As your local ATOWF die-hard member, I guess I'll have to bring this up. Not that it's special or anything. Just something worth looking at. The pictures, that are.

Worth buying if you have globs of money to play with. (Many people do tend to enjoy the ES7.)

http://www.audio-technica.co.jp/products/hp/ath-esw9.html

I do enjoy the ES7, but those look nice with the wood

Wheres thee leather lebowski

I have globs of money, but they're mostly ones...and they're wrinkled, and sometimes if I've had Chinese recently, they stick together.

Seriously: how much?

37,800.00 JPY = 327.301 USD

Japan Yen US Dollars

37,800.00 JPY = 327.301 USD

Japan Yen US Dollars

Too rich for my blood, especially for a pair of portable cans.

woody and portable shouldnt mix in my book

woody and portable shouldnt mix in my book

There's that, too.

Other than the (stupid) 1/8" connector they don't look portable in my book. For whatever reason my head keeps getting thrown off on the scale of them but once I get readjusted those wood cups seem pretty freaken huge.

They're marketed as portable with foldable earcups.

Nate, tell me how you really feel about 1/8" connectors. LOL.

Speaking of stupid connectors, how's your Equation can doing, Nate?

Speaking of stupid connectors, how's your Equation can doing, Nate?

It's got a serious channel imbalance problem so until I can call customer support (they don't do email ) they've been banished to their box.

Audio-Technica definitely has a target consumer in mind with this one. It's a great headphone for people who work in offices and have some money to spend on an expensive toy. It has a small plug for computers, laptops, and digital audio players. The wood provides a taste of elegance and style. The headphone isn't very big so you can still take it to and from work and/or store it in a drawer. Also, listening to music on the go isn't specifically widespread for the older generation, so the wood != portable issue is less of an issue than we might initially believe.

Too rich for my blood, especially for a pair of portable cans.

Yeah a little to rich for my blood. I might be able to spring for a W100 with that money, but I'm happy with the W5000 ATM.

Will the wood affect the sound, or will the ESW9 sound the same as the ES7?

Why does everyone seem to think they're just ES7's with wood cups?

Because of AT's tendency to do just that?

Because of AT's tendency to do just that?

When?

always? never?

Near? Far?

Near? Far?

Where ever you are.

FWIW, the specs on ESW9's are different from the ones for ES7's.

How?

The ESW9s are great for acoustic music and vocals. I would not think they are so good with congested music, heavy on the distortion and hard rock like sounds.

Watch out there Nanaoha. Whats this shit about the older generation dude. I'm an old fart (54 and still rock'n) and all of my cans are portable. I stumbled into this portable craze at the age of 53 and went apeshit the last year. Wife just shakes her head and frowns but who gives a shit. Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks.

Watch out there Nanaoha. Whats this shit about the older generation dude. I'm an old fart (54 and still rock'n) and all of my cans are portable. I stumbled into this portable craze at the age of 53 and went apeshit the last year. Wife just shakes her head and frowns but who gives a shit. Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks.

Wait, you're calling me out because you do not agree with a generalization I made? Did I say anything that would logically offend you?

"Also, listening to music on the go isn't specifically widespread for the older generation, so the wood != portable issue is less of an issue than we might initially believe."

I fail to see how that statement would offend anyone, including adults who do listen to music on the go (for example, my grandfather). It's the truth about the majority not only here in America but more importantly in Audio-Technica's target market - Japan.

I'm rather confused here.