The Audio Technica ATH-T500 Headphone Review
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The Audio Technica ATH-T500 is a pair of dynamic closed headphones by Audio Technica. They are branded under the company's T-series line. Still labeled as an audiophile headphone , I personally think that this is the company's attempt to introduce affordable budget audiophile headphones.
Features
One of the wonderful features of Audio Technica headphones is the total absence of sliding headbands, which almost every other headphone brand in the market is having now. Instead, they have two tubular structures to hold the cups apart and a stretchable leather headband, which is located before the tubular structures. This feature is dubbed the soft head support system. Well thanks to the Audio Technica's Japanese innovation, there will no longer be a problem of clipped hairs when wearing headphones. The convenience comes with a price, which is the increased size of the headphones and the inability for it to be stored flat. For people buying a pair of headphones for home usage, this will not be an issue. The cups are circumaural, which means that they rest around the ear as opposed to on the ear. This makes them very comfortable and perfect for hours of usage. Isolation on the ATH-T500 is great, mostly due to the fact that they are circumaural and closed. The headphones have a single sided cord, which is present in many dj headphones although these are instead audiophile headphones. The cord is thick, stiff and of good quality and is 3 m in length, a bit too long but the headphones were meant to be used indoors anyway. The connecter is a 3.5 gold-plated plug and of course with any audiophile headphone, a 6.3mm adaptor too.
The headphones are made of black plastic with a bit of metal used at the cups. The aluminum used at the cups is supposed to help reduce vibration and produce better sound. They are lightweight at only 270g and feel very much made of plastic, but holding them reassures you that they are a pair of solid headphones . Wearing them for the first time, it felt like they were too light to be on my head. I had to shake my head a few times to make sure that they were secure and the soft head support system worked perfectly, the headphone didn't even budge. The ear pads themselves are soft and are covered in faux leather. Due to the material used on the ear pads, they feel extremely comfortable but can get hot on the ears after an hour of usage.
Sound
For the sound of these headphones , they are good at reproducing mids. Vocals are exceptionally clear and they compliment the treble very well. I was listening to Secret Garden with these headphones and I was like "hell yeah, new age is great on these". However, here is a certain lack of punchy bass with these headphones and my guess is that Audio Technica aimed at making these headphones analytical and neutral. The sound has less coloration compared to many other headphones available but they are not laid back. The reason why I would not consider these headphones to have a laid back sound is because the mids and highs really stand out and are quite aggressive. This allows the listener to hear a fair amount of detail from these headphones. Listening to cymbals, these headphones give a nice "ting" to each hit. The soundstage is average as the mids and highs are slightly hard to separate and the bass does not give you that nice thump. The bass is accurate but in my honest opinion, a little extra coloration on the bass would really make my day. An amp should sort that problem out.
Lastly, driving the headphones does not necessarily require an amp; it just depends where the source is from. They will work fine with a computer / laptop, but are not advisable with a portable mp3 device. Since this is not a portable headphone, it should not be a problem as most buyers would use it for home usage, but if you still would want to use it with an iPod, I suggest adding an amp and/or amp DAC combo on your iPod. These good headphones can really suck the juice out of your portable device. An amp will help improve the bass and the overall sound quality of these headphones. Overall, they are a very affordable pair of audiophile headphones with great comfort, a sturdy build and not to mention wonderful detailed and neutral sound.
