Audio Technica ADX7000 - Flagships Are Good Again
Flagship headphones, past all the marketing speak, usually go all in on specific colorations that tend to bother me in some way. Lately, the trend seems to be significantly boosting upper treble to provide the idea of “resolution.” Since I’m fairly treble sensitive, this tends to have the opposite effect: the elevated treble actually masks finer details. So, headphones like the Warwick Acoustics Aperio and RAAL Immanis actually don’t sound resolving to me and instead skip straight to fatiguing.
When Audio Technica offered to send me their new flagship, the ADX7000, I was excited but cautious. The ADX3000 I’d reviewed from them fell into the “generally too bright for me” side, and if the ADX7000 built off this sound signature like most other flagship headphones, I definitely would not have been able to handle it. Luckily, it seems like they focused on different colorations to make what, to me, is the most exciting headphone release I've heard in years.
Build
The build of the ADX7000 is nice, with its lightweight magnesium frame, but I can’t say it looks like it’s a flagship in the way Audio Technica typically does so well. The ADX7000’s aesthetics are a far cry from the W2022 and L5000. However, at under 300 grams—275 with the Velvet pads and 270 with the Alcantara pads to be specific—I can begin to forgive its more subdued design. In a market where headphones weighing over half a kilogram are the norm, the comparably feather-light ADX7000 is one of the most comfortable headphones I’ve worn since the 195-grams-heavy Sony MA900. The clamp out of the box is a bit much for my large head, but the headband is very easily bendable for pumpkin-sized heads.
First listen
Upon finally listening to music, the ADX7000 with Velvet pads brought me back to a familiar place. I’m a big fan of the Focal Utopia and Focal Clear with their bombastic dynamics. However, there were always two issues that the Clear and Utopia have that kept me from owning either long term: timbre and attack/decay. The timbre on both headphones have a treble and upper midrange sheen that make woodwinds sound a little too much like they’re using a synthetic reed. It’s louder, but not quite right. Attack and decay on both Focals are also odd, but in different ways. The Clear’s attack sounds almost slow, with the peak of the note sounding the slightest bit late and emphasizes decay. The Utopia has the opposite problem in giving extra emphasis to attack, masking decay just enough to bother me.
The ADX7000 manages to (largely) fix both these issues for me and then some. By doing this, Audio Technica created something quite special. Switching to the Alcantara pads, I was fairly disappointed: the bass and treble are noticeably boosted, which messes with the balance the Velvet pads provide. Because of this delta, this review will only reflect my impressions with the Velvet pads unless specified. Those looking for the kind of sound the Alcantara pads have would be remiss if they didn't first try a Philphone.
Associated Equipment
HQPlayer (sinc-mg filter) -> Afterdark Rosanna Diretta Network Bridge -> USB Fiber Isolator -> Accurate Audio DIP-B660 DDC -> Bricasti MC-1 -> Spiritual Sound Pure Silver RCA -> Esoteric A100 -> Spiritual Sound Pure Silver Speaker Cables -> Lundahl LL2774 Transformer Adapter
HQPlayer (sinc-mg filter) -> Exogal Comet -> Pass DIY WHAMMY with Sparkos SS3602 opamp
iPhone -> Chord Mojo2 with XDuoo 05BL Bluetooth Adapter
iPhone -> Apple 3.5mm to Lightning adapter
Sound
Bass
The ADX7000’s strong sense of dynamics aids its bass presentation. Kick drums absolutely hit and 808s have a level of energy that I rarely hear. The extension to 20Hz may leave planar fans wanting a bit more, as it does start to roll off towards the extremes. This doesn’t have a functional effect for me, as I don’t listen to any music that requires going that deep, and this generally is more of an issue for movies.
Upper bass is a little more elevated than I would generally want combined with the upper midrange dip, with the HD800 being a prime example of how this can go awry, but the ADX7000 balances this elevation with another elevation in the center midrange. This reminded me of a key feature of one of my favorite IEMs: the Nightjar Singularity. The ADX7000 does not have remotely the same amount of sub bass or midbass. But, the balance between what would normally be a little too much upper bass and too much center midrange shows the importance of careful tuning methods that aren’t strictly following typical listening targets.
Midrange
As a big Sennheiser HD580 and HD650 fan, if a headphone doesn’t have a midrange that agrees with me, I usually won’t want to use that headphone at all. The trend of dipping the range between 2-4kHz has significantly lessened my enjoyment of many new releases of the past decade. The ADX7000 unfortunately does not buck this trend, but, like the Focal Utopia and Clear, the elevated center midrange and slightly warmed low midrange helps distract from the recession a bit.
After all, the ADX7000 is a flagship headphone, so the “soundstage” dip seems like a prerequisite, much to my chagrin. To achieve this, the ADX7000 does give up some of its performance in midrange timbre. It’s not the most realistic sounding headphone I’ve heard; my Sennheiser HD580’s midrange is still head and shoulders above it. The body given by the low midrange elevation does plenty to keep it from sounding as dry as a Hifiman Susvara and passes my threshold for enjoying a headphone, but midrange tone clearly is not the ADX7000’s strong suit. This is a task much better suited for the Sennheiser or, for the lucky, the Sony MDR-R10.
Treble
Treble is not only the biggest make-or-break trait of a headphone for me, it’s the reason I have such little patience for the current market. For years, headphone manufacturers seem hell-bent on making headphones sound as “resolving” as possible. The easiest way to impart this effect in a short demo is to radically boost upper midrange and treble. I hate this trend. In my early thirties, I don’t feel like I’m young enough to accept that I just need to wait for my hearing to naturally roll off, but I want to be excited about new products.
The ADX7000 is the first flagship headphone I’ve heard since the ZMF Caldera that doesn’t cause me discomfort due to elevations in these regions. I do hear more treble than my measurements show, specifically a peak at 11.5kHz, but on my head, it’s a high Q peak that doesn’t manifest itself in music. When comparing to my normal reference, a Sennheiser HD580 I’ve cherry-picked parts from two units to sound close to my ideal sound, the HD580’s treble grit and grain manifested in a clearly obvious manner. This rarely happens; normally when I’ve switched to the HD580 from a headphone that’s been released since the late 2010s, the treble is a relief.
The ADX7000 is the first headphone I’ve heard, possibly ever, that exposes the Sennheiser’s treble for as unimpressive as it actually is. That’s not to say the ADX7000 is particularly dark, it’s just a very clean treble presentation that sounds like a $3,500 headphone should. Combined with its energetic center midrange, the treble is allowed to sound resolving without masking finer details. It’s legitimately my favorite treble on a headphone, full stop.
Technicalities
As someone who has come to terms with the fact that they can't really hear headphone soundstage, I am not able to provide anything beyond saying that they don't sound as congested as something like my Sony WH-1000XM6. The "soundstage dip" does seem to help in that sense compared to my HD580.
Dynamics are simply outstanding. It's a difficult task to make the Focal Utopia sound like it's been usurped in that sense, but the ADX7000 manages to sound incredibly dynamic without the "wall of sound" presentation that the Utopia gives. The less artificial-sounding timbre and treble also help noticeably in resolution. Without treble masking finer details, I actually find the ADX7000 to be one of the most resolving headphones I've heard. It falters for those looking for the airy "brilliance" that headphones like the Susvara and RAAL Immanis may provide better. But, that is a trade-off I'm willing to make if it means I'm able to have much better timbre, tone, and decay.
Measurements
As shown, the Alcantara pads lean more towards the ADX3000 and ADX5000, which makes for a noticeably different flavor, but subjectively, it sounded more like a generic W-shaped sounding headphone. The Velvet pads balance bass and treble much better.
The ADX7000 has a rated impedance of 490 ohms, with a measured peak of 1,348 ohms at their fs (free air resonance) at 81Hz. This is the point of inflection where the bass starts to roll off. At first glance, one may think this headphone is a beast to drive, but its 100dB/mW sensitivity meant that on my Apple 3.5mm dongle, I was able to get to my normal listening levels between 80-85dB with three clicks to spare. The high Q peaks and dips on the measurement line up with the small bumps in impedance, showing that this is a mechanical feature.
The Measurement Problem
I've been compelled, after reading the Head-Fi thread for the ADX7000, to explain something important to understand with measurements. Upper midrange and treble measurements should be taken with a grain of salt. The measurement rig I'm using is not the same head as the person using the headphone. Case in point, here is a wonderful graphic from the Headphones.com team:
Using the HD800S is significant because it has shown itself to be one of the most placement invariant headphones in the market, and between heads there is still a massive difference in perception. There are people that exist who will not perceive the 6kHz peak the HD800S for which the HD800S is famous.
Treble can, and will, massively differ between people and will even differ depending on placement. I always measure headphones more than the three required seatings for my measurement page to see how much a headphone's treble will change depending on random placement, and it can change significantly, especially towards mid treble and upper treble. Those who are used to reading IEM measurements may initially see the ADX7000's measurements and note that the treble is uneven. It does measure that way, but so does every other headphone I have ever measured. Just look for yourself. No headphone has measured with treble as smooth as a <$100 IEM like the Truthear Pure.
That is not to say the measurements are useless, as it is not uncommon for a headphone that measures brightly translating as bright in some form for the average person. Bass–long hair notwithstanding–and midrange measurements also usually have markedly less variance than treble, so they can be a reasonable predictor. They do end up being unhelpful, however, if they are used as replacements for actual impressions. "Graph sniffers" end up doing more harm for the people trying to use measurements in a constructive manner.
Comparisons
Versus Audio Technica ATH-ADX3000
This is a fairly obvious comparison at face value, but they have almost no subjective connection. The ADX3000 is a…challenging headphone for many, especially in treble. Despite finding them entertaining in short bursts, they ultimately were way too bright for me to recommend to most readers. Thankfully, the ADX7000 does not share its younger sibling's elevated treble. It's also a noticeably thicker sounding headphone, somewhat closer to the ADX5000 from memory but significantly less bright and more coherent.
Versus Abyss 1266 Phi TC
The Abyss 1266 Phi TC (1266, henceforth) may be a strange comparison to the ADX7000 as a planar magnetic headphone that hasn't seen the love that it used to receive as new releases come. It may also seem strange because I wrote a scathing review of it.
However, the ADX7000 achieves much of what I believe the 1266 tries to achieve and misses. The extra upper bass makes more sense in the context of the milder W-shaped tuning both headphones have. The thickness keeps the forward center midrange and treble from taking over. Just as I've begun to understand what may compel myself to enjoy the 1266, I've already dethroned it. I do wish the ADX7000 could do that clapped out Civic bass like the 1266 does though.
Versus Sennheiser HD800S
I have had a long love/hate relationship with the HD800. This is something like the sixth pair I've owned in ten years. I continually cycle between wanting one as a reference, hearing it again, disliking it, selling it, then missing having it as a reference. This is likely the last time I will jump on this ride, as I actually like this unit.
The magic of the ADX7000's center midrange bump really shines here, as the HD800S sounds too distant with its further dipped upper midrange and uneven treble. The HD800S' bass also sounds noticeably less clean and dynamic, likely due to missing this center midrange elevation to help with harmonics. It's not a particularly close match for me, but I'll still keep this HD800S, probably.
Versus Focal Utopia
The Utopia (2016) has been somewhat of a punching bag for this review, but that's for good reason. The original Utopia was one of my favorite headphones, and it brings me great joy to find something I like more than it, as it has been out of production for years. The refreshed Utopia lasted a short two weeks in my home, most of its time sitting in a box waiting for a buyer. In its attempt to be a warmer, more generalist sound, Focal seemingly pushed the tuning too far and somehow made the Utopia resolve only as much as a Sennheiser HD560S when compared back to back.
The 2016 Utopia, however, is noticeably more dynamic and resolving to me than its successor. But unfortunately for the Focal, swapping to it from the ADX7000 reveals many of the same issues I found with the 2022 Utopia. The "wall of sound" presentation combined with bass that sounds almost one note in comparison really emphasizes how much of a triumph the ADX7000 is, as these don't manifest themselves as problematic in any situation other than switching back to back. This is particularly noteworthy for me as the Esoteric A100 is one of my favorite amp pairings with the Utopia, beaten only (possibly) by the Eddie Current Studio T.
Conclusion
This is possibly my most effusive review ever, and it's a weird, but satisfying feeling.
The ADX7000 is a headphone worthy of the title "flagship" and it's made by a company that I, frankly, did not expect would release something this incredible. The ADX5000 was a miss for me and the last headphone I reviewed from them was just a half step forward for me. Somehow, the ADX7000 has rocketed to the top of my list and I'll be buying a pair as soon as I can. Audio Technica has taken the recipe for a flagship headphone and has really cooked up something fantastic.
Huge thanks to Chris for letting me borrow his Audio Technica ADX3000 and Abyss 1266TC, Flux for letting me borrow his Utopia, and Svstem for letting me borrow his cables.