I just got the Audio Technica ATH-AD700x this afternoon. (Not the AD700s, mind you, the "upgraded" version of them.)
TL;DR Review
These headphones are great, but I would consider other headphones before buying these. Read on the find out why.
Normal Review
The first thing I noticed was that they were a lot lighter than the AD700s. The overall design in very similar to the purple counterpart, which is good for those who want a bit of familiarity. The headband is quite flexible, and they won't break if you twist them a little bit. The cable is not detachable and is thinner but much stiffer. The connector at the end is made of hard rubber, while the connector at the end of the AD700s is made of metal. The self-adjusting 3D wings are made of thin plastic and are held in place by a single screw. This makes it easier to replace if they're destroyed, but they look and feel really flimsy. The wings also provide less resistance than the ones on the AD700s did, which is not good. Read below.
When I put them on, they fit on my head perfectly, and when I turn my head quickly, they don't fall off, which is an improvement over the AD700s. However, after a couple of hours wearing them, I noticed that the top of my ears, not the wings, were holding the headphones in place, and I had to re-adjust them. I never had this problem with the AD700s because the wings provided stiffer resistance and actually held the headphones in place.
In terms of sound quality, the good news is it's there. The soundstage is great, the mids are terrific, and the deep bass is lacking, which was expected. The bad news is that the AD700s were a lot better out of the box than these are.
Final Verdict
I was really not impressed with these headphones. The build quality is extremely flimsy and feels like a cheap knock-off of the AD700s. It can take a few hits here and there, but just wearing them now, I feel like they can break at any moment. For sound, I'm hoping that it will be better once I break in the drivers a bit. If you like the open headphones with the wing design, I recommend getting the Superlux HD668B instead. If you really must have headphones from Audio Technica, get used AD700s.
Pros
- Similar build to the AD700s
- Comfortable
- Good sound quality
Cons
- Super flimsy build
- Need to break in the drivers a lot more than the AD700s
- The 3D wing won't hold the headphones up after extended use
- No significant improvement over the AD700s