Introduction​

Audio-technica has always had their fingers in a lot of price-point pies so to speak. Everything from cheap, dinky earbuds to their super high end reference dynamic line. So it’s surprising that this headphone sits at the point that it does.

If you're only here for the TLDR here it is: Only get the R70X if it's massively on sale. I got mine $160 AUD off the MSRP. The price I paid for, I would consider is a reasonable price. Not what they are actually selling it for. With that out of the way let's actually move on to the review, starting with the…

Packaging​

The box that the R70X’s come in is pretty standard. Cardboard sleeve revealing a cardboard box with foam padding, the actual headphones and the accessories. This is by no means a bad thing, less plastic is good, but the box does seem a little more cumbersome than is required. Overall, a perfectly serviceable unboxing experience.

Accessories​

The accessories for the R70X are a little barren in comparison to others at this price point, with the box including a large silk carrying bag, the headphone cable and a 6.3mm adapter. Starting with the bag, it’s quite a nice feeling but I’ve never seen the appeal of a bag in a travelling context. It would do almost nothing to actually protect the headphone apart from stopping it from snagging inside another bag, which makes it just feel redundant. Overall, again, serviceable. This cable however, is definitely a let down. The cable itself is quite long, which I like, but it has a bit too much shape memory for the price, not to mention it appears to terminate, at the headphone end, in 2.5mm to each cup. Why? Not to mention it has this weird, proprietary, locking mechanism. If you’ve ever used the cable in the old Sennheiser HD350BT, it’s like that. Annoying and just makes replacing it a hassle. To add insult to injury. The 3.5mm termination comes with a screw on 6.3mm adapter, which doesn’t work with the normal push-and-click adapters. For the cable side of things, it’s pretty disappointing.

Build quality​

The overall build quality of the headphone is sturdy. Certainly doesn’t feel cheap (and I’d hope not). The construction is mostly plastic with the headband and outward driver covers being metal. The wings that cushion the head feel a bit flimsy but are otherwise comfortable. I’ll get more into the fit and feel later on but I would just be weary that they feel like they could definitely snap if they are pushed or pulled in the wrong way. I did notice on my unit that there were very obvious moulding lines visible near the terminations. Not a huge concern, but a point nonetheless.

Fit and feel​

Overall, the headphone is quite small, much smaller than you’d expect. It lands in this grey area between an on-ear and an over-ear. I found that my ears would slip in between the padding and the driver cover. Certainly I’ve never had a headphone fit like this, but it doesn’t seem to be much of a concern at the moment. If I find after further testing this becomes fatiguing or painful, I'll update this post. The headphone is light and seals quite nicely, probably it’s strongest point so far.

Sound​

Okay, now onto the actually important stuff. Before we delve into the breakdown I do want to mention one thing that might be a deal breaker for some. These are, so far, the most closed in open-backs I’ve tried. They sound super close and they don’t have a lot of sound stage. If you're looking for a big, wide open sound, look elsewhere. I’ve split this up into four categories, going over lows, mids, highs and the overall sound signature below:

Bass

The R70X has very clear bass extension. Certainly more bassy than some other reference ‘phones but not overpowering at all. The bass here sounds like a cross between a HD650 and a SHP9500. So while not pronounced, you can very much feel that the bass extends further than the above models.

Mids

The mids on the R70X are nice and clear, as would be expected, however they are presented a little further back than some others that compete with it. I was mainly ABing them with a wire HifiMan Deva Pro for some dynamic vs planar action, and found that the vocals on the R70X sit just a tad further back than the Deva’s. Overall not a con but something to consider.

Treble

The R70X does nothing special here. It does sound like there is a 7k Hz or so spike that might become fatiguing over long sessions. Again nothing super amazing, but also nothing deal breaking.

Overall sound signature

In terms of imaging and detail retrieval, the R70X is in a league of its own in this price point. The small details are represented perfectly in both very dynamic tracks and the more laid back bangers. However, the sound stage is lacking heavily. They feel extremely closed and almost booming at times. In saying that, I feel like this headphone would be a great jumping off point for gamers who want to enter into the open back scene. With a sound in between open and closed backs, combined with a hefty serving of bass extension, it feels like the R70X would be a pretty good fit for an audiophile gamer.