Introduction

The first serious “audiophile” headphone I ever owned was the Audio Technica A900X I bought on a trip to Japan. That was about 10 years ago. While my tastes in audio have changed since then, Audio Technica as a brand still holds a small place in my heart. 

So as we begin 2026 after the launch of their flagship open back ADX7000, I thought we’d take a look at a couple of their last generation high end headphones, the ADX3000 and ADX5000 that come in at $1,100 and $2,200 respectively. This article will focus on the sound of the ADX5000. You can find the review for the ADX3000 here.

Source(s) Used: Ferrum ERCO

Disclaimer: Review units are on loan from Audio Technica.

Build and Comfort

Note: This section is identical for both articles

Unlike the gorgeous lacquered wood designs of Audio Technica’s closed back headphones, the ADX line-up has a very utilitarian look. Black with the glint of metal. This no-frills approach makes the ADX3000 and ADX5000 lightweight headphones, coming in at around 250 - 270 grams via a magnesium alloy frame. 

In hand, both headphones feel sturdy. There’s a reasonable amount of range of motion with the cups both vertically and horizontally. The headband adjustment is easy to use with discrete steps. The earcups are large to accommodate their 58 mm drivers. The ADX3000 comes with a set of velour pads while the ADX5000 uses an alcantara fabric. They have a very real open-back feel to them similar to headphones like the Sennheiser HD800S or HiFiMan Arya.

However, here is where I must complain about the proprietary A2DC connectors Audio Technica uses. In theory, these are great connectors. They’re effectively a perfected version of the MMCX connectors you typically find on IEMs. They slot in easily with a satisfying click and come out clean with a small amount of force. The problem is that no one else uses the A2DC standard. Replacement cables are thus a pain to find. To make matters worse, the ADX5000’s braided cable is stiff and has a horrific amount of cable memory and noise. The ADX3000’s cable is slightly better in that regard, but the sheathing feels like cheap plastic. 

Unfortunately, the complaints don’t stop there. Comfort wise, these headphones are a mixed bag. Out of the box, the clamp force is high. That’s not too bad in itself, though it’s clear that these headphones were made for smaller heads. The bigger issue I have is with the headband design. It’s two curved bands holding the sides together. In theory it should work fine with the headphone floating just a little off your head and held with the clamp force. In practice, I do feel the two bands pressing down and giving me a hotspot over time. It’s worse on the ADX5000 as the bands are thinner, having less surface area to spread the weight out. And this is despite a sliver of padding that Audio Technica has put on the headband. 

That said, I wouldn’t say the ADX3000 or ADX5000 are wholly uncomfortable. They’re fine. I just wish they made a few different design choices. 

Sound - Objective

To start our discussion on sound, here’s the frequency response graph of the ADX5000 calibrated to the B&K 5128’s DF HRTF. As a reminder, the preference bounds are depicted in the grey region. In extremely simplified terms, if the frequency response is within the bounds, it’s likely to sound balanced. And that means it’s most likely to be preferred by the average person - hence the name, preference bounds. That said, 1) You are not an average person; and 2) There’s no reason why you can’t enjoy multiple types of tunings. It’s a question of probability.

I think it goes without saying this headphone is a little wacky in its tuning. The sizable midbass hump and bright upper treble exceeds the preference bounds but that in itself isn’t anything too unusual. The twist here is a 1.5 kHz peak to colour the midrange. Neutral, this is not.

Here is the raw graph which is a different visualization of the same dataset.

ADX5000 - Subjective

Bass

The first thing you notice with the ADX5000 is the midbass hump it has. It’s a surprisingly bassy headphone for an open back. This midbass hump slides a little into the lower mids, adding a warm, lush tint to the overall tonality. Drum notes have a good balance of punch and boom. With these large dynamic drivers, there is a nice physicality to the air being moved as notes land. While I wouldn’t call the bass incisive, there is a good sense of definition here and nuance in clustered passages. Subbass, however, does roll-off at the lowest octaves. The ADX5000 does a commendable job of providing depth and rumble, but there is a clear limit as it approaches 40 Hz.

Mids

The midrange of the ADX5000 is weird. Vocals especially. It’s ostensibly lush sounding at first glance. Yet it also sounds distant, pulled back like it’s a hall that the singer is trying to fill, not a microphone blasting through speakers. But with a few more minutes of listening, there’s a soft intimacy that reveals itself with the vocalists. When I look at the frequency response, I can see where these paradoxical threads come together. It starts with that midbass to lower mids hump that gives the foundational body. The upper mids recession at 2 - 4 kHz gives the sense of distance. And finally that 1 kHz hill is what creates the intimacy. There’s little sibilance or harshness or shoutiness for my ears.

It’s exactly this sort of exotic colouration that Audio Technica has been known for. While I was a little put off at the start, I did end up enjoying it. As for other instruments, I found that once I had my head wrapped around the midrange, everything fell in place. I’ll be lying if I said they sounded timbrally correct, but I also wouldn’t say that anything sounded distastefully off. Acoustic instrumental pieces are made inviting with the touch of lower mids saturation and subdued upper mids. Once again, it’s that colouration that’s coming together and somehow working.

Treble

No two ways about it, the treble of the ADX5000 is bright. Quantity wise, it’s right at the edge of my threshold for excessiveness. If you’re treble sensitive, you won’t like this headphone. There’s a rawness to the sound rather than peakiness. In that sense, while it’s on par with many HiFiMan headphones in terms of brightness, it’s not the same type of treble elevation.

For hats and cymbals, the focus is more on the attack and shimmer rather than the decay. Interestingly, I don’t find it particularly sharp sounding - it’s more like the attack blends into the shimmer so it leans more into more of the crash than the click. On certain tracks, this can cause the ADX5000 to sound messy up top. The large 9 kHz is more apparent in the graph than it is to my ears. While I do hear it, it tends to affect the “air” parts of notes rather than the fundamentals. 

Presentation

One of the biggest reasons someone might buy the ADX5000 is for its reputation of having a big soundstage. For headphones, ADX5000 does have one of the widest staging experiences you can have. But it’s still a headphone - it won’t have a speaker-like soundstage. 

Rather, I’d say that the openness of the ADX5000’s design is what sets it apart from other headphones. Like the Sennheiser HD800S or HiFiMan Arya, the soundstage feels centered on the head, but not constrained within it. I get a bit of a W-shaped image where stereo panned notes live on the periphery at the ears while the center image is clearly defined. While this creates a good horizontal image, stage depth is somewhat limited. 

Resolution is solid. Given the treble elevation, I would’ve thought it’s more in the treble notes that I’ll hear detail and nuance. But not quite - it’s actually in the midbass and midrange that I hear the ADX5000 highlighting a little extra touch of texture to the bass guitar or emphasizing vocal harmonies. 

Comparison to Sennheiser HD 800S

I think there’s a prevalent misconception that the ADX5000 is Audio Technica’s version of the Sennheiser HD800S. After all, they’re both flagship headphones (at launch), both are exceptionally open feeling, and both are bright sounding headphones. But that’s where the comparisons end. These two headphones are very different.

The easiest way to see it is in the frequency response graph. The ADX5000 has a distinct W-shaped to its tuning while the HD 800S has a downward tilt that rises up again at the end. From a tonal standpoint, the HD 800S is much more palatable. Much of this is due to the relative smoothness it has - while it skirts the edges of the preference bounds throughout, it’s a gentle transition throughout. The ADX5000 on the other hand has clear delineations between bass, mids, and treble. These elevations are unmistakable characteristics in its sound and are what sets it wholly apart from the HD 800S more balanced tuning. 

When it comes to the perceived technicalities, the HD 800S and ADX5000 play in the same ballpark. Their soundstage are similarly wide horizontally but limited in depth. The HD 800S’ imaging is more diffused, with instruments being sweeping across the stage evenly. The ADX5000 are more clustered into left, right, and center, with nuance in those clusters.

The ADX5000 is more dynamically present than the HD 800S, though arguably much of that is due to the bass and upper mid elevations. Resolution wise, I have to give it a tie, but in different ways. The HD 800S has that classic feel of raw detail from its treble elevation bringing out extra upper harmonics. While the ADX5000’s treble also plays that role, the emphasis of its midrange and bass humps to draw out different instrument lines.

Overall, I see both of these headphones in two completely separate categories. The HD 800S is a direct upgrade (though that in itself is debateable) from the traditional recommendations at $200 - $500. The ADX5000 is a headphone that’s far off the beaten path. 

Should You Buy It?

No, not really. There are two ways to look at this sort of product. If you want to know generally what’s a good headphone that the majority of people will like, the ADX5000 is not it. But on the other hand, if you’re reading a review like this and you’re set on spending a few thousand dollars on wacky high-end headphones, that becomes a different question. It may be a cop out to say “you just have to try it for yourself”, but when the customer is specifically looking for something different, that’s a path that we have to take. 

The ADX5000 has its merits and its flaws. I can absolutely see a subset of people who are drawn to its unique combination of openness, bass presence, coloured midrange presentation, and upper treble brightness. That same subset of people have the budget to spend and collect 3 or 4 flagships. But for most people, you can get a more normal sound for cheaper. 

To put it another way, the Audio Technica ADX5000 is a headphone I wouldn’t mind keeping around my own collection just like how I still have my original A900X from a decade ago. But I certainly wouldn’t be keen to put up $2,200 of my own money for it. The ADX5000 falls under the category of “fun to try at a show” and on the off chance you happen to fall in love, don’t tell your wallet.