Sunday, February 8, 2009

Update

I have not posted in a while but I think that a quick update is in order.
First, I recently tried the S700 again. By now they have been used for countless hours. From a brief three minute listen, I felt that they actually did open up a bit. To my ears, they sounded much better than I remembered them.

Second, I sold my ATH-ESW10JPN after about three weeks. I just thought I was crazy for spending so much on headphones when I was perfectly happy with the ESW9. Makes sense, right? I agree but within a month I had another set of ESW10JPNs in my hand. Honestly, I just couldn't bear to be apart from them. They are head and shoulders above any other portable headphone I have ever tried. I felt that my best bet to save money in the long run would be to buy one pair that left me so satisfied that I would not have to keep wasting money on new headphones.

Having said that, while the ESW10JPN is amazing, I think that the ATH-ESW9 or ATH-ESW9A (the US version) really hits the sweet spot in the line-up. The ES7 sounded very good for a $100 headphone but I felt that the ESW9 was so much better that to me it justified the $150 price jump above the ES7. However, no matter how amazing the ESW10 sound and looks (and don't get me wrong - it's AWESOME) I see absolutely NO WAY that it justifies its price being $250+ more than the ESW9. It sounds better but not nearly that much better. Having said that I would never give mine up again. Also, as of this writing, the ES7 costs about $110, the ESW9 about $265 and the ESW10JPN about $530.

6 comments:

Mark Whiting said...

Hey, I am thinking of buying some ATH ESW 10 JPNs. Can you tell me more about them, esp in comparison to the ATH ESW 9?

Also, if you buy them from Korean websites you can get them for about 470 US Dollars.

Anonymous said...

hello... hapi blogging... have a nice day! just visiting here....

ekoda said...

Hi! iv been thinking of either getting ES7 or the ESW9 but after reading you blog and tralling the interweb i think i have decided to pony up the cash for the ESW9, also wooden cups are bad ass... Q: what type of tunes set up are you running through the ESW9? and how well are they driven from [prtable players? need to amp up?... cheers.

Ray said...

hi. may i know where can i get the pouch that you place your ATH-ESW9 on in the older post? what brand is it?
if you dont mind can you reply to my email : o_wenyong_90@hotmail.com
thank you
anyway you blog is great.

Edwin said...

Thanks for the review. I'm in the market for more Audio Technica earphones. I have tried a few different models and currently own some ATH headphones with the winged headband design in the office. I think I'll go for the ESW9. Great blog btw!

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