darkswordsman17
500+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2005
- Posts
- 798
- Likes
- 20
Early this morning I stopped by the post office to pick up the W5000s I landed on the FS/T forum. First of all, I have to say that the person I bought them from couldn't have done a better job (well aside from giving them to me for free and handing them to me personally).
I had read up on them, and decided to go ahead and take the plunge. This will be my first really high end headphone, so I wasn't entirely certain what to expect. My first impression was good, but not great. The case looks more impressive than it is (feels like cheaper plastic on the outside). It looks like its made of metal, so that was a bit of a disappointment. Then again, I'm used to that with Audio-Technica's packaging. The inside is better, but overall its ok (its nice to have the case, just wish it was a little better quality).
Anyway, so I remove the W5000 itself. I'm very pleased that the wood cups look fairly dark. You can still se the grain easily, but it looks pleasing. The wood actually feels a little plasticky to me to be honest, but thats due to it being finished and hollow instead of a solid chunk. I can't believe the lettering on the side is not embossed or engraved. Well, so far, seems par for the course for Audio-Technica, looks nice but I wish they'd go the extra mile on some things.
Knowing my past experiences, how all of that falls away when you put them on, I was eager to get to it. They seem to be a bit more compact than the A900 models (specifically the A900Ti that I've been using for the past several months). I had read all about the fit issues, and was confident that it wouldn't effect me. Unfortunately, it does. I genuinely do not understand how they settled on the bend they did. Because the earcups don't swivel vertically, it can't fit your head correctly. Even if you have a large noggin (which I do) the tops do not get pushed to your head the same as the bottom. I can only assume they had Stewie (Family Guy) as their subject for testing. Also, sadly, they creak. This seems to be caused by the 3-D wing system, which for whatever reason is not as good as on the A900Ti.
Well, so much for all of that, let's see, er, rather, hear, how they sound. I fire up my CD player and away we go. Immediately, I'm impressed. I don't want to go too far in depth about the sound as it'll sound like a lot hyperbole. In short, there is loads of detail. I've heard things on so many songs that I didn't even know was there that its not even funny. I've heard a fair amount of headphones as well, and even played around with them so they purposefully exaggerate certain parts of the spectrum. The strangest thing is, even though there's massive amounts of detail, and they reveal all the flaws in the recording, they don't make those flaws sound bad. I've intentionally listened to some terrible MP3 rips and even though I can hear all the problems, it doesn't bother me, and I'm able to enjoy the music. Same thing with piercing highs. On other headphones I'd cringe, it'd feel like my ears were being stabbed, but with these, it's like they're being stabbed with velvet. Lastly, I'll talk about the bass. Yes, initially the bass was lacking, but with getting a better fit, it is much better. It still could use a little more impact, but the quality is lovely. In short, its not a problem for me.
So, I'm very impressed thus far. They do have their quirks, but they make the W5000s more endearing to me. I think I will try firming up the earpads a little bit and see if that'll help with the fit, and maybe improve the bass while moving the mids out just a little bit. That'll make the sound perfect for me. I can definitely see keeping these for a long time to come. I can already tell that they'll scale very well. Even though they'll reveal the flaws of your source and amp, they'll also be very flattering to them will make them sound like they're better than they are.
I had read up on them, and decided to go ahead and take the plunge. This will be my first really high end headphone, so I wasn't entirely certain what to expect. My first impression was good, but not great. The case looks more impressive than it is (feels like cheaper plastic on the outside). It looks like its made of metal, so that was a bit of a disappointment. Then again, I'm used to that with Audio-Technica's packaging. The inside is better, but overall its ok (its nice to have the case, just wish it was a little better quality).
Anyway, so I remove the W5000 itself. I'm very pleased that the wood cups look fairly dark. You can still se the grain easily, but it looks pleasing. The wood actually feels a little plasticky to me to be honest, but thats due to it being finished and hollow instead of a solid chunk. I can't believe the lettering on the side is not embossed or engraved. Well, so far, seems par for the course for Audio-Technica, looks nice but I wish they'd go the extra mile on some things.
Knowing my past experiences, how all of that falls away when you put them on, I was eager to get to it. They seem to be a bit more compact than the A900 models (specifically the A900Ti that I've been using for the past several months). I had read all about the fit issues, and was confident that it wouldn't effect me. Unfortunately, it does. I genuinely do not understand how they settled on the bend they did. Because the earcups don't swivel vertically, it can't fit your head correctly. Even if you have a large noggin (which I do) the tops do not get pushed to your head the same as the bottom. I can only assume they had Stewie (Family Guy) as their subject for testing. Also, sadly, they creak. This seems to be caused by the 3-D wing system, which for whatever reason is not as good as on the A900Ti.
Well, so much for all of that, let's see, er, rather, hear, how they sound. I fire up my CD player and away we go. Immediately, I'm impressed. I don't want to go too far in depth about the sound as it'll sound like a lot hyperbole. In short, there is loads of detail. I've heard things on so many songs that I didn't even know was there that its not even funny. I've heard a fair amount of headphones as well, and even played around with them so they purposefully exaggerate certain parts of the spectrum. The strangest thing is, even though there's massive amounts of detail, and they reveal all the flaws in the recording, they don't make those flaws sound bad. I've intentionally listened to some terrible MP3 rips and even though I can hear all the problems, it doesn't bother me, and I'm able to enjoy the music. Same thing with piercing highs. On other headphones I'd cringe, it'd feel like my ears were being stabbed, but with these, it's like they're being stabbed with velvet. Lastly, I'll talk about the bass. Yes, initially the bass was lacking, but with getting a better fit, it is much better. It still could use a little more impact, but the quality is lovely. In short, its not a problem for me.
So, I'm very impressed thus far. They do have their quirks, but they make the W5000s more endearing to me. I think I will try firming up the earpads a little bit and see if that'll help with the fit, and maybe improve the bass while moving the mids out just a little bit. That'll make the sound perfect for me. I can definitely see keeping these for a long time to come. I can already tell that they'll scale very well. Even though they'll reveal the flaws of your source and amp, they'll also be very flattering to them will make them sound like they're better than they are.
