Apos x Audio-Technica ATH-R70x Refine Headphone

[Dunring]

I got a pair the other day and they are an improvement on the original. It’s a very smooth but not boring sound you can listen to all day. The treble rolloff isn’t bad, it’s smooth and lacks a little air, but never too bright. The mids and bass are really consistent, just silky and predictable. They take a lot of power, but they use the same cable as the original. I got a balanced cable separate because the bundled one wasn’t a good value.

The size is the thing though. If you wear XL size hats, these aren’t going to fit. Small or medium size heads only will like this. The wings are padded, but still wish they went with a ski style band. They weigh next to nothing, and the gold cups are love it or hate it. They’re a great value for money at this price though. There’s a video review with measurements, so you can see if the tuning is right for you. I like them, and wouldn’t get the original again, they really nailed this one. If your hat size is more than a 7 then I’d pass for comfort reasons unless you feel confident resizing the suspension system.
I tested with an SMSL DL200 DAC and SMSL H400 amplifier, and also a Topping E70 9028Pro DAC and A70Pro amplifier. Both sounded great. The original peaked at 1,000 ohm in the bass region on Audiosciencereview’s measurements. A Topping A30Pro I have also did great with them on stock cables. They’re just making 1,000 of them, but I’m sure if they sell out fast enough they’ll order more.

[andris]

TL;DR

I bought the ATH-R70x Refine hoping they’d replace my HD6XX, because I never really fell in love with the HD6XX. While I think the ATH-R70x Refine are… fine… I’d choose the HD6XX over the ATH-R70X without blinking.

Digital Sources used:

• Mytek Brooklyn DAC
• Chord Dave + M-Scaler

Amps Used:

• Mytek Brooklyn DAC/amp onboard amp
• Chord Dave onboard amp
• DNA Stellaris (2A3 tube amp)
• Bryson BHA-1

I like having reasonably priced “daily driver” type headphones around for work calls, gaming, and for an occasional “change of pace” music listening experience when I need to either shave some detail off of non-ideal recordings, or otherwise remind myself from time to time how much more I absolutely love love love love my Utopia OG than any other headphone on the planet.

For about a year, I’ve been switching between an HD6XX and HD58X for that function. My feeling toward both has generally been “they’re okay”, and find myself typically preferring the HD58X. I’ve been on the lookout for something in the $200-400 range I would like more, and based on an initial flurry of reviews from reviewers I can typically peg my preferences to, I decided to try the ATH-R70x Refine.

In terms of comfort, they’re certainly incredibly light and incredibly comfortable, but I think it’s more of a “different” than “better” as compared to the HD6XX/58X. No particular preference for me, there.

As for sound quality, the biggest compliment I can give the ATH-R70x Refine is that it has an incredibly pleasing and smooth frequency response, especially from the mid-bass on up. Nothing jumps out at you and it all feels very naturally balanced. In a vacuum, I don’t think one would ever think something was off or missing. However, when I switch to the HD6XX, my IMMEDIATE reaction is “holy sh**. Bass! Detail!” It’s not like the HD6XX are particularly known for those attributes, either, but the Refine fall down on both in comparison. I just hear so much more nuance, texture, depth of stage, and again, BASS with the HD6XX.

One refrain I heard repeatedly for the Refine was “spaciousness”. I guess? The pads on the Refine are thicker than on the HD6XX, so the drivers are farther away from your ears, and so the sound reproduction sits that much farther away, but I will actually contend that the lack of detail and depth of stage makes the Refine’s stage just feel flatter and farther away rather than deeper and larger (albeit, starting farther in) with the HD6XX. I did play some games (Fortnite and Rocket League) with the Refine, and I didn’t think it did anything there for me vs the 6XX, either.

Another note is that the Refine really are hard to drive (470 ohms nominal impedance). They came much more alive with the Stellaris and BHA-1 (both preposterous pairings, I know). It’s not like the 6XX are a piece of cake to drive either, but I can drive them off a weaker amp or even off my PC’s sound card (the horror, I know), and not be miserable.

At the end of the day, despite a week of break-in and a plethora of amp pairings, I easily preferred the HD6XX in every like-for-like setting. The only thing I would perhaps wish is that the HD6XX replicated the treble tuning of the Refine, but that alone wouldn’t swing me.

So, in short, the Refine are fine, but they won’t be my new daily driver.

[AudioTool]

@Dunring

If your hat size is more than a 7 then I’d pass for comfort reasons

7 5/8
20 chars

[pennstac]

7 1/4 here. But I think my head has been shrinking.

[insert meme image here]

[amdp]

Hi, I have a R70x and I am fascinated by their sound. I compared them with beyerdynamic dt 1990 pro, hd600, hifiman he1000 unveiled, and hd490, and although sometimes I lack the feeling to be surrounded by the basses as in a “headphones experience” I feel like they are very good at giving out every detail.
I was wondering thus if the Refine could instead give me that feeling of being more wrapped in the warm glow of the sound. If any of you wants to sell their refine I might be interested.
Besides this, I have to say it took me a while to adapt my ears to the sound of r70x because I expected and wanted “that feeling of being wrapped” in the sound. After testing them with Hotel California (Hell Freezes Over), The sky was pink, Au DD and the Coriolanus ouverture (Prague flac), I understood Audio-Technica is presenting a somehow different way to think about the headphones. The metal nuance of the guitars in HC, the beat, material and imaging impact in The sky was pink, the lightness in the final violin ensemble in the Coriolanus are felt profoundly and touch your feelings with that precision of sound. Au dd, instead, while it’s amazing in everything, sounded slightly more embracing in some parts with the hd600. The subs in The sky was pink vibrated way more with the hifiman he1000 unveiled, but it’s another level of tech and of price (10x).
I am really curious to try the Apos Refine… and the HD800s, although I “guess” the Sennheiser sound gives, as said in the last post, always the feeling of something missing, guess because in some ways it seems a little bit, as a tiny nuance, enriched.
I don’t know if I will ever found my perfect ones!