Audio Technica ATH-ADX5000 Review (Headphone)

[B4ICU]

For the happy guys who will buy this product and pay $2k...Or have more money than sense!

 

[respice finem]

or haven't read this review...

 

[Jimbob54]

Any company doing this would also have to release music engineered/produced just for these headphones then in order to get the proper sound, which is just preposterous.

I know that’s not what your saying, I'm just agreeing that "house sound" anywhere in the line other than directly from the artist themselves is a horrible idea. XD

Yup. Agreed. OK, let's say the AT signature sound (certainly for this range) is all about the treble. Not a right lot going on below that. Not the case for their studio line (m50 etc) so they clearly do it intentionally here.

 

[TheGame21x]

That frequency response below 200 Hz makes me sad.

Why are so many Audio-Technica headphones so allergic to bass?

 

[Robbo99999]

My opinion on this headphone based on the review, is that it's not a bad headphone, it's just too expensive for what it is. I like the reports of good spatial characteristics of this headphone after EQ and I think that's worth a lot, and I also see the frequency response as largely EQ'able although not perfect in that respect from 2kHz up as there are a couple of sharp dips you wouldn't be able to EQ. Distortion in my opinion is not bad unless you listen loud, I know for instance that the levels I listen at then I only need to pay attention to the blue 94dB line (in graph below) which is all below 0.5% apart from a couple of small/narrow peaks just slightly higher than 0.5%.....and I know my K702 which has been measured by Oratory shows similar levels of distortion and yet still is my favourite headphone (whilst my other headphones often have better distortion figures), so I'd say for people that know they listen at low levels and know they only have max RMS peaks in their music of 94dB or below then I think you'd be ok with this headphone from a distortion point of view.

Just I think this headphone would not be good for loud listeners (especially when bass EQ'd for those loud listeners) and also costs too much for what it is given some of it's negative points I mentioned in this post......the good spatial properties as reported by Amir are definitely a positive for this headphone (probably the main positive) but still this headphone costs too much for what it is.

 

[Peternz]

That frequency response below 200 Hz makes me sad.

Why are so many Audio-Technica headphones so allergic to bass?

Well, I wonder how you feel about the much loved HD650 then https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/sennheiser-hd650-review-headphone.18774/

I would put this differently and ask: Why are so many dynamic driver open back headphones so allergic to bass? This allergy is by no means unique to AT.

 

[NDRQ]

Even for 2k bucks, they still cant make an open back with decent bass response.

 

[Jens]

I do not know if the issue of extreme “noise”, group delay variation in some headphones in the band from 1kHz to 5 kHz (like Sennheiser HD650) has been addressed.

I am "sure" that these variations have to do with resonance in the
foam and/or the foam vibration interacting with the cover over the
driver itself.

 

[TheGame21x]

Well, I wonder how you feel about the much loved HD650 then https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/sennheiser-hd650-review-headphone.18774/

I would put this differently and ask: Why are so many dynamic driver open back headphones so allergic to bass? This allergy is by no means unique to AT.

Never said it was. Not sure why you assumed I thought that.

 

[Peternz]

Never said it was. Not sure why you assumed I thought that.

I did not assume anything.

 

[TheGame21x]

I did not assume anything.

Then why bring up...never mind.

My point was that this isn't unique to their open-back headphones. I've seen many of their closed-back headphones with similarly anemic bass response. I'd try to find some of these graphs but all the sites that used to have headphone graph databases seem to have disappeared from the internet.

 

[maverickronin]

I would put this differently and ask: Why are so many dynamic driver open back headphones so allergic to bass? This allergy is by no means unique to AT.

Because physics. You can't have deep bass if you let all pressure leak out.

Even "open" planars don't get deep bass unless the seal they driver to ear "chamber" fairly well, but then the sound is usually less open as well so it's a trade-off.

 

[beeface]

That actually looks a lot better than I thought! They were very comfortable too. About a decade ago, the AD700 was "discovered" by the e-sports/fps gaming community and a lot of people used them to gain an advantage in games like Counter Strike. They had excellent spatial qualities, especially when combined with virtual surround tech like CMSS 3D.

I had a pair of those too. Primarily because I played a lot of CS, but I enjoyed them for music also. Classic.

 

[NoteMakoti]

Ouch. $2000...

I used to own an ATH-AD700. It was funky as hell. It was excellent for pinpointing enemies in a 3d space in a video game, but not so great for music. I looked ridiculous wearing it, too. The reason I bring that one up is that the freq. response chart really looks like what I remember of the AD700. Maybe it's the "ATH house sound".

View attachment 134630

The non-studio headphones they make are so pretty. The wood-backed ones are dope.

Crinacle says the ATH-R70x is good, but it looks so plain.

 

[Jimbob54]

The non-studio headphones they make are so pretty. The wood-backed ones are dope.

Crinacle says the ATH-R70x is good, but it looks so plain.

It does the job but is , frankly, boring!

 

[Robbo99999]

Even for 2k bucks, they still cant make an open back with decent bass response.

Because physics. You can't have deep bass if you let all pressure leak out.

Even "open" planars don't get deep bass unless the seal they driver to ear "chamber" fairly well, but then the sound is usually less open as well so it's a trade-off.

There's AKG K7XX which seems to buck the trend, not sure how they do it:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/fa9gm1am98ndkqj/AKG K7XX.pdf?dl=0
https://drop.com/buy/akg-k7xx-massdrop-first-edition-headphones#overview
I couldn't really name any other open backs that can do this.

 

[maverickronin]

There's AKG K7XX which seems to buck the trend, not sure how they do it:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/fa9gm1am98ndkqj/AKG K7XX.pdf?dl=0
https://drop.com/buy/akg-k7xx-massdrop-first-edition-headphones#overview
I couldn't really name any other open backs that can do this.

AKG does seem to mitigate it the best.

 

[shrimp_dude]

There's AKG K7XX which seems to buck the trend, not sure how they do it:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/fa9gm1am98ndkqj/AKG K7XX.pdf?dl=0
https://drop.com/buy/akg-k7xx-massdrop-first-edition-headphones#overview
I couldn't really name any other open backs that can do this.

Should hear a properly amped HE6SE and the bass that thing can pump out.

Personally I have both the ADX5000 and the Hifiman HE6SE, one measuring poorly the other measuring quite good. These days I listen to the ADX5000 75% of the time and the HE6SE the other 25% when I want that skull rattling bass. Take that as you will.

 

[Jimbob54]

Should hear a properly amped HE6SE and the bass that thing can pump out.

Personally I have both the ADX5000 and the Hifiman HE6SE, one measuring poorly the other measuring quite good. These days I listen to the ADX5000 75% of the time and the HE6SE the other 25% when I want that skull rattling bass. Take that as you will.

I think the discussion was around open dynamics with decent bass. Open planars tend to do better in a lot of cases in that regard. Jealous of your HE6 though.

 

[Robbo99999]

Should hear a properly amped HE6SE and the bass that thing can pump out.

Personally I have both the ADX5000 and the Hifiman HE6SE, one measuring poorly the other measuring quite good. These days I listen to the ADX5000 75% of the time and the HE6SE the other 25% when I want that skull rattling bass. Take that as you will.

Yeah, HE6SE has that really flat extended bass all the way down to 20Hz (but a planar headphone like Jimbob said):
https://www.dropbox.com/s/638c1dgypzw7eit/Hifiman HE6se.pdf?dl=0
I've got an HE4XX which is planar and the bass on that rolls off essentially like a normal open back dynamic headphone, but it sounds great in the bass when pumped up to Harman levels which is a surprising almost +10dB boost, but it takes it so well, it's the best headphone I have for EQ'd bass quality. Maybe you like the soundstage of the ADX5000 more than that of the HE6SE - I mean that's why I like my K702 over my HE4XX (& other headphones), I think soundstage goes a long way for preference (for me anyway).