[Franchot]

I'll give them a spin on the DIR800C tonigh and post back.

 

[Franchot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gurus Thanks Franchot, appreciate that info. I would definitely like to hear your impressions of the AD1000 driven by your RIO Karma as I was going to use the AT's around the house with a Toshiba Gigabeat. For portable use I already have the CM-7s. (un)Fortunately I have too many (3) sound sytems in the house and none of them have a headphone out.

See my edited post above about the AD1000s and the Rio Karma.

 

[sfxjames]

Dxxxxx!!!

Franchot, that good huh?!

I can't wait to here your second post, now!

 

[Nak Man]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sfxjames Any grado users out there? Question: Do some grado headphones even come close as to sound like speakers?

sfxjames, i only have sr80 but reading general comments here that their signature sound almost alike, i can say that my sr80 sound noticably colored relatively to senns (580 et al) when compared to speakers, namely in bass area - and in the case of sr80, mid treble area.

Back to topic, these ATs look very comfy and they use velour pads ? Grille look very sennish =) Any comments on AD's midrange ... I heard A1000 once and found mids noticably lacking, do the AD's open design improve overall balance ?

They sure are expensive, I wonder what the price like in Japan (perhaps an unfortunate effect of weak dollar). Also what justify AD2000 to cost twice the 1000 ?

 

[gurus]

Franchot
Can you let me know where you got your AD1000's from and how much you paid for them. Thanks

 

[Franchot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gurus Franchot Can you let me know where you got your AD1000's from and how much you paid for them. Thanks

I bought them from Audio Cubes, a sponsor of this forum. Click on their link. The price was a little less than $400 including shipping. ($386, I believe.)

I don't believe many (if any) U.S. based companies carry these headphones. Maybe if you do a search over the Internet you might find another Internet dealer who sells them.

 

[Franchot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sfxjames Dxxxxx!!! Franchot, that good huh?! I can't wait to here your second post, now!

Okay. Here's my second post:

I tried out various sections of three DVDs (Spider-Man, an Episode of Carnivale, and an episode of The Sopranos) with both the AT-DCL3000s and the AT-1000s through Pioneer's DIR800 decoder set at DH setting 2.

The sound on both headphones was very, very close. I didn't think that the DCL3000s would fare that well because they're wireless, but they did. They displayed a very full soundstage and good bass and were comparable to the AT-1000s. The AT-1000s seemed a little more closed in, but, of course, I haven't properly broken them in yet. From my brief little comparison, I'd call it a toss-up.

Amount of volume: The DCL3000s were about half way up on the volume scale and were plenty loud enough for me. Turning them up full would have been painful. Likewise, the AT-1000s were easily driven by the Pioneer decoder. Turning the volume knob up to full produced too much volume which was also painful. I know you have the Pioneer wireless headphones that come with the decoder, and like you, my experience is that they need to be at almost full volume to get a satisfactory sound. Half volume on the Audio-Technica phones get the job done for me. (So, I guess when we get older and harder of hearing, we'll still have somewhere on the volume scale to go to compensate for our diminishing hearing

.)

 

[Franchot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nak Man Back to topic, these ATs look very comfy and they use velour pads ? Grille look very sennish =) Any comments on AD's midrange ... I heard A1000 once and found mids noticably lacking, do the AD's open design improve overall balance ? They sure are expensive, I wonder what the price like in Japan (perhaps an unfortunate effect of weak dollar). Also what justify AD2000 to cost twice the 1000 ?

Yes, the pads are a velour type covering--ecsaine. Very comfortable. SFXJames posted information about ecsaine in this thread somewhere. As far as mid-range, they sound acceptable at this point of break-in. Don't know how much better they're going to get with time.

I'm also stymied as to why the price is so high on the AD2000s compared to the AD1000s. Twice the price for only incremental differences (according to the stats sheets) doesn't seem right.

 

[EyeAmEye]

Franchot,
you're impressions have me very intrigued, especially considering the fact that I almost exclusively use my Karma for listening. Do you have any hard rock/metal music you can comment on with the AD1000? Perhaps Tool, A Perfect Circle, Metallica, something in that vein?

I'm currently using the Philips HP1000, which sounds fairly similar to the Senn HD595. While I find it very satisfying most of the time, I would like something similar in sound (which, if you are comparing the AD1000 to the HD595, it just may be), but with a bit more bass, which the HP1000 is a little lean on. Plus, the HP1000 is a bit hard to drive. The Karma does a pretty good job of it, but it definately could use some more juice, and I want to avoid an amp at all costs.

Thanks in advance for any input!

 

[Franchot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EyeAmEye Franchot, you're impressions have me very intrigued, especially considering the fact that I almost exclusively use my Karma for listening. Do you have any hard rock/metal music you can comment on with the AD1000? Perhaps Tool, A Perfect Circle, Metallica, something in that vein? I'm currently using the Philips HP1000, which sounds fairly similar to the Senn HD595. While I find it very satisfying most of the time, I would like something similar in sound (which, if you are comparing the AD1000 to the HD595, it just may be), but with a bit more bass, which the HP1000 is a little lean on. Plus, the HP1000 is a bit hard to drive. The Karma does a pretty good job of it, but it definately could use some more juice, and I want to avoid an amp at all costs. Thanks in advance for any input!

I own no CDs of those bands you mentioned. Sorry. As far as hard rock, I've got some Iggy Pop, Black Francis, Libertines, Stokes on my Rio Karma and the AD-1000s do fine with them. I find the AD1000s have better bass and a more detailed sound over the 595s. The AD1000s are not hard to drive.

 

[EyeAmEye]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Franchot I own no CDs of those bands you mentioned. Sorry. As far as hard rock, I've got some Iggy Pop, Black Francis, Libertines, Stokes on my Rio Karma and the AD-1000s do fine with them. I find the AD1000s have better bass and a more detailed sound over the 595s. The AD1000s are not hard to drive.

Aargh, temptation is an awful thing...

Thanks for your impressions, if you like the AD1000 for the bands you mentioned, I think it'll do fine with mine.

Now I must figure out where I can scrape together enough cash...

 

[null]

Stats sheets don't make a good headphone

 

[gurus]

Thanks Franchot for all the info. The journey ends. I ordered a pair of AD-1000's and should have them next week. Hopefully, I won't go overboard and try to match them to an amp. Only time will tell!

 

[redshifter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sfxjames I meant to say W1002, sorry about that. Any grado users out there? Question: Do some grado headphones even come close as to sound like speakers? Anyone try SR225 with dolby headphone?

i was just thinking about that last night. i have the sr125 (same as the sr225 but with a different metal mesh) and with a maxed-out meta42, listening to glass' "aguas de amazonia" i was thinking this is exactly how i would want a 2 channel speaker setup to sound. i haven't tried it with dolby headphone.

 

[bln]

Quote:

Originally Posted by redshifter i was just thinking about that last night. i have the sr125 (same as the sr225 but with a different metal mesh)

Are you certain the drivers are the same? I've never heard that before.