Customer Reviews

Audio-Technica ATH-EW9 Lightweight Wood Clip-on Headphones

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Me: {if you care...} BA in Music, 20+ years music/sound production consultant...
You: on occassion like the likes of Diana Krall, Tommy Emmanuel and Anthony Wall ...

then you'll love these cherry wood-covered sonic marvels. They are wonderful to listen to, and eye-catching pretty as well. I don't mind letting others used these - as clip-ons, they are not exposed to personal hygiene like earbuds are. It's important to note these are set up to run the wire around the back of your head and not down the front of your neck. I've found this impacts by a fair amount how well they stay on my head.

Pros: they really sound great, very balanced, easy on the ears (you could seriously wear them for hours and forget you have them on), big sound but easy to carry with included pouch, no "in ear" fitting/discomfort issues

Cons: Only one so far, and it's not much of one - because they are clip-ons and light, I forget I have them on and move quick enough to dislodge them a bit on occassion, like when I play the Air Drums. It's not a show stopper, you get used to it quick enough. I don't jog but I am not sure you could wear them jogging, but for fast walking or a plane ride, they are great.

I've let others listen to them and they love them too. The price point is a tough one - do you really want to drop $100+ for phones you haven't heard? When I pay this much, I want a really good sound. These deliver and then some. I have pro quality recording phones and these keep up with them very well. I also have/had Bose earbuds - I returned them, these are much, much better sounding and fitting. Like I said, they are balanced sounding - they are not thumpers, they don't make your earlobes rumble. They play the lows just fine, but if you're used to a car stereo that rattles the windows with a 5000 watt subwoofer, you might find these a little light in the bass.

If you are after clarity, like to listen to what the musician recorded, like to listen to classical, pop, rock and jazz, I think you'll be in heaven hour after hour if you select these.

I bought these not knowing what to expect. I've never owned Audio-Technica equipment before. Having Grado headphones and audiophile speakers (av123), I consider myself a bit of a junior snob when it comes to sound reproduction. Grados not being a very portable type of headphone, I've used a pair of Koss KSC-75, which were doing a very nice job for their size. Well, those busted a little while ago and so I decided to roam around for a different set. At that point found these. Reading several reviews I expected to find that they worked about as good as the Koss's for five times the price.

I eventually decided as long as they weren't worse than the Koss's, they would do the job with with an upgrade in style. I mean come on, wood enclosures? That's just awesome! And considering Amazon was selling them for less than half their retail price, it also felt like a darn good deal.

Well, now I have them and I'm thoroughly impressed. If that's all you needed to hear you can stop reading and buy these. Unless you're a mega-audiophile snob, you won't be disappointed.

Ok, so now let's take the review step by step:

Fit - If you've ever used clip-on head phones, you'll usually note a couple of issues. First, the shape of the clip can affect the wear comfort allot. Rigid clips end up digging into the ear making it impossible to wear for a long time. Second, it's often the case that to make them comfortable you have to wear them a bit loose so that they don't press on your ears too much. Unfortunately, this makes them unstable and unfit for moving around even a little. Fit them too tight and they are a hassle to get on and off. Third, if you wear glasses like me, you soon find that clip-ons take up a bit of room on your ear, making it impossible to wear bent stem frames. I was fortunate that I wear straight stem frames, so I only had to move the stem up and rest it on the clip-ons. Most of the time this worked fine, but it does skew your vision.

Well, the ATH-EW9 solve all o these issues. The clips are made of soft flexible rubber suspended by a wire. You never feel the wire and the rubber just forms around your ear. The pad in front of the speaker is a soft cloth covered memory-type foam. Next, the clip is on a spring load so they open and close clam-like, giving easy on and off action. Lastly my glasses and the clips fit well together on my ear, barely know they are near each other. The weight is a feather. When put these on, having used the Koss's, I felt like I didn't even have them on.


Sound - In a word: "clear". In two: "clear" and "powerful". Unless you're a bass-head you'll find the max power output of these 28mm drivers seriously louder than is comfortable. The bass is clean and tonal and is capable of pounding a little bit, though not head rattling. They are also not completely closed, having side vents porting the back of the diaphram. This seems to help make the sound crisp without being tinny and effects a wider sound stage.

All in all I'm really glad I got them. They are very stylish and sound as good as I'd expect from such lightweight headphones.


UPDATE (7/1/2011):
I've now had and used the ATH-EW9's almost daily for three years. I still love them! No matter how many portable headphones I try, nothing holds up in this price range. They've gotten even better with age. The one issue I had was that the ear supports began to get stretched out from hours of continuous use. Not a big issue. But when (last May) I busted the connection to the left speaker I decided to have them serviced (I'm pretty rough on these because; I forget I'm wearing them and hook the wire on something, which yanks them off my ears). I shipped them to an Audio-Technica repair shop. $46 and a week later I got my babies back with new cables and ear supports. Awesome, I'll never give these up!

First let me say that these are perhaps the coolest looking headphone's ever. They are s.l.i.c.k.. They are also pretty comfortable especially as these type of "on ear" headphones go but after about an hour or two your pinna will start to ache. Of course this type of headphone is probably the least comfortable depending on the person (I can't wear the inner ear ones as long without my auditory canal starting to throb) and anything with a headband, while more conspicuous, will be far more comfortable. As an aside, the Grado's are probably the most comfortable headphones on the market at any price range.
They do look and feel very delicate and probably would not last being tossed into a backpack but use of the included padded case and some basic caution should be adequate to keep them in operational condition.
Sound quality is good for being enclosed headphones and you really get what you pay for here. To get better sound quality you'll have to spend more money or switch to an open field transducer like Sennheiser or Grado specialize in. The wood, while an acoustic damper at concert hall scales, acts more like concrete to the scale of headphones providing a very concise response that doesn't have the "sponginess" of plastic enclosed transducers. They cherry wood is also as fly as it gets in a very "I'm cool enough to listen to Hip Hop but sophisticated enough that my hip hop is the Beastie Boys" way.
In summary; these things are good looking enough to wear even if you aren't listening to music, sound good enough to really enjoy your music, and are comfortable enough to wear for an album or two. If you want to wear headphones all day don't get these or this type of headphones for that matter. If you want better sound quality for the money get the Grado Prestige SR 125 - Headphones ( ear-cup ). If you want better sound and discrete headphones you'll need to pay more and should perhaps look at some of the re-tasked professional inner ear monitors from companies like Sure Brothers.

I'm going to level with you... I don't know anything about music... or music theory. What I do know is I love the heck out of these headphones. These are pretty. They honestly look like a very expensive musical instrument. These things look like they should belong in a steampunk alternate reality.

Aside from the looks, they sound great. I'm not a bass hound, but I do enjoy a fair amount of variety in my music, so it handles everything I throw at it; from New Wave, Hair Metal, Folk, Grunge, Jazz, and a smidge of symphonic power metal. I can safely say that it handles all of these beautifully.

Finally I wanted to point out that they are feather light and I barely can tell that they are on. These are the FIRST headphones I have EVER owned that I can say this about. I have always suffered from "Big-ear-itus" and cannot wear any sort of headphones without some form of discomfort, so this is a HUGE plus for these headphones.

The only negative I can say for them is the cord. Like many other reviewers have stated, these are a "behind the head" type of cord, so the right side has a much longer cord that the left side. This for the most part isn't a problem, but they have built this to accommodate a neck size that rivals the Hulk. I could also have stood for the splitter to be a little farther down on the cord... it's pretty close to the ear. I just want to say that this is in NO way a dealbreaker, and I'm just being over critical because this is the ONLY FLAW I can think of.

So in my un-expert opinion, if you are sick of sore ears and blandly designed headphones... you cannot go wrong with these babies.

There's no need to mention that these have amazing sound quality. You won't find clip on headphones better than these. I would like to mention as others have that these do not have booming bass. If you are looking for booming bass these are not for you. If you are looking for incredibly accurate bass (as well as the mid's and high's), then these are for you.

Inner ear headphones give me a headache, so these were one of my only options for high quality and very portable headphones. My main concern when I ordered these was comfort. Fortunately, these are the most comfortable headphones I have ever owned (I own over 20 pairs)!

I should mention that the headphones I received were a lighter colored wood than the stock Amazon picture. As they are hand carved, it is possible that the color may vary slightly. I would like to note that the coloration on the left and right earpiece match perfectly though.

If you are thinking about ordering these, what are you waiting for? Some may believe the price is a bit high (but in my opinion they are worth the retail price). You will be very pleased with these headphones!

If you like your music, don't want to go deaf and want comfort these are for you. When I got these I just had to tell the world! I don't like in-ear headphones even the custom made ones made me feel uncomfortable and I like to hear what is happening around me. These are supposed to be at their best after 150 hours of listening. Well out of the box I am blown away!!

These are the longest lasting pair of headphones I have owned, I've had them for over a year, they have great sound quality. Would buy again.

I'll begin by saying I do not regret purchasing these and would definitely recommend them to someone looking for an alternative to standard headphones and in-ear monitors.

Let me say that if they fit your ears properly and you provide them with a quality signal they sound excellent. They are efficient enough to sound good directly from the iPod's headphone jack. However, there is a dramatic improvement when running them from a good headphone amplifier. They are pretty revealing so if you're disappointed in the way they sound it is likely the source, not the headphones.

These do not have the low end authority of Sennheiser HD600's but they do have bass similar to the AKG-701's. If you listen to bass heavy music and want your cans to thump then these are not for you. If you're looking for a warm, balanced headphone then you will likely be very happy with these.

The sound of these headphones is completely dependent on how well they fit your ears. Basically, they need to make a reasonable seal on your ear over the ear canal. If they do not, you will lose sound quality and bass response. Normal supra-aural headphones achieve a decent seal by squeezing your noggin enough to press the headphone down on your ears. These hang on a clip with a light spring action so you do not have the headphone pressure reshaping your ear to make them fit properly. While this means you can wear them for hours without a migraine from the pressure on your skull they are not as accommodating to the shape of some ears. The brackets are adjustable to a point but I really had to fiddle with them to find the sweet spot. I wear these at the office instead of my full size cans and I love them. I wear reading glasses sometimes and I have not had a problem with the hangers on the phones interfering with my glasses. Just put on the earphones and adjust them, then put on your glasses and let the earpiece sit on top.

A couple of words if you're considering the less expensive ATH-EM7's. I bought a pair of the EM7's for my daughter and they sound good, but they're not in the same class in regards to sound and comfort. This is not one of those audiophile improvements where you spend 100% more for a 5% improvement in sound, the sound is easily 100% improved over the EM7's. Don't take me wrong, the EM7's are great little cans for the $50 range and the build quality of both cans is excellent. The pads on the EW9's are much larger and softer, helping them achieve a better seal on your ear and giving more comfort. Neither of these are a good choice for active sports since they have to hang on your ear just right if they are to sound their best. If you can justify the money I would definitely recommend the EW9's.

moves earphones to a whole new level
on your ear headphones
i like a sharp defined image and these guys deliver
cymbals shimmer, attack of the note is instant
sounds like live music, amazing value right now
kicks my senns and older tdk cans off the table
like them better than the earbud style
ringing and cord noise is not an issue
if you know where the music lives you will dig these "lil fellas

I use earphones mostly when walking so when my old Sonys quit, I decided to upgrade and bought a pair of Sennheiser HD 238, which I love. However, it gets pretty cold up here and I needed something I can wear under my earflaps. Since I love the Sennheiser sound, I went for the Sennheiser CX 300 II earbuds. I hated them. They fell out and the only way to get a decent sound was to push and hold them in my ears. So, I looked into clip-ons and came to the Audio-Technica ATH-EWS9. The minute I put them on, I knew I had made a mistake. I found the sound to be too crisp, overly bright and cold; the soundstage is flat; the bass is adequate but not great. I'm no youngster and was not brought up on tinny earbuds and computer speakers. I like a well-balanced, warm sound with decent but not booming bass, a full mid-range and sharp but not cold highs. Still, I had heard of burn-in and, although I have never believe in it [I think its the brain that burns in and not the phones], I decided to see. However, after about three weeks, one on the adjustable ear clips froze up. I didn't want to force it and take a chance of breaking it, so I returned them.
So, I expanded my search beyond Amazon and found the Yuin G2A for about $50. There is also a G1A for about $150 but the reviews said they're not worth the extra $100 AND they need an amplifier. So, I bought the G2As and they are great. The sound is close to the Sennheiser - a full mid-range warm sound with sharp highs and decent bass, AND they are adequately powered by my old 80GB I-pod.
I would have given them 4 stars since my sound preferences are personal and I know other people have found them great. However, they lost another star for cheap plastic ear clip construction.