ATH-ESW9A Portable Wooden Headphones
Wooden housings made of African Padauk not only look great—they contribute to the superior acoustic reproduction that these beautiful headphones offer. Audio-Technica’s specially designed 42 mm neodymium drivers project powerfully. Luxurious earpads deliver long-wearing comfort. The headphones fold flat for compact storage.- Wooden housings made of African Padauk for superior acoustic reproduction
- Specially designed 42 mm drivers deliver outstanding audio
- Soft leather earpads for a luxurious, extra-comfortable listening experience
- Headphones fold flat for compact portability
- Includes protective pouch
| Driver Diameter | 42 mm |
| Frequency Response | 5 - 35,000 Hz |
| Maximum Input Power | 1000 mW |
| Sensitivity | 103 dB/mW |
| Impedance | 42 ohms |
| Weight | 170 g (6.0 oz) without cable |
| Cable | 1.2 m (4 ft), single, OFC |
| Connector | 3.5 mm (1/8") mini stereo, gold-plated |
| Accessory Included | Pouch |
| WARRANTIES | ||
|---|---|---|
Conditions
ATH-ESW9A Portable Wooden Headphones
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Portable Luxury
If other headphones were kinds of jackets, these headphones would be the silky red smoking jacket worn by a man who has many leather bound books and whose house smells like rich mahogany.
The ESW9A's are portable headphones in a class by itself. These are my go to portable headphones if I am anywhere but home. Comfortable, beautiful, and with audiophile grade audio, it's honestly no contest.
These headphones have traveled all over the country with me, on buses and planes. They conveniently fold flat and come with a soft carrying case. I keep mine in Audiotechnica's AT-HPP5 hard case.
Just like the dark wooden cups and leather pads, they have a engaging dark silky smooth sound, very different than Audiotechnica's usual sound which is more favorable to female vocals and classical music. Everything, including the bass is very full and engaging.
Because of this, the ESW9A's are wonderful for almost any genre of music you can throw at it. Some Auditechnica headphones are best suited for a few genre's of music but these are one of the exceptions. Modern rock and punk, rap and hip hop, even electric music sounds great. If you're looking for even heavier bass though, these classy cans wouldn't be for you- I'd check out the Audiotechnica's M50's or even the PRO700MK2's if the bass on the M50's weren't enough for you.
As any classy piece of equipment as this, one has to be careful not to scratch the wooden cups- they're somewhat glossy and are prone to scratches. The cable is also quite thin and not shielded and should be watched after carefully. If you're clumsy or rough on your equipment there are other Audiotechnica headphones that you may pair better with.
At one point, I absentmindedly broke my cable and the professionals at Audio Technica were very friendly and easy to work with and I had my headphones back no worse for wear before I knew it.
October 22, 2011
Beatiful in looks and function
I will admit, I was a sucker for these when I first saw them way back when... I mean, wood, portable? I was ready to buy them without even trying them or reading reviews. Luckily my patience in holding off, due to being a poor college student, paid off. I got to go to Tokyo, and while there, got to give these guys a test run. I was sold.
They are beautiful to look at, the leather and wood work so well together.
Everything about the sound of these, I love. I am coming from using the AKG K701s and AD700s for home listening and the Etymotic ER4Ps for everything else. I decided these would be the in between when I don't want to use any of those. So, these sit in my laptop bag so I can use them at home then again at work.
The bass on these are nice and sweat, something I wasn't ready for, coming from the headphones previously listed. Unfortunately, the bass is not without fault, though. These handle 90% of the music I listen to well, but when it comes to some of them metal (any song by Black Witchery or Blasphemy are not going to go well on these, and probably 99% of the other headphones out there)I listen to, the bass is just to "slow" and sort of muddle together. But give it a nice Opeth song like "Face of Melinda" or Tiesto's "Elements of Life" and these shine beautifully.
The treble on these are nice change of pace from my other headphones, they're not as pronounced but they're not too subdued, either. The mid levels, feel perfect something like Mazzy Star's "Into Dust" or Sunn o)))/Boris' "Sinking Belle" sound amazing coming through these.
All in all, I would recommend these to someone looking for beautiful headphones that also sound great.
October 21, 2011
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(2 Questions : 3 Answers)
Product Q&A
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Is this a noise-isolating headphones or is it open-back design?
1 year, 7 months ago
Answers
Answer:Â
The back of these headphones are wooden cups, and beautiful ones at that, so they are closed back.This isolates noise to a degree, but these sit on the ear, rather than circumaural, so there is passive noise cancellation but not a huge degree of it.
Generally the ESW9A's are good for airplanes and those kind of environment but any noisier than that and you may want to look into a close back circumaural solution or actual active noise cancelling headphones which AT also markets.
Age:Â 18-24
User Type:Â Other
Experience:Â Pro
1 year, 7 months ago
Answer:Â
Thank you for your inquiry. These are closed back headphones, so they do provide some level of "passive" noise isolation, although we do not provide a spec for that.Age:Â 45-54
Experience:Â Pro
1 year, 7 months ago
by
Stow, OH
Additional information about AudioSolutionsManager could not be loaded.
I love these headphones, which I purchased thru Amazon on 7/31/2011. I'm a heads-down coder, so I wear them about 5 hours a day.
A few days ago, I went to slide the right phone off my ear and the headband snapped, right where the swivel is exposed. What is the proper strategy for getting myself listening to these phones again? Warranty? Replacement part? Epoxy?
Thanks,
Rick
A few days ago, I went to slide the right phone off my ear and the headband snapped, right where the swivel is exposed. What is the proper strategy for getting myself listening to these phones again? Warranty? Replacement part? Epoxy?
Thanks,
Rick
Age:Â 45-54
User Type:Â Other
Experience:Â Amateur
8 months ago
Answers
Answer:Â
Thank you for your inquiry. Please contact our service department at 330-686-2600 option 4. They can help with this.Age:Â 45-54
Experience:Â Pro
8 months ago
by
Stow, OH
Additional information about AudioSolutionsManager could not be loaded.
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ATH-ESW9A : Portable Wooden Headphones
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ATH-ESW9A Portable Wooden Headphones
