Headphone Reviews

Sound Quality
The Audio Technica ATH-W1000x has a warm and airy sound. Sometimes called a "V" shaped or "fun" frequency response curve, both bass and treble are somewhat accentuated. This is usually the kiss of death for me. Often this shape frequency response comes from an over-emphasized bass, and uncontrolled biting highs. Fortunately, it doesn't work out quite that way with the W1000x.

Bass extention on the W1000x is pretty poor, with a steep roll-off starting at 90Hz. Above 90Hz the bass is moderately strong relative to the mids, and not particularly tight. The Denon D5000 fairs much better in the lows.

The transition from bass to midrange is good, and the mid-range fairly natural and uncolored. Vocals and acoustic instruments are nicely rendered.

The low treble is significantly reduced, but the mid and highest treble ranges are back up to neutral or slightly above. The highs are also slightly blurry and indistinct. The result is sibilances and snare drums lose their bity edges and become somewhat breathy sounding.

The imaging on these headphones was just okay, probably hindered by non-articulate highest octaves. These were not a very dynamic headphone.

Measurements

Frequency response shows bass rolling off below 90Hz, and warm tilt between 90Hz and 4000Hz with slighly uneven response. Significant dip between 5kHz and 7kHz is heard as softened low treble sibilance. Above 7kHz, high treble is fairly strong.

Strongly bent 30Hz square wave indicates ample but loose lows; this was not heard as badly as it measured. Similarly, rising distortion in lows on THD+noise graph indicated lack of punch.

300Hz square wave leading edge overshoot is minimal indicating a headphone that is not harsh. Generally horizontal top indicates neutral coloration. Noise on square wave and wiggly impulse response indicate poor high frequency resolution, which was heard in listening tests.

Isolation is less than average for a sealed headphone at -10dBspl broadband attenuation. Voltage required to reach 90dBspl is 46mVrms; with nominal 40 Ohm reasonable flat impedance curve these headphone would be easily driven by portable players.

Summary
While I might sound a bit hard on the sound quality of these headphones, they have to be taken in context of the competition for high-end, full-size, sealed headphones. The Denon AH-D7000 is superior though a bit loose and lush, but it has so little isolation it might as well be an open headphone and it's twice the price. The similarly priced Denon AH-D5000 has better bass, but is edgier sounding; the AH-D2000 is cheaper but even edgier; both have poor isolation. The significantly more expensive Beyerdynamic T5 is an abomination of harshness, 'nuf said. The even more expensive Ultrasone Edition 8 is a mix of confusion and Technicolor honey. And it's more expensive sibling, the Audio Technica ATH-W5000, leaves me cold and squinting. I'm holding out hope for the Sony MDR-Z1000, which I've not heard yet, but this category really doesn't have any great choices at the moment in my view.

I found myself quite enjoying my time with the Audio Technica ATH-W1000x. It's happy and airy sound won me over, so I will recommend them for folks looking for a tasty bit of fun color in a closed headphone.

What would really rock though, is if AT brought back the Leatherhead.

Big thanks to HeadRoom for the loan of the cans for review. Resources after the video.

Resources
Audio Technica introductory press release and product page.
Head-Fi reviews on the ATH-W1000x here, and threads here, here, and here.
Threads for modifying them here and here.