Audio Technica ATH-AWKT review

Audio Technica ATH-AWKT

Sound Quality 

 

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Right from the get-go, it’s apparent that the ATH-AWKT is an extremely neutral, detailed pair of headphones with a very lean timbre that emphasises clarity and transparency. Lovers of finesse and nuance will appreciate the ATH-AWKT’s articulate, nimble technicalities and ability to deliver incredible insight into your music. Bass-heads, and those who appreciate a laid-back, organic experience will probably find the ATH-AWKT dry, cold, and lacking in impact. 

Their unique voicing means that the ATH-AWKT is an absolute master of genres that favour detail and instrumental texture – in particular classical, jazz, and acoustic rock. While the ATH-AWKT certainly acquits itself well right across the board, naturally it’s less suited to EDM and Hip Hop. 

A spin of the classic Warren G/Nate Dogg track ‘Regulate’ proves the ATH-AWKT’s bass to be fast and well extended, but heard rather than felt. At first, I thought the ATH-AWKT had a fairly flat monitor-like response, but after a good week of listening to it solely, I began to appreciate the genuinely lovely bass texture that it’s able to render – especially stringed bass. The fast plucking of the bass in Destroyer’s ‘Forces From Above’ contrasts beautifully with the bowed strings which have awesome texture and realism. 

 

Almost as if it’s taken its cue from its instrumental ‘Kokutan’ wood, the ATH-AWKT recreates instrumental tone in an incredibly transparent and unique way. The decay and resonance in Bob Reynold’s lead sax in ‘Sway’ is absolutely bang-on, but the micro-detail is simply flooring. Not only are you able to hear the nuance in every note, but you’re also able to hear his breathing and intonation like you’re in the front row of a small club. His whole ‘Quartet’ album was a treat on the ATH-AWKT. 

I’m not a huge classical music fan, but an unusual thing happened while listening to the ATH-AWKT – I accidentally clicked on an album in Roon and I kept auto-playing track after track of classical music – it was that good. You see, the ATH-AWKT has a way of recreating stringed music in particular that makes it feel hyper-real – in good recordings, you simply feel…there. While it doesn’t have an overly vast, diffuse soundstage, the ATH-AWKT does give you the sense that you are in a ‘room’ at times (as opposed to say, a concert hall), with the various sections of the orchestra laid-out around you in an intimate concert. 

One aspect of the ATH-AWKT’s sound quality that needs to be called out is its speed. Its ability to resolve fast transients and articulate fast, complex passages is almost planar-like at times. ‘What a Day That Was’ from Talking Head’s excellent live album/film ‘Stop Making Sense’ is a super-complex mix of hammering toms, multiple vocal parts and fast guitar, and the ATH-AWKT separates each part with absolute clarity, space and perfect rhythm. While it’s a hyper-detailed presentation, there’s never a hint of fatigue – I could happily play album after album with these. Nirvana’s live rendition of ‘Oh Me’ didn’t yield so much as a hint of sibilance, as it tends to with overly hot cans. 

While the ATH-AWKT proved itself to be quite the instrumental master, I didn’t find that it was able to reproduce vocals with quite the same believability or texture, particularly male vocals. There seemed to be a bit of extra energy around 5kHz, which coupled with a lack of density in the mid-range made voices feel dry and thin at times, which was the case in ‘The Boy With The Thorn In His Side’ from The Smiths. 

Vs Focal Stellia

Focal’s closed-back flagship is an altogether different cup of tea, with big, speaker-like dynamics and lashings of bass impact. The ATH-AWKT was able to give me the most transparent, insightful listen of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s ‘Tin Pan Alley’ that I’ve ever experienced – I was almost able to visualise SRV’s fretwork the detail was that good, and the decay and reverb were flawless. While the tungsten drivers of the Audio Technica made me feel like I was ‘there’, the beryllium drivers of the Stellia plants you in front a movie screen on a beanbag with a glass of red wine – it’s decadent and cozier and reminds you of that bass you’ve been ‘missing’, but it’s ultimately less resolving. 

Vs. ZMF Eikon

The cherry wood ZMFs are probably more of a philosophical match for the Audio Technica closed-backs, but they go about playback in a totally different way, aiming for an incredibly natural, organic and musical tone. Nick Cave’s ‘Ghosteen’ feels positively veiled on the Eikon after hearing it with the air, detail and space of the ATH-AWKT. The Eikon simply can’t recreate individual tracks with the same crisp definition of the Audio Technica, but counters with a more natural, liquid mid-range and sub-bass heft. 

Vs ATH-ADX5000

While I don’t have the Audio Technica open-backed flagships in the house at the moment, I have reviewed them in detail in the past and have a good point of reference for my thoughts on them. the ATH-AWKT delivers similar levels of detail and resolution in the treble, however not with the same sense of spaciousness and air as the ADX5000. Bass impact is perhaps slightly in favour of the open-backed Audio Technica, but what pulls the ADX5000 ahead – for me – is its tonal balance, linearity and coherent sound signature. By comparison, the slight unevenness in the mid-range and lack of tonal mass in the ATH-AWKT makes it feel less ‘correct’ across multiple genres of music.

Amping and power requirements 

At 48 ohms impedance and 102dB/mW sensitivity, the ATH-AWKT is both fairly easy to drive, and thankfully non-picky when it comes to amplifier pairings. In terms of power requirements, it definitely required a slightly higher dose of gain over the very-easy-to-drive 32 ohm Meze 99 Classic and Grado PS500e, but I wasn’t able to get past 9 o’clock on both the Questyle CMA600i and the new Schiit Asgard 3 high gain mode without it becoming uncomfortably loud.

Despite its form-factor and huge cable not making it an ideal pairing, the ATH-AWKT is easily driven by portable sources. The Chord Mojo was a terrific pairing, not giving up anything in terms of grip, impact nor frequency response over the desktop amps with the volume set to ‘double red’. Astell&Kern’s SA700 also performed admirably, pushing the ATH-AWKT superbly at 100/150 volume increments. 

One slightly unorthodox pairing I actually quite enjoyed was with my Bottlehead Crack + Speedball OTL tube amplifier hooked-up to my Rega Planar 2 turntable with my NAD 3020e serving as a phono pre-amp in-between. The high output impedance of the Crack (around 70 ohms with the 5998 Tung-Sol power tube) isn’t exactly an ideal match on paper for the low impedance Audio Technica, but it sounded absolutely brilliant to my ears, adding a smidgen of bloom to the bass region that was actually quite tasteful and enjoyable. 

Conclusion

The ATH-AWKT is never going to be chosen by an out-and-out ‘objectivist’ – it’s been crafted in such a way as to appeal to your sense of sight, smell, and touch in addition to the way it sounds. Its appeal is very much an emotional one and will be appreciated by those who appreciate finesse, tactility and detail – in terms of both its sonic character and the way it has been put together. I did find I had some comfort questions (which might not be relevant to you), but the only real let-down with the ATH-AWKT was with the microphonics from the supplied cables. 

Audio Technica has certainly created a musical instrument in the ATH-AWKT, and given its price, it definitely needs to be considered an ‘heirloom’ one at that. Lovers of jazz, classical, or instrumental music, in particular, will be spoiled rotten listening to these (and looking at them) for years into the future.

4.2/5 - (43 votes)
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Hailing from Sydney's eastern beaches, Matty runs his own beer business, 'Bowlo Draught', as well as working in creative advertising. When he's not enjoying his hifi and vinyl collection at home, he can probably be found rolling-up on the green at his beloved Bondi Bowling Club.

4 Comments

  • Reply April 27, 2020

    Sp12er

    at least they package the balanced cable in now unlike ADX5000 where people had to buy em.

    • Reply April 28, 2020

      Matty Graham

      That’s definitely true mate. The asking price for the balanced cable on top of the flagship asking price for the ADX5000 is pretty steep.

  • Reply July 29, 2020

    Igor

    How does it compare with ATH-W5000 or ATH-W1000x/W1000z?

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