Audio-Technica ATH-AD900X Open-Back Audiophile Headphones, Black

My main purpose was to find an alternative to buying expensive gaming headsets. That's when I was introduced to the term 'audiophile'. I was intrigued by the open headphones. I was warned about the sound leakage, and I will tell you that you can definitely hear what is playing without fail.When putting these things on the head I thought that there is an opening from the rear, but there isn't. It feels that light. The cups are huge. I can see them from my peripheral vision. The velour fabric felt prickly at first but I got use to them any they feel softer now. Everything feels light, however, with the wing-clamp things, I feel a slight pressure along my temple. It disappears after a while. Yes, with a bald head, a slight jerk will cause the headphones to shift off my head. Sneeze and be warned. No I haven't tried the "rubber-band hack" to keep it still.The cord is long. I do not recommend taking them to the streets because you have a lot of slack and wire to carry (let alone those poles at the top screams weird in public).Being open headphones, you will hear everything around you (dog barks, pots clanging, kids screaming, etc.) You can still feel the wind through them. Heck, you can literally SEE through them. But the open airiness really changes the quality of the music compare to my bass heavy headsets.I will not go into detail about quality too much. Websites like www.headfi.org can explain this like they are sipping on fine wine. Based on a short and simple description is that I can hear more instruments and subtle details to the music than my old headphones (Sony XB700 = DISCONTINUED = RARE). HOWEVER with an amplifier (I used a gaming brand amplifier), my XB700 sounds more full and fun. The AD900x sounds great, but less bass as to what many others say. To be honest, I like it that way. Spotify for Android has an equalizer under settings, so I set it up to where the bass is there, but not overbearing. Plug into my PC and I can set it up that way as well. You can't lose.For soundstage, I'd say it's great. It could be a little better. I heard about the 1000x fixes that. I mean, if I am suppose to hear sounds spread all over like I'm in an actual concert, I don't hear that unless I press the simulated surround sound on the amp. That mode is irritating with all that reverb.When it comes to gaming, my main purpose, I feel I made a great purchase. For being open headphones, I actually do feel like I am in the world. The best game I have so far that I can use an example is Far Cry 4. I played it on the XBox One. With an amp, since XB is proprietary with their controller, it's great. I never use the surround sound feature on my amp, it'll just make the sounds sound farther away that it actually is. The spatial sense is there without the simulated surround sound: front, side to side, behind, I can hear it all.In the end, if you want an entry level audiophile headset then look no further. With the price as it is, don't hesitate. Get an amplifier, I also purchased this recently: Ear Force DSS 7.1 Channel Dolby Surround Sound Processor via Amazon (discontinued = CHEAP). It has a bass booster that makes everything sound perfect for me. A perfect alternative to the expensive MixAmp, plus it's more portable.I guess I should add that after a year or two with these I may upgrade to a Hifiman 560, or if I plan to be broke, the Audeze LCD2. I am intrigued as a novice audiophile.Enjoy them.

I had previously purchased the Audio-Technica ATH-M50 due to recommendations over on head-fi and was ok with them. A bit stuffy they never really fit over my rather large ears and got rather stuffy. They were also ok for being baby bass monsters but lacked the mid to lower upper range quality I like (am a huge fan of the very forward vocals on Shure's iems).Upon unboxing; much as the previous reviewer, I was not overly impressed with the sound. However, like him, it has gotten better. Whether belief in 'burn-in' or it's simply the ears adjusting these headphones really do need a bit of listening time to sound really good. Personally I think since headphones are electro-mechanical devices they really do 'bed' themselves.Size wise they fit my extremely large noggin very well. The 3-d wings are a brilliant idea who simply grip, with just the right amount of force, and stay wherever you put them. The velour earpads are a huge increase in comfort over the pleather on the M50. They're also very large and I'm not tucking my earlobes up inside of them because they simply fit around. Being an open back design they also don't require the 'move to one side to let sweat evaporate' that the M50 requires. The upper bands do stick way up in the air and make you look like you're trying to pull in OTA signals...but these really aren't designed to for portable use so it's a minor issue. I do take the overly stiff cable, with a non-threaded 1/8-1/4 adapter as a step down from the M50 though.Sound-wise the headphones are great. Super good with piano tracks and female vocals. Katie Melua, Allison Krauss, Sarah Brightman, etc. all sound brilliant. The range on these headphones seems to go on and on and on. Putting on my standard 'test track', Alanis Morrisette's "Uninvited" did reveal a bit of loss of details in the low end that the M50 easily resolves. A run through some rock tracks (Queen of the Damned soundtrack has a nice variety) also left me wanting to go back to the M50 for some headbanging fun. However, for the majority of the music I listen to, these are much better. Lent them to a co-worker, who I believe has every single Beats model, and I couldn't get them back for a couple of hours. He stated that he really liked the sound, which considering what he usually buys is a vast improvement, but he also said that they weren't portable enough.