Audio-Technica ATH-R70x Review (Headphone)

[Skittle8336]

Detailed review here:

 

[solderdude]

The little brother of the R70Xa is a half the price of the R70xa.
It does not have the 'hit-and-miss' wing-system headband and the cups can actual swivel a bit as well.
VERY lightweight and comfortable headphone with decent lows and (curable) overly detailed (sharp) upper treble.

ATH-R50x

back to audio-technicaback to measurementshome published: Mar-18-2025 NO SMOOTHING is applied to the shown plots. Most measurement sites have some smoothing applied which ‘irons flat’ sharp peaks a…

diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com

 

[andymcbain]

The little brother of the R70Xa is a half the price of the R70xa.
It does not have the 'hit-and-miss' wing-system headband and the cups can actual swivel a bit as well.
VERY lightweight and comfortable headphone with decent lows and (curable) overly detailed (sharp) upper treble.

ATH-R50x

back to audio-technicaback to measurementshome published: Mar-18-2025 NO SMOOTHING is applied to the shown plots. Most measurement sites have some smoothing applied which ‘irons flat’ sharp peaks a…

diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com

Thanks for the excellent review. I’m still very tempted by this headphone!

 

[solderdude]

Did some easy to do modifications which improves the sound a lot.

with EQ (or a passive filter) the remaining 8kHz peak can be removed and thereby the slight 'sharpness'.

Turns the ATH-R50x into a very comfortable and very good sounding open headphone that won't break the bank (total costs just below € 200,-)

 

[phoenixsong]

Did some easy to do modifications which improves the sound a lot.

with EQ (or a passive filter) the remaining 8kHz peak can be removed and thereby the slight 'sharpness'.

Turns the ATH-R50x into a very comfortable and very good sounding open headphone that won't break the bank (total costs just below € 200,-)

I'm wondering if aftermarket pads, if/when they emerge, might help to even out the treble's jagged response

 

[solderdude]

Other pads are highly likely to affect the bass response in a significant way.
I suspect the 'ragged' treble response is more a driver issue.
The pads that come with the R50x are nice in quality and feel, have enough depth (for most ears) but agreed the inner diameter is a bit on the conservative side.
the 90mm outer diameter will not allow pads that have a larger inner diameter than the current 52mm.

 

[Ufasas]

Didn't know that. Thank you.
R70xa seems flatter and more even across the board. R50x has a bit more bass and those treble peaks at 4-6kHz and 11kHz are definitely more hyped. Basically, R70xa is like a refined, smoother version of the R50x, less bassy and less peaky in the highs.
For $150 R50x might be a good deal.

got opened/tested in great condition r50x for 100 pounds (that's a steal !), arriving this week! Impulsive buy again! Something new in my 15+ years collection!

 

[Ufasas]

Very happy with r50x, i dunno if i want to try for auction for sony mv1 now, r50x are so light, so comfortable, and disappear on head exactly like sony ma900, vocals sound so close, so intimate, and they are not overwhelmed by any instrument, separation so good between instruments, bass is there, but not slamming/hitting hard, still good for my taste, if i want better bass, i'll pull a closed back, i dunno if they were supposed to be brighter coming of ma900 / hd560s, but they sound so laid back yet busy and i get goosebumps with my favourite progressive metal, sludge, gothic metal tracks, more fun than unEQ'ed Sundara to me, i think more details than hd560s too :/ i think not as dark as ma900 (which i still love for that), which is still good. NonEQ'ed, connected with Fiio k7 = bomb, delivers all the juice r50x needs (high gain + 55%-70% volume knob). Writing this as i am listening to music for 60mins+ with r50x now nonstop. Last thing left to check imaging and soundstage in FPS games... One thing i know, if r50x was released in 2022 before i bought sennheiser hd560s, i would have skipped buying hd560s and sundara and corsair virtuoso pro for sure! They seem even better sounding than Philips x2hr / x3 for me out of the box

 

[solderdude]

Now also measured/reviewed the cheaper ATH-R30x which in stock form is a colored sounding headphone that is clearly not as good sounding as the ATH-R50x

A few hours 'under the hood' (see review) turned the ATH-R30x from a 'somewhat decent' sounding but very comfortable headphone with a fixed 3m (but very low in microphonics) cable into an excellent sounding and measuring very comfortable headphone with a shortened (to 1,5m) cable.

(a horizontal line = perceived 'neutral')

 

[Mauro]

Now also measured/reviewed the cheaper ATH-R30x which in stock form is a colored sounding headphone that is clearly not as good sounding as the ATH-R50x
View attachment 459332

A few hours 'under the hood' (see review) turned the ATH-R30x from a 'somewhat decent' sounding but very comfortable headphone with a fixed 3m (but very low in microphonics) cable into an excellent sounding and measuring very comfortable headphone with a shortened (to 1,5m) cable.

(a horizontal line = perceived 'neutral')
View attachment 459334

You surpassed yourself on that one!
Cable is still not detachable but shorter and with filter right? Still 3.5mm connector?

A comparison graph of the modded one with hd600 would make sense..

 

[solderdude]

The cable was shortened and where I cut the cable is where the filter is situated (25cm from the plug)

I'll make some other logical comparisons as well.

so.. a lighter weight, more comfortable HD600 with a bit more bass extension and a bit more 'sparkle' up top.

so.. a lighter weight, more comfortable HD560S with a bit less brightness and bit more 'sparkle' up top.

 

[bequietjk]

The little brother of the R70Xa is a half the price of the R70xa.
It does not have the 'hit-and-miss' wing-system headband and the cups can actual swivel a bit as well.
VERY lightweight and comfortable headphone with decent lows and (curable) overly detailed (sharp) upper treble.

ATH-R50x

back to audio-technicaback to measurementshome published: Mar-18-2025 NO SMOOTHING is applied to the shown plots. Most measurement sites have some smoothing applied which ‘irons flat’ sharp peaks a…

diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com

Cost aside, for long listening periods accounting for comfort and your own personal preference do you think the R70x or R50x would be better?

 

[solderdude]

Cost aside, for long listening periods accounting for comfort and your own personal preference do you think the R70x or R50x would be better?

The R70x has the wing system which is not equally comfortable to everyone.
The newer R70xa has a similar headband to R50x and that one was very comfortable to me.
I have not measured any of the ATH-R70** models though because it does not seem to offer much more than the (modified) R50x.
I would expect some differences (in stock sound) between the R70xa and R50x where the R70xa would need less modifications.

 

[frittatahubris]

Are there any recommended ear pads for the original R70x? I bought some used for a good price and I find it even more comfortable than the HD580 Precision. The sound signature is great for working from home.

The only exception is the pads. The stock ones are too small for me and hurt the top of my ears.
I've tried aftermarket aliexpress Denon AH sheepskin pads. These work well for the sound, but because it's angled and the ear gap is at the front of the pad, it's got pressure at a weird hotspot between back of my ears and back of my head.

Ive tried aftermarket aliexpress Fostex pads, which work well for the eargap, but are too shallow for me and my ears touch the drivers foam bit.

Are there any tried and true pads that work with r70x and bigger ears?
It's been out for ages now so I'm hoping there's something out there.

 

[frittatahubris]

Just to give my 2 cents, they fit very well for my fairly average European square head. They are very light and comfortable, and I use them almost daily for more than 5 hours. I do not hear any bass "distortion" and as some people have mentioned "grainy texture".
The stock pads were making a hotspot on top of my ears and were quite shallow, unlike the aftermarket pads which fit very well. They do not perceivably change any sound characteristics except slightly improve bass response and have not shown any signs of degradation over a year (also they are quite cheap).

I do enjoy them quite a lot, although I have not tried much headphones to compare them with.
As a side-note, in European used market they hover around 200€, so it's not that bad value wise.

Do you happen to have a schematic or a guide you followed? I had found a schematic ages ago, but cannot find it now when I finally decided to build my own balanced cable

Which material did you get for those aftermarket pads?

 

[Ufasas]

Running r50x on Fiio K5 ESS today, amazing in melodic death metal, those rumbling guitars very satisfying, and then growling vocals cut through all instruments like a fist in your face so effortlessly, no vocals are behind or tamed, just how i like it. Tested r50x with EVGA Nu Audio ak4493s single chip in games and music, was great, just how i prefer it, as good as hd560s. Tested Creative Sound Blaster G8, after 6 months+ of having it i prefered it less than EVGA or Fiio devices, as if G8 is lacking something or sounds how i do not enjoy when i use r50x & hd560s, dunno what, was more at peace with evga/fiio. Now k13 r2r arriving, i want to test it with Sundaras, akg k712, hd560s more than with r50x, seems like r50x runs well with any dac i ever had anyway. I think i am more of a Fiio Dac/amp guy than other companys...

 

[inselwissen]

Stumbled upon this thread and felt compelled to register after lurking for years. ASR is a great resource and I've profited enormously from Amir's dedicated work but this review, at least the subjective part of it, doesn't line up with my experience at all. I know this has somewhat turned into a thread about the new R-series, but I gotta write a quick post in defense of the OG. I've seen them go for around 270 € at certain retailers and used prices are dropping too. The value's getting better and better.

My pair of ATH-R70x has been my main daily driver for about three years now and they just work really well for me. I use them for music, movies, a bit of gaming and as a second reference for mixing music. Great for all of these use cases.

First off, I don't find them particularly hard to power. The headphones run just fine from my MOTU M2 interface or FiiO KA11 dongle. General timbre and imaging is great. I think Audio-Technica set out to make a wider-sounding, less bass-shy HD650 and, at least on my head, with my ears, they succeeded with flying colours.

Bass quantity is right on the money for my taste and I like the texture. Sure, a subbier headphone with leaner mid-bass might sound "faster" here, but that's not needed or even appreciated for a lot of the music I listen to. At my listening levels, I don't hear any bass distortion. If there's colour there, it's well integrated.

The mid-range is incredibly natural to my ear and, going into the higher midrange, I don't really notice the dip around 4 KHz that Amir measured. I am sensitive to shoutyness in the ear gain region, so a little dip in that area might actually just work for the way I hear sound. The HD600, for example, has a little too much there for me sometimes.

The treble isn't particularly airy, but I don't hear any erroneous peaks either. No Beyerdynamic screech, no odd timbre to cymbals or percussion, just warm, inviting treble with enough detail for critical listening.

I've futzed around with EQ and haven't found anything I'd want to change, really. Amir's preset in the OP turns these into a subby, shouty mess on my head. Plus, the bass distortion becomes much more apparent. These aren't designed for sub-bass, but, as others in this thread have noted, neither is any other dynamic driver open-back headphone in this price range.

Soundstage is good, imaging is even better. Plus, I can literally wear these all day. They're light, the cups are big enough for my ears and the wing design avoids the dreaded hotspot on the top of the head completely. Coupling is always spot on. Not that that's as important for an open-back headphone as it is for a closed-back, but still. They sound the same every time I put them on.

Maybe these headphones just work for a very specific head shape and/or very specific ears, but I've tried and/or owned all the heavy hitters and this is by far my favourite model under 500 €.