Audio Technica ATH-ADX5000 Review (Headphone)

[Veri]

hum~ ATH headphones are not really praised by subjective reviews also... seems like their house sound is not that attractive anyway...

I've always found ATH to be a staple in head-fi recommendations though. I own AD700 (old gaming cans), AD2000 (heavily coloured, odd comfort, but surprisingly nice techicalities) and M60x (I modded these and use them when running lol, great audio and they still hold up after years of sweat ).

 

[markanini]

Well... the ATH-M50 was the most recommended headphone on Head-Fi for years. It got recommended so often that it even spawned a whole culture of M50 and Audio Technica memes, so I guess ATH did something right there, at least.

View attachment 134652
View attachment 134653

It's been dethroned by more capable closed backs by now, compared to AKG 371 it's more harsh in the treble, and a "fun" bass bump that even I find excessive.

 

[DeepFried]

Well... the ATH-M50 was the most recommended headphone on Head-Fi for years. It got recommended so often that it even spawned a whole culture of M50 and Audio Technica memes, so I guess ATH did something right there, at least.

yes the M50 was my first 'proper' headphone. I found it impressive at the time but it doesn't age well, the headband plastic disintegrates after a while, it has anemic padding that goes flat pretty quick leaving what feels like a metal bar digging into your head. Plus I personally found the ear pads to be not great, bit too shallow and hard for comfort. I gave them away after buying a pair of Senn HD598's

 

[Azathoth]

I also can't wait for a review of the ATH-R70, my current daily driver. Sounds natural to me, wonder what the measurements are like.

 

[AudioSceptic]

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Audio Technica flagship headphone, the ATH-ADX5000. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $1,999.

After testing a lot of heavy headphones, the ATH-ADX5000 feels like it is light as feather:

View attachment 134635

The lightness is great as far as wear comfort but does not impart feeling of luxury. The unit only weighs 275 grams despite sporting large cups:

View attachment 134620

The inside cup dimensions are 60x60x20 mm (height x width x depth).

The owner supplied them with an aftermarket cable that was light and nice to use with it. The stock cable is super stiff from what I have seen online.

Note: The measurements you are about to see are made using a standardized Gras 45C. Headphone measurements by definition are approximate and variable so don't be surprised if other measurements even if performed with the same fixtures as mine differ in end results. Protocols vary such as headband pressure and averaging (which I don't do). As you will see, I have confirmed the approximate accuracy of the measurements using Equalization and listening tests. Ultimately headphone measurements are less exact than speakers mostly in bass and above a few kilohertz so keep that in mind as you read these tests. If you think you have an exact idea of a headphone performance, you are likely wrong!

Fitting the ATH-ADX5000 to the fixture was extremely easy. With the large cups and excellent seal, the first try worked and I ran with it.

Audio Technica ATH-ADX5000 Measurements
As usual we start with our frequency response:
View attachment 134623

As you see the fit to our target is quite poor. It seems to have exaggerated upper bass combined with the same in treble region. And some recess in the middle:
View attachment 134624

For a premier headphone I expect lots of attention to keep distortion low. Apparently Audio Technica does not believe in that:

View attachment 134625

View attachment 134632

Notice how the high distortion around 2.2 kHz is so bad that it is impacting the frequency response. There is clear design flaw in this driver that was not caught and fixed.

Group delay shows a nice smooth low frequency drop off but then gets messy like many headphones:

View attachment 134633

Sensitivity is lower than average:
View attachment 134634

The supplied cable was terminated in 4.4 mm balanced and despite having 100 different adapters, I did not have one to match it to my impedance measurement fixture. Company reports the impedance at 420 ohm. Combined with above sensitive number, this will be a difficult headphone to drive and likely out of question with native output of a portable device.

Audio Technica ATH-ADx5000 Listening Tests and Equalization
The exaggerated high frequencies are not so bad at first listen due to upper boost in bass. Still, the sound was uninterested and so the usual EQ tools came out. Creating a filter by eye is challenging due to the variations of the response so this is approximate:

View attachment 134629

I tried to compensate for the upper frequency bass by pulling that down but did not like the lack of bass. Even with my bass boost, the headphone doesn't reproduce a lot of bass with impact. Maybe the fit was worse on my head but I felt the pad and seemed to seal.

Spatial effects combined with above EQ created a good listening situation. I listened to it that way and then turned off the EQ. Now you could hear the exaggerated highs and collapsed openness due to depression in frequency response around 2 kHz.

Conclusions
The focus on the design of the ATH-ADX5000 seems to have been weight reduction. On that, they have succeeded. Despite large cups that bring good spatial qualities, the headphone is very light and so comfortable for long term use. Alas, the rest of the design is a failure with large deviation from target response -- almost going after "showroom sound" of accentuated bass and treble. We could partially forgive this if distortion was low but it is not. Out sub-bas boost likely increased distortion more. Overall, this is a failure to impress. The only reason it doesn't get the worst scores is because it has good spatial qualities and out of the box, it seems to sound OK.

I can NOT recommend the Audio Technica ATH-ADX5000. They need to do a lot better.

------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Appreciate any donations using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

$2k for this? Is it even worth $200?

 

[Jimbob54]

If you are right, a new model for $10,000 is to be announced soon, that emphasize the sounds of cat fight screams over the garbage beans.
For the rest of the musical spectrum, who cares?

You're probably right. And someone will still buy them!

 

[respice finem]

Thanks for the review, the "ASR headphone curse" strikes again, the higher the price, the worse the result
I wonder why the distortion of many open-back models is that bad, it's somehow counterintuitive...

 

[F1308]

Regarding that table on hedphone weight the review started with, I would like to say that from own HEDD information on their hedphones as of today, and having being revised here before ("There is no sugar coating the massive size and high weight of HEDD..."), we see...

Technical Data

Concept: Open over ear headphone with Air. Motion Transformer.
Efficiency: 87 dB SPL for 1 mW.
Impedance: 42 Ω.
Weight: 718 g
Connector: Mini XLR.
List Price (RRP) 1700€ / 1899$ incl. VAT.

So 718 grams puts them first in weight.

Thanks very much.

 

[Seta Seta Pop]

"The only reason it doesn't get the worst scores is because it has good spatial qualities and out of the box, it seems to sound OK". @amirm

It is difficult for me to understand this sentence completely. Especially "it seems to sound good". Sound good or not good?

 

[Zensō]

Another flagship bites the dust. These headphone tests are turning out to be similar to Amir’s DAC/Amp tests from a few years ago. Hopefully unmasking these overpriced, under-engineered products will motivate headphone manufacturers to clean up their act like they did some DAC/Amp manufacturers.

 

[Nango]

Another flagship bites the dust. These headphone tests are turning out to be similar to Amir’s DAC/Amp tests from a few years ago. Hopefully unmasking these overpriced, under-engineered products will motivate headphone manufacturers to clean up their act like they did some DAC/Amp manufacturers.

ASR responsible for tons and tons of jobless workers at these mfr? Other well renown mfr selling their businesses with recently Phonak purchasing Sennheiser retail.

 

[Zensō]

ASR responsible for tons and tons of jobless workers at these mfr? Other well renown mfr selling their businesses with recently Phonak purchasing Sennheiser retail.

These manufacturers create their own problems by selling snake oil.

 

[respice finem]

#31: On the other hand, any manufacturer is invited to get better, and some are already trying. We consumers are likely to profit.
Kudos @Amir.

 

[respice finem]

These manufacturers created their own problems by selling snake oil.

Snake oil? Sennheiser? Never heard of. But some "underwhelming" stuff, yes.

 

[LightninBoy]

ASR responsible for tons and tons of jobless workers at these mfr? Other well renown mfr selling their businesses with recently Phonak purchasing Sennheiser retail.

Yeah, just like when they stopped putting Brawndo on plants ...

 

[Zensō]

Snake oil? Sennheiser? Never heard of. But some "underwhelming" stuff, yes.

Not referring to Sennheiser specifically, obviously. Amir’s reviews had nothing at all to do with their problems.

 

[Spocko]

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Audio Technica flagship headphone, the ATH-ADX5000. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $1,999.

After testing a lot of heavy headphones, the ATH-ADX5000 feels like it is light as feather:

View attachment 134635

The lightness is great as far as wear comfort but does not impart feeling of luxury. The unit only weighs 275 grams despite sporting large cups:

View attachment 134620

The inside cup dimensions are 60x60x20 mm (height x width x depth).

The owner supplied them with an aftermarket cable that was light and nice to use with it. The stock cable is super stiff from what I have seen online.

Note: The measurements you are about to see are made using a standardized Gras 45C. Headphone measurements by definition are approximate and variable so don't be surprised if other measurements even if performed with the same fixtures as mine differ in end results. Protocols vary such as headband pressure and averaging (which I don't do). As you will see, I have confirmed the approximate accuracy of the measurements using Equalization and listening tests. Ultimately headphone measurements are less exact than speakers mostly in bass and above a few kilohertz so keep that in mind as you read these tests. If you think you have an exact idea of a headphone performance, you are likely wrong!

Fitting the ATH-ADX5000 to the fixture was extremely easy. With the large cups and excellent seal, the first try worked and I ran with it.

Audio Technica ATH-ADX5000 Measurements
As usual we start with our frequency response:
View attachment 134623

As you see the fit to our target is quite poor. It seems to have exaggerated upper bass combined with the same in treble region. And some recess in the middle:
View attachment 134624

For a premier headphone I expect lots of attention to keep distortion low. Apparently Audio Technica does not believe in that:

View attachment 134625

View attachment 134632

Notice how the high distortion around 2.2 kHz is so bad that it is impacting the frequency response. There is clear design flaw in this driver that was not caught and fixed.

Group delay shows a nice smooth low frequency drop off but then gets messy like many headphones:

View attachment 134633

Sensitivity is lower than average:
View attachment 134634

The supplied cable was terminated in 4.4 mm balanced and despite having 100 different adapters, I did not have one to match it to my impedance measurement fixture. Company reports the impedance at 420 ohm. Combined with above sensitive number, this will be a difficult headphone to drive and likely out of question with native output of a portable device.

Audio Technica ATH-ADx5000 Listening Tests and Equalization
The exaggerated high frequencies are not so bad at first listen due to upper boost in bass. Still, the sound was uninterested and so the usual EQ tools came out. Creating a filter by eye is challenging due to the variations of the response so this is approximate:

View attachment 134629

I tried to compensate for the upper frequency bass by pulling that down but did not like the lack of bass. Even with my bass boost, the headphone doesn't reproduce a lot of bass with impact. Maybe the fit was worse on my head but I felt the pad and seemed to seal.

Spatial effects combined with above EQ created a good listening situation. I listened to it that way and then turned off the EQ. Now you could hear the exaggerated highs and collapsed openness due to depression in frequency response around 2 kHz.

Conclusions
The focus on the design of the ATH-ADX5000 seems to have been weight reduction. On that, they have succeeded. Despite large cups that bring good spatial qualities, the headphone is very light and so comfortable for long term use. Alas, the rest of the design is a failure with large deviation from target response -- almost going after "showroom sound" of accentuated bass and treble. We could partially forgive this if distortion was low but it is not. Out sub-bas boost likely increased distortion more. Overall, this is a failure to impress. The only reason it doesn't get the worst scores is because it has good spatial qualities and out of the box, it seems to sound OK.
I can NOT recommend the Audio Technica ATH-ADX5000. They need to do a lot better.

------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Appreciate any donations using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

ROFL @amirm you need to provide your Panthers with healthcare my friend, they are literally losing their limbs! So now I'm confused, is this Panther worse than the one with 2 arms??

 

[respice finem]

Perhaps the missing arm is an indication that the headphones tested are too heavy

In this case, not, but after so many...

 

[GWolfman]

I think that is exactly what they aim for - a house sound.

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

 

[respice finem]

And, what's even worse, in the "home Hi-Fi world" this horrible idea often sells well...