Audio Technica WS-55i Black -- The Best Bang for Buck Portable Headphones

[oThatsEric]

Intro:

First off, this'll be my first review on headphones so i hope i don't **** this up . Over this summer I was in the market for portable, low-profile headphones that were either over-ear or on-ear that HAD to have a remote for my phone, specifically an Iphone 5. Apple's ear-buds are no doubt already a nice upgrade from the previous generation ones but were lacking in the noise isolation for ear-buds...

 

I was also looking for an added bonus of an external boom mic because i will do a little gaming with my headphones.

 

I also had a pretty tight budget of something < $90 so the price vs. performance of whatever i was looking at had to be top notch. I won't name any brands but i did spend a bit of time looking through all kinds of audiophile grade and gaming headsets that might fit the bill. Eventually my searching lead me to the Audio technica ws-55i.

 

I found out the "i" model were only sold in Europe and Japan, not Canada :'(.

 

I ended up purchasing my pair off of amazon for a grand total of about $78 CAD shipped from Japan to here in Toronto, Canada.

 

 

First Impressions:

-The cardboard box feels nice

-These headphones are very. very. light.

-Really nothing included, no pouch, no adapters, just some twist ties and a manual

-The exterior centres, (where the logo is) is constructed of aluminum and surrounded by plastic.

-The cable was very tangle-y and has a soft rubber feel.

 

 

A closer look:

-The 3.5mm jack is right-angled and feels very sturdy.
-The ear cup pads are very soft leather as well as the headband padding.
-The adjusting headband is a slid-y adjuster instead of the click-y ones.
-The "left" and "right" are fully spelt, not just "L" and "R"

-Where the cable comes together, the bit of rubber has "WS-55" imprinted

-Remote is orientated so that the mic faces inside and the controls face out.

 

 

Specs:

So these cans come locked and loaded with 40mm drivers. For there size, this was a little bit of a surprise that the peeps over at Audio-Technica could stuff them in these, dabs for that. 

 

These headphones do give very acceptable passive noise isolating, IF they fit over your ears (for me they do). 
 

These also have an ohm impedance of 40 ohms. This was also a pleasant surprise because other headphones from other brands in this price range/size etc. where more often then not in the 30 ohm. Not much but a fair point to note. 

 

The headphones, come in at 165 grams which is comparable (a little heavier) to my phone.

 

For detailed specs: http://www.audio-technica.com/cms/headphones/870779b0b07c22e8/index.html

 

 

Comfort:

First time having these on, I hardly noticed they are actually there. I think just saying that they are light doesn't really do it any justice until you actually try them on. Being brand new, they are pretty tight on my noggin (and as of writing this, got a hair cut on the same day).

 

So i left these on for roughly 2 to 2.5 hours before taking them off. My ears being sorta small, they do fit pretty snug inside the cups. Audio-Technica do market these cans to be over-ear but for the majority of people these will be an on-ear headphone. 

 

Update Nov. 2014

So from all the listening I've racked up since the last time writing this, a pretty nice crease has formed in the very middle of the headband cushion. Probably because the pleather has dried a fair bit and coupled with the bit of cracking along the band. I've also employed the trusty tissue "mod" in the ear cups for extra space between my ears and the cups. This works wonderfully.

 

Remote & Mic Test:

Audio-Technica say these headphones will work with most if not all apple products up to the iphone 4s. I was skeptical of the remote not working with the Iphone 5 on IOS 7(mine), however i am pleased to say it works!

I also tried these out with a 2nd generation Ipod Touch on IOS 4, and they work as well. 

 

Just for shits, i also tried these with an old mp3 player from canadian tire, but no luck with the controls .

I think it safe to say, if you have a smartphone, the remote will probably work.

 

Another point to note, the otterbox i have on my Iphone has the flap cut out at the bottom for the charger, and headphone jack, and the jack on these headphones fit with the case on.   :lol:  
 

Sound:

 

Music: Amped through fiio E7 amp/dac, iTunes with equalizer turned off.

 

Songs Used:

 

Omarion – Post To be Ft. Chris Brown & Jhene Aiko

Slash – Dirty Girl

Steve Aoki – Boneless

Kendrick Lamar – I

Drake – 6 God

 

Highs: High hats and voices have a very nice subtle shimmer that is pleasant and are pretty clear, just a touch pulled back, especially in I. Happily, there’s no sibilance at all even at higher volumes and at sections such as the chorus and solo of Dirty Girl. 

 

Mids: Definitely present, but are a bit muffled from the heavier bass emphasis just because of the nature of these cans. However they are a little more forward in rock music not so much in hip-hop and R&B.

 

Lows: The drop in Boneless was very satisfying, with a nice tight big hit of bass. Tracks like 6 God can really demonstrate the bass these cans are capable of, it can probably shake your brain at higher volumes. 

 

Through an Iphone 5, equalizer turned off

*note the same songs were used

 

The sound signatures through my phone are honestly a little more well balanced. There is a little more pronounced mids across the roster of music, and a little crispier highs. Bass is as nice as being amped, impactful and tight punch. This is kind of expected because of these can's ohm rating. 

 

These headphones are obviously closed back so there is some pretty good noise isolation. At an acceptable volume, any kind of average level noises around you are totally gone. At the same volume and listening on an airplane it is still listen-able, you just might get some noise from the engines.. especially on a 14-hour trip, as me how I know. A nice feature to mention as well is that even cranking the volume to near max on my phone, the music only just starts to leak out. So great work on audio technica's part for not making you look like an ass in public.

 

Gaming:

Obviously, the bass from these cans make action games pretty dam nice. Explosions at acceptable volumes can rumble your entire head. One of the reasons I chose these over the none-i version is the in-line mic. On-the-go gaming maybe at a friend's house or something there is no need to bring another headset that has a mic or the like. If your computer has dedicated mic/audio inputs all you need is an ebay splitter(which is what i got) and you are golden. Otherwise and all-in-one jack will do just fine. 

 

 

[IvanSnipedYu]

Nice Review.  They look nice too. Should I get these or ATH M50?

[Aphexx]

Nice Review.  They look nice too. Should I get these or ATH M50?

having both the ws55 and the m50 I might say the m50 

if all you listen to is dubstep trance edm stuff then the ws55 beats the m50 hands down. its got wider soundstage punchier bass better highs better everything than the m50.

 

BUUUUUUT if you get into jazz or stuff with pianos and guitars then the ws55 falls apart

 

the ws55 is an extremely light build and can't suffer much abuse if it is your primary headphone. 

 

 

to the OP my earcups are starting to harden I might recommend cleaning them religiously each time you take them off. I think its the sweat or oils that cause the cups to harden. 

[The Syndicate]

What camera OP?

[oThatsEric]

What camera OP?

just a d70s, switched between a 50 1.8 and a 18-70 which doesn't autofocus. Gets the job done 

[The Syndicate]

just a d70s, switched between a 50 1.8 and a 18-70 which doesn't autofocus. Gets the job done 

Thanks

[coen113]

is it just me or does it look cheap to you guys too?

[CoolBeans]

Portable headphones are overrated and for people who try to hard

[h264]

 

These also have an ohm impedance of 40 ohms. This was also a pleasant surprise because other headphones from other brands in this price range/size etc. where more often then not in the 30 ohm. Not much but a fair point to note.

 

I've seen most headphone manfacturers either up their impedance to the 40-60 Ohm range to deal with less than ideal smartphone amps, or go "%^&* the police" and go all the way down to 16 Ohms for high frequencies and screw with the sound signature and up the impedance of the headphone at low frequencies instead.  However you cut it, those were designed for the 10000-pound gorilla in the room, the current crop of smartphones with those less-than-ideal 4-8 Ohm output impedances.  In your case, the iPhone 5 is:

 

 

>Samsung Slate 7

 

lol wut are you doing, Samsung?  53.15 Ohms?  That's embarrassing...

 

but yeah, you get the point, it's all over the place. 

 

is it just me or does it look cheap to you guys too?

 

Audio Technica and Sony are Japan's best two headphone makers, hands down.  I can't assure you all their headphones are well built, but their studio headphones (along with Beyerdynamic) are renoun for being anything but cheap in the build quality department.  You'd never know looking at them though, I'll tell you that.

[_ASSASSIN_]

Portable headphones are overrated and for people who try to hard

or for people that have places to go, you being one that doesn't

[Aphexx]

is it just me or does it look cheap to you guys too?

it is a very fragile build 

 

despite sounding better than my ath m50 for non instrumental edm music I don't go out of my way to recommend them to everyone 

 

a great cheap secondary headphone though I'm thoroughly happy with them especially getting them for $55 or 60 shipped 

[Pormcorn]

or for people that have places to go, you being one that doesn't

Imo in-ears will get the job done as well without wearing a huge thing on your head. I even think the in-ears have a better sound quality as well when comparing prices.

[oThatsEric]

I've seen most headphone manfacturers either up their impedance to the 40-60 Ohm range to deal with less than ideal smartphone amps, or go "%^&* the police" and go all the way down to 16 Ohms for high frequencies and screw with the sound signature and up the impedance of the headphone at low frequencies instead.  However you cut it, those were designed for the 10000-pound gorilla in the room, the current crop of smartphones with those less-than-ideal 4-8 Ohm output impedances.  In your case, the iPhone 5 is:

 

 

>Samsung Slate 7

 

lol wut are you doing, Samsung?  53.15 Ohms?  That's embarrassing...

 

but yeah, you get the point, it's all over the place. 

 

 

Audio Technica and Sony are Japan's best two headphone makers, hands down.  I can't assure you all their headphones are well built, but their studio headphones (along with Beyerdynamic) are renoun for being anything but cheap in the build quality department.  You'd never know looking at them though, I'll tell you that.

Thanks for finding this, i was wondering what my phone might be

[oThatsEric]

is it just me or does it look cheap to you guys too?

Not at all, to me they feel like they should be worth quite a bit more for what it is, i think its the simple look may throw you off

[NinjaStyle013]

they look alright. good review.

[oThatsEric]

they look alright. good review.

thanks, update and wrap up coming up in another few weeks

[Exyn0s]

Nice review, but i'll stick with my M50s