i think FC700 doesn't comes with a pouch, sad to say.
hard case would be better for protection (much solid) but carries weight. can try to ask Akabane about it, he's bringing in AT pouch as well.

oh sorry mate overlooked that FC700's foldability is not like ES7's. soft pouch like the one for M50 would be good, coz M50 also folded similar to FC700.

1) the SQ is said to be directly proportional with the price for it. if ur budget can get AD700, go for it.
2 & 3) AD series (excluding the premium 1000 & 2000) sounds good even without amp, so I guess you can save it for that.

I personally dont really like SJ series as I find it's sounding much inferior compared to the M series.
bump up a little budget to RM 220 for M30 via Akabane@DrJackel in the bulk. a balanced headphone it is.

hey man congrats on getting M50! usually u pair it with that source? computer or MP3 player? usually I would set the volume at (13/100) for computer while (11/30) on Sony Walkman. doesn't really need to crank up the vol too loud for it.

hmm.... try to play around with the settings and see which suits you the best? anyway, I don't think AD700 will sounded good under multiple channel as it's not 5.1 headphone.

nice shiny red FC700 there.

hahah I do think of getting ES7 too, heard it's sound signature is different than M50 so ought to try out.
they said that ES7 will shines when paired up with a decent amp though.

ES7 can still do well without amp, but just if u want the best in it, amp is needed.... some earphones do have similar issues too, such as the few higher end AT IEMs.

anyway, if not mistaken M50 is made in Taiwan as well. somehow I'd prefer products made in Twn rather than Chn. of course, made in Jpn is the best but it's quite pricey.

I noticed diff region carries same model but manufactured in diff places though. higher-end ones, such as the Wood series, are all made in Jpn.

hmm.... for IEM that performs at another higher level, usually needs amping. for example those Westone or Senn IE8 etc. I haven't try it before but from what I read, those high-end IEMs sounded just decent without amp, unable to bring out the best of it.
same goes for headphones, at least for headphones there're the mid-end choices which still performs pretty well without amp.

@PCWork
wow this is the first time I heard ES5 outdone ES7! I thought ES7 itself is already a remarkable headphone, who knows the little bro of it performs better? O_o
anyway, how's the soundstage of ES5 & ES7?

Bluetin seems to be a legit site, as some forumers here got their Audio Technica from there.

here's my M50 pics.


sorry this pic abit blur.


if not mistaken my unit is made in Taiwan, got it from Akabane.

I got it from Akabane in January for RM 600, while there's a promo.

yeap hah, one of the reason why I made the move is bcoz of the promo price.

it's within RM 500 but kinda unlikely to bring it back coz I dunno when I'll be going back to KL. sorry.

hmm.... this is interesting, although both are from the same series but comes in diff signature. O_o

AD or A series are good in terms of comfort, cushion padding instead of leather (which sweats easily).
not sure bout ES7 though, if not mistaken it's leather-padded.

---

Added on September 9, 2009, 5:39 pmAD or A series are good in terms of comfort, cushion padding instead of leather (which sweats easily).
not sure bout ES7 though, if not mistaken it's leather-padded.

This post has been edited by CLF: Sep 9 2009, 05:39 PM

ESW9 is not the top of the line for portable AT, there's the limited edition ESW10 Japan.




if not mistaken it's selling around 40k~50k JPY, converted to RM is more than RM 1k.

This post has been edited by CLF: Sep 12 2009, 02:00 PM

according to Akabane his price is fixed because the price is controlled by the Audio Technica SEA region office (Singapore-based) so after converting it's more expensive than the others.

ur family can hear what u're listening from the AD700 if they stand close to u.
another alternative with good isolation would be M50, see whether it fits ur budget or not.

Dont let the price blinded your choices and priority.
in this case, I think both M50 and AD700 would be satisfying for normal users, so now is down to which fits your preference better.

since you prefer noise-isolation, so the M50 would be the better choice to AD700.

don't really have the chance by trying out W1k and W5k, but sounded great on jazz. That's what I normally heard from the display units.

from AD300 to A500 eh.... interesting question.
not sure bout the SQ or soundstage, but u wont need to worry bout waking up others since A500 is a closed can, which means the outside cant hear u (and u cant hear that much from outside too).

good to see things are working out nicely for the M'sia Audio Technica shop & website.

anyway, new purchase today. ATH-ANC3 Quiet Point.





Price drop from 12,800 yen to 9,980 yen. After deduct some points I ended up paying just 5,980 yen (~RM 226) for it.

Still kinda excited with it, burning in + listening to it now. Compared to by Mylarone Bijou 4 this ANC3 sounded better in certain parts less than few hours into burning in.
Good thing the earphone can work without the battery (to enable NC) so can just use it like another usual earphone.

My third Audio Technica, yeah!!

This post has been edited by CLF: Oct 10 2009, 09:04 PM

Bought from Bic Camera at Yuraku-cho, Tokyo.

yep it is. anyway the eartips are comfortable enough to isolate some noise just by plugging in the earphone itself.
haven't test out the NC yet coz quite quiet here, need to have some noise or sound only can hear the difference.