(Still in Hong Kong at the moment) This review should probably go on Head-fi and not here, but I might as well post it here too.
![[Image: 2222857770_f1dbc8ecaf.jpg]](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2070/2222857770_f1dbc8ecaf.jpg)
Anyway, went to Kingsound Audio in Mongkok yesterday and bought ATH-ES7s. They're a great shop as they let me audition almost any headphone I wanted, including the AKG701, Senn HD-555, Beyer 235, ATH-AD700, ATH-ESW9, D2000, Alessandro MS1, etc. I ended up staying for 2 hours or so
Address for the record:
九龍旺角洗衣街39號金雞廣場12樓1217室(乘3, 4號升降機) ,歡迎光臨參觀選購!! 地圖
Unit 1217, 12th Floor, Golden Era Plaza, 39 Sai Yee Street, Mongkok, Kowloon.
Based on the initial research I did on the ES7, they need a lot of burning in (around 200 hours). So far I'm up to 20 hours. I bought them because the hinge on my ATH-FC700s broke, and I don't really like the way they rest on my head. In other words, I needed new portables.
Right now (20 hours burn in) they sound slightly better than the FC700s because of sound staging and the bass strength. I don't really like the midrange, the highs are nothing special. Compared to the Grado SR80s in rock music, they're nothing to be impressed about. At all. The Grados have much better sound separation and tonal range, considering they're both supposed to be forward sounding and bright. The bass of the SR80s also have a warm, solid feel to them, while the ES7s bass is strong but all over the place. Of course, it's not really a fair comparison since the SR80s are open backed and not in the same quality category. The Shure SE310 IEMs also sound way, way better in rock music but then the Shures are known for their midrange but characteristically lack the bass of headphones. For some reason I like how the ES7s sound when it comes to classical music, piano concertos mostly.
All in all, they're OKAY. Fair value for money, great looking headphones. People will tend to exaggerate their sound quality because of all the positive reviews on the net. As portable headphones they're pretty awesome, but then the cheaper Beyerdynamic 235s I auditioned yesterday were pretty good (and cheaper too). I'll most probably continue to bring around the Shure IEMs on a daily basis, but would probably prefer the ES7s for extended use when I'm not at home or to look "cool".
Edit after a day: After more burning in, they're VERY much improved. Great with classical and jazz or anything simple, preferably with female vocals. Really not so good for rock. It's quite typical for a lot of other Audio Technica headphones, has to do with sound signature.
Anyway, went to Kingsound Audio in Mongkok yesterday and bought ATH-ES7s. They're a great shop as they let me audition almost any headphone I wanted, including the AKG701, Senn HD-555, Beyer 235, ATH-AD700, ATH-ESW9, D2000, Alessandro MS1, etc. I ended up staying for 2 hours or so
Address for the record:
九龍旺角洗衣街39號金雞廣場12樓1217室(乘3, 4號升降機) ,歡迎光臨參觀選購!! 地圖
Unit 1217, 12th Floor, Golden Era Plaza, 39 Sai Yee Street, Mongkok, Kowloon.
Based on the initial research I did on the ES7, they need a lot of burning in (around 200 hours). So far I'm up to 20 hours. I bought them because the hinge on my ATH-FC700s broke, and I don't really like the way they rest on my head. In other words, I needed new portables.
Right now (20 hours burn in) they sound slightly better than the FC700s because of sound staging and the bass strength. I don't really like the midrange, the highs are nothing special. Compared to the Grado SR80s in rock music, they're nothing to be impressed about. At all. The Grados have much better sound separation and tonal range, considering they're both supposed to be forward sounding and bright. The bass of the SR80s also have a warm, solid feel to them, while the ES7s bass is strong but all over the place. Of course, it's not really a fair comparison since the SR80s are open backed and not in the same quality category. The Shure SE310 IEMs also sound way, way better in rock music but then the Shures are known for their midrange but characteristically lack the bass of headphones. For some reason I like how the ES7s sound when it comes to classical music, piano concertos mostly.
All in all, they're OKAY. Fair value for money, great looking headphones. People will tend to exaggerate their sound quality because of all the positive reviews on the net. As portable headphones they're pretty awesome, but then the cheaper Beyerdynamic 235s I auditioned yesterday were pretty good (and cheaper too). I'll most probably continue to bring around the Shure IEMs on a daily basis, but would probably prefer the ES7s for extended use when I'm not at home or to look "cool".
Edit after a day: After more burning in, they're VERY much improved. Great with classical and jazz or anything simple, preferably with female vocals. Really not so good for rock. It's quite typical for a lot of other Audio Technica headphones, has to do with sound signature.
