[mike1127]

I recently heard the W5000 (borrowed) and just now received the AD700 in the mail from Headroom. Both have noticeable upper-midrange peakiness. It's a show-stopper for me. Actually, the AD700 (and possibly the W5000, I didn't listen a whole lot to that) has great dynamics and a lot of midrange warmth and beauty, and if a particular bit of music is not hitting the upper midrange peak at that particular moment, they are wonderful. But then another note will come along and hit that peak, and resolution will vanish and they will sound irritating and fatiguing.

It seems that a lot of people like their Audio-Technicas, so it must not be the case that everyone is bothered by this. Can I get some comments?

I also wonder about the AD2000. If that 'phone has all the strengths of the AD700 without the peakiness, it could be terrific.
-Mike

 

[fjrabon]

hmm, IDK. To me AT's are pretty neutral in the upper mids. However, I thought K701s, K601s and DT880s were all peaky in the upper mids.

 

[Aiml3ss]

I've only had my AD700 for roughly 48 hours and I agree with fjrabon that the upper mids are neutral. How long have you burned yours in? They REALLY improved after the first 12 hours of using pink noise. It was amazing.

 

[moonboy403]

Well, you already know how I feel about the W5000.

You prefer the K701, I prefer the W5000, and Don prefers his Beyers.

Here's the FR graph of all three headphones:

The peak on the W5000 is much bigger, however, the W5000 I have is modded so there's more bass and upper midrange peak is reduced.

 

[mike1127]

Quote:

To me AT's are pretty neutral in the upper mids. However, I thought K701s, K601s and DT880s were all peaky in the upper mids.

With the AT I'm talking about an obvious resonance, a stridency. I heard this in both the W5000 and AD700. It may be part of the "house sound." The issue with the AKGs and Beyers may be related to tonal balance. I don't hear any resonances in the AKGs and Beyers.

Quote:

How long have you burned yours in? They REALLY improved after the first 12 hours of using pink noise. It was amazing.

They are right out of the box. So they need to spend some time breaking in. It will be interesting to see if this upper-midrange resonance goes away. Somehow I doubt it becasue the W5000 had the same thing. But it is mystifying to me that some people don't notice or don't care. Or I've got it all wrong myself.

 

[Acix]

Most of the new hps have this peaks in the upper mids. The only question is if this mids sounds natural to your ears or not. in some cases the burn in helped.

 

[dreamwhisper]

yeah I've noticed upper midrange peakiness more in the W5000 than other AudioTechnica's
ad2000 has forward mids in general, same with es7 (as they ave the same sound signature), and sounds incredible with electric guitar
the w11jpn has slightly peaky lower mids and sounds romantic,
the mids sounded nothing as forward as W5000, AD2000.

L3000 have the same drivers as w11jpn but different housing: (If I remember correctly)
I'm thinking that the change in driver housing accounts for people's descriptions of the l3000 sound as more balanced;
maybe the lower mids are less peaky than a la w11jpn

the ad2000 sounds great with its forward mids and is easy to drive, while the w11jpn and w5000 are significantly amp dependent but have a more refined sound that some people who like that sound and have the required ancillary equipment will prefer

 

[mike1127]

Quote:

Originally Posted by moonboy403 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, you already know how I feel about the W5000. You prefer the K701, I prefer the W5000, and Don prefers his Beyers. ... The peak on the W5000 is much bigger, however, the W5000 I have is modded so there's more bass and upper midrange peak is reduced.

Yup it's all about preference, which is probably related a lot to the type of music we listen to. I wonder how much the graph really tells us, because it's not obvious from FR if there is an undamped or uncontrolled resonance.

 

[catscratch]

I noticed this on the A900. I really hate this coloration since it was very present in the Stax SR-404 and totally ruined what would otherwise have been a truly excellent headphone.

I also agree on it being music-dependent; about 1/4 of my music didn't set off the SR-404's coloration and sounded absolutely fantastic as a result. But any time I had something that was very strongly dependent on midrange tonality - female vocals, large-scale orchestral music, string quartets, lots of woodwinds - it was like nails on a chalkboard and once I heard the coloration it was impossible to unhear it.

Some of the stuff that I have liked which doesn't have this coloration includes: Sennheiser HD600, HD650, AKG K340, K1000, Stax SR-003, SR-007 (but not SR-007 Mk2, which unfortunately also has boosted upper mids though to a lesser degree). Certainly some of these are viciously expensive but I'm just tossing out some ideas as to which direction to go in the future. The SR-007 Mk1 has a midrange tonality that's as perfect as anything I've ever heard and price no object would be my top recommendation, but the SR-003 is surprisingly similar in midrange tonality and is a very good budget option if you can get it to fit well and be comfortable.

 

[donunus]

Mike1127,
You might be sensitive to the audio technicas peak range maybe because you have an incompatible hrtf. The k701s were really peaky to me when the ad700s and ad900s are smooth in the upper mids. It must be caused by having an hrtf that peaks at the same frequency that is very active in the ATs sound... Can't think of anything else there. Burn in helps but will not change the ats much like burn in tames the k701s(but doesnt tame enough).

If youre thinking of the AD2000s, they are even peakier so you might have a problem there.

 

[Jingo Lingo]

The W5000 was the most fatiguing headphone I've owned, I couldn't listen to it for more than 30 min at a time. I can't be sure why but it was most likely due to the peak in the upper mids. They fit perfectly and I had a great seal so that was not the issue.

Other than that they sounded fantastic. Shame.

 

[moonboy403]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jingo Lingo /img/forum/go_quote.gif The W5000 was the most fatiguing headphone I've owned, I couldn't listen to it for more than 30 min at a time. I can't be sure why but it was most likely due to the peak in the upper mids. They fit perfectly and I had a great seal so that was not the issue. Other than that they sounded fantastic. Shame.

What source and amp did you use it with? I find the W5000 to be very picky about amps in general.

I never had a problem with anything under my signature with the W5000 until I tried it on a RSA HR-2 which literally gave me headaches since the treble was so fatiguing and piercing as you mentioned.

 

[donunus]

The RSAs are tuned for senn hd600s methinks hehehe that probably explains it

 

[moonboy403]

That's right! Good point donunus.

 

[mike1127]

Quote:

Originally Posted by donunus /img/forum/go_quote.gif Mike1127, You might be sensitive to the audio technicas peak range maybe because you have an incompatible hrtf. The k701s were really peaky to me when the ad700s and ad900s are smooth in the upper mids. It must be caused by having an hrtf that peaks at the same frequency that is very active in the ATs sound... Can't think of anything else there. Burn in helps but will not change the ats much like burn in tames the k701s(but doesnt tame enough). If youre thinking of the AD2000s, they are even peakier so you might have a problem there.

I think you are on to something here. It seems that different people have drastically different reports of the same headphone. I've wondered if my ear shape could create a resonance of some sort. Or it could be my personal HRTF.

For example, I've always thought the DT880/250ohm/2005 was bass-heavy, even boomy at times, while other people report quite the opposite. I wonder if my ear shape sets up a resonance.