Review: Audio Technica ATH-EM700 headphones

Updated 5/16: Fixed up the grammar and flow. It occurred to me that people might try to read this.

I've been enjoying my new EM-700s for about 3 weeks now. They're a pleasure all around--great sound, very comfortable, and they're stylish--a nice touch for a not-so-stylish guy like me. The plunge into buying them was difficult since they're a bit pricey and they're only made in Japan, so I had to import them. At this point, I can safely say they were worth it and that I'll love them 'till they die.

One glance at the EM-700s will let you know they're in a whole other league. They're part of that "snob" class of electronics--they give off a distinguished and pretentious air, kinda like a PSP or Iphone, thanks to the eye catching clip-on piece and overall sleek form factor. Though I only had pictures to go off of before I bought them, I was glad to see that they look better in person. I was a little worried that I would look like a cyborg while wearing them, but they are smaller than I had imagined.



The clip-on parts were also of some concern, as they look like weird little robotic arms in pictures. At first, they were very uncomfortable--after 30 minutes or so, they made my ears quite sore. Then I noticed that the metal hinge can be pushed up and adjusted to my ear size:


Problem solved, no more pain! (Of course, I later noticed this feature was diagrammed in the all-Japanese manual.) With proper adjustment, they hang on your ears nicely. The foam over the speaker is extra thick as well and is a bit concave on the part directly over the center of the speaker. I imagine this is to keep it from muffling the sound. All in all, the design is really top notch. The attention to detail in the clip on mechanism and foam shape is impressive. You can definitely feel their presence on your ears, but they are pretty comfortable even after an hour or so. As you can see, I bought the black ones, but they also come in silver.

Thankfully, they have the sound to back up their slick appearance. First and foremost, they sound extremely crisp--I haven't missed a detail in the music I've been listening to. The highs and mids are expressed nicely and will never bite into ears or distort. The bass is full as well, but if you're looking for portable subwoofers, look elsewhere. The EM700s just won't kick like some earbuds can. If you're passing through a busy area and don't have the volume up, you'll lose most of the bass.

That disclaimer aside, I can say that the EM-700s are all about balance. The highs and mids are crisp, the bass is full, but not heavy, and the overall sound is just crystal clear. This goes for all volume levels as well. I listen to my music pretty loud and I haven't heard them buzz on a high note or fart out a flabby-sounding bass note yet. I've hooked them up to my PC and they got too loud to stand before they got buzzy or distorted.

On the negative side, the open design of the EM700s means they let in a lot of outside sound. If you're in a busy area, you'll have to compensate by bumping the volume up. I haven't flown with them, but I imagine they aren't airplane friendly at all. I've never had them drowned out completely, even around construction, but mellower songs, quieter bass lines, and finer details will get lost if you don't turn it up. I want to emphasize that this doesn't mean you'll have to blast them in public. Just keep a spare pair of earbuds for flights.

That about sums it up. Should you buy these? That depends. If you've fallen in love with the way they look as I have, then yes, have no fear. Find a seller on Ebay to get you a set (I saw some U.K. online shops had them in stock as well, but being in the U.S., it seemed like ebay was the best option for me. I can recommend the seller I got them from if you ask.) Otherwise, if you don't care about the looks that much, you can get the cheaper-but-equivalent ATH-EM7s. You can pick those up for half the price and get the same sound, according to this guy (scroll to the bottom of the thread.) I don't know that guy, if the board he's posting on is known for credible audiophiles, or if what he says is true, but that should be motivation enough to at least research the EM7s, which would potentially save you about $50. For what it's worth, the raw specifications (click the model numbers on the left) are very close and the EM7s are a U.S. release, so you can get them on amazon or wherever Audio-Technica stuff is stocked, I imagine.

There you have it. If you haven't had the pleasure of listening to music on a high quality set of headphones and you decide to pick these up, be prepared for a revelation. It's about time you trashed those stock Ipod headphones anyway! Feel free to ask any questions. Wait--I'll answer the first one--yes, these are the Persona 3 headphones (the ones from the Limited Box in Japan...in game he has EM7s, which were the model that got replaced by the EM700s.)