Audio Technica Woodies

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I find the Audio Technica woodies to have a fair amount of leakage due to the weird fit, but it could just be me?

Note that I never had any issue with comfort, which indicates a "good fit" according to some folks, but they were still quite leaky.

Anyhow, regarding the W1000Z, I actually found it to be a good compromise between W3000ANV and W5000. In terms of technicality, it is probably better than the forward/thick sound of the W3000ANV, and it retains a decent amount of warmth to keep the music engaging and beautiful. On the other hand, I think you can do better with regards to sound quality here.

For instance, the Fostex TH900 is a pretty good choice if you will pair it with a tube amp to add some warmth to combat its thin sound. It doesn't leak any more so than Audio Technica woodies IMO.

If you don't mind modded/hand-crafted headphones, and a bit of wait, you should contact LFF and ask to purchase an Enigma from him. It's a closed-back headphone that has excellent sound quality, and low leakage. Many members here own it, and swear by it.

 

Oh, you poor man, you sold W3000ANV gold and sound of heaven. That was sinful. Just buy them again. You will not find any other closed headphones which sound as good. And they are better than W1000Z or W5000. On top of it they sound good at any volume level. Try Head-fi used items market or try Japan's auction sites like this one - yahoo.auctions.co.jp or Japan's headphones stores like e-earphones.jp [ http://www.e-earphone.jp/used-headphone/audio-technica/ ]
There is currently one W3000ANV on auction at auctions.yahoo.co.jp which ends on Thursday
[ http://page8.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/h210445153 ]
Otherwise you will have to keep checking the stores in Japan or Ebay listings and it can take a few months to get W3000ANV.

 

Happy owner of W3000ANV cans here too. Bought them second hand mint. You need to hunt a little these days and they are often gone fast or otherwise (too) expensive, but they are unique and lovable cans!

 

A - W1000Z are very good headphones WITH TUBE OR HYBRID AMPLIFIERS but they are a step down in sound quality from W3000ANV. They are not as refined and sound thinner. That's why they need tubes / valves in the audio signal path to sound a bit fuller. Tough luck for W1000Z that W3000ANV exist because W3000ANV are the highest Audio-Technica benchmark.
B - Fostex TH900 are for 'bassheads' and for the types of music in which acoustic instruments and vocals are NOT the most important. The reason for this is that TH900 have a volume hole in the middle frequencies centered at 550 Hz. See this frequency response graph [top left hand corner] - http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/FostexTH900.pdf . The vocals and instruments from about 350 Hz to 800 Hz sound recessed, fainter. If one listens to mid centric music and if vocals are important, which is like 80% of music, then ignore TH900. On the other hand those who listen to bass heavy music in which thumping and banging is prominent and most important then TH900 present a good choice of headphones. Also, they are closed headphones in appearance only. They are semi-open and leak substantially compared to W3000ANV or other closed Audio-Technica cans.
C - I have not heard LFF Enigma headphones but I encountered a complaint about them. The bass is a bit over the top and it interferes with vocals in the mid frequencies and the treble is not extended. Otherwise they seem to be very good. See this - http://www.changstar.com/index.php?topic=2114.0

 

Agree 100% about the TH-900. They're not closed by any reasonable definition. Also not an end game headphone due to the colouration. Frankly they're too expensive for their sound signature. The mid range cavern makes them very limited in the genres they excel at.

 

I think my opinion of the W5000 is in the minority. Once I bent it to hell so it could seal on normal people's heads, they had as much impact as the HE500. I thought I was going crazy but the guy I sold the HE500 to confirmed it. They did always sound pretty weird though. I only liked them with a couple genres because their midrange was so weird.

 

Buy from a reputable source and you do not have to worry.
A - e-earphone.jp does tests on headphones and sells only those in excellent condition. You will have to wait and keep checking the store for the headphones to turn up.
B - Japanese Amazon / amazon.jp also gives the return guarantee. W3000ANV turns up there once in a few months.
C - Contact a very reputable agent in Japan - kuboTEN / kuboten.jp . Email Craig Wesley, the email address is - [email protected] - and tell him your story and worry. He will help you find a good pair.
D - Try head-fi.org You can see pictures and detailed description of what you want to buy. The sellers want good reputation and the chance you will be swindled is practically zero if you use Paypal to pay for an item. Paypal will return money in case of a fraud. But you should know these things, do you have a pathological fear of doing a small business transaction ?
P.S. Keep away from W5000. The low register of stringed instruments lacks body and the sound volume of these low notes is quite reduced. The same goes for organ. Also, the pitch of vocals and instruments is raised / altered because these headphones have a frequency bump in the place of transition to upper middle frequencies. W5000 are not transparent headphones, they are not fit for the classical music and for honest sounding vocals. These headphones are very genre specific, they have been made for the fans of the Japanese girl-pop music, that's why the mids treble bump, to highlight "cute" voices of girl pop sensations.

 

Well I own a pair of th900 and w3000 right now and I'm pretty sure they are different but equally wonderful. TH900 might be the best closed woody can you can get in production (never tried to compare with lcd xc at the same time). I might be interested in selling the w3000 due to financial issues if the price is right...pretty sure I'll regret this...

 

I found LCD-XC utterly irritable. The middle frequencies sound 'rough-ish'. Vocals especially have an unpleasant, sandpaper-like, tonal glare to them. To be avoided at all costs.
P.S. Did you sell W3000ANV ?

 

Owner of ATH-W1000Z here.

I need to ask, does anyone know how to mod headband for a tighter fit? I'm starting to get annoyed by the reduced bass response due to lack of clamp.

 

Hook an elastic band around the wingtips to pull them in tighter.

 

Apart from Armaegis´ great non intrusive solution you can carefully bend the headband rods. I did so with the ATH-W3000anv.
What also worked wonders for me was to exchange the stock earpads with ZMF Eikon pads. They are much thicker, very comfortable, give a better seal, and with the W3000 bring a substantial bass boost + slight treble peak reduction.

 

Hmm I tried that, but the effect of putting the elastic/rubber band closer to where the 'Left' and 'Right' words are gave a better seal.

I have bent them like the oval shape suggested elsewhere (e.g. head-fi) but the clamp was still sorely lacking, and then by chance came upon these forums upon a bit more use of google-fu.

Wow I think I saw those pads during CanJam SG on one of the booth's Audeze headphones. They did feel pretty solid.

I have no issues with the comfort of the current one, just the seal (insert gargling noises here).

A stupid question, supposing I bought these pads, how would I replace the pads? Is it a simple matter of slowly peeling them out and putting the new ones in?

Thanks very much to both of you for taking the time to help a fellow man.

 

hi XiaXueYi.
Audio Technica woodies are really easy for pad change and for other mods.
Watch this video:
Now before dishing out money on ZMF or other pads check the following:
How thick are the stock pads? (I think the ATH-W1000Z pads are already thicker as the ones for the ATH-W3000). A pad exchange in your case makes only sense when they are thicker, angled and thicker, or make use of other materials which might change the sound in the desired direction. Since you want a better seal they shoud have a foam which adapts well to the shape of your head.
ZMF Eikon pads are not the thickest around: size is 4.3" Diameter / Ear Cavity: 2.83 x 2.007 in (72 x 51 mm) / Tallest height: 1.00" Shortest Height: 3/4".
A lot depends on the shape of your head. The ZMF Eikon pads are angled, they are thicker at the back. Check with your stock pads if indeed the greatest potential for leakage is happening there.

There are many other great pads which will be compatible as well.
The ZMF Ori pads are quite a bit thicker still... look here: http://imgur.com/gallery/tXyKH
These would make up quite a bit for a smaller head...
Playing around with pad mods can easily become expensive and it is hard to predict or guarantee results beforehand. You might gain positive effects in certain aspects, and loose qualities somewhere else...
I am sorry to say I can only attest (almost only) positive results for the Eikon pads in combination with the W3000. Maybe try to get some more information on pad exchanges for your phones. There is an older thread on HF regarding pad exchange where Purrin and others comment on mods for the older ATH-W1000 models as far as I remember.

Finally one caveat: maybe these are just not the right cans for you. AT woodies certainly don´t work for everyone... because of their tuning, and because of their unique but not fully adjustable wing design.

 

That would really be sad because I am quite a fan of the audio-technica house sound. Listening to a ex-friend's ES7 was what plunged me into the world of audio to begin with. I also owned a pair of ESW9's before.

Now like if like what the headfonic website mentioned, if they would adapt something like the ES series headbands to the W series for better fit...

 

Sorry if I'm starting to sound annoying. I think the engineers over at audio-technical outdid themselves on the design.

Whatever they made the headband with, it's so malleable that you can bend them at multiple junctions to create a more customized fit for your head.

Maybe they should have included this in the instruction manual so people like me might not be tempted to sell it off due to bad fit. Now the bass response is lovely and well-extended without having to resort to rubber bands and whatnot. (I bent the headband at the top, and then I bent the earcups inwards on both sides while holding the headband area nearest the earcup.)

Unfortunately I also bought the ZMF Eikon pads on a whim, no harm seeing what they'll do to the stock sound.

 

I'm probably the only person with this assertion but I find the w5000 problem can be resolved by a simple ear pad mod (stock they are too thin). Being the owner of 2 w5000 I can confirm once you apply thicker earpads the bass will come to life.