HeadphoneOverreview

Audio-Technica ATH-M70x

Sold as the flat one. The German studio tests agree, the American labs don't — and the hinge is the one thing nobody defends.

28 sourcesUpdated
$329Typical US price

Score aggregates reviewer opinions across topics.

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Audio-Technica ATH-M70x

The short version

What to know.

A closed-back studio monitor that every source agrees is detailed and revealing, easy to drive, and comfortable for most heads. Six rigs agree on one feature of its tuning — a lift around 8–10.5 kHz, several dB above neutral — and disagree on the rest: the two GRAS rigs put its bass and midrange close to target, while Tape Op and RTINGS measure a recessed midrange and much less bass. That spread is seal: RTINGS found bass delivery varies a lot between wearers and suffers with glasses, and owners say the same. So reviews split on almost everything sonic — flat versus scooped, accurate versus thin bass, crisp versus piercing treble — and the split tracks method, fit and taste more than units. Off the sound, the record is blunt: the swivel hinge is the most-reported failure across Amazon, Thomann, Audio-Technica's own store, Head-Fi and Reddit, and that drives most of the value complaints.

About this product

The 2015 M-Series flagship — closed-back, 45 mm drivers, 35 Ω, three detachable cables and a hard case. Not the warmer ATH-M50x, the on-ear M60x, the cheaper M40x, the open-back ATH-R70x, or the ATH-MSR7, which several reviewers treat as the M50x's real step-up.

When Audio-Technica put the ATH-M70x on top of its M-Series in 2015, it did not build a bigger M50x. It built close to the opposite: where the M50x is warm and punchy, the M70x was tuned for critical monitoring — lighter in the bass, brighter on top — and sold with three cables and a hard case for a flagship price.

A decade on, it is one of the most argued-over closed-backs in the studio world. German DJ and studio magazines called it honest and linear, with the best isolation they had tested; the American measurement labs called it scooped, bright and bass-light. Six measurement rigs explain much of the gap — and owners on Amazon, Thomann, Head-Fi and Reddit agree on the one thing the reviews missed: the swivel where each cup meets the headband breaks.

A good fit for

  • Tracking, editing and one-ear monitoring where hearing picking, breaths and cymbal detail is the job
  • Listeners who want a lean, revealing closed-back and know they are not chasing bass
  • Anyone who already finds the M50x too warm or too tight on the head
  • Buyers who value three cables and a hard case in the box

Think twice if

  • You want the M50x's warmth and thump — this is a sideways move, not a step up the same ladder
  • Cymbal and hi-hat energy fatigues you; every rig shows the lift right where they live
  • You are hard on gear, travel with it, or drop things — the swivel hinge is the documented weak point
  • You wear glasses or need reliable isolation, since a broken seal takes the low end with it
  • You have large ears; the cups are shallow and the driver cover can press on them

The reviewer consensus

Agreement &
disagreement.

9 / 11topics divide opinion
detailcomforttonalitybasstreblemidssoundstageimagingbuildisolationvalue
1 Strong agreement1 Mostly agree9 Divided opinions

Common ground5

  • It resolves detail well — the one sonic verdict every editorial, forum and owner source shares
  • It is not an upgraded M50x. Every source frames it as a different headphone, tuned away from warmth and punch
  • Every measurement rig shows extra energy around 8–10.5 kHz; the treble argument is about how that lands, not whether it is there

Points of contention8

  • Whether it is actually flat: the German studio tests, Crinacle and most owners say yes; Tape Op, SoundGuys, RTINGS and Z Reviews measure or hear a scooped or bright curve
  • Whether the bass is accurate or simply thin — and how much of 'no bass' is a broken seal, since rigs disagree by about 10 dB and glasses are a documented culprit
  • Whether the lifted top end reads as crisp and sibilance-free or as piercing on cymbals and hi-hats

A closer listen.

11 topics · 9 divided
Left: criticalRight: positiveTighter lines: more agreement

Tonality

Leans positiveDivided opinions
Reviewer sentiment17 supporting sources
CriticalNeutralPositive

Band: opinion spread · Dot: weighted average

Sources split on the headline claim. A majority — the German studio tests, Crinacle's ranking, MKBHD, Head-Fi's twister6 and most owners — hear a flat, neutral, honest monitor; a large minority — Tape Op, SoundGuys, RTINGS, MusicRadar and Z Reviews — hear a coloured curve, whether scooped, consumer-bright or mid-forward. The rigs show why both are reported: close to target through the bass and mids on the GRAS rigs, clearly lifted at 8–10.5 kHz everywhere.

Measured

oratory1990 (GRAS, vs Harman over-ear 2018): within about 3 dB of target up to 2 kHz, +2 to +4 dB from 2–5 kHz, on target at 6–7 kHz, +2 to +3 dB at 8–10.5 kHz. Crinacle (GRAS) puts it 3–4 dB above his HD 650 around 2 and 4 kHz and 7–11 dB above it at 8–9 kHz; InnerFidelity's data has it 6–12 dB above its HD 600 at 7–10.5 kHz. Tape Op measured a −9 dB carve-out from 900 Hz to 3.6 kHz and a +6 dB peak at 10.5 kHz.

vs. listeners — Both camps are reading real data. Against a target, the M70x tracks closer than the M50x does in the bass and mids — the 'flat' impression, especially next to an M50x — while every rig shows a top octave lifted well above neutral, which is what the 'not flat' camp hears. Tape Op's midrange carve-out does not appear on either GRAS rig, so how recessed the mids sound also depends on the rig and the seal.

Where it splits
flat and neutral — a monitor that does what it says60%

“The most neutral of the M-series.”

Crinacle, headphone ranking list (B−, 'Neutral')
not flat — scooped or bright, whatever the badge says40%

“To put it simply, the ATH-M70x's voicing is decidedly "scooped" and puts strong emphasis on the highs.”

Andy Hong, Tape Op #113
Link to this topic

The hardware

Specifications.

Checked

Design

Type
Closed-back over-ear
Drivers
1 × 45 mm dynamic

Electrical

Impedance
35 Ω
Frequency response
5 Hz – 40 kHz

Connection

Cable
Detachable
Connector
2.5 mmcommunity-sourced
Plugs supplied
3.5 mm

Physical

Weight
280 g
Released
2015

Manufacturer-published figures, not measurements · from audio-technica.com, thomann.de. Connector not published by the maker — community-sourced from hands-on reviews: head-fi.org, youtube.com.

Follow the evidence

Sources 28

1–6 of 28 sources

Read with context

Limitations & method.

As of

What to keep in mind 6

  1. This is a read of where opinion lands as of October 2026. The M70x hasn't changed since 2015, but the closed-back field around it has moved a long way, and most of its reviews date from its first two years.

  2. How much bass you get depends on the seal you get. Glasses, head shape and pad wear all move it, and the measurement rigs themselves disagree by a wide margin in the low end — so a stranger's verdict on the bass may simply not be your bass.

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