Headphones Audio-Technica ATH-M70x

I want to start by saying these headphones sound amazing. I am however disappointed because the swivel connection for the left ear managed to break after about 5 months. Same thing happened to my M40X headphones after having them for a year. Now I'm starting to think it's a quality issue with audio Technica headphones in general. I will be looking elsewhere when purchasing my next set.

6 Years and Still Going Strong!

It's been nearly six years since I purchased these headphones, and I would buy them again. I mainly use these at my computer while watching videos, listening to music, editing, or doing voiceover. I also use them with my zoom F6 audio recorder and my camera to monitor audio. They sound great, and they're also very comfortable. They come in a soft case which does a great job of protecting the headphones. The ear pads and the top cushion are starting to flake a bit after six years of wear, but I can always replace the earpads for a relatively cheap price. I'd recommend these for anyone looking for their first pair of quality headphones. I've also used the M50x's and I can definitely say I like the 70's better in terms of both comfort and sound quality. Unless you ... MoreIt's been nearly six years since I purchased these headphones, and I would buy them again. I mainly use these at my computer while watching videos, listening to music, editing, or doing voiceover. I also use them with my zoom F6 audio recorder and my camera to monitor audio. They sound great, and they're also very comfortable. They come in a soft case which does a great job of protecting the headphones. The ear pads and the top cushion are starting to flake a bit after six years of wear, but I can always replace the earpads for a relatively cheap price. I'd recommend these for anyone looking for their first pair of quality headphones. I've also used the M50x's and I can definitely say I like the 70's better in terms of both comfort and sound quality. Unless you desperately need Bluetooth connectivity, I'd buy these over Bose, Sony, or Beats any day.

Excellent Clear and comfortable

First off I've had my fair share of high end head phones, I prefer closed style due to blocking out noise. These are by far some of the best I have owned, they are crisp clear and very neutral, great for listening to high quality files, sound wise I would compare them to the Sony V6 but with a much broader range and a bit clearer. They are more comfortable than my V6's and ath50. Quality wise they are lighter but feel better built than their ATH50 counterparts, a good mix of metal and plastic components. If you have a low quality sound file and or subpar media player it is much more apparent with these than other "colored" headphones. I use these paired with a FIIO X5 gen 2 player, and currently a fiio E06 amp for daily use and love it! The softshell case is a nice ... MoreFirst off I've had my fair share of high end head phones, I prefer closed style due to blocking out noise. These are by far some of the best I have owned, they are crisp clear and very neutral, great for listening to high quality files, sound wise I would compare them to the Sony V6 but with a much broader range and a bit clearer. They are more comfortable than my V6's and ath50. Quality wise they are lighter but feel better built than their ATH50 counterparts, a good mix of metal and plastic components. If you have a low quality sound file and or subpar media player it is much more apparent with these than other "colored" headphones. I use these paired with a FIIO X5 gen 2 player, and currently a fiio E06 amp for daily use and love it! The softshell case is a nice feature that they come with, as well as 3 different length cables. They also block outside noise quite well. If your on a small budget and want neutral sound go with the Sony V6 or Audio Technica ATH50X for a slightly warm sound if you have the extra to spend on the ATH-M70X and want nice clear neutral sound go with these you will not be disappointed. I would recommend on any of these to use an headphone amp if you are using with an MP3 player.

I can hear better now

Overall:I have been using ATH headphones since ATH M50 wayyyy before the ATHM50X and M70X. Let me just say that all of their headphones are great and they have a wide variety of headphones that suit anyone. Whether it's just everyday listening, in a band or if you're a producer like myself. From the moment I put on these cans I can immediately hear every detail of a song and when I use them to mix my songs I hear all dimensions of every instrument that was placed in the song. This headphone is a cheat code for the cost in my opinion. I was about to buy the Focal professional headphones which obviously would have run me into way more than just $229 but no matter, these get the job done for me at this point. For those that are thinking about buying one my question is ... MoreOverall:I have been using ATH headphones since ATH M50 wayyyy before the ATHM50X and M70X. Let me just say that all of their headphones are great and they have a wide variety of headphones that suit anyone. Whether it's just everyday listening, in a band or if you're a producer like myself. From the moment I put on these cans I can immediately hear every detail of a song and when I use them to mix my songs I hear all dimensions of every instrument that was placed in the song. This headphone is a cheat code for the cost in my opinion. I was about to buy the Focal professional headphones which obviously would have run me into way more than just $229 but no matter, these get the job done for me at this point. For those that are thinking about buying one my question is why wait any longer?

M70X fantastic for recording and playing

I love these headphones. They have a flatness and accuracy few headphones have at any price range. I primarily use them as monitor headphones playing a Roland TD-50 and then for some mixing and recording. The mid range is so very very clear. The bass extends way way down with no artificial enhanced boom. The top end is sweet and clear creating very little listening fatigue. I use them really loud for long periods of time and always enjoy going back to them. They come with a bunch of easy to swap cable types and connections. I appreciated the flexibility those gave me. Highly recommend

Magnificent sound reproduction.

Overall:I am a professional drummer/percussionist and a not so professional studio rat so I have tested many, many different headphones and IEM's. I personally own probably a dozen different brands/models but my go to phones were the Sennheiser Pro 280's For everyrhing Studio and practice but for live events I preferred the Audio-Technica ATH-M50X for a slightly fuller meatier low end.That is until I traded three Ben Franklins here at zZounds for a pair of these M70X phones. Knowing what I know now I would gladly have given 4 possibly 5 Franklins for a pair of these cans but they are easily worth the going rate of $299 so if your on the fence at all about spending the cake for these no worries my friends you will be pleased with the investment. Now I reach for the ... MoreOverall:I am a professional drummer/percussionist and a not so professional studio rat so I have tested many, many different headphones and IEM's. I personally own probably a dozen different brands/models but my go to phones were the Sennheiser Pro 280's For everyrhing Studio and practice but for live events I preferred the Audio-Technica ATH-M50X for a slightly fuller meatier low end.That is until I traded three Ben Franklins here at zZounds for a pair of these M70X phones. Knowing what I know now I would gladly have given 4 possibly 5 Franklins for a pair of these cans but they are easily worth the going rate of $299 so if your on the fence at all about spending the cake for these no worries my friends you will be pleased with the investment. Now I reach for the M70's in every studio session, rehearsal and especially enjoy these in live events! I can royally beat on my skins with my largest pair of sticks and what I can hear is much less than with any other brand/model and I can wear them for hours and hours and never get tired of wearing them, really! But best of all of course is they're ability to reproduce the music cleanly the way it was meant to be heard. Even at high volumes these cans are clean and efficient. I could go on and on about the case, the detachable cables, the padded headband and yes the sound! But I wont because I'm tired of typing and your tired of reading so part with the Ben Franklins and purchase a pair of these today. You'll be glad you did and the only issue you will have is trying to decide what to do with your current set of cans!

Massive upgrade of the M50

I am using these primarily for monitoring during recording/tracking. There are three things that are important for the me as a musician while I'm recording: 1) ISOLATION: These cans do an admirable job in both isolating external noise from getting in, and also preventing whatever's playing through them from leaking out into the microphones. 5 stars 2) COMFORT: These headphones are very comfortable. The padding on the head strap and the ear cups is very soft and easily finds a good fit against my skull's contours with no excessive pressure on the top of my head or my ears. Note that I wear glasses and they cause no discomfort, unlike other headphones like my Grados. These 'phones feel a lot like Bose Quiet Comfort 15 on my head, which is a very good thing as I ... MoreI am using these primarily for monitoring during recording/tracking. There are three things that are important for the me as a musician while I'm recording: 1) ISOLATION: These cans do an admirable job in both isolating external noise from getting in, and also preventing whatever's playing through them from leaking out into the microphones. 5 stars 2) COMFORT: These headphones are very comfortable. The padding on the head strap and the ear cups is very soft and easily finds a good fit against my skull's contours with no excessive pressure on the top of my head or my ears. Note that I wear glasses and they cause no discomfort, unlike other headphones like my Grados. These 'phones feel a lot like Bose Quiet Comfort 15 on my head, which is a very good thing as I regularly wear those for 14+ hours straight on flights from Japan to Detroit with no issues. The M70x is not quite as comfortable as the Bose, but it's pretty close. The only thing I noticed is that the edge of my outer ear touches the driver fabric when I'm wearing them. My ears don't protrude that far from my head, and I could imagine that if you have ears that do stick out a bit, these headphones might not be as comfortable. 4 stars 3) SOUND: These headphones are revealing and detailed, which is what I want during recording. The sound is neutral with no obvious peaks or troughs across the frequencies that I can hear. Listening through these headphones I notice things that I struggle to notice in recordings that I have listened to dozens of times. Sometimes this detail can be a sign of excessive treble response which can become fatiguing, but I don't feel like the sound from the M70x is the least bit fatiguing. The soundstage is open and wide, and imaging is quite good. Instruments are easy to place in space, and there is a wonderful airiness to the music. The only noteworthy deficiency is in the bass ... I am not a fan of headphones that emphasize the bass frequencies. Those headphones and loudspeakers that emphasize the bass usually make the music sound like the bass player is playing the same note throughout the whole song. The M70x phones do not easily reproduce really deep bass. I can hear deeper bass only if I crank the volume levels up to the point where I wouldn't want to listen for long periods. Oddly enough, when I first started listening to them, I thought the bass was remarkably deep. I was listening to some music through my home audio system's preamp and I had turned off the main power amp to make sure I wasn't picking up any sound from my loudspeakers. The bass drums I heard in the opening of The Eagles Hell Freezes Over version of Hotel California was amazing; extending deep into the lowest registers. After listening to a few other tunes and being really impressed with the bass I heard, I pulled the headphones off my head to ask my wife something, and I heard some really low bass notes without any accompanying music. I thought for a minute that perhaps a car was driving by with the stereo cranked, and then I realized I had neglected to turn off my subwoofer (d'oh!). After I corrected that and re-listened to Hotel California again, I realized the bass I had perceived before was actually coming from the subwoofer and not the headphones ... If I am forced to make a choice, I prefer a playback system with a leaner sound compared to one with over-emphasized thick and muddy bass. I found these headphones are a little lean, but not objectionably so. I can hear individual notes in the bass line, it's just that those notes don't reach down to the bottom end like what you hear live, or from a proper loudspeaker / subwoofer. But I have never heard a headphone that does reach that low without bloating the bass into a blubbery mess. This slight bass deficiency is, in my opinion, much better than the one-note thumping I hear in other headphones. AT's engineers and product management deserves kudos for making this tradeoff. The smooth midrange and treble parts of the spectrum are so nice to hear through these cans that I could listen to music on these for hours. 4.5 stars

These headphones WILL BREAK.

The ATH-M70x headphones are a great sounding pair of closed backs. They are fairly neutral and provide excellent clarity. That is where the pros stop, however. The other pair of headphones in the line(M50x) are built like tanks. They can fold every which way and can take quite the beating. So for 300 dollars you would expect their "flagship" model to have on par if not better build quality. Absolutely not. The m70x may be comfortable but it is extremely fragile and weak, specifically near the swivel. My pair of m70x's has had BOTH of the cups break off more than 3 times, getting them repaired by audio technica each time. Its not like they broke from a very high height onto wood floor or something. They broke falling from ONE FOOT onto SOFT CARPET. That is ... MoreThe ATH-M70x headphones are a great sounding pair of closed backs. They are fairly neutral and provide excellent clarity. That is where the pros stop, however. The other pair of headphones in the line(M50x) are built like tanks. They can fold every which way and can take quite the beating. So for 300 dollars you would expect their "flagship" model to have on par if not better build quality. Absolutely not. The m70x may be comfortable but it is extremely fragile and weak, specifically near the swivel. My pair of m70x's has had BOTH of the cups break off more than 3 times, getting them repaired by audio technica each time. Its not like they broke from a very high height onto wood floor or something. They broke falling from ONE FOOT onto SOFT CARPET. That is inexcusable build quality. TL;DR: These headphones sound amazing, but they are so fragile that you can expect them to break. Unless audio technica fixes this issue with the swivels, DO NOT BUY.

Uneven frequency response and not durable

I bought these headphones primarily for sound isolation while recording. The closed-back design does indeed prevent nearly all the sound coming from the headphones from bleeding into the microphone. They are also reasonably comfortable, but not nearly as comfortable for long periods as say, Bose QuietComfort headphones, that I used to wear for 8-14 hours on long intercontinental plane rides with zero head fatigue.Aside from the reasonably good functional and comfort aspects, these headphones have two other issues: uneven frequency response, and long-term durability.These are closed-back headphones. If you're looking for really even frequency response for mixing or critical listening, I don't know of any closed-back headphones that will come anywhere close to a ... MoreI bought these headphones primarily for sound isolation while recording. The closed-back design does indeed prevent nearly all the sound coming from the headphones from bleeding into the microphone. They are also reasonably comfortable, but not nearly as comfortable for long periods as say, Bose QuietComfort headphones, that I used to wear for 8-14 hours on long intercontinental plane rides with zero head fatigue.Aside from the reasonably good functional and comfort aspects, these headphones have two other issues: uneven frequency response, and long-term durability.These are closed-back headphones. If you're looking for really even frequency response for mixing or critical listening, I don't know of any closed-back headphones that will come anywhere close to a good pair of open-back headphones. The value of the closed-back design is to isolate what you're hearing through the cans from bleeding back into the microphone, and/or from keeping loud room noise from bleeding into what you're hearing. The frequency response through these headphones has that typical congested sound of closed-back headphones. I would not recommend them for adjusting mix levels. If you do, you will be surprised how unbalanced your mix sounds through loudspeakers, in your car, etc.But the most surprising and biggest issue is the durability. I have only used these headphones in my modest home studio for a couple of years. I treat them with care - never throwing them around or blasting excessively loud music through them. While recently recording some acoustic guitar, I realized the bass response was missing, in both channels. At first I thought it was my headphone pre-amp, but when I plugged in a pair of trusty old Grados into the same output jack, the sound was normal. It seems the low-frequency drivers in both channels of the ATH-M70x has died - they are now like listening to a loudspeaker that lost its woofer, and all you hear is upper midrange and tweeter response.In summary, if you need great-sounding headphones, these weren't that great even when new. Go for some open-back headphones for that purpose. If you need sound isolation, while these work well for that, I believe there are better-sounding and more durable products on the market.

Very Good Headphones/ Great

I've been using audio-technica products for the past 8 years since I was 16. The M70s are the latest edition to the family since owning M50s. I must say they are way more accurate in every way and perfect mixing audio which I've been doing professionally for the past 3 years. These headphones have a great stereo image every sound in a mix is isolated and you can hear clearly. It really opens up songs you've grown up with, and you hear many different elements that were hidden. For example the random percussion in a lot of songs and actually being able to count how many stacks some of my favorite singers use. I'd say for a practical application of mixing your projects these are phenomenal. A lot of the guesswork that came with transferring mixes have been extremely ... MoreI've been using audio-technica products for the past 8 years since I was 16. The M70s are the latest edition to the family since owning M50s. I must say they are way more accurate in every way and perfect mixing audio which I've been doing professionally for the past 3 years. These headphones have a great stereo image every sound in a mix is isolated and you can hear clearly. It really opens up songs you've grown up with, and you hear many different elements that were hidden. For example the random percussion in a lot of songs and actually being able to count how many stacks some of my favorite singers use. I'd say for a practical application of mixing your projects these are phenomenal. A lot of the guesswork that came with transferring mixes have been extremely reduced. Also using it as reference for professional songs made me realize all the extra elements they have to get the right groove and ambience for my own productions. The differences between the M50s and M70s are surprisingly huge. Like with the M50 you can really FEEL the bass but you're losing a good amount of midrange and stereo image compared to the M70s. With the M70s you can still feel the bass (not like the boom of the M70s) but can also hear it much clearer with all intricacies such as playing technique or for synthetic actually hear the volume dynamics, without sacrificing the very important midrange. Another thing is the M70s don't like to you with your mix if it sounds bad and crunchy in these it really will sound bad everywhere. Often times with the M50s it would just sound good then when it was time to send off the finished product I'd hear minor complaints that had to be revised. So far since the M70s I haven't been asked for any revisions. In conclusion, I would recommend these headphones for any producer who is looking to take their productions to another level especially if you don't have a room large enough or due to noise constraints can't use studio monitors. I would also recommend these headphones to mix engineers who need a good reference headphone for translating mixes.