Audio Technica ATH-A700 Headphones

I had these and used these as my primary method of enjoying music, films and video games for 18 months until I replaced them with a more expensive model of a different brand. Before I owned these, my "greatest headphones" were $40 VOIP headsets. I won't even begin to claim I have golden ears or anything like that, but even a philistine like me could tell that these things were a million miles ahead of any game headset or stock Zune earbuds around. It was so much better than my previous equipment that I actually experienced the "I'm hearing things I never knew existed in my music" effect. This is to be expected from anyone's first pair of good headphones, though.   

They sit on my head extremely comfortably. I would notice that I was wearing headphones, of course, but it is the same sort of way that you might notice you are wearing a very familiar hat that you've worn every day for years - you know you're wearing these headphones; it is hard to forget that they are on - but they are not at all obtrusive or unpleasant to wear and you absolutely have no objection to wearing them for an entire day if you have the freedom to just sit down for an entire day. However, with excessive head movement, you can hear the slightly adjustable,swiveling parts of the headphones creaking just a tad, so it's not always a good idea to "rock out" when wearing these. This is the one flaw I can consider when thinking of these headphones - not that I'm sitting here headbanging or anything, but even slight head movements are enough to trip the little creaky noises.   

Again, they sound great. I listened to trance (Armin Van Buuren, Tiesto, ATB, etc) other electronic (various Drum & Bass, ambient, Aphex Twin, etc), rock (Pink Floyd, The Cardigans, King Crimson), metal (King Diamond, Dismember, Emperor, Blind Guardian, Death), and a little bit of classical stuff (Mozart, Vivaldi). I am not experienced in a diverse array of headphones, so I don't know much about how other headphones might be more suited for specific genres, but I enjoyed all of this music and more on these headphones.  

They don't require much amplification. I say "much," because they sounded kinda "ghostly" when played directly through my first-gen Zune. Bass was very undefined, and things were quiet in strange ways. Plugging into an HT OMEGA PLUS+ sound card worked beautifully, though, and the headphone output of a variety of stereo and A/V receivers worked beautifully, too. A $200 home theater receiver has a good enough headphone jack to make these sound pretty good. I'm sure the cheap dedicated headphone amps you can get work well, too.   

These are very affordable at only around $110 or so today. For the price, they are absolutely great. However; they aren't perfect. Other headphones are even clearer, other headphones are even more comfortable, other headphones have crisper vocals and tighter bass. These aren't bad at all and I cannot point you to any obvious flaws in their sound or feel or construction. Just, there are obviously better headphones out there beyond these. I consider these an excellent gateway into audiophilia. 

I've had this headphone close to 4 years now. I purchased this along with a Creative X-fi Xtremegamer sound card as my first "hi-fi" setup. Before that I was using cheapo Voip headsets, which was the very definition of bad sound reproduction. When I first got them, I experienced the "wow this music is totally different from what I remember effect". The A700 are great at reproducing details in the music, letting you hear all the nuance that makes music, to me, fun. It is extremely comfortable and you can wear it for hours without discomfort. There is a down side though. If the room is hot or has no AC, sweat will get trapped in between your skin and the earpads. Also, the pleather pads the A700 uses are not the most durable thing and they are not easy to clean. I've had to replace them twice so far, about $12 for a set of repalcement(you gotta order directly from Audio Technica). Last year I bought a pair of VSonic GR07 IEM to replace the A700. The A700 sounds boomy when there is a lot of bass because it can't reproduce some of the lower frequency. I used them to play FPS game because the sound positioning is so good I can hear people running around the corner in games but after a while the boomy sound of guns going off made me nuts. It also has trouble keeping up with faster music and loses some clarity in the process. This is why I consider it entry level because it clearly lacks ability compared to more expensive phones. Also, being a closed headphone does not mean it blocks outside sound. You can hear others quite well but they definitely can't hear your music. Over all I consider the A700 to be well worth it at the asking price for people getting into audio. 

I have had these headphones for four months now, and they are great.  They are relatively inexpensive (at around $120 on amazon), and have a very good balanced sound. 

The frequency response is pretty good, but they lack bass.  With amplification (I am using the fiio e7 e9 combo), the bass becomes more prominent and the sound is much fuller than unamplified.  While amps improve the sound, these headphones are easy to drive and still retain the soundstage, even while listening at low volumes. 

The biggest plus to these headphones is that the soundstage on these headphones is massive.  It sounds like the music is coming from the tip of the nose.  It really brings live performances and acoustic music alive.  These headphones lend themselves well to classical music, but they are also good for most music.  I also listened to some vinyl on them, and they sound great. 

They are also good monitoring headphones for recording music, as they are accurate. 

They are also very comfortable and do not clamp down at all, making listening to them for long periods of time enjoyable. 

The main con of these headphones is the lack of bass, but this lends itself well to music where having booming bass is not as important. 

Overall these are very good headphones, not incredible, but a very stable place to start with audiophile headphones. 

I had the opportunity to compare these headphones to the AKG 702s, and they actually sound quite similar.  The AKGs have more separation between instruments, but the Audio Technica ATH A700’s have a much larger soundstage.  The AKG’s also take much more power to drive them, and really need to be amped to get a good sound.  Unlike the Audio Technica’s, where sound just gets improved by the amp, and it is not required.

A quick sidenote I actually own the ATH-A500 headphones but they use the same drivers so the review should be similar.  I picked these up on a whim at this place that imports Japanese products for around $100.  This is my first pair of SQ headphones so I was suprised to find how big they are, the drivers completely cover your ear.  My favorite part about these things is how comfortable they are, I could seriously wear these all day and not have an issue.  For the price these things sound incredible after break-in, the bass is clean and deep and the highs are just right.  Being closed headphones they don't leak out much of any sound out and that's something I really enjoy as well.  Lastly, these things really open up when you amp them, I saw much improved bass and mids when I got my Headroom Total Airhead hooked up to them.

That being said a few gripes I have about them, the build quality isn't the greatest, at times I feel I might break the top part.  They are not something I would get for portable listening.  The only actual issue I have had with them is the foam earpads wore out after a few years, which isn't that huge of a deal since you can contact Audio Technica for replacements for around $12.  I guess the sound quality might not be up to par for serious audiophiles, but then again why would they want to spend only $100 on a set of full sized cans anyways?

I was about to bag a pair of the open version ATH-AD700 then saw these on the demo stand... The difference was clear. The sound was so much fuller on this closed version. I was tapping my feet!

These are so close to perfect it's tantalising. Lovely full and open sound from a very comfortable pair of large cans. Just what I wanted. Tried Grado, Shure and Sennheiser in same price range - nowhere close for my tastes.

UPDATE A FEW DAYS AFTER PURCHASE

Still really enjoying these, and they have me rustling through my music collection and listening to stuff I have not heard for a long time.

What do they sound like? I've always liked *good* 70s hifi - and modern stuff that sounds like 70s hifi. Warm but clear and punchy sound. Plenty of power for ease of delivery. Celestion Diddon 44 and 66... Good Rotel amps... and an all time favourite set of speakers of mine was the Tannoy M20 Gold. That's what these headphones sound like... a top quality "warm" hi-fi setup. A pleasure to listen to.

I also need to add that the "auto adjusting" aspect of the design is very clever and really does work.

I purchased these trying to find a pair of 'entry level' over-ear headphones that were closed so I could listen to music with other people around without annoying them with an open design or annoying myself with something that wasn't sealed. Comfort was also an extremely high priority for me, as many headphones give me tension headaches or migraines. I was pleased with my ATH-EW9's, so instead of taking a gamble on a brand I hadn't heard before, I went with AT again.

These headphones definitely took some burning in to get to a fuller sound, but hit a sweet spot fairly quickly without any equalizer fiddling. They filled the gap that my ATH-EW9's didn't cover - "prog" rock and pretty much any music with heavily distorted guitars. They handle music like The Mars Volta and The Red Hot Chilli Peppers beautifully, giving definition to each layer of production. Vocal acoustic sounds clear and warm. Where they're a bit lacking is hip-hop or hip-hop derived electro. More minimalist electro (think Bjork) sounds clear as a bell, but they get a little lost trying to navigate heavy bass lines.

If you're a bass addict, I wouldn't recommend these. I personally dislike the "bass blaster" sound common to brands like Sony and Bose, as I feel it compromises the rest of the music. 

Otherwise, they're wonderful headphones especially if you have comfort issues.