I just bought a pair of Audio Technica ATH-W1000 phones. I had read a few reports that were a bit mixed, so one of my true motivations was the beautiful wood cups. Actually, they sound pretty good. Not much in the way of deep bass, but a bit of a bump in the midbass, so pop that has heavier synth or bass lines, sounds pretty good anyway. Wide soundstage, but not particularly deep The midrange is clear and the highs just a bit toward the crisp side without emphasizing sibilants. IOW...more toward the fun end of the spectrum than neutral.
What really surprised me was how the sound changed when I put a bit of padding behind the earpads. (they were a little flat...or squashed down from use) I put it in there to keep my ears from touching the drivers and with a bit of padding the comfort was great. What changed the most, was the sound. The bass was deeper and louder throughout. Almost a bit much, in fact. The lowest bass was still not there...but the bass from guitars, and tympani took on almost a "big hall" or reverberant quality. I was not prepared for how much the sound changed from about 3/8" of extra depth in the cup.
So...reduced the padding by half, ears still off the drivers and loving these things hooked to a headroom supreme driven by a logitech transporter.
Hibuck....
