[blipblop]

Just got these from JBroad, who by the way is a first-rate seller. These headphones are absolutely amazing. Thank god all the research and questioning from helpful fellows like Lindrone, Rligeti and many others got me to make an informed choice without ever hearing them. These are exactly what I wanted.

The best way I can describe these phones is really as they were described to me. A refined Grado, with the high ends no longer shrilly and with the bass up to a respectable and powerful level, but not in anyway overwhelming. I still hear everything in between, although I am not trained enough to make astatement on that. But man, oh man, these are really good phones that seem to tread on that middle line between Grados and Senns.

 

[lindrone]

Glad you liked them

They're one headphone I'm still "stuck on"... I've been meaning to upgrade my headphone for months now.. but I can't find anything that's just "A900, but better".

The logical progression is CD3000, but the CD3000 is so revealing and unforgiving. On my current source, they sound like someone's holding a pitchfork and poking my ears out with it. Too much high end shrill, too thin to be enjoyable.

So the A900 is still the best combination of forgiving and yet still lively and accurate...

I have to admit, I feel a little bit lost.. don't know where to go next... after the A900's and E5's.. hmm..

 

[blipblop]

That's actually a good thing for your bank account, right?

You are SO right when you say that they are both detailed AND forgiving. I don't find myself being blasted with artifacts from mp3s, but if I look, I can easily find them. What a wonderful headphone - why ON EARTH are they not sold here in the US?

I e-mailed Audio Technica US about them, and they didn't even know what the ATH a900s were. I had to explain it to them. Is it even the same damn company?

 

[blipblop]

Oh, and asfar as goingupward, why not ride up the ATH-A line? I thinkthere are ATH - A1000s and higher....

 

[lindrone]

Who knows why Audio Technica decided to not enter into the US market... they only have crappy microphones and crappy low-end monitor headphones here in US.

I have tried a few headphones up higher on the Audio Technica line.. but in truth they don't strike the balance of forgiving & quality as well as the A900.

I have tried the A1000, A100, and W2002, and the truth is, at that price range, the CD3000 is a much better headphone, even though they are extremely revealing. So if I sent in my CD player to be modded, and they are better with the CD3000, I'll still probably go down that route.

There's a chance I just might never get around to modding my player though... and there's still the chance that even after the mod I will prefer the A900 sound... so you never know.

 

[blipblop]

What mod are you planning on doing to your CD player?

 

[lindrone]

http://home1.gte.net/res0f2t3/CE775.htm

That should explain everything

 

[blipblop]

OH NO! You mean there's a whole parallel world to ours on the source end? Who's the parallel to Tangent? Some dude pioneering boards, name Array, or Circumference?

!

 

[ted_b]

Yes, I have lindrone to thank for my A900 purchase, as well. I'v been burning them in for about 72 hours straight, and sneaking listens in. They are great, a bit boomy in their first couple of days, but I expected that. I am extremely pleased at how they've broken-in so quickly so far. I listened to the 2 ch SACD layer of Peter Gabriel US last night through the headphone out of my soon-to-be-SACDmod'd SCD-XA777ES (as soon as Matthew gets zapfilter boards back in). The headphone out is not a good source but it'll do for now. The listening session is just what I neede, though, last night. What a great pair of headphones. Thanks lindrone and all for the input and feedback.

Ted_B

 

[lindrone]

Hmm.. forgive me father.. for I have sinned...

 

[blipblop]

Lindrone has been incredibly helpful. He wrote two pages on information on the various headphones I was thinking about. Thanks SO much, man.

 

[lindrone]

I figured.. if I was going down.. I have to take a few people with me..

 

[skullguise]

Couple notes:

- The A900's will be reaching me shortly, thanks to Audiocubes and the fine folks' opinions here. Playing around with different options for "mid" portable sound; IE, take it with me to work, but stay relatively put there.

- I use the CD3k's, with Ray Samuels' Emmeline XP-7, and a mod'd Sony NS500V (done by Ric @ Electronic Visionary Systems, www.tweakaudio.com). NO harshness at all, superb sound top to bottom, maybe just a little challenged dynamically compared to much more expensive players. I'd say go for the mod's ! You seem to get so much more for the money that way....

Ciao fer now.

 

[ojnihs]

To be most honest, I was actually thinking about the Audio Technica ATH-A900 Art phones at Audiocubes, and I'm still actually considering buying them still, although I am leaning heavily towards the HD 580 route.

Would you guys say that any of the lower Audio Technica phones are any good or at the 900's really the ones that are the best Audio Tech's bang for the buck?

 

[lindrone]

A900 is the best bang for the buck.. although I heard the A500 is pretty good.. I haven't had the chance to do a comparison myself. A900 is the safe bet, I suppose.

HD580 is very good, but you'll need to consider purchasing an amp either along with it, or pretty soon after the headphone purchase. They just don't sound anywhere near its potential (and often times, worse some other cheaper headphones) without a good amp.