Audio-Technica - ATH-R70x

These are the best headphones I have tried so far. They are absolutely neutral with a dash of warmness. Everything sounds clear and crisp. I definitely hear things I did not hear with the Dt 770 Pro even though the Dt 770 Pros are also amazing. Some odd sounds that did not make sense in the dt 770 pro makes sense in the ath R70X. The sound stage is not all that expansive or enveloping for an openback, but, it is not congested by any means. The slightly less expansive sound stage is compensated by the brilliant imaging. These are often compared, put in the same level and category with the Senheiser HD650s. If the comparision is at all true then it is a high compliment to the HD 650s because these headphones are amazing. Definitely no harshness anywhere. Highly recommended.

What a little gem this turned out to be...A purist headphone by all means. Lightest of headphones i have ever worn till date. ~ For ~210 gms - this is a fab build. Picked an AT almost after 6-7 years. Worth the pick.
The Japanese engineers from AT - have used high quality carbon composite resin with housing of drivers using unique honeycomb mesh aluminium acoustic panel for natural sound and to get low weight/optimal stiffness to weight ratio.
This headhpone carries a sound signature very closer to neutral tonality, natural sound with great dynamics across spectrum
Very very engaging/relaxing/softer natural/organic sound. With a OTL amp like Valhalla 2 - it adds the linearity flavour so well.
While certain web reviews opine that this HP doesnt handle classical music genre well - i have a different opinion. With a good cohesive source and chain of using OTL amp + resolving DACs - ATHR70x handles classical music tracks astonishingly well. The timbre, tonal texture, the resonance of percussion instruments etc is top notch.
Sub-bass extension is something i thoroughly enjoyed..Jut the right level of depth and well controlled.
At 470 ohms impedence levels -this needs power power power - thats the bottom line - you really need a beefy amp to drive this headphones. Decent soundstage - not too expansive/wide but good enough. Liked the imaging overall.
Sound is uncolored and clean. Good reproduction of both Female and male vocals.
With a less resolving chain - you might get an impression that the 'highs' are a bit laid back on certain tracks.. But this is a subjective preference. However the sweet spot still lies in your chain. Highs dont hit you on the face and not overpowering.
Top class ergonomics - you can wear them on for long continous sessions with zero fatigue. The only possible gap is - if your ears are big - you might feel the earcups a bit tight/clamped. No concerns otherwise.
In summary- My initial impression is - its a very engaging, polite and genre friendly headphone that you will love. Remember - that the pairing is going to be crucial for you to get the best out of it
Its scales up brilliant as you get the chain right. On a $300 price tag - this HP is full value for money.
For all Senn HD600/650 owners - this is a great complimentary/compelling headphone to have.
Every mix engineer out there - this is a delight.
I need to explore more with tracks having complex music arrangements to see the level of retrieval. So far no complaints.
I picked ~20 tracks to test so far and was blown way by the way these sounded in ATH-R70x.(No specific order)
1.Veerapandi Kotayile-Thiruda Thiruda - ARR
2.American Beauty - Lunch with the king & Root Beer, Bloodles
freak trcaks by Thomas Newmann.
3.Chanchan WATER - ARR
4.Khel Mandala - Natarang/Ajay/Atul (Masterpiece arrangement)
5.Prayer in Passing - Anoushka Shankar - Album RISE
6.Rooh - Aswekeepsearching
7.Day Tripper - Musica Nuda (Finest Female vocals + Guitar)
8.Bombay Theme- ARR
9.Norah Jones Come Away With
10.Saiyyan - Agneepath - Ajay/Atul
11.Mere Dholna - Bhool Bhulaiyaa - Pritam/Shreya
12.Teri Mitti Female version - Kesari Arko feat Parineeti
13.Thattaan Thattan - Karnan
14.Adapt - Trace Bundy
15.Rebirth-MIDival Punditz
16.Daryaa - Amit Trivedi (whole album of Manmarziyaan)
17.The Essential Stevie Ray and Double trouble
18.Morph the cat - Donald Fagen
19.A love like that - Katie Melua
20.L Subramaniam - Shantipriya - Royal Symphony Orchestra
Thanks to Raghav Somani and his wonderful team in HPZ for the superfast delivery as always.

Been using the AT R70x for over a month now, am wow am I impressed. Before I get to the sound, the comfort level on these is just amazing. The headphones clamp on my head with just the right amount of pressure so that long listening sessions are never a bother. The over ears don't press on my rather big ears either.
The Sound: OH MY GAWD! The open back (my first) have opened a new way I experience music. The EQ response is really flat, you hear music how it was intended to.
I was initially worried about these because of such a high impedance, I had almost also bought Schiit Modi and Magni for this, though somehow my payment failed (on Shciit's site). But once I plugged these into my 2019 MBP Pro, hey, it was good enough. I do have to crank the volume of computer to 80+ to have a normal listening experience, but that's good enough until I get my DAC and Amp setup. I don't have a convertor for my phone so have never been able to test the power of my phone for these, though my guess its, it's not going to be enough.
In comparison to the other stuff I own which is AirPods Pro & Sony WH1000XM3, the R70x are miles ahead. Don't get me wrong, I will not take a flight without the XM3, whereas the AirPods are flawless when switching between iPhone and MBP. But they are agenda drive.
On a beautiful Sunday when I want to enjoy Daft Punk RAM with a glass of wine and be lost in robots' talent, R70x is the spaceship I board to take me to that distant galaxy.
If you've been lingering around think if you should but these or not, just get them, and let me be the first one to welcome you to the audiophile zone.
No Regrats!

No kidding they are exactly what I have described them in the review title. These are the HD650 and more and as the HD650 scale like crazy on a tube amp. These and the HD650 are probably to my ears, 2 headphones with the best tonality that I have had the pleasure of hearing. They are better than the HD650 in a lot of parameters like imaging, sound stage, bass and highs. The HD650 probably has slightly better vocals but these have a clearer mid range. Just one issue so far. People with larger ears may have a problem as these have relatively smaller earcups, so could give an 'on the ear' kind of a feeling and eventually get uncomfortable, just like the Grados. I found them way better sounding than some other HPs I have tried or owned like the Deva, He4xx, HE6xx, Hd58x, Sundara to name a few. Tonality wise it doesn't get any better than these and only thing that stops them from being a TOTL HP is lack of ultimate resolution.

These are the most addictive hifi gear thing on planet, I would say. Even with poor source these sound so musical that would listen for hours and hours. Feed it with clean, high resolution source these become end game. Reason for sounding these do musical is the flattest frequency response you would ever find. These are ranked number one vfm by crinacle.com even, at around $450 price which is enough testimonial for it. Buy one before it goes out of the market like Chromecast audio and Logitech squeezebox. Company will surely discontinue it after realising that it is eating the sales of much more expensive headphone like adx5000. Even with lighter build the strength is of material is good except the screw joint and connectors which can wear out the internal contacts if frequent insertion are resorted to. Better to keep the connectors inserted. Supplied box is nothing to boast about, very poor quality of box. Better buy a hard box instead. Once again I would say this headphone has one of the most peakless and flat frequency response which can beat even 10 t0 15x price totl headphones for extreme musicality. Buy it and sell everything else.

After so many purchases from headphones like DT 900 Pro X, B&O H4 to IEMs like ikko oh10, aria, fh3, tri i3 pro, mele x HBB , tin t2+, tin t3+ etc. I have finally found the sound I was looking for.

The general sound signature for this hp is extremely neutral with a slight tilt of warmth. Mids a little forward in the mix , which is kinda new to me cuz even with other audiophile gear I own the mids always takes a back seat but not here, the vocals are sound really lovely on these.

The best thing about these hp is that you can probably wear these for hours without any kind of fatigue. They are extremely light so that helps too but it's more due to their smooth treble response.

These are also very forgiving to badly produced recordings, ex. a lot of metal music.

This hp really plays well with my extensive music library, which consists of metal, art pop, indie music, rock , hip-hop , instrumentals and everything in between. And I couldn't be more happy with this purchase.

For reference:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3L2xUaMgc0hUt3dXwUiLTo?si=4acskriuTwy-cr5jilaNKg&utm_source=copy-link

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1qnXlosDQGYMIkAiCwDBUs?si=vr3ZcwaNSLamMeEx8XYkhQ&utm_source=copy-link

This is the most comfortable headphone that I've tried. Really liked the sound also. Its very neutral with little emphasis on bass and not all fatiguing