Audio-Technica ATW-3255 Review:
What To Expect from This Monitor System
Quality
The sound quality you get with the ATW-3255 system is very impressive. You get very clear audio quality across all the frequencies, with the lows sounding booming and punchy, the mids sounding quite full, and the highs sounding clean and precise.
The ATH-E40 earphones that are included are a welcomed addition. Their overall quality is very similar to the Shure SE215s, so they’re great earphones for drummers to use.
The antenna on the wireless receiver pack helps a lot with the clarity of signals that come through. You can walk around a venue and still hear everything as clearly as you would on stage.
Construction
The wireless receiver, earphones, and transmitter unit are all built very well. The receiver is made up of a combination of metal and plastic, and it’s very elegantly designed. It seems to be very durable, giving you the assurance that it will last many years of extended use.
The receiver is also well-built, and it gives you more than enough sound editing options to dial in the sounds that you want. The part that attaches to your body is made from metal, so you never feel like it will break if you move around a lot.
The construction quality of the ETH-E40 headphones is standard for what you get from most entry-level in-ears that can still be used professionally.
The big downside is the mounting hardware that comes with the package. It’s not built well, and a lot of people who get this system complain about it.
Performance
The ATW-3255 system is built specifically for live performance settings, so the performance you get from it is amazing. Everything always works very smoothly, and it hardly ever has connection issues.
That’s a big relief when it comes to wireless gear, as it’s always riskier to use it in live settings. However, wearing in-ear monitors without being bound by a plugged-in cable makes you feel a lot freer when playing on a stage.
A system like this is vital for singers and musicians who move around on stage. It can be useful for drummers if they get up and walk around, but it’s not something that most drummers would see as a necessity.
Price Value Ratio
The overall price of the ATW-3255 is decent. It’s not too expensive, but it’s not the most affordable in-ear monitor system either.
We like that it comes with a pair of earphones. Most other monitoring systems only come with receivers and a transmitter.
However, other systems also come with more than one receiver. So, this is more of a system for a single musician to consider getting.
If you want to get an in-ear monitoring system for a band, it may be worth looking at some other options that offer more.