[BRSxIgnition]

   
Um...have you heard about the ATH-ES10, ATH-ESW11LTD, etc.? In the ears of some listeners, some of the very best portables ever to grace the Earth, and definitely in a higher league sound quality-wise than the Momentum.
 
Personally, I'm eager to see what else AT produces in the portable line-up using their high-end 53mm drivers...

I've heard OF the ES10 and ES11LTD, but never heard them. I always thought they looked a bit fragile for the price, and the dual cables also turned me off, considering I've become so accustomed to having a single, removable cable.
 
If they ever update their portable line as well as their studio line with these "high-end 53mm drivers" - I may very well be the happiest person on earth.

 

[JHern]

Quote:

Meh, I tested all the ath portables and imho only goid price/performance one is the ES-700

 
Depends where you live, ES10 have been heavily discounted and can be found for $300-400 in most civilized places, a really great value for cans with a nominal $600 price point. Certainly in a different league than other portables at the $300 price point.
 
Quote:

   
That's the thing with Audio-Technica. They're never cost-competitive, but still they manage to be so alluring...

 
I couldn't disagree more…I've searched and searched the stores around my area (Tokyo), and I haven't found many HP lineups whose cost-vs-quality curve hits the inflection point at a better quality/cost ratio than Audio-Technica. E.g., consider the A900X in the over-ear closed lineup, probably the very best value in modern times, and with SQ only slightly less than their flagship cans that price 3-4 times more. In the portable lineup, the ES700 does a wonderful job at a nominal price point significantly less than the top grade ES cans (although the latter being on sale alters the curve a lot). The same is true of all their lineups in my experience (although I don't do IEMs, so can't testify about that lineup).
 

  I've heard OF the ES10 and ES11LTD, but never heard them. I always thought they looked a bit fragile for the price, and the dual cables also turned me off, considering I've become so accustomed to having a single, removable cable.
 
If they ever update their portable line as well as their studio line with these "high-end 53mm drivers" - I may very well be the happiest person on earth.

 
Agree about the potential fragility of woodies in general, but not sure how the Titanium-backed ES10 could seem fragile to anyone…they could be run over by a truck and still work fine. Mine have been through the works with a toddler roaming the household. Still, I agree the cable appears flimsy (though it is actually amazingly strong in practice), and definitely agree that Audio-Technica should introduce detachable cables in all of their lineups (they could also offer custom styles, lengths, and accessories in swappable cables such as on-cable microphones).
 
IMHO, Audio-Technica's only failing is international marketing and promotions, they have everything very well-sorted out on the engineering and sound quality side. I feel sorry for sincere head-fiers who haven't had the chance to hear what they offer in the ES10 and ESW11, and amazed that their reputation/quality hasn't been more widely and accurately disseminated.

 

[viralcow]

 
 
Agree about the potential fragility of woodies in general, but not sure how the Titanium-backed ES10 could seem fragile to anyone

 
Uh, flimsy cable, flimsy headband, extremely scratch-prone cups, and it just feels fragile in the hand. I actually think the ESW9 (haven't tried the new ES700) feels marginally more well-put-together than the ES10 (plusher headband, plusher earpads), though still very fragile.

 

[Oregonian]

I'm waiting for Denon to get the clue that the new models, though I like the D600, are NOT the epic headphones the D7000/5000/2000 STILL are and figure a way back into Fostex' good graces or do something else. 
 
Will not be holding my breath.  I'm surprised no news out of CES by Denon................but then again I'm not. 

 

[JHern]

   
Uh, flimsy cable, flimsy headband, extremely scratch-prone cups, and it just feels fragile in the hand. I actually think the ESW9 (haven't tried the new ES700) feels marginally more well-put-together than the ES10 (plusher headband, plusher earpads), though still very fragile.

 
Well, as an owner of 2 pairs of ES10, and the father of a toddler who loves to throw them around if little hands can be laid upon them, I have to respectfully disagree with pretty much everything you said.

 

[viralcow]

   
Well, as an owner of 2 pairs of ES10, and the father of a toddler who loves to throw them around if little hands can be laid upon them, I have to respectfully disagree with pretty much everything you said.

 
I wasn't saying that they were in fact fragile... just that they seem fragile/delicate in the hand. Maybe it's just me.
 
I think this belongs in the ES10 thread, though.

 

[Eternal Schism]

Not a successor for the fostex per say but for the old Denon series lineup, but a continuation it'd be awesome to see a Fostex TH300 at a price point around the D2000/5000.

 

[jibzilla]

.

 

[zorin]

Agreed. They might be preparing a W8000 or W9000, and beat the generally recognized reference closed headphones, the Fostex TH900 in SQ, with a W5000 design or better (don't like the W3000ANV or W1000X designs so much) & a new iteration of the handy W5000 travel case.
Mmh, yes, some none LTD ESW11 for instance would be interesting...

Fostex TH900 are pretty far from being 'reference closed headphones'. If the intent of Fostex was to make these kind of headphones then TH900 are a dismal failure. The frequency response of TH900 is quite unbalanced with bass flooding into the middle frequencies, then there is a deciBel / volume ditch in the lower middle frequencies and then there is the problem of an overbaked treble. The aim of Fostex, as it seems by the testimony of these headphones, was to make what many on head-fi call 'fun headphones', and not reference headphones. If many want to stick this moniker on TH900 then their judgment is aberrant. Th900 can be a good fun to listen to with bass heavy types of music but that is not what the word 'reference' implies.
In fact W3000ANV are much closer to the status of 'generally recognized reference closed headphones', I can safely say that there are no other closed headphones of this quality that can claim this title. W3000ANV did beat TH900 "in SQ" and pretty comfortably, when they appeared. Strictly speaking W3000ANV are not 'reference closed headphones' but they come closer to this status than other competitors. I make this claim with a caveat, I had no chance to hear the new Audez'e LCD-XC but I doubt that those headphones can dethrone W3000ANV. The planar magnetic headphones have their own quirks and faults. 

 

[zorin]

  I'm the exact opposite. I want to see a 2 tesla th-1200 that starts at 3k and works it's way down to 2k in a year.

There can be no "2 Tesla" headphones, or better to say, 2 Tesla magnets of headphone drivers. It would cost prohibitive amount of money to develop and manufacture magnets of this strength for headphones. They would have to be made from the superconductive metal alloys and at the moment there are not any discovered and available. If there are, and the public at large does not know about them, then the military will be the first to have their hands on them.

 

[jibzilla]

.

 

[zorin]

  Dang. Thank you for the information but dang. Maybe a th-900R(reference) that's a true open back rather than semi closed?

To get their headphones into the reference class the Fostex would have to re-tune the diaphragm / driver of TH900. But then the new TH900 would not be TH900 anymore because they would sound much different from the previous version. A new designation would be needed. It would be interesting if there were a fully open 'TH900', I guess the bass would be more tight and the soundstage for sure bigger.

 

[port11]

Currently looking for anything better than the Sennheiser HD 25-1 iis.. i anyone knows one that sounds better please let me know.
(HD8 DJ, NAD VISO HP50? HD 595??)

 

[zorin]

  Currently looking for anything better than the Sennheiser HD 25-1 iis.. i anyone knows one that sounds better please let me know.
(HD8 DJ, NAD VISO HP50? HD 595??)

Post your question on this forum - http://www.head-fi.org/t/672743/comparisons-13-of-the-top-closed-portable-headphones-around/1620#post_10272202 or even better, start a new thread. [Underneath the title of this thread there is a little box 'Start a new thread', just click on it and make a title and type the question and off you go]
Specify if you want
A - open headphones [usually a better sound, but some closed ones can match them] or closed ones [usually portables] 
B - 1 - portable or 2 - transportable [not practical to be used on the streets but you can carry them from place to place because you can use them with a portable amplifier] or 3 - for home use  
C - what is your budget
D - what kind of music you listen to. Headphones are tuned for a certain sound that fits particular types of music.
E - you specify if you can tolerate fully extended treble or if you prefer treble reduced and more mellow sound.
F - if you want a universal type headphones that can play any type of music then you have to mention it too. Beyerdynamic T1 are about the best universal type headphones but they cost about 800-1000 dollars used [on head-fi] and about 1200 to 1300 dollars new. They are semi-open and for home + transportable.
 I'll give you one advice, choose circumaural headphones that go around your ears. Their sound isolation is better and they are more comfortable. Good luck.

 

[Jeff Y]

I hope for a new and improved HD650 from Sennheiser though I don't think there will be one. I personally consider the LCD-3 as a new and improved HD650.