Audio Technica ATH-ES7

I've had these for over 6 months now and have been increasingly happy with them.

I was originally looking for an upgrade to my pair of AKG K350's and was looking for another closed back headphone. Richer HiFi had a pair in black; so I gave them a quick listen; and was sold pretty much right away.

On getting them home; I felt the bass was slightly slow; maybe a bit muddy and overblown. The midrange and treble I thought very lifelike; concert recordings had a very 'live' feel; I think because these headphone were accurate and fast enough to reproduce the random noise from the environment, which is enough to trick your brain into becoming immersed into the world of the recording.

With time, these headphones have sounded better and better; opinion may be divided as to whether the burn-in process is a physical phenomena (of the playback equipment used) or a mental one (of the listening equipment used); either way, I've enjoyed these headphones more and more.

Actually I think a good argument could be made for the process being a physical one; at least where headphones are concerned. The plastics used for the drivers and the supports could well outgas plasticisers over time; changing their rigidity and so affecting the sound. Given the mechanics of a headphone are pretty small; any change; however tiny, could affect the sound... Thats my argument anyway!

Part of the problem I had with the bass is down to the recordings anyway; I think there's been a real change over the past 10ish years or so. I beleive engineers are putting more (in my opinion too much) bass into the mix. I reckon its since ear-bud headphone took off in popularity due to the ipod revolution. Those extra few dbs in the mix help  make up for the losses from those type of headphones.

So these headphones are easily good enough to show differences in recording quality; you absolutely need good quality mps; 128Kb ones aren't good enought. I've taken to listening to FLAC's on my old Nokia N900 phone running Rockbox.

It also sounds good from my ipad with Apples new high quality 'music matched' mp3s.

The sound leakage out of the headphones is quite small; not really audible in busy environments; but you'll be heard by the person next to you in bed if you turn up the volume past 50%.

Sound isolation is not so good; maybe it cuts ambient noise by about half; so on the bus; you'll still hear quite a bit of noise.

The sound seems to open up at about the 60% volume mark to my ears. Certainly at low volumes; you'll be encouraged to turn it up. 

I find the soundstage with these pretty good; to be fair I've never owned a good pair of open-back headphones; but I've had numerous moments of recordings creating an out of my head (hee hee) soundstage.

As to the rest of the sound; its seems pretty accurate to me; at the same time as being fun; which actually may mean 'I can hear everything; but the frequency response is not flat'. I've listened to some Senheiser headphones; which again I can hear the music; but found them to be uninspiring... Its a personal choice; and its possible you'll like something that doesn't have a flat frequency response.

I've heard things in recordings I've never heard before; thats always a good feature in a new piece of hardware; you get a free new music collection.

Comfort; not so good. These sit on yours ears (unless I suppose you have very small ears) and the pressure is quite tight. (which it needs to be to get a good seal). With time this wears off and they become more comfortable. I left my tower computer case (about 16cms wide) wearing them for a few days; which I think helped.

I'd recommend them; but try if you can. Take the best quality music and player you have though!

I have the black ones and think they are more stunning and impressive.

I have also noticed a substantial increase in midrange resolution after break-in.

These headphones amaze me,

but I still curious about:

beyerdynamicdt1350

senheiser hd25 mmkii

v-moda m80

as they are also same on-ear style top performers.

Stupid comments in the review around looks - these are easily available in black and look absolutely beautiful.  My pair fit like a glove and produce fantastic sound too, so for the price these are a complete no-brainer.

Are you a member of the trade by any chance Alan?

About ten words in a whole review, AlanNorak? Oh well, keep swiping away...

Why play up the colour and finish so much when they are also available in all black? It adds a negative to the review which is unjustified.