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Audio Technica ATH-ADX5000 Review (Headphone)

B4ICU

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It is? It is the thing that explains the dips you were worried about. Not some magical weakness in measurements. Take a $5 mic, put it in a flat plate and measure some headphones and then come back to complain when you know something about this process. Your constant protests on these threads is becoming so annoying. You are in serious danger of being shown the door. The review threads are not for empty complaints.

Do I feel some negative attitude? Robert Redford thing was a good sample of that.
You write test reports.
I read them and may have concerns.
You provided this FB forum, and I am happy to use it and comment.
What's wrong in the process?
I understand that having only guys posting thank you messages would be better, but there are also guys who may have different ideas, questions or remarks. I think it's natural.
 

solderdude

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Robbo99999

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Do I feel some negative attitude? Robert Redford thing was a good sample of that.
You write test reports.
I read them and may have concerns.
You provided this FB forum, and I am happy to use it and comment.
What's wrong in the process?
I understand that having only guys posting thank you messages would be better, but there are also guys who may have different ideas, questions or remarks. I think it's natural.
Amir's given you some good answers as to the reasons there are often more variations and less smoothness to the high frequency part of a headphone response vs the bass area, he knows what he's talking about and what he's saying is "common knowledge" amoungst enthusiasts interested in headphone measurements. I could tell when you asked your initial questions in this thread that you were missing some important parts of your knowledge on the topic & coming to incorrect conclusions or hypotheses....just listen to what Amir has explained and try to understand it...if you don't understand it then ask him some questions on what he has written so that you can get to understand.
 
D

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Ouch, not what I expected. So much for the spiritual successor to the AD(X)2000...

The ATH-R70x is looking a lot better actually. Comparable to HD6-- performance.
I have the R70's (made in Japan version) - they perform well with the Schiit Heresy in high gain... great find for the stable when at a discounted price. Balanced cables are easy to find and I'm sure they'll do better with the extra power. I don't know what their numbers are but thought I would try them after reading about them @ In-Ear Fidelity...
 

B4ICU

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Audio Technica ATH-ADX5000 is about 3 years old. More test reports are available on the web:

1. https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/audio-technica-ath-adx-5000.6994/
2. https://reference-audio-analyzer.pro/en/user-report.php?id=1636#gsc.tab=0
3. https://crinacle.com/graphs/headphones/audio-technica-ath-adx5000/
4. https://www.headphones.com/communit...th-adx5000-open-air-dynamic-headphones-review

And on...Not two results the same! what a shame.
If I would have to pick one, out of the crowd, I assume that the results of this site are less convincing. Not to say, that some comments
put this Audio Technica ahead of the HD-800!

One for the last. I know Audio Technica for a while. I respect them for being professional and consistent.
They are also, not new to the HP business.
I would doubt that they would release their TOTL $2,000.- model without testing it thoroughly. I assume, that if they would come up with the same results as this test did, and figure out, as Amir said, that the -20dB negative peak @ 17kHz, is due to cushion reflections, they would find a better
cushion, or a better material, or a better construction or whatever it takes, to overcome this fenomena.
They came out with this ATH-ADX5000 to play in the big guys court, and to win some. By this test, they lost it big time.
 

phoenixsong

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Audio Technica ATH-ADX5000 is about 3 years old. More test reports are available on the web:

1. https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/audio-technica-ath-adx-5000.6994/
2. https://reference-audio-analyzer.pro/en/user-report.php?id=1636#gsc.tab=0
3. https://crinacle.com/graphs/headphones/audio-technica-ath-adx5000/
4. https://www.headphones.com/communit...th-adx5000-open-air-dynamic-headphones-review

And on...Not two results the same! what a shame.
If I would have to pick one, out of the crowd, I assume that the results of this site are less convincing. Not to say, that some comments
put this Audio Technica ahead of the HD-800!

One for the last. I know Audio Technica for a while. I respect them for being professional and consistent.
They are also, not new to the HP business.
I would doubt that they would release their TOTL $2,000.- model without testing it thoroughly. I assume, that if they would come up with the same results as this test did, and figure out, as Amir said, that the -20dB negative peak @ 17kHz, is due to cushion reflections, they would find a better
cushion, or a better material, or a better construction or whatever it takes, to overcome this fenomena.
They came out with this ATH-ADX5000 to play in the big guys court, and to win some. By this test, they lost it big time.
There are a lot of assumptions here... Even if not going by measurements, just by my own subjective experience, there are few Audio Technica headphones which I feel are truly worth their asking price. Apart from their monitoring lineup, they tend to be very skewed in their frequency response (not saying it is necessarily a bad thing, I know of many gamers who appreciate their entire "Air" series and others who enjoy their "Wood" series). I have heard the ADX5000, but while I think it is enjoyable (price not taken into account), it is by no means a close-to-neutral frequency response. It appears you do not understand the nature of the products of the very company you are spouting assumptions for, and blaming this review for the dissonance experienced as a result :)
 

phoenixsong

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Just to be clear, good and bad is subjective and totally up to the user to decide. However, it cannot be denied that apart from their studio headphones, many of AT's headphones are catering to gamers, audiophiles (been the case for years) *and casual music appreciators, and thus are not the ideal reference for target measurements
 

solderdude

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I would doubt that they would release their TOTL $2,000.- model without testing it thoroughly.

I have wondered too who signed off on the 500 Euro ATH-SR9 when AT decided it could be marketed the way it is.
 

phoenixsong

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FFS. I use the ADH-AD2000x for gaming on the basis of its supposedly low distortion.

https://www.stereophile.com/images/ifmeasure/AudioTechnicaATHAD2000X.pdf

If both this and Tyll's graphs are accurate, how can so much distortion have been introduced going from one flagship to the next??
Actually, the distortion in the bass section is relatively high for Tyll's measurements, especially considering the bass roll off. His distortion measurements are not the most revealing compared to other sites, so take it with a pinch of salt
 

John_M

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Actually, the distortion in the bass section is relatively high for Tyll's measurements, especially considering the bass roll off. His distortion measurements are not the most revealing compared to other sites, so take it with a pinch of salt

The bass looked lower than many other tested headphones and I EQ the bass down for online gaming anyway. The rest of it looks super low. Do you think it's likely that this is just wrong/ it would look completely different if Amir?
 

phoenixsong

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The bass looked lower than many other tested headphones and I EQ the bass down for online gaming anyway. The rest of it looks super low. Do you think it's likely that this is just wrong/ it would look completely different if Amir?
I think it is highly unlikely to be "wrong", but likely that Tyll was using a different methodology/standard going about measuring distortion compared to other measurers. The distortion of more extreme cases does show up, as do the general levels of distortion in the bass after all. Back when he was measuring them I wasn't into the intricacies behind measurements though, and I'm studying social work rather than engineering, so there's much that I don't know
 

solderdude

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ATH-AD 2000X is not equal to the ATH-AD X5000
VERY different drivers.
 

John_M

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ATH-AD 2000X is not equal to the ATH-AD X5000
VERY different drivers.

What do you think of the differences from the ATH-AD 2000X measurements? Should Tyll's be taken with a pinch of salt, or in "upgrading" their flagship, have they turned it into a distortion factory?
 

solderdude

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What do you think of the differences from the ATH-AD 2000X measurements? Should Tyll's be taken with a pinch of salt, or in "upgrading" their flagship, have they turned it into a distortion factory?

Tyll's measurements show THD at 90 and 100dB SPL and these look good for ATH-AD2000X.

They are in no way comparable to a totally different headphone with a very different driver on a totally different test fixture with a different distortion measurement method on different levels.

Both Tyll's and Amirs measurements of different headphones are equally valid when taking the needed considerations in account.
 

John_M

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Tyll's measurements show THD at 90 and 100dB SPL and these look good for ATH-AD2000X.

They are in no way comparable to a totally different headphone with a very different driver on a totally different test fixture with a different distortion measurement method on different levels.

Both Tyll's and Amirs measurements of different headphones are equally valid when taking the needed considerations in account.

Yes they are different headphones with different drivers but why point to different "distortion measurement method" unless one is more accurate than the other?

Amir's measurements show clearly higher distortion @ 94 dB SPL for the 5000 than Tyll's measurements show for the 2000 @ 100 db SPL.

Surely you have to conclude from this that either:
-a newer and more expensive flagship distorts (significantly) more than the older flagship, or
- by "different distortion measurement method" you mean one is less accurate?

Before I bought the 2000 I checked some of Amir's measurements with Tyll's on other headphones and they did seem largely consistent.

The 2000s are arriving in the post from Japan as we speak, haha. :(
 

phoenixsong

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Yes they are different headphones with different drivers but why point to different "distortion measurement method" unless one is more accurate than the other?

Amir's measurements show clearly higher distortion @ 94 dB SPL for the 5000 than Tyll's measurements show for the 2000 @ 100 db SPL.

Surely you have to conclude from this that either:
-a newer and more expensive flagship distorts (significantly) more than the older flagship, or
- by "different distortion measurement method" you mean one is less accurate?

Before I bought the 2000 I checked some of Amir's measurements with Tyll's on other headphones and they did seem largely consistent.

The 2000s are arriving in the post from Japan as we speak, haha. :(
Nah the thing about measurements is you usually don't directly compare those from different sites, unless they have been proven over and over to be similar. Indirect comparisons help though (for example if Tyll measured an ADX5000 on his site- which he did not- you can compare the 2 ADX5000 measurements and estimate how the AD2000X measurement would show here)
 

John_M

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Nah the thing about measurements is you usually don't directly compare those from different sites, unless they have been proven over and over to be similar. Indirect comparisons help though (for example if Tyll measured an ADX5000 on his site- which he did not- you can compare the 2 ADX5000 measurements and estimate how the AD2000X measurement would show here)

Obviously we are talking about two different headphones here. However, do you mean that we shouldn't even compare the measurements of two identical headphones on two different sites? Surely the measurements should reflect the performance of the headphone, not some feature of the equipment - or am I being naive?
 
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