Audio-Technica ATH-R70xa

Broad agreement that this is a neutral-leaning studio tuning with a little extra energy at both ends — 'stunningly neutral' to the pro-audio press, 'mildly U-shaped' or 'neutral leaning bright' to the enthusiast measurers, warm-of-neutral to a few. The dissent is small and comes from newcomers (it sounds 'recessed' after an HD 599) and from one German lab that found it less balanced than promised; nobody calls it coloured in the way the R50x is.

“the ATH-R70xa delivers a stunningly neutral, balanced tone with impressive depth and clarity. Nothing sounds hyped, exaggerated or pushed.”

Paul Vunk Jr., Recording

“Although the sound is not as balanced and natural as promised, the ATH-R70xa still delivers in every respect.”

Dr Carsten Kaiser, headphonecheck

“The R70xa is special because nothing is overdone or underdone.”

kman1211, Head-Fi

Sources split. Roughly three-quarters of the weight hear punchy, clean, better-extended bass than an HD 600 / HD 650 — kick and snare with real weight, the 22 Hz fundamental audible to Tape Op, 'absolutely destroys the HD600' to one Reddit owner. A quarter hear the opposite: polite, no slam, 'hollow, flat-feeling', 'don't have any bass'. Two physical things drive the split — the sub-bass really does roll off from ~60 Hz on every rig, and at 470 ohms the low end turns sloppy when underpowered (Kukikokikokuko, ThEvil0nE, sonic2911's 'bass distortion' at HD 600 volume).

Mostly praised: linear, articulate and 'suited for studio work', vocals sweet and forward without shouting, 'the star of the show' to the one Head-Fi reviewer, 'great mids' on Resolve's card. The minority hears the lower mids thinned by the step down from the bass shelf (Fc-Construct's ~200 Hz dip that makes dialogue thin) and a honk around 1–1.5 kHz; atyne_mar, who owns both generations, calls the midrange the R70xa's biggest disappointment next to the R70x's.

“There's a sweetness to the vocals where it feels like it floats above the instruments. It's forward, but in a way that highlights rather than being shouty.”

Fc-Construct, Headphones.com

“The midrange reproduction is quite linear and realistic, with a forward and articulate presentation suited for studio work.”

sai, unheardlab

“The midrange is a bit honky sounding, with the upper-mids following closely the Harman target.”

hanouk, r/headphones ($300–400 open-back shootout)

Sources split three ways — not on whether the treble is good, but on what it is. The largest camp hears it clear, airy and a touch bright without harshness ('clear as a bell', 'tasteful brilliance and sparkle', 'lean bright but aren't sibilant'). A second camp hears the opposite: relaxed, understated, 'considerably more relaxed than the HD 600', even muffled to two owners. A third hears unevenness — sai's 4–9 kHz peaks and dips, a 7–8 kHz peak that bothers hanouk and gave trevdawg94 sibilance until a pad swap, effects 'shoved to the forefront' for an R70x owner, a German lab's 'the ear tires relatively quickly'. The split tracks the measurement rig class and the seal (see below), so it is largely a fit-and-anatomy argument.

Widely praised as more open, spacious and airy than an HD 600 / HD 650 — 'a significant leg up' in width, 'the music is around you', a natural rather than artificial size — with the usual caveat that it is not an HD 800 or Edition XS. The dissent is a handful: 'a center-stage inside your head' (Infoseeker), no depth from 90-degree drivers (xtremepsionic), and one ASR poster who found it 'murdered' the original R70x's stage.

“I think the R70xa has a significant leg up when it comes to width and spaciousness.”

Alex S., MajorHiFi (vs Sennheiser HD 600)

“It surpasses the HD6X0 series with a more spacious and airy presentation.”

sai, unheardlab

“I tested out the R70xa and didn’t care for it. They murdered the soundstage and imaging of the original R70x”

Steel Squirrel, Audio Science Review forum

One of the strongest points of agreement among owners: sharper and more focused than the HD 6X0 series, 'the best headphones for imaging in their price range', 'absolutely incredible imaging', a favourite for gaming positional cues. The only negatives are Infoseeker's diffuse phantom-centre and Steel Squirrel's verdict that it lost the original's imaging.

“Imaging, similarly, is sharper and more focused than on the HD6X0 series.”

sai, unheardlab

“First off, absolutely incredible imaging.”

Olderandolderagain, r/headphones

Good to very good for the price: tight transients with 'very little resonance or masking', clearer than the HD 6X0 series at both ends, 'an amazing amount of detail' to a 3-star Amazon reviewer. Caveats recur — not a 'giant killer' (sai), 'not the most detailed' (Shane D), 'deceptively detailed' because it is not bright (auditorious) — and a few hear it as veiled, notably next to an HD 550 or the original R70x's micro-detail.

“transient response is very tight, so you hear detail with very little resonance or masking.”

Andy Hong, Tape Op

“The R70xa offers good clarity. Compared to the HD6X0 series, it generally has the upper hand.”

sai, unheardlab

“I find the sound to be incredibly veiled and less detailed in general”

spicymarkarita, r/headphones (vs HD 550)

Consistently called snappy and punchy — 'the most dynamic sounding of the bunch' in a four-way shootout, transients 'quick and powerful', better than the HD 650 and AR5000 to sai — with one firm condition: at 470 ohms it wants a real desktop amp. Underpowered it 'loses coherence and the bass is just sloppy', from a dongle it 'does not get very loud', and What Hi-Fi's own listening improved with more voltage.

“Its excellent dynamics come into their own with both orchestral tutti and drum signals, as it handles transients quickly and powerfully.”

Dr Carsten Kaiser, headphonecheck

“It is definitely the most “dynamic” sounding of the bunch.”

hanouk, r/headphones ($300–400 open-back shootout)

“The ATH-R70XA just doesn’t work properly without a beefy desktop solution, it loses coherence and the bass is just sloppy.”

Kukikokikokuko, r/headphones

Sources split almost evenly, and it is the most-argued thing about the headphone. Half the weight: the lightest full-size headphone most reviewers have worn, 'you can hardly feel them', all-day sessions with glasses, a floating strap that disappears. The other half: the cups tilt only a few degrees against a hard stop, so on many heads the pad seals in front of the ear and lifts away below or behind it (a finger fits under the pad), the clamp is too light for small heads and the slider too short for big ones, the round pads are shallow enough that ears touch the driver, and the magnetic clasps let go. Four of Thomann's sixteen written reviews and several Reddit/Amazon owners returned it for fit; Resolve gives comfort 3/10.

Sources split, and the average hides it. The pro-audio press and most long-term owners call the skeletal metal frame premium for its weight, hand-built in Japan and 'sturdier than they seem'. Almost as much weight calls it flimsy: a headband that feels like a downgrade, magnetic clasps that pop loose (one pad's magnet fell out of the strap inside a month), yokes that scratch the cups (the box ships with protective tape over the contact point), a stiff 3 m cable most owners replace, 'feels really cheap' from a 3-star and 'incredibly cheaply made' from a 1-star Amazon owner. The durability tail is small but real: one Head-Fi left driver dead at about a year, one Thomann unit arriving 'total kaputt', Amazon's build tally 4 positive / 4 negative.

None, by design — a fully open grille that leaks both ways. Reviewers rule it out for tracking, commuting or a shared room; one partner complained from eight metres away.

“these headphones spill their sound outward almost as much as inwards, and those around won’t thank you for them”

Jez Ford, What Hi-Fi / Sound+Image

“You get little to no sound privacy or isolation in these”

Delaney Czernikowski, Audio46

Sources split three ways. Most of the weight — every pro-audio outlet and most owners — calls it a bargain: Tape Op's first choice for a trustworthy $349 monitoring setup, 'one could easily pay double' and gain little, a $265 refurb that is 'by far the best bargain'. A second group calls it merely fair: sound like you paid twice, but 'not the groundbreaking value of the HD6XX or the Fiio FT1', 'okayish' bass and treble on Resolve's 6.3/10 value card. A third — reviewers who returned it, R70x owners who prefer the original, listeners who picked the $200 R50x — finds it outclassed. The $349→$379 list-price rise since launch sits inside that argument.