[RayleighSilvers]

Hey there guys. Not really a full review but as the title suggests, it's more of an impressions thread. There seems to be no a700x threads at all so I thought I'd give at least an insight into what I felt with them. Take all my opinions with a grain of salt as my analytical skills aren't as good as most of yours. 
 
I demoed these headphones in a shop before but I didn't really pay attention to different aspects such as balance, soundstage etc. I got to try them again today for a whole hour, alongside some grado Sr80i's, 2 headphones from 2 companies I've always read about and saw pictures of on headfi but never had the chance to see in the flesh so it was quite a surreal moment. Like when you see someone on tv all the time, but seeing them in the flesh gives you that weird feeling like "is this real". Anyway onto the a700x
 
Build Quality -  Didn't pay much attention to them the first time, but after looking at it closer I have to say, these are one of the cheapest feeling headphones I've ever held. These headphones are light, very light. If you picked them up without looking you'd had to physically check to see if they are really in your hands, they are that light. From what I could tell, the whole thing was made of plastic apart from the headband which is probably the reason. The downside of this as I mentioned is that they felt very cheap. Like a big child's toy. If somebody sat on these they wouldn't feel too bad, until you tell them how much it costs, then they'd be shocked, not at the fact that they broke your Audio technica's, but at the fact it costs that much. These costs £160 and to make it so light and plasticky, it really doesn't deserve it's price tag. I can understand wanting to make them very light but at least give the product some premium quality. £160 is not throw away money, even if it is a small amount compared to what is out there.
 
 From the pictures on google the midnight blue colour looks mesmerizing and I was ready to buy this headphone blind over the a900x simply because of the colour, but in person it doesn't look as good. 
 
The wing system is one Audio Technica seems to be using on all of there upper range products. I've already given my impressions in another thread, but just to reiterate, they are terrible, at least for small heads. The spring tensions in the wing are weak and fail to stop the headphones from sliding down at which point the top of your ears will touch the bottom of the upper earpad making them quite uncomfortable. AT have also put some thin mesh like cloth inside the pads. I have no idea what it's there for, apart from causing more discomfort since they touch the ears.  
 
The earpads seem to be the only redeeming feature I could find in regards to build quality. They were very soft. And that's all I have to say 

   
 
Dear Audio Technica. You keep saying that you are "always listening". Well listen up. Your wing design sucks (for small heads). Most of your countries population has a small head like me, so please introduce a headband version of your higher up headphone that conforms to our anatomy. K thx.
 
 
 
Sound Quality
 
 
The sound was a mixed bag for me. I'll go with the standard format of dissecting each range.
 
Bass - Due to the light clamping force of the headphones the bass didn't have any presence until I pressed the cups against my head. The bass improved significantly. But that's like saying 2 is significantly higher than 1. Compared to 10 it becomes negligible. The bass is really anemic in the headphones. Compared to my Panasonic HTF600's (which I consider to be close bass neutral, sometimes shy even), the 700x felt rather lacking. I thought the "x" series was supposed to fix the bass problem, but after hearing these I shudder to think what the older versions would've sounded like. The bass sounded like it had good texture although I'm still getting to grips of what good bass texture would sound like.
 
Mids - The mids are the things that instantly stood out. They were forward compared to the rest of the frequencies. Vocals sounded good but I didn't really grab me as I was fully expecting them to. They didn't really sound much more special to me than my panny's. Vocals did seem to drown out the other details though which I will come onto.
 
Treble - Really don't know much about this frequency range. I didn't notice any sibilance. I can tell the vocals were coloured because I was testing them side be side with the grado sr80i's which are the most coloured headphones I have ever heard. Vocals had this really weird effect to them as they peaked towards the upper midrange/treble. The AT's, although nowhere near as much, gave off a bit of that effect that I have never heard before.
 
Details and separation - This is where I was disappointed with both the AT's and grado's. I have a pair of £35 soundmagic E10's and they picked up more detail than both the AT's and the grado's. It's supposed to be the opposite way around isn't it? 

For example, on one of my rock tracks, which consists of 2 guitars, a bass guitar and drummer, a part of the song has the bass guitar playing in the left ear with the other sounds spread out. I can both hear and feel this clearly with my E10's, but with the grado's and AT's I almost forgot it was there. I turned the bass up by 4db on each to see if would help but it didn't really bring it out and just messed up the other frequencies. 
 
I think I'll leave it there for now. I tried a lot of headphones today including the D2000's (very unimpressed), and the one that impressed me the most was the ws55 and sr80. I wont go any further though as I could write enough to start another thread (don't worry I wont

)
 
TL:WR - Overall was very disappointed with these headphones. Bargain basement quality, with terrible ergonomics and lackluster bass. Mids were ok but nothing to scream home about. Detail retrieval and separation and everything else (especially bass) was better on my £35 iems with it's 10mm drivers, which is disgraceful since these cost so much more.  
 
All the headphones were tested using the music I listen to @ 320kbps or higher through a RB'd Clip+. Constructive criticism is welcome, and If any of you guys disagree with what's said, please speak up. There's been literally no info on headfi on these headphones so get off your lazy bumbs and contribute 

 

[RayleighSilvers]

The a900x seems to have received some really good impressions so far. Can the gap between the 2 really be that big? Or are my expectations too much? The 900 does have an aluminium which would at least give it a more premium feel.

 

[Darkblade48]

Here are some of my comments as well. I have owned the A700X for just over a month now, but am still quite new to the audiophile world (though I am a classical pianist by training, haha).
 
Build Quality - I agree; the A700X series seems to feel "cheap" since it is entire plastic. But it is light. The difference for me is that this pair is reasonably cheap - 11000 JPY or 84 GBP. This is just a little more than half of what you paid.
 
I personally like the wing design, but maybe it's because I don't have a small head? If you are finding the wings are a little too loose, you can always try the "elastic band" modification; that will tighten up the wings a bit (and improve the bass, mentioned below). Also, I do not find my ears touch the inside of the ear cups. The pleather is very comfortable as well.
 
Sound Quality:
 
Bass: A bit weak, but not as weak as some other headphone I have auditioned. These headphone are not right for people that want heavy bass (XB700 etc). An elastic band modification to the wings presses the cups a bit closer to the ears, improving the bass a bit.
 
Mids: Good; vocals are brought forward. Instrumental music suffers a bit and is not as full bodied as I would like.
 
Treble: I didn't really pay a lot of attention here; no sibilance that I could hear, compared to other earphones (Denon D2000).

 

[RayleighSilvers]

Thanks for the reply darkblade. Your experience more or less shadows mine. Your spot on about the midrange. It's probably a bit too forward. I found vocals drowning out other sounds that I should normally have been able to hear clearly. Bass I still think is below neutral. How are you finding your headphones overall? Are they your first pair? And did you have a chance to compare them to the a900x?

 

[Darkblade48]

So I just got back from 3 hours at Yodobashi and Bic Camera, auditioning headphones. Some very nice high end Sennhesier HD800, Stax, Denon AH-D7000, etc. Haha, I digress.
 
I personally think the mids are not too forward; certainly they are forward than some others though. I think the new Art series (X) were designed more for "Asian music" (Japanese music), as I find them to sing much better with these kinds of music than others (I listen to classical/opera as well, and these headphones are definitely not as good in that regard).
 
Bass is definitely below neutral, compared to other headphones. If you are used to headphones that are V-shaped (Denon D2000/5000), then the 700X and 900X will seem dead to you. However, they still have more bass than the Air series (i.e. AD700). That being said, "more" compared to the Air series is still not a lot.
 
I am satisfied with my 700X because I usually listen to Japanese Pop music, and not a lot of bass heavy music. I am currently thinking of getting another pair for classical music though. These are my first decent pair of (full-sized) headphones (I do have a pair of ATH-SJ55 that I used briefly; they sit in a drawer now). I used to use a pair of Hifiman RE0 (and still do, for when I am on the go).
 
Finally, I also compared the 700X to the 900X today at the store, both amped and unamped. Since the store was noisy, I wasn't able to pick up on the finer details, but suffice to say, the 700X and 900X differences are minimal; if the 900X is significantly more expensive, then I would just save money and go with the 700X.
 
While the 900X is supposed to use aluminum, I still found that it felt "cheap," with a plastic-ky feel.

 

[RayleighSilvers]

J-pop/rock is my main genre of music 

. Anytime I test headphones out I'm using music from scandal, AAA, and other artists which is why I thought the 700x would be perfect for my taste but the vocals didn't really grab. they were forward compared to the rest of the frequencies but still felt a bit laid back, although I was testing them alongside some grado's which might be the problem. I'm not looking for monstrous bass, but at least neutral or slightly above. As I mentioned in my OP, I tested the headphones with Scandals- Scandal baby song, which is mid-centric track, and in one of the parts the bass guitar was barely audible whereas I could hear it clearly on my iem's.
 
Thanks for the response btw. The a900x is only available to me imported from japan on ebay so it's a bit risky. Sad to see build quality is still cheap, I thought the aluminium would've fixed it. Guess I wont be ordering them blind then. The ws55's have come closest to what I am looking for.

 

[Darkblade48]

With the cost of import, I definitely would not bother trying to get the 900X, as the slight improvement in sound will not be worth the extra money. Even here, where the 900X is only 4000 yen (30 GBP) more expensive, I could not justify spending the extra money.
 
You could try the K550; they have a little less bass than the V-shaped Denons, but more than the 700X/900X for sure. Though, that's coming from my memory from auditioning them 2 weeks ago. I went again today, and I think somebody broke the driver, because there was no bass (less than Sennheisers 598/650!).
 
Edit: I have not tried the WS55, so I am unsure of what they sound like. Maybe my K550 suggestion is wrong! But it can't hurt to try more headphones.

 

[RayleighSilvers]

Man I wish I was living in Nihon. The range of headphones I am able to audition here is quite limited. I've almost tried everything I can try. I really wanted something from Japan as it would give it that extra special feeling. Try out the ws55's if you can. The bass is immense but does not bleed into the other ranges. Despite what people say about j-pop, a lot of their songs do have strong bass, and a headphone with an anemic bass is not suitable.

 

[Darkblade48]

Living in Japan does have its disadvantages; for example, the cost of living is much higher. Fruit and vegetables are outrageously expensive. I won't even get into the societal issues that are abound.
 
Back to music; I'll give the WS55 a shot when I'm in the area again. Have you tried the elastic band modification to try to improve the bass/fitting of the 700X?

 

[RayleighSilvers]

The culture is amazing though! I really could talk about it all day, but it would certainly derail the thread. Nobody else seems to be commenting though it may not be a problem anyway. I don't own the a700x so I can't try the mod. I was going to buy it and try it out for 30 days but I wasn't impressed enough with the sound to try them out. That said I now love my iems which I hated for 2 months so if I do buy it I might eventually grow to like them. 

 

[manveru]

It's unfortunate the fit problems some people have with the ATs. Maybe you guys didn't get a good seal? I used to have the A700 and I wouldn't call it's bass anything even close to weak or anemic. It's not huge or especially powerful, but if memory serves it was at least above neutral. It's still some of the best bass I've ever heard. I also found the mids to definitely be recessed, unless the sound really changed that drastically with the new version.

 

[Darkblade48]

I think I am getting a good seal - any way to check this?
 
I wouldn't call the A700X bass anemic, but it is at best, just a touch above neutral, at least with the elastic band modification. Compared to some other neutral headphones that I tried (i.e. Q701), the new Art series' headphones seems to have about the same, if not less, bass.

 

[manveru]

 
Quote:

I think I am getting a good seal - any way to check this?
 
I wouldn't call the A700X bass anemic, but it is at best, just a touch above neutral, at least with the elastic band modification. Compared to some other neutral headphones that I tried (i.e. Q701), the new Art series' headphones seems to have about the same, if not less, bass.

Really have no idea if there's a way to tell. I also used to use the rubber band mod as well actually, but I don't remember it making any big difference for me other than comfort. My memory could be fuzzy. Yours and my descriptions don't sound too far off. Like I said, to me they sounded above neutral, but not extra strong by any means. Perhaps preferences could be coming into play as well.

 

[RayleighSilvers]

I guess our definition of a neutral bass differs quite a bit, which is fine. Ive learnt very recently that sound is all relative to each other. One headphone could seem like a bass monster compared to another but in the overall range it could still be weak. Same with mids and highs. Compared to grado's most headphones would sound recessed.