Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 118
 You get what you let them to play August 25, 2010
dadasfx
You can expect absolute perfectionism. Headphones play exactly what flowing into them. Do not expect special effects. Do not expect an enhanced bass or hights. Headphones play just exactly what they have to. If you expect strong and unnatural bass you'll be disappointed. These headphones are absolutely perfect for watching a movie or classical music.
 Really a AD700? August 19, 2010
J. Bowen (Portland, OR)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I have a set of the A700 that are not open air, and thought it would be nice to reduce a bit of the pressure on the ears with these open ear ones. I can't believe these are actually considered the same model headphones. The sound is significantly better on the A700 when compared to the AD700. You will also notice that these to not pivot to fit your head as the A700 do. This causes them to feel like they are going to fall off my head when ever I move, unlike my other pair. Additionally the base response on these is non-existent compared to the A700. Even at moderate levels anyone else in the room will be able to hear what you are listening to. Over all these feel like a less responsive, sloppy fitting version of the A700. If you can handle them not being open air spend a little more and get a great value in the A700. I literally returned these withing minutes of opening the box!
Excellent Affordable Headphones August 19, 2010
Kevin Palt (Paso Robles, CA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I try to be fair and balanced when reviewing a product here on Amazon. Everyone has different likes/dislikes, and what they are looking for in any given product does vary. I hope the following review is useful to help the reader ascertain as to whether or not this particular headphone will work well for them. The AD700 is very comfortable, but can be a bit loose on the head at times. If you have a small head, these may slip off accidentally. The ear-pads are very comfortable, but can be steamy if you are in a warm environment. The sound reproduction is very good, but slightly colored. These are not quite flat, not like the Sony Super-Audio series of headphones. I also own the SA-1000 by Sony, and they have even better dynamic range, and are crystal clear sounding (they have the best clarity of any sound equipment I have ever heard!!). The AD700 though seem to have a slightly more prominent mid-range (human voice, guitar), with slightly less sibilance. The Ad700's in general are more enjoyable to listen to, they are ultra smooth and comfortable to listen to, if they were a car, they would be the Lexus LS (not real exciting, but great to own).
The bass goes fairly deep on these, but not quite as deep as the SA-1000, grant you, rarely will you have a recording that shows you this. On "Jesus Was An Only Son" by Bruce Springsteen there is an organ, and the SA-1000 clearly wins for that song, and also the highs go higher on the Sony's, so the cymbals of drums sound more alive and detailed. The downside though is that the Sony's have no musicality, they rely entirely on the recording (source material) for the music to shine through. So on a very good recording can sound better, but are extremely demanding, and show no mercy to anything that is less than excellent (which unfortunately is almost everything out there to purchase or download).
Detail on the AD700 is fairly good, but not as good as the Sony's, on some of the classical recordings that I have, with the SA-1000 you can really hear the violin being played, due to the extremely fast transient response, the "air between the strings" can be heard more clearly than with the AD700. But with songs involving a choir singing, then the AD700 wins due to the bigger sound-stage, and more prominent mid-range. The bass guitar is more forward and easily heard on the Sony though, and you can hear the fingers sliding along the strings, which you don't really get with the AD700, the bass guitar is a little more in the background, but the vocals come forward more. It is not a matter of right or wrong, but just a different presentation that both of these affordable, and very good headphones offer. If you could own both that is ideal, because they both are a lot of fun to have and are enjoyable.
Incredible music, but ONLY for big heads August 13, 2010
B.R.
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
First thing's first: I Am Not an Audiophile. I thought I was, for a while. After all, I am extremely sensitive to muffled or muddy noise, lost frequencies, closed-in soundstages, and all that (lack of) jazz. So this time, after tugging the wires out of another mid-range gaming headset through sheer overuse, I thought, "Well, since I have the money this time, how about I buy a set of GOOD headphones?" I did an embarrassing amount of misguided research work and narrowed it down to two pairs in my comfort price range: the Sennheiser HD 555s or these. In the end I opted for the ATH-AD700s as they seemed to have a slight edge when it comes to gaming (spotted the trend yet?).
So, first thing's first: these are easily the best sounding headphones I have ever worn in my life, at least for music. This may be due to my relative inexperience, but there's simply a world of difference between these and "a pair of headphones." Or these and "a pair of high-end Sony headphones" for that matter. Simply put, it's the difference between listening to a recording and almost being in the studio. There's almost no comparison.
BUT - and this is where the product gets two stars - BUT, they can only sound that fantastic when they're actually on. And therein lies the problem: They do not. stay. on my head. No matter what I do.
This is something that a lot of other reviewers mention only in passing. The ATH-AD700s are "not for people with small heads." I'd like to take that a step further and say that they're ONLY for people with LARGE heads. My head is "merely" average sized and it simply does not have the girth to fill out this pair's massive volume. If I don't keep my head perfectly balanced they will inevitably shift and begin their trek over my ears and straight to the ground. After a few minutes of this, plus the bulky weight of the things, wonderful tingling feelings start to develop in my neck muscles. This is NOT comfortable, especially for someone who moves and squirms a lot with daily use.
I've tried a few of the remedies offered for this not-at-all isolated issue, such as attempting to permanently bend the wires holding the cans together into a more compatible shape, but it doesn't help. Thanks to the wing design, that just ends up pulling them UP and off my head, and they're still heavy and slippery. After draining my admittedly low reserves of patience I passed them on to a large-headed, hard-of-hearing music lover who greatly appreciated being able to blast them and still get all the details.
So let's get a few things straight. I don't think these are really "bad", per se. They sound every bit as good as They say, and They know what They are talking about... They say. But I have to write this review, and I can't in good conscience give more than two stars along with it, because I really DON'T like them. I get a little rancorous when I see people recommend these without qualification, because in my view you HAVE to meet two very strict prerequisites:
1) You MUST have a head big enough to fit into them. If you're not sure that you do, then you probably don't. I cannot overemphasize how absurdly oversized they are - if there's a larger set of headphones in this world that aren't bass-cannons, then I never want to be made aware of them.
2) You must be an actual audiophile. Not a wannabe audiophile. I've learned this lesson the expensive way. You have to dig music first, above all other concerns, because if it's secondary to any other function of your sound system then you're barking up the wrong tree. As a gamer I want most of all to be able to pinpoint the exact location of a virtual footstep or gunshot, and that is not what these are for. The range is wide enough to cover most bass, but really centered for higher-pitched melodies, and there's no real concept of front-to-back separation. Nor are these headphones ideal for watching movies or listening to podcasts or chatting on Skype. Every pair of headphones or headset you buy will be built with a purpose in mind. These are built for listening to hi-fidelity music in stereo, and they are very, very good specifically at what they're built for.
In short: the ATH-AD700 headphones are not for me and they may very well not be for you. If they are, then consider this one more voice among thousands telling you to experience them for yourself. But if they're not, then I urge you to take a moment to drown out all the me-toos and ask yourself what YOU really want.
If this review convinces you of anything, it should convince you that you can't just trust reviews.
I don't get it August 12, 2010
P. Allen (TX)
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
I don't get all the rave reviews for these cans? I use headphones exclusively on the PC for gaming and movies. These things have no bass, they sound small, like everything is far away and if you lean in any direction they'll fall off your head (and I have a big head). I want to feel like I'm in the action and be immersed by sound and explosions! If that's what you want too, look elsewhere. If you like to sit around and listen to classic music and hear every note, then by all means these might be the right ones for you.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 118
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