Selection Guide
Audio-Technica ATH-ESW9A
It's not often you find a small portable headphone trying to be high-end in every way, and rarer still to find one that pulls it off, but the Audio Technica ATH-ESW9A is precisely such a thing. With a lush, warm and surprisingly well-balanced sound for a mobile 'earpad type' sealed headphone, these sweet-looking set of cans sound way better than they should for the size. Real African wood earpieces, elegant design and flat-folding for easy carry-on or briefcase transport, the ESW9A headphones are perfectly happy at home, at the office, or on the open road.
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Product Features:
- Very impressive sound quality for a small sealed headphone, perhaps tops for category!
- Comfortable on-ear fit provides respectable isolation from ambient noise
- Superb styling constructed with real tonewood ear pieces from venerable Japanese headphone maker
- Efficient for portable use without headphone amps required
What's In The Box:
- Protective Pouch
Applications:
Form or function? Beauty or performance? The Audio Technica ATH-ESW9A eliminates the difference. Not only is this perhaps the best-looking small portable headphones on the market but, fortunately, its excellent sound matches the striking cosmetics. The ESW9A's overall tonal signature is velvety smooth and features a terrifically punchy low-end texture alongside cleanly measured upper treble extension. The sole minor detraction to our analytical HeadRoom ears is the mid-range focus, which may appear a bit overly-recessed with certain vocals, principally on unforgiving reference recordings. In this flagship ESW9A 'earpad'-sized model, AT has integrated their newly-engineered 42mm drivers within a high-rigidity glass fiber baffle system said to significantly improve the resolution of subtle, low-level sonic nuances. It's certainly a pleasingly lively and engaging soundscape for listeners seeking warm audio detail and musical coherence wrapped in a singularly swanky package. The ESW9A's extremely comfortable supra-aural real tonewood-back earcups provide a mild degree of ambient noise attenuation and also serve to prevent your headphone 'leakage' from potentially disturbing others nearby. Pair this headphone with a quality portable headphone amp & high-bitrate 'Lossless' or uncompressed iPod / iPad or laptop audio files and prepare thy noggin for one truly sumptuous mobile audiophile listening experience.
The Audio Technica ATH-ESW9A earpiece housings are made of a lovely (NON-endangered!) 100% African Paddock wood often used for keyboard percussion instruments such as the marimba or xylophone due to its excellent strength and wonderful acoustic characteristics. The mid-sized supra-aural ESW9A earcups will handily collapse down nearly flat, thus making them perfectly easy to store and schlep into a carry-on bag or backpack. Luxurious lambskin earpad coverings are durable and extra-gentle on the lobes while adding an upscale air to the opulent AT design. The headband padding is an equally nifty deep-glove leather...boy, did we say this is a very comfortable headphone?! The non-detachable headphone cord measures only about 4ft long, which is nice for avoiding dreaded cable tangling while on the move but some listeners may wish to consider adding a quality headphone extension cord if listening to a home/office audio source that's further than a few feet away. A storage/ travel soft pouch is included along with a 1-year Audio Technica manufacturers' warranty (WHEN PURCHASED VIA AUTHORIZED DEALERS LIKE HEADROOM!). 100% designed, engineered, & manufactured exclusively in Japan.
NOTE: Audio-Technica USA advises this is a heavily counterfeited, faked and 'grey-market' headphone due to its very intense 'in-demand' status. For product security and peace of mind, always buy your AT headphones from true authorized dealers -- like HeadRoom.
Specifications:
- Headphone Type: Earpad
- Connector Type: 1/8
- Weight: 170 g w/o Cord
- Isolation: -10dB ~ 14dB
- Impedance @ 1kHz: 42 Ohms
- Detachable Cable: No
- Cord Length: 3ft. (1.2 m)
- Cord Type: Straight Y
- Ear Coupler Type: Earpad
- Driver Type: Dynamic
- Acoustic Seal: Closed
- Manufacturer Warranty: 1 year
- Sensitivity: 103 dB/mW
Average Rating
Posted by Hammer from My cubicle on 2011-07-26
Recommend Product: Yes
Pros: Beautiful sound, looks to match
Cons: Often faked, somewhat uncomfortable
The Grados for all their wonderful sound - are even worse on the open cup noise front... this feature eventually lead me to closed phones only for the office. IEMs tend to be uncomfortable for me for all day use, and they also block out everything, including your boss who's trying to get your attention.
Then I went 'closed', to the Denons, and they were AWESOME, especially with a Total Bithead. But frankly, they're too big to wear all day in the office, they're hot on my head, and they are maybe over revealing - especially if you have a fondness for 80s pop.
So, finally, I settled on a closed earpad layout... and did a LOT of research - and here we are...
The Audio Technica ESW9s are a little warm, which I like. Before you dismiss that, consider the effect: they make everything sound pretty decent. Tracks that were unlistenable on the Denons, because frankly you just experienced too much analytical detail, sound clean and friendly through the ATs. The form factor is small-ish, with nice leather head band and earcups. The fit can be a bit pinchy until you get used to them - kind of like new glasses - but this is the only flaw I've found.
I can't really speak to durability, because I'm pretty careful with them. They're so pretty - how could anybody abuse them?
Overall, driven with a modest amp even off something like the Amazon cloud, the noise floor is really low, the sound is lively, full, and enjoyable. Coworkers who try them, referencing them to their iPod earbuds or Sony office-issue junk of course, are always WOW'd - literally. And more importantly, I am too. I'll never go back from here. If they ever break, I'll have to get them fixed or find another pair. In fact, they're so good, that I've stopped shopping for office headphones for the first time in 5 years.... now some nice custom IEMs for travel... that's another story.
7 out of 7 people found this review helpful. Did you?
Posted by SkyKidFalken from Vancouver, Canada on 2010-10-24
Recommend Product: Yes
Pros: Great sound for a portable headphone
Cons: uncomfortable, seriously
only downside, uncomfortable.... seriously, and quite easy to be broken
8 out of 15 people found this review helpful. Did you?
Posted by Rick-K from Long Island on 2010-01-18
Recommend Product: Yes
Pros: wonderful sound
Cons: Can pinch your pinna!
10 out of 14 people found this review helpful. Did you?
