Audio-Technica ATH-AD700 Headphone Review @ [H]

As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
Has anyone gotten a extended warranty on these or even think it is worth it? I checked Square Trade and I can get a 3 year for around 10 bucks.
 
Well my brother is at school. I stole the headset to just check it out w/ my laptop at home (normally I am at my dorm over an hour a way). The sound quality is honestly ridiculous, This is my current headset I got roughly 3 years ago http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...cm_re=turtle_beach_5.1-_-26-502-011-_-Product. The AD700 sound better even on the intergrated sound system with my vs what I have in my sig below. My old headset is falling apart. I will be getting another pair of these in the near future for myself! Truly amazing headset. I have no problems with the base like others are complaining about. I love the fact there isn't a HUGE amount of pressure on your head using these and that they're light. Don't even need a secondary power supply...
 
tisb0b said:
I also wouldn't mind seeing a review of the Beyerdynamic DT880's as I have read conflicting reports regarding their gaming prowess, some say they are better than the AD700's, some say they aren't but they also do require amping.
Click to expand...

The DT880's probably exceed the AD700 in sound quality and are alot more neutral/balanced, while having richer bass. They're not as fun a can as the DT770, which are very enjoyable in games; the DT880 would be more suited for competition where money is on the line...

The AD700's soundstage probably exceeds DT880..
 
Hi everyone. I've read the review and have tried finding out but still don't know so please give me an answer: Does this headset support surround sound and if so how can I make it happen? Do I have to have a Creative X-Fi soundcard or will an onboard Realtek 888B chipset support surround?
 
bore_u2_death said:
Hi everyone. I've read the review and have tried finding out but still don't know so please give me an answer: Does this headset support surround sound and if so how can I make it happen? Do I have to have a Creative X-Fi soundcard or will an onboard Realtek 888B chipset support surround?
Click to expand...
Typically "surround sound" headsets SUCK when it comes to straight up sound quality. Please don't fall for the marketing tricks that "surround sound is better in headphones" because it's not.

With headphones you don't need surround support, just a good quality 2 channel design which these headphones have in spades.

That said these headphones should be easy to drive with onboard sound from what I've heard here and Head-Fi.
 
pwrusr said:
Typically "surround sound" headsets SUCK when it comes to straight up sound quality. Please don't fall for the marketing tricks that "surround sound is better in headphones" because it's not.

With headphones you don't need surround support, just a good quality 2 channel design which these headphones have in spades.

That said these headphones should be easy to drive with onboard sound from what I've heard here and Head-Fi.
Click to expand...

In MUSIC, you don't.
Iin GAMES, you do.

There was a semi-pro Counterstrike player, who was on head-fi, no less,who went from being *good* with a stereo headphone, to being *COMPETITIVE* with the addition of an Astro Mixamp. Competitive, meaning he can hold his own vs other top players. So you have someone on an audiophile forum, posting that surround greatly helped his game. And you're posting here saying surround is useless. O.....K.....

I play A.V.A, and there's a night and day difference in my game with dolby headphone activated. i can pick up sound cues coming from diagonally behinid me, that I would have alot of trouble discerning if it were plain stereo, meaning I would have to spend precious brain cycles to figure out if that sound was coming from in front or behind me. Something that could cause me to lower my reaction time and get pounced at by another player. Not good for someone with ADD....

In Unreal Tournament 2004, you don't need dolby headphone or CMSS, just a good set of stereo cans, because weapon pickup sounds and different terrain footstep sounds are far more important than knowing their exact position relative to you, since it's a fast paced game. But in games like CS and AVA, that's a different story....

You completely forget just how GREAT dolby or CMSS Headphone can sound with a high quality can like an AD700... And all you have to do is turn it off for music, if that so pleases you....
 
Falkentyne said:
In MUSIC, you don't.
Iin GAMES, you do.

There was a semi-pro Counterstrike player, who was on head-fi, no less,who went from being *good* with a stereo headphone, to being *COMPETITIVE* with the addition of an Astro Mixamp. Competitive, meaning he can hold his own vs other top players. So you have someone on an audiophile forum, posting that surround greatly helped his game. And you're posting here saying surround is useless. O.....K.....

I play A.V.A, and there's a night and day difference in my game with dolby headphone activated. i can pick up sound cues coming from diagonally behinid me, that I would have alot of trouble discerning if it were plain stereo, meaning I would have to spend precious brain cycles to figure out if that sound was coming from in front or behind me. Something that could cause me to lower my reaction time and get pounced at by another player. Not good for someone with ADD....

In Unreal Tournament 2004, you don't need dolby headphone or CMSS, just a good set of stereo cans, because weapon pickup sounds and different terrain footstep sounds are far more important than knowing their exact position relative to you, since it's a fast paced game. But in games like CS and AVA, that's a different story....

You completely forget just how GREAT dolby or CMSS Headphone can sound with a high quality can like an AD700... And all you have to do is turn it off for music, if that so pleases you....
Click to expand...

I think his argument was stereo headphones versus "surround" headphones. Everyone with a brain uses Dolby Headphone or CMSS with their stereo headphones for games - the argument is that stereo headphones + Dolby/CMSS > "surround" headphones.
 
Falkentyne said:
In MUSIC, you don't.
Iin GAMES, you do.

There was a semi-pro Counterstrike player, who was on head-fi, no less,who went from being *good* with a stereo headphone, to being *COMPETITIVE* with the addition of an Astro Mixamp. Competitive, meaning he can hold his own vs other top players. So you have someone on an audiophile forum, posting that surround greatly helped his game. And you're posting here saying surround is useless. O.....K.....

I play A.V.A, and there's a night and day difference in my game with dolby headphone activated. i can pick up sound cues coming from diagonally behinid me, that I would have alot of trouble discerning if it were plain stereo, meaning I would have to spend precious brain cycles to figure out if that sound was coming from in front or behind me. Something that could cause me to lower my reaction time and get pounced at by another player. Not good for someone with ADD....

In Unreal Tournament 2004, you don't need dolby headphone or CMSS, just a good set of stereo cans, because weapon pickup sounds and different terrain footstep sounds are far more important than knowing their exact position relative to you, since it's a fast paced game. But in games like CS and AVA, that's a different story....

You completely forget just how GREAT dolby or CMSS Headphone can sound with a high quality can like an AD700... And all you have to do is turn it off for music, if that so pleases you....
Click to expand...
I think I should have worded my post differently because I'm not dissing dolby headphone tech at all. And I'm NOT saying surround sound is bad at all... I can't stand *headphones* that tout themselves as 5.1 + have 6 tiny speakers inside of them. Yes the sound itself is pretty directional, however the sound quality is crap.

Forceman said:
I think his argument was stereo headphones versus "surround" headphones. Everyone with a brain uses Dolby Headphone or CMSS with their stereo headphones for games - the argument is that stereo headphones + Dolby/CMSS > "surround" headphones.
Click to expand...
That would be correct. sorry my post wasn't better worded.
 
Finally decided to jump on these based on the recommendations here and some reading over on Headfi. I tend to prefer detail in the mids~highs to powerful bass, so I'm hoping these will suit me well.

I almost grabbed the Sennheiser 558's, but just couldn't bring myself to spend the extra money at this stage of my relative audio-n00bishness. I'll try them out for a bit and report how they work out.
 
Hailwood said:
Finally decided to jump on these based on the recommendations here and some reading over on Headfi. I tend to prefer detail in the mids~highs to powerful bass, so I'm hoping these will suit me well.

I almost grabbed the Sennheiser 558's, but just couldn't bring myself to spend the extra money at this stage of my relative audio-n00bishness. I'll try them out for a bit and report how they work out.
Click to expand...

Well, got a good couple of hours with these last night, and I have to say that I am very pleased. They are comfortable, well built, and they look neat too.

I don't consider myself an audiophile, but I like good quality music, and I tried everything from Miles Davis to Led Zeppelin to Massive Attack with excellent results for all. Despite some of the comments from reviews I'd read, I found the bass to be completely acceptable for my tastes, and the mids/highs were clear and detailed.

I was really blown away with gaming though. BF3 already has some of the best gaming audio I've ever heard, but with these + CMSS3D the experience was truly immersive, and I loved the positional audio.

Definitely pleased with these (especially for the price) and wouldn't hesitate to recommend them.
 
Hailwood said:
Well, got a good couple of hours with these last night, and I have to say that I am very pleased. They are comfortable, well built, and they look neat too.

I don't consider myself an audiophile, but I like good quality music, and I tried everything from Miles Davis to Led Zeppelin to Massive Attack with excellent results for all. Despite some of the comments from reviews I'd read, I found the bass to be completely acceptable for my tastes, and the mids/highs were clear and detailed.

I was really blown away with gaming though. BF3 already has some of the best gaming audio I've ever heard, but with these + CMSS3D the experience was truly immersive, and I loved the positional audio.

Definitely pleased with these (especially for the price) and wouldn't hesitate to recommend them.
Click to expand...

did you set your audio to headphone and enable CMSS3D?
 
Digital Viper-X- said:
did you set your audio to headphone and enable CMSS3D?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I plugged into the rear headphone jack on my X-fi and was using the entertainment mode / headphone Creative Console setting for listening to music (with CMSS3D off) and the game + CMSS3D setting for playing BF3.

On a side note, the Titanium HD drivers from Creative have come a long way in terms of being fairly streamlined (for Creative anyway).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top