Hello, hope you are having a good day. I daily Sennheiser 6XX and I’ve been thinking of getting a headphone solely for competitive gaming and I’ve been looking at the ATH-AD700X, I’ve read about them a lot and I know they are pretty accurate when it comes to sound-staging but coming from 6XX will I be disappointed in sound quality or anything else? or will I enjoy them? I also know they are lacking in bass but I imagine that can be mostly fixed in eq? idk. that’s why I ask you kindly to share your experiences with me. thanks in advance.
no one replied so I took the risk and purchased it, for anyone in the future wondering the same question, first impressions: extremely comfortable, imaging really good but obviously not as good as the 6XX. the 6XX is probably 20% better imaging-wise, really easy to drive, the bass is non-existent as expected. and for locating sounds I’m still in the “learn the headphone” phase so I really can’t say if it’s an improvement so far but I can definitely hear the potential. gonna be using it strictly for FPSs and I will be using the 6XX for single player gaming and for music.
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AD500x Owner here.
What amplifier are you using?
tried it with the JDS Labs atom and I don’t see a need for it, the headphone gets loud enough for most people without an amp because the headphone has a really low impedance which makes it pretty much plug and play. if the sound is not loud enough for you, you can always get a cheap amp. I can’t see any benefit from getting a high end one for this particular headphone.
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The amplifier is not about going loud, but about driving properly 
When I went from onboard to my ART HeadAmp4, my 500x improved a bit. Hard to put a finger on what exactly got better.
On my G103, low end improves and they gain some more soundstage.
I would imagine the same being true for the 700x even if they are not particularly picky about the amp.
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I see, I’m thinking of upgrading from the JDS Labs Atom to something more powerful for my 6XX, but I’m not convinced it’s the right time to do so (other priorities) maybe then I will have the AD700X powered by the atom. and for now, for FPS gaming I’m more than satisfied with the headphones driven by my motherboard.
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not sure what you were looking to gain from an alternative to the 6xx… it would boil down to what games your playing in FPS, that particular games sound engine as in some cases no matter what you do the sound engine will create extreme limitations, how accustomed you already are to proper imaging as in some cases people have a hard time with this without use of something such as 7.1, etc. AD700X would be better in terms of soundstage and technically sound signature but definitely not imaging or separation at the same time, better alternatives less your considering budget
Looks like your post got a bit buried, Didn’t see it or I would have replied
the Atom has plenty of power behind it so you don’t technically really need that upgrade right now less you feel you want better sound qualities or a different signature coming from the amp.
it’s all good, no worries.
just the ability to locate sounds better, I knew I will get that from all the researching I’ve done but by daily-ing the 6XX for so long and getting used to that incredible imaging my question was if I got the AD70X will I be dissatisfied with the imaging or is it good enough. after getting it I think the small trade-off in imaging is worth it for the much better sound staging. but still I’ll only be using it for FPS’S and the 6XX for music and SP games.
I currently only play EFT and insurgency: Sandstorm. I already see a massive difference in the ability to locate the sounds and knowing how far shots are is much easier, though I’m still learning the headphones.
the Atom is an incredible amp, can’t go wrong with it for sure. my only gripe about it is with some particular songs that are busy it can clip for split seconds with the volume I listen at… probably won’t be getting an upgrade any time soon but I’m really curious what the 6XX would sound like fully unlocked.
Laptop output vs FiiO K5 Pro, I heard a very very slight bump in bass on my AD900x, but nothing worth $150 really. Won’t affect any normal listening experience. My Schiit stack sounds about the same as well. Unless cans are hard to drive, a DAC and amp (versus an apple dongle for example) box are not really worth the cost for sound improvement. Transparent enoguh is transparent enough imo.
That said, there are other reasons to get more expensive supporting audio equipment, even for very efficient cans like the Air series, but not necessarily in terms of major sound improvements.