. It was just incredible. The midrange and treble also seemed a little clearer than before. To me they sounded crystal clear. Maybe I'm still new at this type of thing, but I didn't really notice the midrange recess that I've read about. They sound great to me and that's all that matters I guess.
Again, thanks everyone, and thank you Head-fi for bringing me into this new world of incredible audio bliss. I'm sure that upgraditis will hit me at some point. But these's A900's should last me awhile.
I read up on many full sized cans in the $200 price range. Read about which phones were good for which type of music. And I read about the pros and cons of open vs. closed phones. I compared Beyers, Senns, AT's, Grados, and everything else that had good/decent low end bass.
In the end I chose the A900's because I read that it appealed to a wide variety of music. I listen to everything from Trance/Techno, to Classical/Jazz, to R&B Hiphop, etc. So I needed something flexible. At the same time, I wanted to use these phones for gaming and watching movies, so impactful/punchy bass was important. Especially since I am upgrading from some Sony MDR-XD400's which have very good bass for their price.
So about the mini review.... (please note that I'm in no way an Audiophile and these are my first "High end" headphones)
Build Quality
Let me just say, pictures on the internet do not do these phones justice. The blue color on the phones are not quite as vibrant as most pictures depict. Which to me is a good thing. They're much darker and look fantastic. The fact that they're made of aluminum just exudes quality. Much better than the all plastic XD400's I came from. The head bands seems very nicely contracted, although they're made from plastic. The cable is top notch, compared to the XD400's. They are thicker and just seem much more durable. I also love the way AT designed the phone jack adapter, because when you put them on, it doesn't look like and adapter at all. It's designed to screw on and fit flush with the jack and looks just like the rest of the design. It's the first one I've seen like this. Maybe all "high end" headphones designed like this, but it was a first for me and a very nice touch. These phones also have a significant heft to them. The are noticeably heavier than my XD400's and it just makes them feel that much more high quality and expensive.
Comfort
The "3D Wings" do seem to work as advertised. They feel very comfortable when you put them on. The pads are also VERY comfortable. But like some others have commented, your ears do get warm after awhile, but lifting the pads for just a sec to give your ears a breather is an easy fix.
Sound Quality
The A900's sounded great even out of the box. BUT....the bass just wasn't quite there yet. Compared to my SF5P's and even the XD400's to an extent, it just seemed slightly lacking. I mean the bass was there and deep, but just not punchy enough or in your face enough for my liking.
Through my readings here I the forums, I learned that burning in headphones makes a noticeable difference. Whether it's a placebo effect or ears adjusting to the sound is debatable. But I read that running pink noise through phones is a good way to do it. So every night since I've had them I've run pink noise in FLAC format through the phones. I also leave it on while I'm at work. So on average I burn them in 15 hours a day at 30% volume. Which means I've burned them in for about 75 hours now.
So yesterday I decided that it's been long enough, so I tested them out using a variety of music. I tried Beyonce's "Deja Vu", Usher's "Yeah", and some trance. WOW! The bass was just incredible. I couldn't believe was listening to the same headphones that I just listened to a few days ago. The bass was deep and had such impact I thought I had a subwoofer in my head. Even better than my SF5P's. It was just incredible. The midrange and treble also seemed a little clearer than before. To me they sounded crystal clear. Maybe I'm still new at this type of thing, but I didn't really notice the midrange recess that I've read about. They sound great to me and that's all that matters I guess.
Again, thanks everyone, and thank you Head-fi for bringing me into this new world of incredible audio bliss. I'm sure that upgraditis will hit me at some point. But these's A900's should last me awhile.
