Audio Technica AD300

One of my recommendations for starter headphones was the Audio Technica ATH-AD300. It is lowest end model in the Audio Technica Air series, but don’t let that fool you! This pair of headphones will blow away headphones from well known brands such as Sony in the same price range.

AD300 housing

Constructed from high quality plastics for the main body of the headphone and aluminum honeycomb for the driver housing, making it very light. The AD300 is very sturdy and will not emit any creaking sounds as you put it on. Comfort is excellent, using Audio Technicas’ 3D wing system which utilizes two individual arms to support the headphone on your head and soft velour pads. It’s very comfortable for long periods of time, and you don’t wind up having sweaty ears.

Velour pads. Soft and comfortable.

The AD300 is an open design, meaning that the driver housings are not sealed, evidenced by the aluminium mesh on the rear end of the headphones. This confers a wide and spacious soundstage, which increases the immersion of your music and movies, especially in a quiet environment. This design, however, works against it in noisy environments because sound can leak both in and out of the headphones.

Sound testing was performed using a Nokia 5800XM and the tracks Losing Touch by The Killers, The Great Gig in The Sky by Pink Floyd, The Small Print by Muse, Ten Seconds before Sunrise by Tiesto and Jeru by Miles Davis

AD300 and 5800XM. Note the 3D Wing support structure.

Sound wise, the mids are quite forward. For the rock tracks, the singer is noticeably prominent over the instruments. Separation between instruments is not bad. Individual instruments can be discerned amongst the music, and can be positioned pretty well. Bass extension is not very deep due to it’s open design, but it is quite well controlled and surprisingly satisfying for an open design. However, the high frequencies tend to roll off a little early, causing the upper end to sound a little restrained. Overall, the headphones are very general purpose, a jack of all trades making them suitable for many different genres of music. I enjoyed trance, rock, jazz, and ambient music on this pair of headphones.

In games, the positioning afforded by the AD300 helps with that extra edge. In Left 4 Dead, the infected could be easily located by sound alone, and in Call of Duty 4, the headphones make it feel like you’re right there in the middle of the battlefield. Explosions go off with a satisfying thud and gunfire is nice and sharp. Enemies can be heard all around you, and you feel right on the edge as the next bullet whizzes by your head. The best bit of this is that you won’t have to disturb your room mate or your spouse! The same thing that makes games great makes movies great too.

For the average selling price of RM250 online, these easily beat most other big name headphones. I will strongly recommend these as your own general purpose private listening and enjoyment headphones. For starting audiophiles on a budget, these are also a solid choice. However, those looking for excellence in a specific genre of music best look elsewhere.

I give these a 4/5.