ATH-R70x

More like ATH-R70x, which are reference cans

HE1000 Stealth They sound absolutely amazing to my ears. I just bought them with the hope to return them because I didn't find them a significant upgrade to the HD490 Pro for gaming or HD6XX & Focal Clear for music... I can't. They are just too damn good. Holographic soundstage gets overused but is absolutely appropriate here. The 490s were very good and even better the my good 'ole R70x, but the HEK Stealth is simply a whole new level of spatial awareness and immersion. Phenomenal for ARC Raiders. The HD6XX is fantastic for vocals with their lovely mids, but as you say the infamous 3-blob soundstage and rolled off bass isn't ideal for all use cases. The Focal Clears were my go-to when I needed better bass and dynamics... Were. The HEK Stealth's bass is sublime. It goes subterranean, yet still so clean (1812's cannons never sounded so good). The treble is airy without ever getting fatiguing (to my ears). Every instrument sounds live performance accurate. And I have never heard layering remotely like this. It's stunning how every instrument, every voice, every sound effect present as completely distinct sources with no bleeding together. I had been saving my pennies for the HE1000se and suspect the layering is somehow even better due to its even thinner "nano" diaphragm, but I can't imagine it's $700 better. I was also concerned that the SE's elevated highs would become fatiguing in a stupid long session of ARC Raiders. Meanwhile I can listen to the better balanced HEK Stealth for hours on end with no issue (other then they are much heavier than my delightfully light HD490 Pros & R70x.) But they sound so amazing, I'll deal with that gladly. P.S. Is anyone interested in a good deal on a lightly used Focal Clear, HD490 Pro, HD6XX, HD58X, R70x, Sundara... I've finally found my endgame. Honest...

To answer your last question, no the 490 cannot be EQ'd to be equal to Arya Stealth. It's because the 490 uses the same drivers as a $150 HD560s. While it's much better tuned, it still lacks the resolution to match the fantastic detail and transparency of high-end drivers such as the Arya Stealth. Why so many gamers swear by the 490 is its superb left-center-right imaging which is obviously great for gaming. I have a few posts on Reddit discussing it at length regarding ARC Raiders and locating caches... I absolutely loved my 490's until I tried the HE1000 Stealth. Until then, no other headphone in my collection (including Focal Clear & R70x) matched the 490's ability to hold a strong center image when these caches were in front (or behind.) However the HE1000 Stealth added phenomenal clarity, layering, and transparency that I didn't realize the 490 lacked until I A/B'd it with the HE1000 Stealth. For example when it rains in-game, it becomes very difficult to hear the cache's audio cue since rain sounds like white noise. With the 490 the rain's white noise blurs with the cache's whirring and clicking sound, masking it almost entirely until you're on top of it. With the HE1000 Stealth, you can practically hear individual rain drops while the whirring & clicking of the cache pierces right through as a coherent separate component of the soundfield. Truly holographic. A well-made Arya Stealth likely won't be quite as sublime, but would be closer to the HE1000 Stealth than it is the 490. But the key word is well-made... Because a driver mismatch ruins imaging. Unfortunately planar drivers are apparently hard to match perfectly and HiFiMan has become notorious for this. I bought an Arya Stealth with left and right so blatantly mismatched I returned it immediately. So you probably should buy it from Bezos for the no hassle returns.

HE1000 Stealth. Last night it painted a picture that no other headphone in my collection could match. In ARC Raiders I spawned near a Raider cache, which has a subtle whirring & ticking audio cue. The sound is easy to miss, especially if it's raining in game since the white noise masks this whirring & ticking. The spawn glitched and I didn't have video, just audio for a while and I couldn't move, only turn. So I took the opportunity to A-B some of my favorite gaming headphones. Wearing the HE1000 Stealth, the direction and distance of the cache was crystal clear. As soon as I put on the HD490 Pros (which are highly regarded for wall-hacking abilities), the cache's audio cue was mostly drowned out by the white noise of the rain. I could hear its direction faintly. But it seemed very distant and veiled. The "shhhhhh" white noise of the rain dominated the sound field and sounded more like a sound effect than actual rain. I was surprised how close to my head the sound was since I had considered the HD490's to have a nice soundstage and imaging. However the rain wasn't nearly as spacious as with the HE1000. As I turned around, the HD490 did give an excellent sense of left, left-center, center, right-center, right and a good sense of behind when I had my back to the cache. But I was shocked how much clearer the sound was with the HE1000. Then I tried my old R70x. The whirring and ticking was a bit louder relative to the rain sound than on the HD490; however as I turned the sound would almost immediately go from left to right and right to left. It was almost impossible to discern when I faced the cache dead on. Again I was surprised because the R70x had long been lauded for its excellent imaging. Then for grins & chuckles, I tried my beautiful Focal Clear. Immediately improved dynamics was evident but I was dismayed by the relative lack of soundstage. I could hear the cache more clearly, but like the R70x, its sound would almost immediately go from left to right and right to left as I turned, but never clearly forward. That reminded me I used these initially with ARC Raiders due to the game's excellent sound design, but switched to the HD490 because any time I heard a Raider cache, I'd have to zig-zag like a lunatic to find it. Eagerly I put the HE1000 Stealth back on my head and WOW! Now I truly appreciated the incredible holographic deep, wide, and tall stage with spot-on timbre. Absolutely stunning immersion. I could practically hear every raindrop. The HE1000's layering is first class. Now the cache's whirring & ticking was no longer blended and smeared with the rain's white noise. I could hear it as a distinct sound source cutting through the rain drops. Simply amazing. By now the glitch resolved so I had video and was able to move. I turned and ran directly to the hidden cache. Found it immediately. With the HD490 I would have immediately turned in the right direction but question its distance and either walk slowly or potentially run past it. With either the R70x or Focal Clear, I'd have to zig-zag my way there, wasting precious time, drawing attention, and staying exposed. The HE1000 Stealth is a true game changer. Furthermore the ARC of ARC Raiders are mostly flying death machines, so verticality is huge. None of the headphones above come even close to the height or depth of stage of the HE1000. For example, when hiding in a building from a Rocketeer or damn Firefly, hoping to sneak pot shots from a window, the HE1000 BY FAR gives me the best idea of where the flying enemy actually is. Other headphones got me killed. Now I can patiently solo a Rocketeer without taking damage. The HE1000 Stealth is indeed a game changer. P.S. The HE1000se layers even better than Stealth due to its thinner diaphragm and has a bigger soundstage in large part due to its treble emphasis. But I was concerned the treble emphasis would get fatiguing during stupid long gaming sessions. Plus I didn't mind saving $700. Also too big a soundstage can exaggerate distances. This is why many elite gamers tried the HD800s and don't like it for FPS where distance cues are as critical as direction. P.P.S. The Arya uses a thicker diaphragm than the HE1000 so it will not layer quite as phenomenally. I tried them, but it had a blatant driver mismatch so I returned them. HiFiMan has spotty QC, so I would avoid their cheaper models, even if the deals are so so tempting. Plus if you're like most of us here, you'll keep chasing that endgame headphone, so why not just cut to the chase with the HE1000 ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯

I just had a chance to sit down with the new Audio Technica R70xa edition. They were fantastic. I own the R70x, it an offers a slightly expanded presence than the 70x’s do and provides great presence. Absolutely not worth the switch if you already have the 70x’s however.

That’s wild to hear you take. I own the r70x as well as well as several Koss offerings and really enjoy them. I’ll admit, I love me Koss ksc75’s over many of my ither IEMs and overears, but it never even really thought to pin them against my r70’s. I’m excited to receive my set!

Generally speaking the ATH R70x gets the nod for its spatial excellence for gaming. As an owner of them, I can't agree more. They are so good at directional imaging. The new R70XA was released last year which has a slight improvement but not drastic. Either version will serve you very well.

Apologies, it looks like the R70's are still a bit north of 200 dollars. However, I would strongly consider the R50x in this in this case. It has nearly the imaging qualities of the R70x and are easier to drive as well. The bass response on the R50 is also slightly better than the 70's. I have had a chance to sample both the 50 and 70 and you cant go wrong with either with gaming and music.

Generally speaking the ATH R70x gets the nod for its spatial excellence for gaming. As an owner of them, I can't agree more. They are so good at directional imaging. The new R70XA was released last year which has a slight improvement but not drastic. Either version will serve you very well.

Harman-ish bass shelf without scooped mid-bass/lower mids into linear mids. Slightly recessed 3-4k (pain point), optional recess at 1.5k-2k, treble case-by-case because measurements can get wonky. Like half the usual dynamic suspects in the 300-400$ space roughly fall into that category and can be matched easily via EQ. 490 Pro, AR5000, 105 AER, R70X, MDR-MV1 and so on. Heddphone D1 might work as well. Conversely also something like the Six Hundos, Six Fitties and HD550 with some caveats. Probably Truthear Pure for IEMs.

I have the R70X and 490 Pro also, I think the R70X is fantastic for gaming, and for me they have a really good punch so not quite sure why you feel they lack that. The 490 has a little larger stage, but for me they are a bit sibilant compared to the R70X.