Audio Technica A990Z: superb flavourful dark sound (with a treble peak)!

Recently they popped up at "only" 150 Euros on Amazon Warehouse in "Like New Condition" here in Spain, so I decided to get a pair. Usually these cost somewhere around 280 Euros and rarely pop up on the local second hand market. Given how even on Amazon Warehouse one is able to return an item within 14 days, I just had to give them a go. Quick review below.

BUILD
Nice! I really like the British Racing Green esque color on the cups. When there isn't a ton of sunlight, these actually look almost black. Give the cups more light and the dark green color will pop up. Wing system is not for everyone but works great for me. Definitely designed for big asian heads like mine! The cable is covered in braided fabric, but unlike Focal Clear's OG cable, is actually quite nice and doesn't get in the way. Jack at the end feels quality made. Cable is non-removable, because of course it's not. Also, made in Japan which is something you don't see all that often these days. Pads are soft and roomy. I am not 100% sure, but these might have some form of memory foam inside. Sweet!

SOUND
Before putting them on I was expecting something Audio Technica "Neutral". Usually this means elevated voices, peaky treble, with a little bit of mid-bass elevation. Oddly enough these are very different. There's a LOT of midbass, some subbass, very dark voicing, and ok treble with an annoying peak at around 10KHz. More details below!

Bass:
Drops off at around 50Hz, though it's gentle enough that you still get some rumble. I wasn't fully satisfied when listening to Daft Punk's "Doing it Right". The DT770 outperformed it. Don't pick this up if you need that uber low sub-bass rumble. Regarding the rest of the spectrum, there's a massive 10db bump in the mid-bass, but somehow, I wasn't uber annoyed by it. Mainly because it's actually quite well defined and punchy! No Sennheiser HD600 warm-poo bass to be found here! Honestly it surprised me here a lot. It sounds fun!

Midrange:
This is an Audeze esque tuning, which caught me by surprise. Very downwards sloping, very syrupy and warm sounding. At times I was very into it, other times it was a bit too much. Very flavourful. No sibilance that I could find, though sometimes it starts to sound a touch sharp, but it never crossed the line and became annoying. If anything, on most occasions I found the upper registers to sound too distant and muted.

Treble:
Okay, so there's a 10Khz peak. At least that's where I hear it. It's not overly annoying because it's inline with the mid-bass bump. Still it's there and it did annoy me after 1 album. Others might find it "sparkly" or "exciting" not me though. Still, I must say that this is no Beyerdynamic and no Sennheiser HD700. I remember the Beyer DT770 as crazy fatiguing after just 1 song. Again, this is mainly because the peak is about inline with the mid-bass. Apart from that, this thing has crazy treble extension, way ahead of the HD600. Cymbals crashing just go on and on here. Very cool!

Soundstage:
Really good! Not crazy wide, but quite well defined. I would say this is slightly wider than the HD650 and has better imaging to boot. Compared to the K712, it's worse in this department (the K712 is somewhere in HD800 land in terms of soundstage, so it's not a fair comparison either way). It also sounds like an open back to me. The DT770 80Ohms came through to me as better in terms of soundstage width and imaging capabilities, but despite all that, it always sounded like a closed back headphone. Not here with the A990Z. It really gives the impression of open back headphone ease, nothing cavernous to be found here.

Detail retrieval:
This is about on par with the K712, if not a touch better. Also, this driver is fast. Definitely faster than the HD600. Pretty impressive!

Overall this is a great entry from Audio Technica! I would definitely recommend this for those who want a closed back Headphone with a mid-bassy and flavourful dark sound. The treble peak can be minimized with a touch of EQ if one finds it annoying. It's really fun for movies and games, and sounds quite high fidelity thanks to the detail retrieval and speed of the drivers.

 

Here's a bunch of FR comparisons shamelessly taken from the Crinacle/The Hangout side:

A990z VS HD600


A990z VS ZMF Eikon (Lambskin Pads)


A990z VS Audeze LCD2 Classic

 

I never looked at graphs until now LOL! Surprisingly similar to the ZMF Eikon. Even the treble peak is almost identical. For me these are a keeper. At 150 Euros it's a great closed back headphone. I am using these for late hour movie watching when everyone else is asleep and for the occasional live album. This is bass boosted guilty pleasure galore!

 

Great review! How do you rate their comfort for long listening sessions? Do the increased bass make your ears feel tired?

 

So seriously, on my head these are super comfy. Also had the AD700x and the AD900x in the past (these are the open back Audio Technicas with the velour pads) and those didn't fit as well as these do. Something about the pleather pads here makes them comfier, with a much improved seal.

I am used to the HD650 and the modded JVC FD01 IEMs. Both warmish/neutral headphones (maybe that JVC IEM is a bit boomier than the Senns). These Audio Technicas do get fatiguing after one album, but it sounds fun. I do get back to them as I crave that fun factor these have. Great secondary headphones for me to just enjoy some videogames or an action movie. Also not super annoying for albums, but I do get tired after some time there. The mix of mid bass elevation + the peak in the treble does fatigue me as a neutral head.

 

got me interested

 

What the heck, I was bored and looking for another closed back to mess around with, and I appreciate the comfort on the R70x. Somehow this one wasn’t even on my radar. Unfortunately I didn’t notice that it has a non-removable cable; as those go, it’s a nice-feeling one, but it’s stupidly microphonic. I can definitely tell that it’s an older design from some of the design elements like the font on the “LEFT” and “RIGHT” stickers, but hey, it’s made in Japan! It is indeed stupidly comfortable. The wings work well and the protein leather pads are nice and squishy without collapsing immediately. Who knows if they’ll start flaking right away like the MDR-7506 pads of yore, but for now they’re comfy.

Sound-wise, my impression is: what if LCD-2C but more bass and a treble spike? I totally hear what you mean about cymbal crashes, and it must just be something that lines up to one of those jagged treble features since I don’t notice this even on other bright headphones. I don’t know if it’s bad per se, but it really draws attention to itself. Staging is really respectable for a closed back, as is detail retrieval. The bass is tastefully done too; it’s there but doesn’t overwhelm everything else, and it adds nice heft to orchestral recordings without turning electronic music into mud. Sub-bass extension isn’t the best though; you’ll definitely get more low rumble out of something like a MDR-Z7M2 or MDR-M1.

All in all, I was ready to send the thing back when I noticed how badly microphonic the cable was, but it’s just different enough from anything else I have to be worth keeping. Recommended for anyone who likes the LCD-2C, wants to try a different spin on the same kind of sound, and is willing to hold perfectly still while listening or suspend the cable on a hook or something.