Audio-Technica ATH-ESW9 Headphones Review - Intro

The ATH-ESW9s are a sophisticated pair of headphones with a price meant for the upper class. They retail anywhere from $300 to $500, which is toward the high end of the bell curve. Fear not, our blue-blooded reader, the headphones aren't simply an attractive piece of furniture: they have good overall audio quality as well.

Their most impressive quality is their low distortion. On our frequency response test, we found they tend to underemphasize the high-mids and highs, which might lead to vocals sounding a bit underemphasized, and instruments not having as much brilliance as they otherwise would. The headphones also had good tracking and a loud maximum volume. They didn't isolate or control leakage well, which leads us to believe the ATH-ESW9s are best seen as light-weight, at-home headphones rather than something you should bring on your commute.

The only other issue we ran into with the ATH-ESW9s was we thought they were too tight. We recommend you try these on for a while before you decide to keep them, just to ensure you like the fit.