Review Audio Technica ATH-SR9. Great sounding headphones, but...

What is the Audio Technica ATH-SR9?

The Audio Technica ATH-SR9 is a member of the company’s ‘Sound Reality’ series of headphones. The range exists in part because Audio Technica takes the concept of home headphones very seriously indeed. Models we have looked at like the ATH- A2000Z are built with developments like the ‘floating headband’ that are extremely comfortable but render them almost completely useless for use out and about. The ‘Sound Reality’ series is roughly analogous with the ‘Nomad’ headphone that many other brands have made very solid business from in recent years.

The SR9 is noteworthy for a few other reasons. The other member of the range that we have looked at is the MSR-7 which proved to be a very capable all-rounder indeed and one that delivers performance that was pretty impressive when tested at £200 (and it has since come down in price) so seeing what the company can do with double the budget is going to be interesting. The other is that if you take a look at the rest of the Sound Reality range, you can see that the industrial design of the SR9 is extremely close to the DSR9 which is an active Bluetooth based design. Does the SR9 deliver on its potential to be the ultimate Nomad?

IN THE BOX

ATH-SR9

In the box along with the ATH-SR9 over-ear headphone you’ll find a very nice carrying case along with 2 wires. Both wires implement Audio Technica’s “Audio Designed Detachable Coaxial” style connection to the headphone itself and feed to a 3.5mm (1/8″) plug. The big difference in the 2 wires is one of them has controls and microphone for smartphones and the other without. Both cables are 1.2m long (3.9′) and the cable without smartphone controls also has an optional 1/4″ adapter attached.

Also, inside the carrying case you’ll find an additional storage case for the cables. In looking at the whole package, the Audio Technica ATH-SR9 has everything you need to keep your headphone looking good and gives you flexible listening options.

Case of Audio Technica ATH-SR9

Style / Design

When I reviewed the MSR-7 I felt it was noteworthy as a design because, by the standards of Audio Technica at least, it was extremely normal. I am a big fan of the company’s full size headphones but will freely admit that the floating headband and other curiosities make for a rather odd experience that you tend either love or hate. The MSR-7 by contrast was completely in keeping with what you might expect a headphone at the price to be. The SR9 is very much in the same spirit and does without much of the idiosyncrasies of the home models.

This means that you get the same relatively shallow enclosures as the MSR-7, that also have deep and relatively generous padding on them. The headband is a conventional horseshoe shaped design which has extending sections on either side, just above the enclosures themselves. It isn’t likely to have the British Design Council dancing in the aisles… but it is extremely comfortable. The weight distribution and tractive force it exerts on the head is pretty much perfect and this is a very easy headphone to wear for long periods. I find having a cable on either side to be more annoying than just one but the clearance between the cable drop from the enclosure and my face is generally high enough to ensure it doesn’t come into contact.

As the cable is effectively bespoke, the good news is that Audio Technica has supplied two of them. The first is a 1.2m unit for use on the move which includes a remote and mic. The second is a 3m unit for use at home for which a quarter inch jack adaptor is supplied. The supplied equipment is finished off with a carry case that is a little large but should serve to keep your SR9s looking minty fresh. One nice touch is the inclusion of a small zip lock cable holder that fits in the carry case and keeps the cable safe. For the most part, you probably won’t detach the cables but if you are storing them for any length of time, it’s a nice touch.

The final welcome aspect of the SR9 is the build. I have noted before that I’ve not encountered a badly made piece of equipment from Audio Technica and the arrival of the SR9 doesn’t change that. The materials used feel solid in the hand and everything has been assembled in a careful and considered way. There are more spectacular looking £400 headphones but the SR9 has a general feeling of quality that is entirely competitive with the asking price.

SR9

Features

The ATH-SR9 headphone features 45mm “True Motion Drivers” with bobbin-wound OFC-7N voice coils. In addition, Audio Technica has employed “Midpoint Mount Technology” in the SR9 headphone which evens out the space in front of and behind each driver to give them more freedom to move inside the housing.

Another feature Audio Technica has added to the ATH-SR9 headphone is detachable cables on each side using their custom A2DC (Audio Designed Detachable Coaxial) connectors. The design is similar to the MMCX standard for many earphones. In using this design, you ensure the left and right audio channels reach the drivers at precisely the same time rather than feeding the signal through one side and over the headband.

SOUND

The SR9 was left to run in for 48 hours before and critical listening took place and having completed this, the performance of the Audio Technica immediately impresses. Key to all Audio Technica products is the balancing of an accurate sound that gives you an unvarnished view of what you are listening to and introducing just enough sweetness to make that material consistently enjoyable. Describing this slight tonal sweetness is tricky because its effect is extremely subtle but it means that if you listen to something wilfully aggressive like the 24/96 download of Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit, then the SR9 keeps the basic fury of the track but manages to alleviate the worst points of compression. This can be defined as the SR9 doing this because the Hugo2 – while superbly capable – has no compulsion in presenting the same track through different headphones in an entirely unflattering way.

Another area of definable but positive character from the SR9 is that it sounds consistently engaging when rhythms and faster time signatures are involved. Despite the drivers being fractionally larger than some similar rivals, there is no sign of any sluggishness or overhang. This means that the loping time signature of Talk Talk’s Happiness is Easy is well captured and pulls you into the music, engaging you on an emotional level rather you sitting there wondering whether Mark Hollis sounds right (he does). At the same time, if you ask the SR9 to play something that doesn’t need this sense of timing like Mark Lanegan and Duke Garwood’s Black Pudding and the SR9 is considered, detailed and utterly beguiling.

Compared to something like the Beyerdynamic T70i, the Audio Technica doesn’t sound as big or forceful but the rhythmic engagement of the SR9 combined with the slightly greater portability gives it a slightly different but no less valid appeal. What is noteworthy is that the Audio Technica is the first closed back design I have tested in a very long time which is able to compete with the Beyerdynamic for general spaciousness even if some of the sheer heft of the T70i is missing. One area where the SR9 is superior though is that it is extremely forgiving when compressed material is used. As an all rounder, the Audio Technica has considerable appeal.

SUMMARY

Audio Technica ATH-SR9

There’s lots of great sounding headphones but there’s something special about the Audio Technica ATH-SR9 in TechnoVolume. It’s comfortable, portable and costs under $450. And I really like the sophisticated look of this headphone too. The sound is balanced with a wide frequency range that reaches out to the upper and lower end of the spectrum. It’s definitely geared toward audiophiles on the go and it probably won’t be for everyone. I’ll also add that this headphone is very true to the mix and doesn’t have heavy bass unless it was mixed and mastered that way. My conclusion is this headphone will likely be a new audiophile home run.

Headphone hunters looking for something new that’s good enough for everyday use as well as home and studio reference quality listening will find the SR9 to be worth the extra money. Truth be told, the Audio Technica ATH-SR9 is one of my favorite new headphones and I might just try to hold on to it a little longer to experience more of its high-fidelity.

Source: https://goo.gl/L6Djyf