audio-technica ATH-A900 Portable and Static Thoughts

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gerbiaNem

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Mar 6, 2005
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My audio-technica ATH-A900s just came in. After listening to the Beyerdynamic DT770s and Sennheiser HD-280s, I came away with a good impression of how good quality headphones can sound. Now I come to my final resting place, the a900s. These headphones cost $120 more than the HD-280s, and the same as the DT770s, so my mentioning the HD-280s is not a direct comparison by any means.

The first thing I noticed about this headphones was their large size. The cups are circular and don't fold in to save space like the HD-280s do. The sound isolation wasn't as good as the HD-280s either. This suited me so I could actually hear things around me like people calling my name loudly, or that out of control 50mph car. When the music turns on, most of the sounds will get drowned out. The volume can also get very loud on an iPod, where my comfortable level of listening was 60 with the 280s, it was 50 with the a900s.

The cable is a 10ft long fiber beast. The 280s had a coiled cabled which was easier to use with my iPod when wearing it. However, when I had my iPod on my desk, the coiled cable had a tendency of snapping my iPod toward me if I ever moved away accidentally. With the uncoiled cable I had to loop and tie it, this worked great because I could lodge the loop behind something and hold it in place. If I pulled on it by accident, the loop took the stress instead of my iPod or connector. They were very comfortable, they just sit firmly on your head but don't press down like the senns. They can get kinda hot after a long time of wearing though, I don't mind, but you may feel uncomfortable. Also, if you are a bit concerned about looks and heat, any doubts will disappear when you put these on your head and listen to music.

There are few words I would like to mention about my break-in period. When I first listened to the headphones, the voices seemed very scratchy and and some of the guitar was weak. I let the headphones play overnight and used them at work + home for a lot of hours of use. Everything just came together over time it seems things fixed themselves
and became more detailed. Now the voices are clean and the guitar became more detailed than I have ever heard from any speaker device. The guitar came out and let me hear any nuances in the notes (more later). This review is based on the broken-in headphones.

I'll start off with my music testing material first...
Punk: Hawthorn Heights - The Silence in Black and White, Mae - Destination Beautiful, and My Chemical Romance -
Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, The Used - In Love and Death
Rock: Tool - Aenima, Metallica - Master of Puppets, System of a Down - Toxicity, Lynyrd Skynyrd - Best of, 311
(Only had Love Song from 50 First Dates OST)
Dance/Trance/Techno: NYC Underground 3, Tranzworld, Prodigy - The Fat of the Land.
Somewhat Classical: Godspeed You Black Emperor (I only had Moya on my iPod, a lot of violin and string), Crouching
Tiger Hidden Dragon OST

The punk music was exactly what I was expecting from punk music. If I had to use a word to describe the music that came out, it would have to be "alive". It's like they calmed down during slower sections of music, then came back and exploded during faster more upbeat sections. But even with these explosions of sound, no type of sound ever
came out louder than the others. Unlike the 280s the sound didn't seem like it was separated in my head, the a900s seemed like they were separated in space. The bass came from everywhere (nice and present), the symbols were out front, the guitars were either left right, or somewhere in front. I loved hearing the music played like this. The
voices weren't too loud, but they seemed like they were closer than the rest of the music. The soft voice problem I had with the 280s was gone, and in its place were even more detailed voices. When someone takes a soft breath, you will hear it, when someone breaths too hard into the mic it also gets picked up. There was just so much detail
that it seemed to be different music I was listening to at times. Better than the Beyeres and Senns.

The rock music was equally, if not more enjoyable than the punk. Tool has a certain way of recording where the lyrics end up being a bit lower than the music on some songs. With the a900s I could hear the lyrics over the music and still have the same great instrumentals. Master of Puppets sounded just like the sound studio on the Senns with nicer bass. System of a Down was very detailed and didn't have the low voice problem. SOAD was even more detailed than the Senns, and with the much better bass sounded great. Lynyrd Skynyrd was amazingly lifelikethrough these cans, the bass was smaller and more real. Another good word to describe the sound is natural, things
sounded like they should in life. Finally 311 was the most interesting sound. The guitar sounded off at first glance, but when I listened to it some more, it was actually DEAD on. I could hear the guitar like a guitar actually sounds, not just one unified sound like before. Impressive to my ears.

With the Dance/Trance/Techno, the a900s again didn't disappoint. The bass was gigantic through these little headphones. The highs were high, and the voices were clear. Little things like echos sounded very real, and the bass got so low at time that I looked behind me to see if someone had walked up. Close your eyes and you feel like you are in a club at times. The weak mids I felt in Prodigy with the Senns were also a thing of the past.

When listening to music with classical instruments, you can close your eyes and feel like you are listening in an auditorium. With GSUBE, the music was so clean and real, you have to listen to believe. With CTHD, the slow violin music gets accented with slight bass and never gets out of control. It just sounded like it was in place.

Some may experience problems with the wrong music player I fear. At a friends house where he uses media player, the bass was horrendously loud and the treble was piercing. I installed foobar for him and the sound went back to normal. His 280s benefited from the loud bass he had from mplayer, but my cans were unusable. Just a word of
caution.

I also tried the headphones on my laptop. The best part was that I could tell no difference between the iPod and the HP jack of my laptop. So Portable sounds very much like static. I tried them on my Altec Lansing 2.1 system jack, and what happened was insane. It was like I put the sound of the speakers into my headphones when I plugged
them in. I actually listened close to the speaker one time to see if sound came out (it really sounded that good).If you have a portable player, it seems like you aren't going to miss out on much.

For testing movies/tv I used: The Saint, Gattaca, Garden State, The Little Mermaid (encoded), 24(recorded)The movies were simply amazing. The headphones let you hear the slightest details and even faults of the sound. In Garden State for example, you can hear the microphone turn on when there are voices.
But then you can also almost hear the conversations of people around in a cafe if you wish. The cafe will surround you with people making it feel like surround. In The Saint actions scenes, the extra bass really makes the sound more realistic.
Explosions scare you, and the low rumble of an engine sounds like it is in front of you. In The Little Mermaid, the sound was lacking some bass and definition, and the volume had to be turned up all the way to hear it. Surprisingly, I didn't have to turn up the volume on the Senns. I can attribute the low sound quality to the compressed music, but I don't know about the volume. When watching 24, the voices seemed somewhat distant at
times, but the bass was amazing. Once again, I'm not sure if it is the recording or the headphones. This can of course this be corrected with an equalizer, so not a big deal.

One final thing I did with these headphones was play some CS:Source with them. I set the sound quality to high and first tried them with a 2 speaker setting. I could hear everyone around me, and the sound of grenades could be heard muffled through walls. For the first time, I knew how people could start shooting before they saw me. Even running at full speed, I still heard someone coming from behind doors. Surprisingly, with the sound set to headphones instead of 2 speaker, things sounded worse to me. Some of the usually defined individual footsteps got blended together, and I couldn't tell exactly where some explosions were coming from behind walls. If you use headphones for a game, I suggest you try out both settings.

This concludes my third and final thought piece on a set of headphones. If you can't already tell, I love my new a900s. In music, I can't possibly imagine something sounding better. And with a good quality sound source, they blew me away in movies. If you don't mind the lack of portability (or you carry a backpack on a plane like me)
, they are the best sounding headphones I've listened to.nes I've listened to.

Off to Ireland I go now, I'll come back and leave some details about the sound quality on the jet and more breaking in.
 
Ahhh, don't mention HD-650! I'm not gonna try them for at least a few years just to be safe ;)

Also, I listened to the Sony ex-81s lately too. The sound was not as good as I would have guessed. The treble was piercing, the bass was almost missing, and the sound was empty. My old Sony headphones were much better, but they probably had thousands of hours listening time to break in. My old sonys surprisingly have great sound for the $30 I payed for them back in the day. The bass is actually pretty strong too. If you are looking for a cheap pair of clipons, highly recommended. They are the headphones with an interchangeable cover (either blue or gray).
 
serbiaNem: congrats on the purchase. btw, what soundcard are you running when you were testing with CS:S ?
 
UPDATE:

I just got back from a short vacation in Ireland with my a900s. In the airplane, the jets were still audible, but with the iPod at 70% volume, not a problem. The people around were completely gone (this included two very loud toddlers in front of me thankfully). One problem with the isolation and jet combo is that the lower bass notes seems weaker because the jet works at a similar frequency (just nitpicking). I also noticed that there are a few rock songs that have a large amount of audible static in the background. There was enough static at times to even distract from the music. This is probably due to the recording, but if you are into classic rock, it is something to look into.

Another thing I found was that the voices can get scratchy at times. Usually on the -th- and -s- sounds I could hear a wispy sound in the right headphone. I'm not sure if this is just detail I've never heard before, or a problem with the headphones. I do know that it can get annoying if you listen for it. Most of the time you can forget the scratching and just listen to the rest of the music, but other times it just kills you. I found that if there is a flute in a song, the escaping breath sound can get ear piercingly loud. I would be much obliged if anyone with another set of a900s told me if this happens to them too. Or if this could be something wrong.

The bass got better as time progressed through the trip. The short notes sounded more detailed than when I first got the headphones, and the lower felt more surrounding. And I learned that 128kbps vs. 192kbps can make a huge difference. The 128 sounded too solid to be real (less detailed), with a higher bit rate the instruments get more definition. I never noticed a big difference before I had these headphones.

That sums up my 1 week use summary, and I was using my m6811 headphone jack for CSS.
 
That thing you called voices getting "scratchy" sounds much like the trait typically termed "sibilance". It's something that happens with uncontrolled treble.
 
See if those songs that had the sibilance were 128kb/s.
 
I checked, they were at 320 :(

I have found that it is my iPod's and laptop's fault though. Going through another computer eradicated the problem.
 
HI thanks for a VERY helpful thread :) i'd personally love if you'd make a small comparison with your dt770's and the a900's for Trance music for me please ;) wich do you prefer and why? how's the bass different?

i have the a900s and was very close to order the dt770's this week with the idea in my mind that the beyers had way better bass.. you could really help me out!
 
Depending on where you will use them, the Beyers do have a bit louder bass, but not necessarily better. If you have a dedicated amp you will probably enjoy the bass of the beyers. If, however, you will be using it for portable use, the a900s still have amazing bass that seems tighter than the beyer. The beyers are way under par for portable use IMHO.
 
so you're saying the beyers only have like slightly more bass and that is isnt even better quality? I will be using them on a home stereo amplifier -> heaphone out, i dont know the specs but it should be indeed enough for the 770-80, but well it still aint a dedicated headphone amp i guess..

but seriously is it only slightly more bass on a home reciever?
 
Thanks for the great review serbiaNem, I'm going to have to buy a pair of these when I get my funds right.

Do you have any traditional classical to test them with?
 
serbiaNem said:
UPDATE:

I just got back from a short vacation in Ireland with my a900s. In the airplane, the jets were still audible, but with the iPod at 70% volume, not a problem. The people around were completely gone (this included two very loud toddlers in front of me thankfully). One problem with the isolation and jet combo is that the lower bass notes seems weaker because the jet works at a similar frequency (just nitpicking). I also noticed that there are a few rock songs that have a large amount of audible static in the background. There was enough static at times to even distract from the music. This is probably due to the recording, but if you are into classic rock, it is something to look into.

Another thing I found was that the voices can get scratchy at times. Usually on the -th- and -s- sounds I could hear a wispy sound in the right headphone. I'm not sure if this is just detail I've never heard before, or a problem with the headphones. I do know that it can get annoying if you listen for it. Most of the time you can forget the scratching and just listen to the rest of the music, but other times it just kills you. I found that if there is a flute in a song, the escaping breath sound can get ear piercingly loud. I would be much obliged if anyone with another set of a900s told me if this happens to them too. Or if this could be something wrong.

The bass got better as time progressed through the trip. The short notes sounded more detailed than when I first got the headphones, and the lower felt more surrounding. And I learned that 128kbps vs. 192kbps can make a huge difference. The 128 sounded too solid to be real (less detailed), with a higher bit rate the instruments get more definition. I never noticed a big difference before I had these headphones.

That sums up my 1 week use summary, and I was using my m6811 headphone jack for CSS.
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Haha, how'd you enjoy that experience? I take my A900s with me on plane trips, and the other passengers never fail to give me utterly bizarre looks.
 
Heh, ya people do look at you really funny sometimes. When this happens.. just think of the sound they are missing out on and feel all warm inside being the hermit they make me. Plus, when is it bad when women notice you ;). The in flight movie sounded horrible through the regular headphones the plane gives you. It didn't sound much better with the a900s either, but the difference was in the softness of the sounds. The a900s seemed to smooth the signal out a bit to make the poor quality less piercing, the isolation also helps. When listening to the iPod for maybe 4hrs straight, the a900s didn't get too warm really. I could hear the music over the plane engines easily, and I couldn't hear a soul around me. In all, I wouldn't take any other headphones with me unless they were small and I really needed the space.

I found some classical to test with also. Before I begin, I would like to say that with a bad source, you will hear static. On my iPod I found that if you put the volume up to max (don't do this unless you want to kill your ears) that there is slight static to be heard in the background. With my sister's computer, there was constant static coming out of the onboard sound jack. Running the headphones through a pair of speakers alleviated the problem, but did not completely erase it. On the ipod it was the song music that had the static I found after listening to the static increase as the in song volume increased or faded. I had no such static problems with my m6811 laptop.

Ok, now with that out of the way, on to some of my favorite classical pieces with variety.

Testing Material (all at least 256kbps): Tchaikovsky - Russian Dance (I played this in my high school advanced brass band and know how good it can sound in person, this was mostly string however), Beethoven - Moonlight Sonata, Vivaldi - Four Seasons-Spring, Rachmaninoff - Variation on a Theme by Paganini, and Bach - Aire on a G String.

Russian Dance was very smooth at times, then turned very exciting at other time. The echos heard in the a900s were very similar to listening in a concert hall. When the brass came in they sounded very defined. I've played both trumpet and baritone for years so I know how these instruments should sound. Everything was very balanced but had the right accent on more powerful notes. Excellent performance.

Moonlight Sonata was almost as if I could feel the notes in my head. The piano vibrations were realistic, and the lower notes seemed like they were coming from a different place than the high notes. Close your eyes and you feel like you are sitting in front of the piano playing in an auditorium (I can always dream can't I?) I found no fault in the reproduction here, very natural.

I had two different recordings of this piece, both of which sounded good but very different. On the first one I tested (slightly lesser of two IMHO), the bass was recorded entirely on the right headphone and was very powerful, even a bit too powerful (not a fault of the headphones and did not crowd out the rest of the orchestra). The positioning was amazing. You could imagine where the individual violin sections were in front of you, and some even seemed to come from behind. The sound was nice with the violin being slightly more monotone on the recording than I prefer, it didn't have the definition of a real violin and was slightly in the background. On the second recording, the violin was something special. My old GF used to play her violin for me (she was in a youth orchestra, a very skilled player), so I have a pretty good idea of what a violin should sound like. It was closer than the previous recording and sounded very much like a piece of hosetail on string should sound. You could hear even hear the musicians moving around at times. So a good quality bitrate with a good quality recording is a must to bring out the power of these headphones.

Variations on a Theme by Paganini was also impressive. The same feeling of being at the piano was there, but now I could hear the violins in the foreground at certain locations (I have my own orchestra upon closing my eyes now). The violins sounded warm and detailed with individual violins almost entire audible if you wish. The lows were so nice and deeeeeeep, I felt surrounded when the low notes hit. Definitely one of the best classical pieces to listen to.

Aire on a G was a different type of recording I had, it was more amateurish and clean (kind of like what you would get if you recorded your band playing with nice microphones). I could hear the people talking in the background and even laughing. The sound was very close by and you could hear every little detail of the string movement. Instead of the bass being encompassing, it seemed like it was coming from an instrument in the far right of the room. The stage was set and very real, feeling on the stage was again, not a problem.

In conclusion, the classical music will sound like what the recording will sound like. I've verified that the a900s are more accurate than my current speakers, and much more detailed. If you have nice classical recordings, they will sound like nice classical recordings with real instruments surrounding you. Each instrument just sounded so much like it would in life, the brass had the nice edge to it, the violin had the string vibration feel, and the piano had an amazing echo. The positioning of the instruments was also precise on the stage. I couldn't find a fault to the sound, but they just sound so real and accurate. I would have to be standing in the auditorium to be any more real. If you listen to classical, especially piano where the lows encompass you, look into these.
 
The volume level wasn't the problem, the sound quality was.
I just hooked up my receiver with dolby digital input from my dvd. I played a cd and can easily say that the sound quality was better with the tx-sr503 I have. The bass sounded more there than it did before. This was with the headphone jack on the receiver.
 
serbiaNem said:
The volume level wasn't the problem, the sound quality was.
I just hooked up my receiver with dolby digital input from my dvd. I played a cd and can easily say that the sound quality was better with the tx-sr503 I have. The bass sounded more there than it did before. This was with the headphone jack on the receiver.
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i have the same experience with plugging it in my reciever headphone out, also, stereoimage is better (wider)
 
I've just fallen deeper in love with these headphones, I swear I could replace my subwoofer wit h these ath-900s and wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
 
serbiaNem said:
I've just fallen deeper in love with these headphones, I swear I could replace my subwoofer wit h these ath-900s and wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
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hmmm bass extension is pretty deep but be careful not to make it more than it is. What subwoofer you got? remember its another thing to listen to speakers really, and not even these headphones could replace a very good subwoofer set at all IMO.
 
^Very true, it turns out I was having bass problems with my speakers, so they matched that low bass version of my speakers. With the new bass from the speakers things are much better. I'm still surprised how the bass seems so similar to my sub. When I had my speakers setup wrong, putting the headphones on my head was almost the same sound.

But now with stronger bass coming from the sub, the feel is different. The sound is not as surrounding, but seems to be coming from a sub specifically placed somewhere around me(depending on song). And of course, the feel of the beat on my feet ain't there either (when they make headphones that can do that.. sign me up).

The soundstage seemed to increase with the receiver output also. Little echos sound like they are bouncing off distant walls now, very entertaining to listen to.
 
serbiaNem said:
^Very true, it turns out I was having bass problems with my speakers, so they matched that low bass version of my speakers. With the new bass from the speakers things are much better. I'm still surprised how the bass seems so similar to my sub. When I had my speakers setup wrong, putting the headphones on my head was almost the same sound.

But now with stronger bass coming from the sub, the feel is different. The sound is not as surrounding, but seems to be coming from a sub specifically placed somewhere around me(depending on song). And of course, the feel of the beat on my feet ain't there either (when they make headphones that can do that.. sign me up).

The soundstage seemed to increase with the receiver output also. Little echos sound like they are bouncing off distant walls now, very entertaining to listen to.
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yes my moms old Aiwa mini-stereo system has noticably better headphone amplification than my z560's.. soundstage wider, bass more powerful, treble more sparkling.. all this makes for much more exciting music listening and i find myself enjoying stuff i'd before think was boring and felt it was waste of time.. basicly i just have minijack cable getting amped output from the soundcard to the auxilary line in the system and my headphones in the phones-out.. works great!
 
Thx a LOT for writing this review:p
I found it to be very imformative and persuasive. Mind my asking you how your a900 performs in games? They're supposedly top notch in this area=)
 
ellover009 said:
So are you gonna get the a900 lend? I'm temped to pony up extra for the a900ltd.
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Well you may have thought from my "hows the hd595 in bf2" thread that I would get the hd595, but at last, I've been finally convinced to get the a900 next month (unless something again changes my mind). Even though I'm still researching the can, I feel that I will sacrifice having noise isolation for the extra bass the a900 has over the hd595, lol. Also, this guy who has both of the cans on head-fi.org rated the hd595 a 7 for gaming, and the a900 a 9. Imo that's a big difference, even though he also said that the hd595 will do fine for gaming. He said hands down, the a900 has better 3d positioning than the hd595. From reading this review, I gather that the soundstage is also sick.

That's what I'm looking forward to=)

Laterz

*edit* do you have the a900? How would you describe them? Really really good? Just so-so? How do they fare with games? :p
 
Hey guys.

After having these cans for about a year now, I can say I'm still enjoying them to the fullest. The x-fi really brought out more detail and clarity than the sound system I was using before. As for durability, they must have at least 1000hrs of use by me, and not a single problem yet. This includes multiple drops, multiple cable snages, multiple long trips, you name it. My friend's hd280s (bought at same time as my hps) plethor pad is broken away and gone, but the a900s look the same as the day they were bought.

Having been playing css and oblivion, I can say that the sound is great. Without cmss3d the 3d positioning is pretty good, but the bass has no direction, and the sounds have no real depth to them. With cmss3d, however, everything comes alive to show what these cans can do. I've been called out for wallhacking plenty of times for following footsteps through walls and killing someone through the wall. You really hear all the slightest detail, you can even tell exactly which site the bomb is planted at as soon as you hear the beep. cmss3d helps you judge just how far away someone is when walking, and the a900s reproduce the information loyally. The explosions sound like they come from far away, the gunshots sound like they're 7ft or 20ft in front of you, the sound just seems real.

After 1yr I still love these cans and take time to enjoy the sound that comes out of them. One satisfied customer.
 
Thanks for your insight, these are the cans for me, I like the pleathe or leather material, I'm not a fan of the styrophoam stuff because if you sweat at all I'll absorb it, it's also easier to clean. Man it's being a pain in the rear finding a set of a900ltd's, I set up my paypal account sunday, by tues morning the cans where gone with the buy now option. Hopefully I'll be able to find the LTD's, I wanna get the special limited ed.
 
I, too, was worried the A900 pads would wear out quickly, but after a year of carefully putting them on and taking them off a good 10 times a day they're still in perfect condition - even where they sit ontop of my glasses.

I use an X-Fi + Winamp with MAD 24-bit output plugin for MP3. I don't use Crystalizer, CMSS 3D or any of that stuff. I increased master bass about 5% and using THX bass boost of 7dB crossed over at 80Hz and everything sounds nice and even with modet impact, and didn't touch the treble.

Big improvement over my SB Live and old Sony cans, but no headphones can really get you into the music like a good stereo. For serious listening I'll take my big system hands down:

Speakers: Polk LSi 9
Pre-Amp: Dodd Audio ELP w/ JJ/Tesla 6DJ8 Tubes (Smoooooth)
Amp: Parasound HCA-1203A 200wpc @ 4ohm
Source: Denon DVD-2900 CD/SACD/DVD-Audio
Sub: HSU Research STF-2

I don't pump out tons of bass, but the cleanliness, accuracy and speed of what's there will put a big grin on your face, rather than melt it off.
 
For all of you guys there that are really serious about closed headphones, don't forget there is also Audio-Technica's W series.
 
Cyrilix said:
For all of you guys there that are really serious about closed headphones, don't forget there is also Audio-Technica's W series.
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I just heard the dt770 today, lol. Even though I was leaning toward the a900 over the dt770 cuz I thought the dt770 would be too bass focused, I can now firmly say I'm getting the dt770 because of high-end the bass is to me, and its incredible incredible soundstage. And I now know that I can decide which can I will get without contemplating how other cans woulda sounded to me (upgradetitus=) )

Soz a bit ot, hehe=)
 
you technically don't need a headphone amplifier as your experience is testament to that. However, I believe once you get a dedicated made for headphones amplifier, you will really notice the improvement. It is vast.

I use Sony 5ks for listening and gaming. I love them. No way else to get the sound and immersion.
 
Liver said:
you technically don't need a headphone amplifier as your experience is testament to that. However, I believe once you get a dedicated made for headphones amplifier, you will really notice the improvement. It is vast.

I use Sony 5ks for listening and gaming. I love them. No way else to get the sound and immersion.
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yea, I heard the 5ks OWNS for gaming. Wanted them, but they were too much $$$, hehe.

I plan to get an amp a lil down the road=)
 
I can give much more detailed information on the a900s after having them for so long now, and with a better source. Say the word if you want more info.
 
Sounds as if you have me sold on the ADH-A900s vs the Beyer DT770 pros ;) Those will be one of my next purchases..
 
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