Audio-Technica ATH-AD700X Open backed Hi-Fi headphones

Product Information

They are as light as a feather in terms of weight so we do not think that anybody would have a complaint about it. Although the headphones might slip down now and then, the wing system is great. Comparison with Sennheiser HD 650 As mentioned earlier, I don't have HD 650. I've listened to HD 650 a few times before, but for a more accurate comparison I went to a local headphone shop (Jaben Singapore), to compare both of them. That treble can sound just a little harsh at times though, despite a couple of days’ running in. It’s not enough to make you wince, but there is an edge that stops us from truly relaxing and simply enjoying the music. As you can see, the output voltage requirement of ATH-R70x is pretty close to HD 800. So far, playing a soft sounding recording at pretty loud volume (not recommended), 6.6 Vrms / 18.8 Vpp is the maximum output voltage required. iBasso DX90 has maximum output voltage of 2.69 Vrms / 7.6 Vpp, so far, generally quite adequate for ATH-R70x. This output voltage measurement is useful when looking for a headphone amplifier for ATH-R70x. Get an amplifier with at least 5 Vrms maximum output for ATH-R70x. Or if you have a lot of soft sounding recording collections, 7 Vrms would be a safer choice.

Light weight and comfortable for long sessions. Headband pressure is light, but it fits very well, and not easily moved from position even with lots of head movement. ATH-AD700X features the Double Air Damping System which is also featured across the full range of Audio-Technica Art Monitor Headphones, to improve bass reproduction. “3D wing headband structure” All the headphones' features and specifications are covered in this section. Driver Unit/ TransducerI have burnt-in ATH-R70x for about 100 hours, no changes in sound quality. So, no burn-in is required for ATH-R70x, which is a good thing. Headphone that changes it sound after burn-in, to me is indicating inconsistency. As with DAC and amplifier, I didn't find ATH-R70x to have good chemistry with tube amp or warm & smooth sounding amp, and matches better with neutral to slightly analytic solid state amplifiers. With my ifi micro iDSD + iCAN, ATH-R70x is simply music. At 210 grams, ATH-R70x is feather-light and very comfortable. Headband pressure is pretty light, less pressure than T1, about the same as HD800. ATH-R70x fits really well on my head, always stays in place. I’m actually quite surprise that T1 could sound pretty close tonally with the ATH-R70x with above foobar equalization. T1 is still better on dynamic, slightly livelier than ATH-R70x. Cut the wire if you've not done it already. (And you will discover why this cable is so stiff. Look at all this sheat for these 3 small wires inside!) The little flaps (which Audio Technica calls ‘self-adjusting 3D Wing Support’) right under the double-hooped headband are flexible enough to adjust to any head shape, but they are a bit too loose for our liking. These headphones are very comfortable to wear, even for long periods, without causing any ear fatigue or discomfort whatsoever.

Our niggles with fit aside, these Audio Technica ATH-AD700X headphones are well suited for home-listening.Being flat and neutral, ATH-R70x never sounds dull or boring. It does it in a nice musical way. We need to redeem the use of the word 'flat', which is often associated with dull and boring sound, the kind of lifeless (poor dynamic & frequency response) sound signature. What I mean by flat is balanced tonality, enough bass energy with good treble sparkle to bring music to come alive. But don't get me wrong, ATH-R70x is not V shape either. Not even mildly V shape. So ATH-R70x is not 'n' shape, and neither 'V' shape. To my ears, tonality is almost in perfect balance and ruler flat. Only the treble is tad soft for distant miking recording, but quite balance on closed miking recording. I'm a T1 and HD800 user for years, so I kind of get used to natural bright & transparent headphones. So the lesser treble of ATH-R70x sounds a tad soft to me. Could be also due to aging. At 42 this year, my hearing limit is only up to approximately 15 kHz. I ever tested my hearing with 15 kHz tone, using Beyerdynamic T1. Wearing T1, I heard only a very soft high pitch, and suddenly my teenage son about 2.5 meters away from me asking, 'what's that high pitch sound?'. Oh man, I hope I can have teenager ears Comparison with Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro (600 ohms) As expected, DT 880 Pro sounds brighter than ATH-R70x, with less bass. DT 880 Pro sounds leaner and more transparent, while ATH-R70x sounds beefier and fuller around bass and midrange area, with softer and less transparent treble. Tonality wise it is like comparing T1 to ATH-R70x. T1 treble sounds smoother than DT 880 Pro, with slightly fuller bass and midrange. T1 also has better depth in imaging, and sounds more refined than DT 880 Pro. But both DT 880 Pro and T1 do have some similarities in tonality. To me T1 is just like a better DT 880 Pro. So, more or less the comparison between ATH-R70x and DT 880 Pro, tonality wise is not much different than ATH-R70x compared to T1. Btw, I notice that some said earlier production batch of T1 might have some differences in sound quality to newer batch of T1. Inner Fidelity posted measurement of 2 different T1s. My T1 serial number is 7230, not sure if it is the better one or not, but so far, between my T1 and my HD 800, I do prefer the T1, as it sounds more linear to my ears, and better sounding midrange. Remove the cup and the grill (and take notes on the way you remove the grill, because when you will be reassembling it will be usefull) The earpads are made of a flexible raised fabric that provides exceptional comfort and durability and that is probably the best thing we loved about ATH AD500X. The single-sided OFC (oxygen-free copper) cable with an elastic TPE covering is included to prevent tangling, and it is a huge lifesaver.

As far as comfort goes; once you put them on, there?s almost no discomfort - except for the occasional slipping if there?s a lot of head-shaking involved. Most of the times I forget I?m even wearing a pair of headphones! DIY Desktop PC: Gigabyte GA-H77-D3H-MVP motherboard, Intel i7-3770, 16 GB RAM, Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit SP1. The large size may seem a little preposterous, but it does serve its purpose in giving enough headroom for nearly all head sizes. I was pleasantly surprised that there was barely any need to tweak the sound profile with an equalizer. The highs are clear and the mids are not mushy at all. However I do recommend boosting the lower bass frequencies (80-220 Hz) a few dBs for optimal sound balance. Then again, that?s just my personal preference as I prefer a slightly bassier sound.

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The large-aperture 53mm drivers of the ATH-AD700X are built around the CCAW voice coils developed by Audio-Technica, which create stunning audio and deep and balanced bass reproduction. “Exclusive d.a.d.s. system” T1 and HD 800 pair well with smooth and warm amplifiers to compensate their brightness, while ATH-R70x pairs better with detailed and neutral sounding amplifiers. Remove the 3 screws holding in place the silver cover (and maybe clean a little bit the mess in your phones ) At the end the cover will be hold by clips. Just push them and the cover will come out.