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The Audio-Technica ATH-WP900 Hi-Res Audiophile Headphones sound as good as they look, which is saying something. Their striking appearance features flame maple wood and they offer a dynamic range way better than you can even hear: 5-50,000 Hz. Better yet, they sound terrific, as tech expert and audio fan Dave Taylor explains in this detailed review.
Check them out at https://amzn.to/2SmHXcJ
Check out the ifi Audio Hip-DAC at https://amzn.to/3vk0GDc
Check out Dave Taylor's tech Q&A site at https://www.AskDaveTaylor.com/
#audiotechnica #headphones #audiophile
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0:00
These headphones definitely sound as good as they look. Let's check them out
0:11
Dave Taylor here, and I'm checking out these. These are the Audio-Technica ATH-WP900
0:18
high-res headphones, and they are wired. There's no Bluetooth. There's no microphone
0:23
The entire focus here is on really good audio reproduction, and they absolutely succeed
0:29
These sound great. Now, let me tell you some of the specs, but obviously the thing that most
0:34
jumps out is this beautiful flame maple and black color scheme. So this is a wood that's been
0:42
varnished or finished somehow, and it's absolutely beautiful. You can see in this close-up, it just
0:47
has this nice deep sheen to it, but more importantly, this fire maple is actually
0:53
something used in musical instruments because of its rigidity. So it gives a really good sort of
0:59
backboard to the sound, which gives you really nice sound reproduction. Now, these actually deliver
1:05
5 to 50,000 hertz, which is way beyond anything you or I can hear, but it just has a huge dynamic
1:13
range, 100 decibels, a milliwatt of sensitivity, 53 millimeter drivers. It's a 38 ohm impedance when
1:21
you plug them in, and there's two different plugs. I'll get back to that in a second
1:26
and the drivers also use what's known as a diamond-like carbon coating, which you find in
1:31
even more expensive headphones too. Now, the headphones actually use a connection for the
1:38
wires that's pretty interesting. This is the A2DC connection. This is an Audio Technica innovation
1:44
and it's the Audio Design Detachable Coax, and you see in this close-up, it's a pretty interesting
1:50
sort of wire design. What this gives them is really high quality connections and easy
1:56
flexibility and portability. So I pull out of the actual carrying case, and it's a soft carrying
2:05
case, very nice pouch, but it also ships with a second cable, and you're looking at this and
2:11
you're like, hmm, well, what are the differences between the ends? And the answer is this is a 3.5
2:17
millimeter, this is a 4.4 millimeter, and you're saying, 4.4 millimeter, who uses that? And the
2:24
answer is audiophile gear. So, for example, I have this IFI Audio hip DAC, and on the front
2:33
it has both 3.5 and 4.4 millimeter jacks. The idea is that the 4.4 millimeter is higher end
2:41
more data throughput and everything, but what I really like is they didn't include an adapter
2:46
they just literally ship two different cables. So you can pick if you're using 3.5 or 4.4
2:52
probably you'll be using 3.5. And then the cable itself, if I unhook this, is about four feet long
3:01
and it could probably do with being a little bit longer. I found these to be a little short, but
3:06
then again, it's that trade-off, because it's also easy and it's not very tangly, because if you're
3:12
sitting right by your music source, it's going to sound really good. So, one of the things I did
3:18
not realize when I did my unboxing, and I encourage you to check out my unboxing, is that on the
3:24
cables, there are ever so subtle indicators of left and right, as you would hope, as is there
3:31
on the actual headphones themselves. So, left to left, and you guessed it, right to right
3:39
and I'm ready to go. Now, they are super lightweight, they are super comfortable
3:45
they're only 8.6 ounces without the cable connected. So, I'll just double check that I
3:50
have them the right way. Here we go. And now, I can just put them on my head, and they are so
3:56
comfortable. Honestly, you'll forget that you have headphones on. And then just plug them into your
4:02
audio source. In this case, I'm using one of my two-in-one PCs, and somewhere is the audio jack
4:09
I guess it's on the other side. Here we go. And so now, I'm ready to go, and it's going to sound
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really good. But, here's the thing, is I can actually use something like an amp, which is
4:22
exactly what this iFi device is. This is a great little amp, and you just plug it in via USB-C
4:29
second USB-C for power. Just so happens this Dell has two USB-C ports, which is
4:36
darn good planning on their part. So, I can use my amp, do this, plug this in, and the amp does
4:44
a really nice job. I mean, it already sounds good, just straight source, but when you plug in an amp
4:51
like this iFi unit, then it's like going from really expansive to really, really expansive
4:58
music. And boy, it just sounded great. I was listening to some early Sting, and you know, with
5:04
this jazz influences and everything, it's just this big, rich, beautiful sound. Really, these just
5:11
sounded so nice. Now, let's see. The wood, actually, I should back up and tell you that that maple
5:18
is from the Fuji-Gen of Japan, and they also make maple for musical instruments. So, very cool
5:26
Now, the design, it's a soft top, and it is super flexible, easily works with big heads or little
5:35
heads. And the right and left are super subtle. They're just tiny little indicators on the band
5:44
That could be a little bit more overt. I like some actually just have the R and the L in the ear cups
5:49
so you just always know exactly what you're doing. But once they're on, they are sound isolating
5:57
but they're not active noise canceling. So, if you're in a really noisy environment, you're
6:01
either going to be turning your music way up, or you're still going to hear the ambient noise around
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you to some extent. These are much more the kind of audiophile headphones that are perfect for a
6:11
really quiet environment. So, when I'm sitting at home, and I turn on something like Steely Dan
6:18
or like Kate Bush, or I go to my Sting library, it just sounds really beautiful. And then when I'm
6:25
using an amp, it sounds that much better. In fact, it's such a rich sound that I had to turn off the
6:32
IFI-X bass, which is just this bass enhancer. It was just too much for me. So, you might like a
6:40
lot of bass. That's one way to get that. But even without the amp, this has a full rich sound, a big
6:46
sound stage. And one of the things I really like about it, it has a real precision to the music. So
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if you're listening to something like, I tried Owl City, just for a very different kind of very
6:56
digital sound, and it's just really crisp. There's a real accuracy to its sound reproduction that's
7:03
very attractive. The highs are not overly bright. The lows are full and rich without being overpowering
7:11
These are not your disco headphones. These are not the headphones for someone that's like working
7:16
on mixing their hip-hop songs or something. You know, these are just really nice, high quality
7:23
very, very listenable audiophile headphones. No battery life, no microphone to worry about. You
7:28
can plug these into any device and they're going to sound really good. But if you put them through
7:33
an amp or a hi-fi system, yes, people still have hi-fi systems. Then it's going to sound even that
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much better. If I sound like I have much enthusiasm for these, I do. They just sound great. They're
7:45
just really nice sounding headphones and they're really pretty too. I mean, when I use these
7:51
in public places, people stop and ask what kind of headphones they are. They're really very striking
7:57
Now, downsides. Well, they are wired headphones. They don't have ANC. You know, there's a lot of
8:05
sort of modern functionality with a microphone or something that you don't have. These are like old
8:10
school headphones. So many incorporate those actually, those sort of additional features
8:15
That might not be a big deal to you. The only other complaint I have is I think their wires
8:20
could have been a little bit longer because of this A2DC connection. I don't know that I can buy
8:26
longer wires. I guess I'd have to go to the Audio-Technica site to check. But otherwise
8:30
I'm kind of constrained to the length of my wire. Or I guess I could do a 3.5 millimeter extension
8:36
cable. But why do I want to do that? Then again, to be entirely fair, if I need that range, maybe
8:44
that's where Bluetooth steps in. And Audio-Technica has some very nice Bluetooth headphones too
8:49
But I really like this sort of old school, just wired headphones. You plug in. There's no weird
8:55
electrical fields. There's nothing else going on. It's just great sound reproduction. Which means
9:01
that the only other thing we do need to talk about is we do need to talk about the price
9:06
Now, before I get to the price, I'm going to ask if you could subscribe to my channel
9:10
Go ahead and click or tap on that red subscribe button and you are connected and we are connected
9:16
And that's great because I'll tell you, I get access to a ton of gear and I am just constantly
9:22
really honest, really transparent. I don't really care if I piss off the vendors because they just
9:27
stop sending me gear. I get other gear. But most of them actually really appreciate transparency
9:32
and honesty. So I'm not going to just shill a product. If I have something like this and I
9:37
really love it, I'm going to tell you why I really like it because there are some great products out
9:43
there in the market. Okay, now with that said, these are the Audio-Technica ATH-WP900 high-res
9:53
headphones and they are $649.99 at Amazon.com. That's pretty spendy for a pair of headphones
10:01
That's like half the price of a high-end smartphone, right? But let's be honest, earbuds only can do
10:07
so much. Having these covering your ear and giving you that full rich sound is a different experience
10:15
It's a better experience. So if you really love your music, this is exactly the kind of gear you
10:21
should be looking at. So I'm a big fan. I'm going to have to go back to listening to some more Sting
10:27
What a talented guy he is. As an actor, yeah, we can have that conversation. But as a musician
10:32
fantastic. Anyway, I'll hope to catch you in my next video. Transcribed by https://otter.ai
#Entertainment Industry
#Music & Audio