Audio Technica ATH-AD900X Review+Impressions

[Lays]

Hello, I've had my Audio Technica ATH-AD900X for about a year now, but I've never got around to making a review.  I figure it's about that time to do a review now that I'll be upgrading to Hifiman HE-500 soon.

 

 

Past Audio Experiences:

 

 

I went from some 12$ logitech headset, to some wireless "Logitech h600's" then to Astro A50 and then to my current AD900X.

I've always quite enjoyed moving/upgrading my parts+ experience, the whole "Growing experience" is really nice.

 

 

 

 

ANYWAYS, onto the review:

 

 

Build Quality:

 

9/10:

 

I've dropped them on my carpet quite a few times,  on my desk a few times as well and they're still in near perfect condition, other than that i've been quite delicate with them although they do feel quite sturdy.  I think the fact that it's very lightweight helps with that in-case of drops.  I think to really damage these, you'd have to REALLY try to break them deliberately dropping them, etc.

 

 

Comfort:

 

9/10

 

I really like the idea of the wing system, although they should of designed it for a normal sized head, rather than a freaking 500 pound watermelon. 

To add to the previous statement, I'm a bit disappointed with the way they're designed, for them to fit "perfectly" your head needs to be ABSOLUTELY giant.

I'm a firm believer in the "rubber band mod" for these, that adds just a bit of clamping pressure to keep them in the right spot.

 

 

Sound Quality:

 

8/10:

 

I love these headphones, needless to say they beat out my previous A50's by a good bit, although a bit lacking in the "boomy bass" that rattles your ears. (We all enjoy that sometimes ) 

While the bass isn't "boomy and sub-wooferish" it is there, and it is quite tight and detailed.  Now, the mids and highs are a different story; the mids are EXTREMELY detailed, you can literally hear every instrument in your music, drums and guitar on these cans sound absolutely amazing.  The highs are great as well, you can feel that "shine" some people talk about in their reviews, and it really brings to perspective how nice classical music really sounds. 

 

I personally don't "like" classical music, but listening to classical/instrumental music on these headphones will simply blow you away for the price.  When you close your eyes it's nearly like your in the front row of the concert, with every instrument around you. It's simply beautiful.

A song that @ShearMe gave me, "Stairway to heaven" by Led Zeppelin, sounds absolutely amazing with these.  You can hear every little detail in the guitar notes, including the noise the pick makes as it plucks the strings.

 

My one complaint about the sound quality, is the really high notes sometimes seem to fall off at times, and the bass that's really lack-luster. I wish they'd have just a little more "Umph" when it comes to bass.

 

 

 

Some fun, sponsored by @ShearMe

 

I asked @ShearMe on TS3 if there was any "bass-mods" for my 900X's and he said and I quote: "I dunno, duct tape the earcups shut"

 

I responded: "what about normal tape, or masking tape"

 

 

SO......... I tried it out, needless to say the least it was horrible LOL.

 

The headphones did gain a bit of "thump" but not by much, it literally murdered the soundstage (of course).  

 

My thoughts were......... Before the "mod": It was like being in a room, with speakers on either side of me and a huge soundstage with open-airy "breath-like" audio, to.... Taking both speakers, climbing into a tiny box, and strapping both speakers to my ears.

It almost sounded like I was listening to them underwater lol.

 

99% of the reasoning behind this was for "luls" courtesy to @ShearMe for the idea.

 

 

 

 

 

Conclusion:

 

These headphones are an extremely "easy-to-get-into" type of product, they literally meet every criteria. They're great for gaming, great for basically every genre of music, the build quality is quite sturdy and they're extremely comfortable for basically 90% of head-shapes.

 

I really love these headphones, and would instantly recommend them to anyone that has ~200$ and wants to get an amazing pair of headphones.

 

 

 

 

Some Pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[nsyedhasan]

2 Audiophile 4 me

[DoubleY]

10/10 would read again 

[_ASSASSIN_]

ShearMe 10/10 bassmod

[SAV1OUR]

@Lays hi 

[TheNinjaNextDor]

Nice review.

 

That mod improved the looks of them by 100x.

[ShearMe]

Le Happy Merchant

[PillowSmoke]

DSC_4202-Large-500x332.jpg

 

u?

[EmoRarity]

u?

Totes

[DoubleY]

@TheSLSAMG why are you liking every post in here?

 

inb4 he likes this post 

[tryphaa]

10/10 good review

 

9/10 mod

 

overall 10/10 would read again

[Lays]

10/10 good review

 

9/10 mod

 

overall 10/10 would read again

 

 

thx

[Stephen Chou]

10/10 would bang.

(In my terms, it means great review, would read again.)

[Valhallatier]

@Lays

sorry for necro-ing old thread, but i wanna ask since i'm considering to buy this.

what did you plug this headphone into? (DAC/amp)
how loud is the sound leakage? (from like 10 feet away)
lastly, do you recommend this headphone considering how the bass didn't 'satisfy' (i need neutral bass, but i must hear the bass)
...
oh yeah for the bass mod, why don't you try something solid to cover the earcups rather than duct tape?

[Lays]

@Lays

sorry for necro-ing old thread, but i wanna ask since i'm considering to buy this.

what did you plug this headphone into? (DAC/amp)

how loud is the sound leakage? (from like 10 feet away)

lastly, do you recommend this headphone considering how the bass didn't 'satisfy' (i need neutral bass, but i must hear the bass)

...

oh yeah for the bass mod, why don't you try something solid to cover the earcups rather than duct tape?

 

 

I was trolling for the bass mod.

 

It has bass, and it's quite neutral.  It just lacks the impact and detail as well as depth that my LCD-2's have.

 

Sound leakage probably 10db lower than the volume you listen at, 10 feet away you probably will barely notice unless someone is cranking it.

[Valhallatier]

I was trolling for the bass mod.

 

It has bass, and it's quite neutral.  It just lacks the impact and detail as well as depth that my LCD-2's have.

 

Sound leakage probably 10db lower than the volume you listen at, 10 feet away you probably will barely notice unless someone is cranking it.

ooo k thanks

so you have the LCD-2 now? how's the soundstage compared to the AD900x? which has more detail?

[swifty7]

@OP

 

Like you have the same cans and was considering like you again upgrade to the he-500's.   I hope the he-500 is comfortable enough, sometimes it being a heavy headphone worries me.

[Lays]

@OP

 

Like you have the same cans and was considering like you again upgrade to the he-500's.   I hope the he-500 is comfortable enough, sometimes it being a heavy headphone worries me.

 

 

It will be semi comfortable, but IMO they are very heavy compared to the 900x, the 900x is a considerably light and more comfortable headphone.

 

The HE-500 is not uncomfortable, but it's also not very comfortable either.  I could find myself easily wearing them for a few hours, but I could also find myself wearing my 900x's well over 8 hours and completely forgetting they were even there.  The HE-500 is always there and you for sure know you're wearing a headphone that weighs a whole pound.

[Smoka]

Nice review I have the ad900x and I keep going back to my Q701, i found the earpads itchy and replaced with the Hifiman HE pads (they just fit) which are a bit more comfortable and I don't really like the wing design and had to use the rubberband trick. Other than those two issues I have with them they are good for the price

[Hodor]

What amp are you using?

[swifty7]

It will be semi comfortable, but IMO they are very heavy compared to the 900x, the 900x is a considerably light and more comfortable headphone.

 

The HE-500 is not uncomfortable, but it's also not very comfortable either.  I could find myself easily wearing them for a few hours, but I could also find myself wearing my 900x's well over 8 hours and completely forgetting they were even there.  The HE-500 is always there and you for sure know you're wearing a headphone that weighs a whole pound.

I assume that you finally got the he-500.  Now!!  how do you compare it to the 900x? As I also want to upgrade to the he-500 but  the difference has to be substantial for me to drop $500