Here at Mindisc we want to start off the new year with a bang, so for our first video of
2020, I wanted to show you this: the ATH-WP900, which is, I think, the best headphone that
Audio Technica has released in years.
When I first heard the WP900, I immediately wanted a pair, and now after more than a month
of listening to both our store demo and my own personal pair, my impressions are still
overwhelmingly positive.
So let’s just get right into the good stuff.
With its lustrous wooden cups, the WP900 follows in the footsteps of Audio Technica’s other
portables like the ESW990H, though in this case the WP900 is a larger design where the
earpads fit around the ears rather than on top of them.
The WP900 is made in Japan, and in particular the maple wood earcups have been finished
by a local guitar manufacturer, which explains the distinctive flame maple look.
Besides just looking attractive, I find the design supremely comfortable - the WP900 is
light weight, it fits securely, and is one of the few headphones where the headband makes
contact along every point of the top of my head.
Now I can wear the WP900 for hours with no discomfort, though if you have larger ears,
something closer to a full sized headphone like the AP2000TI might be more comfortable.
The WP900 comes with both 3.5mm unbalanced and 4.4mm balanced cables, and these attach
via Audio Technica’s proprietary, but as far as we have seen, very reliable, A2DC connector.
The balanced cable isn’t strictly necessary as the WP900 is fairly easy to drive, and
I’ve enjoyed the headphone out of everything from my Sony ZX300, to an iPhone dongle, to
a Chord Hugo 2.
And when I say enjoyed, I really do mean enjoyed, because the WP900 is one of the most delightfully
tuned headphones I’ve heard in a while.
Now because this is Audio Technica, of course we start with a forward upper midrange that
emphasises female vocalists and stringed instruments.
Unlike with other Audio Technica releases like the AP2000Ti though, the WP900 doesn’t
tend towards as much harshness and sibilance.
There IS a narrow peak somewhere between 9 and 12k that tends to pick up some sizzle
on some tracks, but for me this headphone rides the knife edge in delivering detail
and airiness without going overboard.
I think anyone who likes Grado mids, will find a lot to like in the WP900’s natural
sense of detail and energy.
But unlike a Grado, and unlike even most Audio Technicas, the WP900 also delivers a fun,
thumping bass line.
There is a bit of a mid-bass hump around 100hz, but the 53mm carbon coated drivers keeps the
bass fast and punchy.
Now something like the Fostex TH610 does a better job of blending bass into a deep, resonant
whole, but there is something really charming about the way the WP900 calls attention to
the lower frequencies with a distinctive bassy kick.
So you can probably tell then, the WP900 is a V-shaped headphone, and the lower midrange
is somewhat recessed, which is probably my biggest criticism of the signature: it tends
to rob male vocalists of presence and richness.
But still, I find the overall tuning works fantastically with everything from quiet acoustic
and jazz, to thumping electronic, to 70s rock.
And for such a compact portable design, soundstaging is not shabby either.
While the WP900 won’t blow you away with the sense of scale and space found in larger
closed headphones, it still sounds natural and uncongested.
This may be due in part to Audio Technica’s decision to steeply angle the drivers of the
WP900 within the earcup.
No headphone is perfect, and even though I think the WP900 sounds fantastic and the best
all-rounder out of all of Audio Technica’s higher end releases, I still wouldn’t recommend
it for people who are after an easy listening headphone for hours and hours, and for every
genre.
The sound is energetic, and in your face, and at the same time it pulls off the natural
midrange that anyone who likes Japanese headphones will love.
And, unlike so many other higher end headphones out there, it does it in a compact, portable
design.
So I’ll give the WP900 my personal seal of approval, but we’d love to know what
you think - rest assured, if you come to the store, I’ll probably get you to try these.
This is Lachlan for MinidiscTV, and from everyone here at Minidisc, Happy New Year!