Audio-Technica ATH-PRO7X

The ATH-PRO7X from Audio-Technica presents a handy, compact design that is attractive for purists. This is supported by its light 220-gram weight and its quite small, overlying clamshell earpieces in a matte black finish. The manufacturer tamped the narrow frame with foam and an artificial leather cover, which flows from a piece of metal into the silver extension. Depending on the size of your head, you can shift the shells up to 35 millimetres, which engage between twelve steps. Both shells adapt to the ear with a 360-degree rotatable ball joint. Below the left shell is the 3.5 mm jack, where either the enclosed straight cable or spiral cable is docked and secured by a 90-degree turn on the plug. The scope of supply also includes a 6.3 mm jack adapter, a carry case and the user manual.

Workmanship and Comfort

One of the strengths of the ATH-PRO7X is its high-quality workmanship and robustness, which is mainly due to the very flexible metal strand. Cuffs screwed to the bracket limit the upholstery on the one side and the cable underneath the other.

When the capsules are retracted, the headphones are very compact. On my head (size approx. S/M) they sit really well when fully retracted. The ATH might even be slightly too big when fully extended. The small round shells are considered on-ears but enclose my rather small ears. The interchangeable, lush padded ear cushions are unusually thick for an on-ear headset so that the driver is literally in a hollow ear-enclosing shell. When the ATH-PRO7X takes its position, it holds it confidently, even with the shell unilaterally turned to one side. Its lightweight and comfortable padding ensure extremely pleasant wear without feeling annoying pressure—a welcome feature when spending hours in DJ pulpit.

Sound Quality

The 45-millimetre drivers produce a transparent, crisp sound with a frequency response of 5 to 40,000 Hertz. The deep bass forms a warm but not spongy foundation from which the groove clearly differentiates itself. Compared to other headphones, its heights are somewhat prominent, but not exaggerated. Between highs and lows, a portion of middle beats between, without being obtrusive. In addition to DJing, the ATH-PRO7X is also suitable for playback, due to its detailed resolution and very good depth graduation. With a sensitivity of over 100 decibels and an impedance of 35 ohms, the headphone qualifies as a powerful workhorse in the DJ’s booth, and thanks to its input power of 2,000 milliwatts, it doesn’t quit even with very dynamic signals.

Though it provides clear bass and accurate hi-hats for DJing, it lacks the studio use of an objective playback.

Ambient Noise

Although the shells sit very well and shield the ear, I perceive ambient noise a little more clearly than with other overhead headphones. Certainly, this is also due to the strap, which comfortably presses the shells on the ears for better wearing comfort.