Beyerdynamic T 70 Over Ear Headphone, Black/Grey

Delance26

100+ Head-Fier
Pros: Detailed, Excellent mids and vocals, excellent isolation, portable
Cons: Slightly bright, Thin mid-bass, fixed cable
Overview
In this review I will, as the title suggests, be talking about the T70p.  I purchased them because I wanted a good, full-sized portable headphone.  Because of the mixed views of these headphones they have reached some pretty low market prices, so I thought why not give them a shot!  In this review I will compare them primarily to two other headphones in my possession; the Shure 1540, and the Beyerdynamic DT990 pro. I will also discuss the effect of pad swapping with these headphones.  My source equipment was the Fiio e09k+ Fiio e17 for desktop usage, and for mobile use I used the brand new LG v10 smart phone, which in my mind is a superb mobile music player, but that is for another time!  I am also hoping to get the new Fiio K1 sometime soon and will comment how they sound with these as well.  Songs were at least 256kpbs and 44.100kHz.
The Beyerdynamic T70p is one of those headphones that seem to either be loved, or despised.  There seems to be little middle ground.  I recently acquired a pair, and I must say I was not sure what to expect from these cans.  Many people comment about the anemic bass, and sibilant treble.  Others rave about wonderful comfort and build quality. You can imagine that even before listening to these headphones I had notions of what I might hear.  I expected a bright, aggressive sound with a large soundstage.  What I was greeted with from these headphones was not what I thought, for better or worse.
Before I get into the sound, I wanted to talk a little bit about the build and overall ascetics of these headphones.  Upon opening the rather minimalistic packaging you are welcomed buy a leatherette carrying case.  Inside this case is the headphones themselves, along with manuals and an airline adapter (assuming this is only found in the portable model).  You also receive a ¼ inch adapter.  This adapter is not a screw on adapter instead it simply acts like a normal audio plug.  The build is solid, as most Beyerdynamic headphones are. As an added bonus Beyerdynamic has plenty of spare parts for sale and will repair your headphones should tragedy strike. They use high quality plastics, and sturdy metal yokes.  The only qualm I really have is the non-removable cable.  It is annoying that Beyerdynamic continues to not have this, although it appears they are getting on board with their newer headphone models.  I will mention however though that the cable is sturdy and well attached and my other Beyerdynamic (DT 990 pro) I have had for well over a year and have had no cable issues.
Comfort on these headphones is fairly average.  I can usually wear them for about 1-2 hours before my ear begin to hurt.  In fact these almost act like on ear headphones.  I say this because your ear will most likely touch the inner felt of the headphone.  The pressure is light and honestly I forget this is occurring, until my ears begin aching.  It is a shame Beyer could not have thickened the pads about 1cm more and the problem would be fixed.  Finally, they also can get pretty warm, which is fine during these cold Minnesota winters, but I do wonder how they will fair during the summer in sweltering heat.
As I have said the sound on these headphones is unique and usually offers little middle ground when it comes to enjoyment.  You might be wondering where I fall? Well the answer is just north of the middle ground.  I enjoy the different sound signature it presents, even if it is not ideal for all genres.  If you are looking for a solid all-rounder than this may not be the headphone for you.  I would instead look at the Shure 1540, although in the current market that will cost you at least 100 dollars more, it is one of the best all-rounder headphones on the market I personally believe.  If you are looking for a very detailed, bass light headphone, than these could be suited for you.
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Bass
The bass on these headphones was a mystery for me at first.  It seemed light and aloof initially, and then tight and impactful a moment later on another song.  I am attributing this to two things.  One how the song was mastered and the actual tuning of the headphone.  What I have come to notice is that this headphone actually has impressive sub-bass.  What it is missing, and what I imagine the response to anemic bass, is the mid-bass.  It lacks bunch and energy.  If a song relies on this mid-pass punch (like lots of pop music) the song may come across a little flat and dry.  In contrast, the bass is very life-like.  What this means is when listening to live recordings, acoustic, classical, etc… the bass is well placed and it sounds like you, the listener, are in the concert hall.  This gives me mixed feelings over the bass.  I think it can be found either superb, or lacking depending on the type of music you listen to the most and enjoy.
Mids
Now on to the mids.  Many people seem to agree the mids are the strong area on these headphones.  I must say I love the mids as well.  Vocals are crisp and detailed.  Choral music such as Baba Yatu from Eric Whitecre sound sublime.  The separation and clarity is superb.  The vocals really shine.  They are very natural and again life-like just as the bass was.  I must admit after using these headphones I have found details in choral music I missed before on my other headphones.  For example, while the DT990 are detailed, their mids are heavily muddied do too the overzealous bass punch, which the T70p lacks.  They also feel recessed due too the extreme “U” shape in sound.  The T70p sound a lot like the DT990, without the over-bearing bass.  This means if you found the DT990 too bright, than these will be too.
Treble
The treble is again a mixed bag for the T70p.  Some find excellent, and others find it harsh and sibilant.  This area had me concerned as I tend to enjoy a warmer signature like the 1540’s, but these are certainly no warm.  Over my listening experiences I have come to enjoy the treble for these.  The detail retrieval is wonderful and I have not found them to be very sibilant, except on some poorly mixed songs or treble happy songs.  If you are sensitive to treble you may want to pass.  I personally appreciate the detail and transparency the T70p provides.  I really enjoyed listening to The Butterfly by Máiréad Nesbitt of the Celtic Women.  The fiddle is beautifully reproduced and dynamic.  Simply put orchestral and string music sounds great with these headphones.
Pad Swapping
If you already have the T70p and want to bring the bass forward (at a slight cost to the mid-range) and dampen the treble than try and swap the pads to the Shure 1540 pads.  I will warn you this really changes the sound and I personally think it too dramatically reduces the treble.  I find myself missing the detail provided with the stock pads.  In addition to trying out the pads from the 1540’s on the T70p I tried out the DT990 pads.  These increase comfort, but greatly reduced isolation (in and out) and I felt exacerbated the treble further, which is the opposite most people would be trying to achieve.  I am curious how some of Beyer’s pleather pads function on these.  They may be the right compromise between increased bass, but without sacrificing detail.  If that could be pulled off than these would easily rise to top of class in my opinion.
Final Thoughts
This headphone is slowly becoming one of my favorites.  The sound is sort of addicting.  I listened to these for some time and then decided to switch to my 1540’s.  I found the bass on the 1540 too much upfront and punchy.  I have come to appreciate the natural sound this headphone provides.  Part of the reason it sounded poor on some tracks I think is that those tracks do not use “natural” sounds, and this headphone shows it.  If you listen to mostly classical, jazz, acoustic music, score music, rock music, and even some pop music, these will sound great.  Where they struggle is music that emphasizes the mid-bass punch.  If music you listen to relies on this than your music will be very underwhelming and you can find better elsewhere.  I would also only purchase these if you can get them for 350 or less.  They are certainly not worth their 499 price tag.
This headphone also comes in two different models.  The portable version, and the studio version.  Assuming there are no sonic differences between the two I would suggest the portable version.  I say this for a few reasons.  Firstly, these isolate very well, especially with sound leakage.  This makes them a strong coffee shop companion that will disturb your neighbors.   Secondly, the shorter cable can always be extended, so even if you want to use it at home, you can always extend the cable for more length.  In my opinion the T70p offers more versatility than the T70.
If I had to choose I would say the 1540>T70p>DT990 overall.  While the detail is impressive on the T70p there are times I crave a stronger lower end, which the 1540 provides.  I also enjoy the supreme comfort the 1540 offers.  I am, however, happy with the T70p because it is true to its mission, a portable, audiophile grade headphone. 
 
 

erosenst

New Head-Fier
Pros: Very focused, powerful sound! Lovely listening experience.
Cons: Soundstage reduced due to closed back design
So this is my first review guys, and that's because I finally have a useful comparison to make! With Sennheiser's release of the 630VB, I caught the bug to get a high quality portable pair! However, I never pay full price and almost always buy used, and I was not about to pay 500 USD for a pair of sennheiser portables (My HD600s I got for 240 USD on ebay and I bet they are better then the 630VBs). 


So began my search, I really wanted an audiophile grade closed back headset for portable use, I have Audiotechnica Ws99s which are a lovely bass headphone in the 100 dollar range with great mids, but I wanted more! That's when I stumbled on the Beyerdynamic T70 s on ebay. The impulse buyer I am, I had a good feeling about them and bought them immediately after reading one good review video that said they are better than the T5s (the other pair I was looking at, they're available in the 500USD range themselves! Not sure why anyone would get the new sennheisers when you can get the top of the line teslas for cheap!)

I am enjoying these more than the Sennheiser HD600s, although the HD600s have a much wider soundstage that is apparent when there is panning ambient sounds. I never fully understood the idea of the HD600s being "neutral" until I listened to these new headphones (bought new because there were no cheaper used pairs I could find! I guess people keep these :p) the t70s are really in your face and upfront about the details they are giving you while the HD600s are more ambient and airy, both cool in their own way.

Treble: Not piercing at all, very present and forward in a way that the HD600s don't match.

Mids: Rich, not like my audiotechnica where the mids are very "fat" sounding in a satisfying way, they are more laid back but very very clear. I got these headphones to upgrade my audiotechnica's which I was using as my main portable set (when I wasn't just being a dick and walking around with my HD600s with my Fiio Kilamanjaro 2 portable amp letting everyone hear me, I don't know them, who cares! [I kind of care, that's why I got these headphones so I could stop wearing my open-backs around when I needed hifi])

Bass: It's took me a second to get used to the bass, when I first put them on, I thought of all the reviews that complained about the bass being "thin." The bass on the HD600s are much more present, but that doesn't mean the bass here isn't full! I listen to electronic music almost exclusively (I know, I'm a pleb, sorry)

In conclusion, I LOVE THESE! I won't get rid of my HD600s because I don't need to, but I'll definitely be listening to my new Beyerdynamic T70 s for a while!

 
bikerboy94
bikerboy94
The T70 had been on my radar for a long time to use as a closed companion to my HD600. I spent a good amount of time with them at the spring Head-Fi meet in NY this year. The nearly $600 price at the time was to much. Now you can get them new for a little over $300. A very good HP for today's price. Nice review. I'm still tempted by them but found something I like much better. That has actually replaced my HD600s as my main cans.

bskahj

New Head-Fier
Pros: Mids, Comfy & pretty flat spectrum
Cons: painfull treble-spike, over-priced & bass
So ill keep this short, and ill relate this to the norwegian market.
 
I have both Sennheiser HD650 & HD700, my experience with both is awesome, therefore I had huge expectations to these as in Norway the T70 
is in the same price range as the Sennheisers. Even with High-end headphone amp I feel i miss something, I were running them at 250Ohm, and the clarity was
great though it sounded so "surgical".
 
With surgical i mean that while other headphones in this range plays and actually gives me a greater experience of the original song, then these seem to
either make the music sound ****, or make the songs flaws so accurate that I no longer feel the same good dynamic sound. 
 
The closed pads are actually really good, they are comfy and you can wear them for quite the time. 
 
If you have the money, look towards Sennheiser or maybe AKG, its not worth the money. (In Norway these are about 4000NOK, comparable to 520$!)
Hans-Austria
Hans-Austria
"painfull treble-spike"  YES - but it seems very individual, some love it, some hat it ... I am on the hater side ...
myriad10k
myriad10k
I have the same feeling about them, of missing out on something. But my source and amp is a Fiio E10k. Which amp do you pair them with?
Criss969
Criss969
**TRIGGER WARNING**
 
This is my opinion.
 
The first time I heard them, I was astounded as I had not heard such crisp and clear vocals before in my life. I purchased them and brought them home so very excited! I plugged them in, turned on a song I know well and ~5 minutes later regretted buying them. I figured since I have them and spent $250, why not just keep listening to them.
 
Fast forward about four days and I was in love. The treble spike people speak of begins to disappear, I assume because the brain is adapting to it's sound, and they become quite magical. It seems that my preferred sound signature is more analytical than any other. Comparing them to my UE900s and HE-400, they eat them for breakfast in terms of vocal performance.
 
Like most others, however, I do agree that the bass is lacking quite a bit. There is virtually no "punch" at all and the sub-bass remains subtle, yet present. I have checked out the InnerFidelity frequency response graph and am aware of the impedance spike at the ~100Hz area. I use the Fiio E09k as my main amp, so it may be a little underpowered.. I'm not sure.
 
Long story short.. if you love an analytical sound then I say grab a pair.

FatmanSize48

1000+ Head-Fier
Pros: Sparkly but not hot treble, deep, controlled AKG K702 type bass (maybe a bit more weight), "good" comfort
Cons: Mids nowhere near as luscious as my LCD-2s (duh), not worth the $560 asking price)
^^^

Synthax

500+ Head-Fier
Pros: Very airy, spacious, solid built, precise sound, comfort of use
Cons: Need very good amp and source, will be harsh in sound with many partable devices and computer sources. With bad recording - too bright and not relaxin
I will not write a long description, but just some subjective facts. 
I like them very much. I do have HD650 also, but when I want to be closer to music and see more truth in recordings I use T70. Lately they are my favourite headphones. Since about half a year. With good source the bass i sufficient and very precise, in fact very warm. Some phones may sound more relaxing but with the cost of losing  too many details. Here detailing is brillant. They are exceptional. But rather kind of love or hate headphones. Better for accoustic, jazz, orchestra than for rock and pop.
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MalVeauX

Headphoneus Supremus
Pros: Style, Isolation, Comfort, Clarity
Cons: Bass shy, very bright, over-priced
 
[size=medium]Beyer Dynamic T70 Barely a Beyer?

Beyer Dynamic discontinued the older premium DT770, although it’s still available here and there, but they’ve kept their PRO series DT770’s available and their MX series headsets which are essentially the same thing, and then release the T70 which looks just like the DT770 does actually, with small differences, as their newest closed back headphone offering short of going to the high end tesla. The T70 is a tesla technology headphone, so it differs from the other DT series in sound quite a bit and efficiency. It also differs drastically in sound from the DT770, which is why I initially decided to get it to review: for the love of closed back Beyers. The T70 comes in two forms, a 250ohm version (T70) and a 32ohm version (T70p). So is it a typical Beyer? Let’s explore the T70.
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[size=medium]Quick Reference:[/size]


  1. [size=medium]Closed back design; very good passive isolation[/size]
  2. [size=medium]Dynamic transducer; Tesla technology[/size]
  3. [size=medium]250ohm impedance; sort of needs an amplifier (not a must)[/size]
  4. [size=medium]Micro-velour padding; very comfortable; very isolating[/size]
  5. [size=medium]Bright signature; Revealing; Anemic[/size]
  6. [size=medium]Not a bassy Beyer at all; shares no kinship with DT770[/size]

[size=medium]The T70 is a closed back dynamic transducer type phone that has excellent passive isolation and is relatively easy to drive, despite the 250ohm impedance rating (note there is a 32ohm version and it probably doesn’t need to exist). It has a long cable that is not detachable, like most Beyers, comes in a leatheresque carry case like all the other Beyers, and has micro-velour padding, which is a different feeling material from typical velour, it has a more swede-like feeling to it. The signature of the headphone is not a typical Beyer sound, it differs drastically from the previous Beyers, and is nothing like the DT770 other than it’s style/housing, which is nearly the same. Before even proceeding, note that this headphone is very bright and has very anemic, thin, nearly absent bass. This is not for someone who wants a neutral headphone, and especially not for someone who wants a bassy headphone. This is for treble-heads and mid-heads or someone who simply wants to pick out flaws in recordings or simply have extremely critical listening sessions.

What Comes In the Box:
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  1. [size=medium]The headphone itself of course[/size]
  2. [size=medium]Beyer marketing pamphlet[/size]
  3. [size=medium]Carry case[/size]
  4. [size=medium]Foam insert[/size]
  5. [size=medium]1/4th screw-on adapter (typical of Beyer)[/size]

[size=medium]Beyer’s Specifications: What’s written, not what is actual.[/size]


  1. [size=medium]Frequency response 5hz to 40,000hz (ignore this, more like 80hz to 20khz)[/size]
  2. [size=medium]Impedance: 250ohm (though you wouldn’t know it, it seems to operate very efficiently)[/size]
  3. [size=medium]Sensitivity: 104db/mw (and here’s why it seems so easy to drive, it gets loud fast)[/size]
  4. [size=medium]Isolation: Around 18db (similar to the DT770, good isolation)[/size]
  5. [size=medium]Weight: 330 grams (not heavy, not toy-like)[/size]
  6. [size=medium]Cable terminates with 3.5mm and comes with screw-on 6.35mm adapter[/size]

[size=medium]Construction, Material & Comfort:

The construction is sturdy, very Beyer in that aspect, and feels like it’s made of quality materials with a good thick feeling, and not a toy-like feeling you get from ultra-thin cheap plastic stuff. The T70 is mostly plastic, but it’s at least the more durable and thick plastic that you’re already used to from a Beyer. The style and feel is very much like the older premium DT770. The pads are a micro-velour, very swede-like, comfortable and very isolating. This material is also on the headband. Comfort is supreme, like most Beyers, but this one takes it even further and is simply luxury to wear. It’s not very heavy, the cord doesn’t weigh it down in an unusual manner, and it has a touch of grip to help seal the phones to your head, while not clamping hard (it does not clamp like the PRO series, it does however feel similar to the normal DT series). You can swap the pads with normal Beyer velours, or the other types they have these days if you can get your hands on the gels or others; you can also swap the micro-velour onto another DT series. Beyer has kept it fairly universal thankfully (though I have not found a way to buy the micro-velour pads individually from Beyer yet).
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[size=medium]Source Equipment Used:[/size]


  1. [size=medium]Schiit Biforst[/size]
  2. [size=medium]Schiit Asgard[/size]
  3. [size=medium]Schiit Lyr[/size]
  4. [size=medium]Audio-GD NFB12[/size]
  5. [size=medium]Pioneer VSX1121 (AV receiver)[/size]
  6. [size=medium]Fiio E10[/size]
  7. [size=medium]Fiio E11[/size]
 

 
 

 
[size=medium]Sound Characteristics:

When I initially put on the headphone, I was expecting a rather neutral signature, or at least something similar to the premium DT770 which it essentially replaced, however that is not what I was met with. Instead, I was met with a sound that was foreign to me, something that I had yet to really hear from a Beyer. I had to try it from different sources to get an idea of what was going on, to see if it was a synergy problem with two conflicting house signature sounds from parts of the circuit. Ultimately though, my initial impression and my lasting impression after long usage were one in the same.

If you look at HeadRoom & InnerFidelity’s frequency response graphs of their measurements of the T70, it’s supposed to be a flat sounding headphone, with flat signal all the way down into sub-bass, flat all the way to 1khz, then it drives a touch, then a spike at 7khz to 10khz. The graph actually reads that this headphone should sound slightly bassy in the mid-bass area, with slightly recessed mids, recessed mid-treble, and really bright upper treble. This headphone does not sound at all like it’s graph portrays.
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(Graph stolen from HeadRoom; all respect and rights go to HeadRoom)
 
 
[size=medium]If you look how it compares to the DT770 600ohm and the 32ohm, the 600ohm should have way less sub-bass presence, and the 32ohm should out right sound ridiculously bassy. The reality is that these headphones don’t sound anything like that. The 600ohm DT770 is quite neutral and has plenty of presence down into sub-bass, it doesn’t sound like it rolls off that steep. The 32ohm DT770 doesn’t sound like it’s blasting you with enhanced bass, it just sounds a little more bassy than pure flat. The T70 does not sound bassy at all, it doesn’t even sound flat, it sounds out-right anemic. I tested the seal and the only time I could hear really nicely controlled present sub-bass was when I pressed the cups in with force. Even then, it was still just in the background compared to the mids & spikey treble.[/size]
 

(Graph stolen from HeadRoom; all respect and rights go to HeadRoom)

[size=medium]For all your graph-kiddies out there, leave graphs out of it. They don’t represent every headphone well, and they completely misrepresent some others. The T70 is one of the ones that it simply does not represent well (nor the DT770 frankly for that matter).

Treble:

This headphone comes off quite bright. That spike is definitely represented well from 7kzh to 10khz. Everything has an edge to it, it has a touch of sibilance, but it’s not utterly harsh like an Ultrasone, it’s actually quite like the rest of normal Beyer signature sound, simply being bright. The brightness is actually sort of mellowed out with the width of the sound stage, so it sounds bright, but it’s not like daggers from the left & right, but simply a cloud of brightness all around you. Instruments that peak into treble like some guitar, cymbals, some parts of vocals, piano, etc, all have an edge to them that can be great if you’re going deaf, or really bright and fatiguing if you have normal hearing, and outright painful if you have super sensitive dog-like hearing (which you don’t, but you get the idea). It has almost a grain to it, even. If anything has a noise floor, it’s going to be exacerbated. If anything has a lot of high frequency noise, it’s going to be exacerbated. This is a very treble-head sound, so if you’re sensitive to treble, this will be a problem (though you can equalize it down); and of course, this can be a good thing if you’re a treble-head.

Mids:

The bread & butter of what you’re actually hearing the most of, the mids, are quite good. Everything sounds very present, forward and realistic. It doesn’t sound recessed, and it sounds like vocals for example and guitar for example are front-row and blistering when they’re supposed to, yet soft and articulate when they’re supposed to as well. Instruments have a very present and realistic presentation. Instruments in jazz and acoustic, and vocals, sounded incredibly realistic with a tone that seemed like it could be someone live. Someone seeking a headphone that has a lot of focus on treble and mids would do well with the T70. The mids do sound more lively than the DT770 cousin, however that could simply be because of the lack of bass that makes the mids seem more forward when really they’re not. The graph is not helpful here. But I suspect it’s likely that. Ultimately though the mids sound great, match well with instrumentation, vocals sound realistic, everything is articulate and clear, without anything bass bleed and with a slight crisp as it stretches into treble where the spikes come into play.

Bass:

The biggest difference with the T70 when I initially put it on was the bass presence. I expected the brightness, that’s Beyer’s house signature. But Beyers tend to have neutral, if not slightly more than neutral bass that often bleeds a hair into mids, at least before you enter their high-end series. The T70 doesn’t have that problem at all. No bleed in, because frankly, there’s barely any audible bass as it is. It seems to roll off sharply around 100hz or so. The graph completely makes the T70 look flat from it’s neck to it’s toe nails, you would think a closed headphone with a flat sub-bass line would have a nice tight controlled tone that extended deep with a satisfying presence. But it does not. I figure at first that it must be the seal. And indeed the seal had a lot to do with that lacking bass. However, the headphone sounded like it was well sealed and was touching every where. I moved it around to get a better seal. The only time I could really get enough of a seal to hear the sub-bass come through with more body was when I pressed firmly on the cups to my head. The bass came out then, but it was still pretty shy compared to the mids & treble. I swapped pads to see if it was the micro-velour with some DT770 pads, but the effect was the same. Other reviewers also came to the same conclusion that this headphone simply lacked bass, and I have to agree, however I have to say that I am really disappointed here because they discontinue the DT770 and introduce the T70 to replace it. This is not for someone looking for a flat headphone. This has anemic thin bass. It really reminded me of the SRH940, however the SRH940 at least had really low sub-bass presence, but lacked mid-bass. The T70 lacks mid bass and the sub-bass just falls into the void and never comes back up. Bassheads, turn away. Someone wanting a neutral flat response, turn away. Someone wanting a bass shy headphone with good mids and bright treble, the T70 might be for you.

Soundstage:

The sound stage of the T70 is rather good for a closed headphone, it doesn’t have that stereo trapped-in feeling like some headphones (M50 comes to mind), but rather, it has a cloud of audio around your head, much more like how semi-open air headphones sound like with presentation. You’re not absolutely front row, but you’re also not in the back looking through the smoke (K701 comes to mind there). Imaging is great, you can hear things in a position in space realistically, not just left or right, but well blended to appear somewhere in between.

Isolation:

The passive isolation of the T70 is great, it’s rated at 18db, like the DT770, however it just feels like everything is muted out from the world, and also, it doesn’t leak out very much either. When the micro-velour cups touch, the audio goes to a faint whisper. While wearing the T70, I played back music at around normal listening level and I was able to still clearly pay attention the music in the T70 and not be over-powered by the speakers. Vise verse, when the T70 was playing at normal listening levels and placed on something where the cups touched the surface, I could not really hear much coming from them from right next to them and definitely not from a few feet away without critically listening (which required turning off the AC and a fan to actually hone in). So isolation is great. This is why the seal and bass presence really confuses me.
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[size=medium]Synergy & Comparisons:

Schiit Bifrost & Asgard - Plenty of voltage to push the 250ohms, and current. Very clear, crisp sound. Treble was absolutely crisp, spiked, and very controlled. Bass was still absent. Everything sounded clear and realistic.

Schiit Bifrost & Lyr - More voltage & current than will ever be required, but a more transparent sound, slightly warmer, but only slight, a little more weight in the lower mids came out, and the treble wasn’t so absolutely nail-biting, but only by a hair. Bass was still absent. Otherwise, very clear, very realistic, with a great sound stage, though there was a hint of noise floor.

Audio GD NFB12 - Loads of voltage and current. Everything was clear and sounded rather crisp. No added warmth, nothing really changed from the signature sound, except maybe a touch of roll off on the height of the treble, which took a hair out of fatigue.

Pioneer VSX1121 - Unknown output, however it has enough to drive a 250ohm headphone and it sounded rather good, albeit a little noisey compared to the BIfrost & NFB, though I find most AV receivers seem to sound a little noisey with headphones with spiked treble. There was an increase in warmth, but not substantial.

Fiio E10 & E11 - Just enough output to technically quality, however, it sounded great, better than everything else did; simply because the Fiio’s roll off the treble, so the spike is less fatiguing, and the bass enhancement options add +3 db to the bass line without distortion, bringing the T70 up to what was essentially just neutral to my ears. But that added warmth and increased presence wasn’t enough to really make you think the headphone was finally sounding right, it still was missing low end enough to seem like a complete headphone.

The T70 reminded me a lot of the Shure SRH940 and KRK KNS6400 which were very detailed, very bright, with anemic bass extension leaving you with a thin sound. Also shares similarities to the AudioTechnica AD700 in the sense of it having a nice sound stage, but very shy bass. It didn’t sound like Beyers to me at all. I did not have a T5p or T1 to test it against to see if it was just a “Tesla” sound (though I have read reports that the bass in the T5p is not very strong, even though graphs and description suggest it should be; this deserves more attention on my part as I really want to get my hands on a T5p for comparison).
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[size=medium]Closing Thoughts:

The Beyer T70 beyerly sounds like a Beyer and I could beyerly beyer it. It made me sad even. I had high hopes for this headphone. At $599 retail MSRP ($569 at HeadRoom; ~$400 on Amazon new; ~$300 on Amazon used; ~$350 in the for-sale forums as of 9/13/12), it really leaves you wondering why anyone would ever even consider this headphone in the $600 range, where you’re competing with the likes of used headphones like the Hifiman HE-500, and Denon D7000, two high-end models that utterly outclass the T70, yet cost essentially the same. The T1 even goes for $750~850 used, so at $600 retail, you have to consider what you’re doing here with your money. At $300 used, it’s still not really attractive at all when you could be looking at the old premium DT770 for half that, the Denon D2000 for less, nearly a Denon D5000, and of course the rash of modded T50RP’s which are all generally superior to the T70. The T70 simply has no real niche to fit into it. All of it’s strengths are already very vastly covered elsewhere, and it’s weaknesses are so blazing that I can’t see very many people reaching out for this headphone for casual enjoyment listening with music. This sounds more like a headphone meant to chew apart flaws on recordings to ensure a high quality track is recorded that will sound great on a high resolving system. But pleasure listening with the T70 seems like it was never meant to be.
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[size=medium]Verdict: Looking for a headphone that focuses on mids & treble, with an expansive sound stage, great comfort, good build quality, classy style? Looking for something other than the K550 or SRH940? This would be a headphone for you to look at. Again, don't come looking for bass from the T70.[/size]
 

 
Very best,
 
thegunner100
thegunner100
I'll have to agree with Errymoose here, I just got the T70 on wednesday and found the bass to be around the same level of the dt880/600's. But once I put the gel pads on, the bass response definitely improved to be higher than the dt880's, but nowhere close to the dt990's.
N
ngominhhoang132
This review is spot on. This headphone truly lacks bass and a bit too bright in the treble. Works great with genres like acoustic, vocal, dream pop though.. Terrible with other genres. It is really comfortable for a closed headphone
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ngominhhoang132
T70 is way brighter than T1 and has way less bass, with a sub-bass that is almost non-existent
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