Real owners lean toward the Beyerdynamic DT 900 Pro X: 71% of 234 owners recommend it, vs 63% of 27 for the ATH-R70xa.
Verdicts aggregated from Reddit, enthusiast forums, and YouTube owner comments — affiliate reviews excluded. Sample sizes differ; judge accordingly. How we score
“I listened to a bunch of highly rated headphones at the last CanJam in NYC and none of them made me want to upgrade from the R70xa.”— this_is_me_drunk on Reddit
“I got the r70xa as well, but had to get a new amp to give it more juice to make it sing. But man, being so light i hardly reach for my other cans now and using these as daily drivers.”— Waste_Search2125 on Reddit
“it has this really arfticial, unnatural sound to it that's neither analytic nor is it a smooth, rich entertaining sound”— Overall-Cupcake7073 on Reddit
“I bought the 900 proX as my first high end headphone for mostly gaming and music. They caused me to spend another 2k on speakers and a schiit stack because id never heard such beatiful sounds. Worth it”— @Lperry on YouTube
“900 sounds more natural, intimate and less fatiguing but it doesn't stage the same way.”— Bret Halford on Head-Fi
“That joint is a huge weak point in my opinion.”— @drewmorg. on YouTube