Thoughts on the ATH-SQ5

[edsamac]

Any thoughts on the ATH-SQ5?  I recall auditioning these back when I visited Japan, and these were one of the HPs that actually caught my attention.  I just recently saw them selling this particular model in the Fully Booked at Bonifacio High Street, hence why I wanted to ask if anyone's tried it.  I've been thinking about making this a recommendation to a friend of mine who's looking for a comfortable, relatively mid-priced set of cans to upgrade his current listening tools.

From what I recall, these cans are very comfortable despite their shape.  The lengthwise design of the ear cups actually fits quite nicely even around very wide ear shapes, and it has enough wiggle room inside of it to keep from pinching the ends of your ears.  SQ-wise, I recall it had a characteristically AT style bias towards the mids, with a decent lick of high and generous lows.  It also comes in enough colors to suit anyone's tastes - but personally, I liked the red.

It was selling for about 7,000Php, so yeah - it's pretty much up there.  Would like to hear what other people had to say about this set of cans.


*insert obligatory headphone musume picture here:*

(Gotta love Atsuya Uki's style. )

[spectre]

I tried one a couple of months back at Astrovision V-mall. For me, it sounded a suitable for critical listening. It sounded a bit flat for my taste as nothing stands out. As for comfort, I only tried it for about 15 minutes or so but I find it quite comfortable and light. Cables felt flimsy but the headphone itself felt well-built. I hope this helps.

[Azathoth]

The local price of this in retail outlets has dropped to Php 5,999 - there's a unit available for audition at Automatic Centre Glorietta 4. They're quite comfortable on the ears (circumaural for me) with light clamping force. I wasn't too impressed by the sound, as the mids sounded a tad thin and not rich enough for my tastes. That's something of a common ground across most of the lower-end AT's I've tried, and also for the ATH-AD700. The somewhat plasticky timbre was also a minus point.

On the positive side, they are very resolving and have a relatively quick attack speed, plus I didn't hear the usual flaw of too much bass bloat that plagues a lot of closed headphones.

[edsamac]

The local price of this in retail outlets has dropped to Php 5,999 - there's a unit available for audition at Automatic Centre Glorietta 4. They're quite comfortable on the ears (circumaural for me) with light clamping force. I wasn't too impressed by the sound, as the mids sounded a tad thin and not rich enough for my tastes. That's something of a common ground across most of the lower-end AT's I've tried, and also for the ATH-AD700. The somewhat plasticky timbre was also a minus point.

On the positive side, they are very resolving and have a relatively quick attack speed, plus I didn't hear the usual flaw of too much bass bloat that plagues a lot of closed headphones.

Thanks for the input.  Surprised to hear the mids didn't deliver as hoped.  I'll try to see if I can re-audition them when I have the time.

[gerard.canada]

As a starter, I bought this from a friend for a very good price. Considering this an entry level HP I really don't have a high hopes on this. I bought this for me to get to the groove of loving HP's. I'm planning to pair this with a good amp/dac, As per my friend Layan recommended me FIIO E7 to go with. Soon i might pass this to my sister for her iTouch and hopefully get a DT-880 (if the budget is right - hopefully E7 + E9 coz my budget is really tight). As for the SQ, after hearing other cans from my friends, this really lacks bass and i agree with spectre above, nothing really stands out.

For Me..
Pros:
Comfortable
Lightweight
Good Choice for starters like me.

Cons:
Flimsy Cable
Squeaky Sound on the plastic when your head turns.
Lacks Bass

[Layan]

Good impression Gerard. Just get the E7 Dac/Amp. SQ5 dont require lots of power to drive it. Your safe with E7 as you can upgrade it later for E7 and E9 combo.

Congrats on the SQ5.

[edsamac]

I recently got to re-listen to these, and I kinda agree with the general impressions at this point.  They seemed a bit dry and "impersonal" to me, as if I wasn't really getting into the music I was listening to.  Comfort-wise, though, they're just as I remembered they were.

It'd be nice to hear impressions on what they sound like after getting a boost from the E7.  I'm sure it'll benefit largely from the base boost features of the said amp, and the mids might get a little warmer as well.