So how can this be? Should I wash my ears? Am I doing something wrong? What are your experiences in terms of that?

And yes, of course I calibrated the monitors to my room. The studio monitors are an addition, but not THE reference. I wonder how someone can mix and master with studio monitors as a reference only, seemingly this is mostly the case, isnвЂ™t it? For me this is not the solution, I tend to mix and master on Hi-Fi speakers and check again on studio headphones. Due to the fact that the reason for existence of mastering is that a song sounds good on every system, studio monitors alone obviously arenвЂ™t enough. But when I switched to Hi-Fi speakers it sounded like a piece of shit, completely flat without any contrast and a dysbalance in its volume regarding to all the instruments, especially when it comes to the drums (primarely kick and hihats). This time I switched to my new studio monitors (Genelec 8030 CP) first and it sounded great, similar to what IвЂ™ve heard on headphones. But why? Well, as always I compose and mix completely on studio headphones until the track is finished, then I switch to speakers to check whatвЂ™s up. What can I say? I can say for sure that I couldnвЂ™t mix and master without Hi-Fi speakers as a reference. At its current 350$ price itвЂ™s not what weвЂ™d call good value, but itвЂ™s hopefully a good sign of things to come from Audio-Technica.This is the first time that I mix and master also with studio monitors next to studio headphones and my common Hi-Fi speakers. If you see this headphone in good condition second hand or on a rebate, consider grabbing it. Just keep in mind to compensate for that extra sparkle up high. As it is, the headphone is very suitable for mixing stuff which hasnвЂ™t got too much going on under 50Hz. Just revise the build quality and you might have a winner here. If itвЂ™s not evident from the sonic impressions, we really liked what ATH has done. Sloppy work, ATHвЂ¦ Once you plug them in, do a channel check just to be sure.

We unplugged them for a better inspection only to find that theyвЂ™re unlabeled. On the other end you have locking 2.5mm jacks which plug in each of the earpieces. The cable is pretty decent, with screw-on 6.3mm adapter which seems to have become a standard these days. ItвЂ™s just that the build quality for metal parts was pretty sub par вЂ“ sharp edges, flaking paint from grillsвЂ¦ Same goes for plastic, feels like chi-fi. Note that I write вЂњfeelsвЂќ, the headphone didnвЂ™t fail on us and most likely will survive the harshes of a typical studio. Build quality feels well below what weвЂ™ve come to expect from a premium headphone.

Earpads are velour and didnвЂ™t make our ears too hot. The whole construction is very light and avoids creating any distinct pressure points. It canвЂ™t pull off a Philips SHP9500 or Sennheiser HD800 feels-like-wearing-nothing trick, but it comes very close. All in all exemplary performance from ATH! ErgonomicsДЇor the headband ATH employs their well proven вЂњwingsвЂќ which keep the R70x on your head fairly securely. Harmonic distortion is kept under 1% for most of the range and only creeps up to 4% at 20Hz when pushed to 90dB. Without going sealed and all the compromises that brings, only planar magnetics go down deeper. Uncalibrated they roll off to -6dB at 40Hz which is in line with open-back offering from other manufacturers. Like most open back dynamic headphones the R70x wonвЂ™t cut it for working with sub-bass.

Sonarworks reference 4 roll off