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