DT 700 PRO X

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published: Apr-16-2022

NO SMOOTHING is applied to the shown plots. Most measurement sites have some smoothing applied which ‘irons flat’ sharp peaks and ‘wiggles’. I do not use smoothing because some info about sound quality is lost when plots are smoothed.

Aside from a small correction of the microphone itself also some correction in the lowest frequencies is applied to the plots to compensate for the perceived loss of bass when using headphones. This is described HERE in more detail.
A ‘horizontal‘ frequency response curve on the shown frequency response plots on this website thus indicates a perceived ‘flat’ tonal signature.

ALL measurements are made with a good SEAL on a flatbed measurement rig.
The shape of your head, bone structure, pad size, pad ‘softness,  (compliance), hair or no hair and or wearing glasses may (drastically) change the frequency response of some headphones, so… your personal experience may differ substantially from these plots.

Frequency response (tonal balance) is the most sound-determining aspect of headphones. A horizontal line shows audible neutral response in the plots on this website. Deviations in different severities at different frequency bands have an effect on the sound character.
The bigger the deviation the stronger the effect.
Below an aid to help determining the sound character of headphones with relation to the frequency response.

 

Beyerdynamic DT 700 PRO X

The Beyerdynamic DT 700 Pro X is a closed over-ear headphone. When this headphone came out (Sept 2021) the MSRP was € 249.-
Different construction, different driver, different pads with different mounting construction compared to DT770 and DT1770. The cup design looks like it is a cheaper alternative to the DT1770.
There is also an open version, the DT 900 Pro X.

It comes with a soft carrying pouch and 2 straight cables. One is 1.8m the other one 3m. Both have a 3.5mm plug with screw-on 6.3mm adapter.
This headphone cannot be used on headphone amps with balanced out.

The cable is slightly microphonic so in quiet passages and silences the cable rubbing against clothes is barely audible in the left cup. A 3-pin mini XLR cable is used. The same one as used on the DT1770. Inside there is a ‘solderless’ connection so it won’t be easy to mount a 4-pin mini XLR for those wanting to use it balanced.
The soft part of the headband is easily replaceable and has soft rubbery feeling padding.
I have seen complaints about the headband padding failing/falling apart after only a few months of regular usage.
The headband can extend 40mm and is notched so after adjusting stays in place.
The cups can swivel and tilt just far enough to get a good seal on most (but probably not all) head sizes. Also he headband itself is quite flexible so this headphone will fit on most head sizes. Clamping force is rather high out of the box (5.8N) and so is its weight of 357gram (without cable).
An owner mentioned the clamping force can be reduced by bending the metal yokes.

The velour pads are easily exchangeable and feel very soft to the touch. The velour itself differs from that used on earlier models. This material is feels softer on the skin. Normal foam is used. Most Beyerdynamic pads have foam that degrades over time. This may also happen to these pads as well. Fortunately these too are replaceable. The mounting method differs from what Beyerdynamic owners are used to. The older type pads won’t fit as these new pads click on using a mounting ring. Furthermore the pads are glued onto that ring so the only easy option is to buy pads specifically designed for the DT 700 Pro X. The pads have a 55mm diameter and a royal 26mm depth.

It is an semi-closed headphone and outside noised are attenuated people around you will not be bothered by what you are listening to.

With a sensitivity of 117dB/V (efficiency = 103dB/mW) and low impedance (48 Ω measured) the DT700 Pro X can be used directly from a phone and reach high enough levels for listening at loud levels.  

The power rating is unusually low for a PRO headphone. 30mW continuous and 100mW peak power is kind of asking for blown drivers in studios. With normal home usage this isn’t an issue but in studios headphones can be lying on a desk and when the volume is turned up accidentally you might end up with blown drivers.

specifications:

Type: Over ear (circum-aural), closed
Usage: Home, studio, portable
Driver type: dynamic
Pads: replaceable, velours
Collapsible: No
Headphone cup connector: 3-pin mini XLR
Cable entry: single sided (left).
Cable: 1.8m + 3m straight in a 3.5mm TRS jack with a 6.3mm adapter
Inner Pad dimensions: depth = 26mm, diameter = 55mm
Driver size: 45mm
Nom. power rating: 0.03W (0.1W peak)
Max. peak voltage: 2.2Vrms (6.2Vpp)
Max. peak current: 46mA
Max. peak S.P.L.: 121 dB
Impedance: 48 Ω (measured)
Efficiency: 100dB @ 1mW
Sensitivity: 114dB @ 1V
Weight: 357 g. (without cable)
Clamping force: high 5.8N
Accessories: 2 cables both with 6.3mm screw-on adapter fitted, soft carrying pouch.

Subjective sound description:

Neutral with tastefully elevated bass. Subbass is reaching very deep. That doesn’t mean this is a basshead headphone. Bassheads may be disappointed. Bass itself is elevated similar to a DT770 and DT1770. Those that desire bass to be at ‘Harman’ level will like this headphone as bass is also at the correct (thus elevated but not too elevated) level. Bass quality is decent but a bit dis-attached as in not integrated into the mids but separate from it bordering on boomy with some recordings but not bleeding into the mids.
Mids are clear and dynamic. The treble is not your typical ‘mount Beyer’ type. Treble is present and of decent to good quality. Just slightly elevated but far from sounding sharp or sibilant.
Totally not ‘typical Beyer treble’. When really nitpicking… the treble quality is not ‘super refined’ and clarity is perhaps ever so slightly reduced  but still quite good. Treble is perhaps just slightly ‘coarse/grainy’ compared to DT990 and DT1990 (at least when these headphones have the treble peak removed) but not in a sound degrading way.
All in all a good and realistic sounding closed headphone with great comfort (when not bothered by the weight and clamping force)

Measurements:

Below the frequency response of the DT 700 PRO X (Left, Right)The channel matching is very good. Bass extension is excellent 10Hz = 0dB ! The area between 60Hz and 150Hz is slightly elevated which gives the bass some punch. The dip around 250Hz makes the bass a bit dis-attached from the mids.
The narrow 4kHz dip is not audible to me. It is a very narrow null that can (and should) not be EQ’ed. There is a broader recession between 2kHz and 5kHz but this is not a problem as the pinna (the outer ear) boosts that area a little so also is not an audible issue.
The slight elevation towards 11kHz also is not problematic as the rise is very smooth and small.
The tonal balance, certainly for a Beyerdynamic, is much better than the DT770 and DT1770 it kind-of competes with.

comparisons

There is also an open version the DT 900 PRO X which is compared to the DT 700 PRO X below.
To get a feel of how much the tonal balance of the DT 700 PRO X differs from the (open) Sennheiser HD600, which is considered ‘neutral’, a comparison below.

Below the DT 700 PRO X compared to various competing closed headphones.

Phase response

Below the phase response of the DT 700 PRO X (Left, Right)

Slow phase shifts are not very audible. Sharp changes in a narrow frequency bands may well be audible. The sharp rises at 4kHz may well be audible and also responsible for the perceived lesser sound quality of the treble.

output resistance / damping-factor

As this is a dynamic headphone the frequency response can be amplifier output resistance dependent when certain higher output resistance amplifiers are used.
Instead of showing impedance plots, which are hard to ‘read’ when it comes to assessing the tonal balance change in the real world, the DT 700 PRO X is measured via a few different resistance outputs (0.2Ω, 10Ω, 32 and 120Ω). On a higher output resistance amplifier the output level will be lower of course due to voltage division. To compensate for this the amplifier is cranked up to the same level (10dB for 120Ω at 1kHz in this case). This way the plots are overlaid and it is easier to see how the tonal balance changes. Output resistances between the mentioned resistance values will result in tonal changes between those traces.

The tonal balance changes when a higher output resistance amplifier is used. The impedance rise is very wide and will become audible with output resistances of amplifiers above 40Ω are used. The sound will become a bit ‘fuller/bassier’ but not sound muddy.

seal

Seal is often an issue with closed-back headphones. Breaking the seal (improper fit on the head, hairs between head and headphone, glasses) usually means a loss of (sub)bass.
Perfect seal, seal broken with thin armed glasses, seal broken by thicker armed glasses and seal considerably broken when the pads are slightly lifted.

A slightly broken seal (glasses) does not influence on the tonality of this closed headphone. Only when the seal is substantially broken the bass suffers. This is quite good performance for a closed headphone.
Below the distortion measurements of the DT 700 PRO X (Right channel).
The plot above shows the level differences between the signal (upper trace) and the harmonics. Note that at around 200Hz the SPL is 94dB.
Most people prefer to see percentages instead of level differences so below the exact same plot but normalized to the actual signal and level differences given in percentages.
Distortion levels in the lowest frequencies are mostly 2^nd harmonic and already drop below 1% above 50Hz which is quite decent for a 45mm driver. Note the 3^rd harmonic distortion is quite low.
Distortion levels are quite low.
The actual 2^nd harmonic distortion above 1kHz may well be lower than 0.2% . A shortcoming of my measurement rig.

Linearity

Linearity was checked and found to be excellent (no change) between 70dB and 97dB SPL sweeps so not shown. Excellent behavior.

Below the CSD (waterfall) plot of the DT700 PRO X. (Left and Right are overlaid)There aren’t many problematic resonances visible. The one around 4kHz is very short lived and not audible as the ear ‘rings’ a bit in this frequency anyway.
Another interesting thing is that the 15dB deep 4kHz null is hiding behind a -7dB level that occurs about 1ms later. The dip is still there but not as deep as the frequency plot shows.

Below the Group Delay plot for the DT 700 PRO X (Left, Right)
There is some pad bounce between 50Hz and 150Hz otherwise no problematic behavior until 4kHz.
The dip around 250Hz in the frequency response is also seen here as a small delay. This indicates it is a  resonance. Not possible to damp without changing the tonal balance in a negative way.

A different plot is the spectrum plot. This basically is a CSD (Waterfall) plot but viewed from above where the level differences are color coded instead of being in the vertical axis. Also the frequency range of the spectrum plot is wider (from 100Hz instead of 500Hz). The time span is also bigger in the spectrum plots and expired time is shown from below to top where in the CSD the time is shown from rear to front.

Below the spectrum plot of the DT 700 PRO X (Left channel)
Here too no problematic behavior is seen.

Step response

Below the step response plot which, when the sound is balanced and well extended should show a fast rise to around 0dB, (indicating fast driver response) and then should be slightly sloping downwards indicating bass extension. (Left, Right)

Bass extension is excellent. The horizontal trace just barely drops. The initial rise almost reaching 0dB and the ‘ringing’ is low in level and short lived. The small emphasis in the first 200μs indicates attack is maybe a tad over-accentuated.

pad compression

Over the years the foam in the ear-pads usually degrades. Because of this the tonal balance can change. Below the headphones measured with 5N clamping force (pads are 25mm high), compressed to about 20 mm (what I expect to happen after some time of usage) .

The sound does change a little. The clarity area (2-5kHz) is a bit deeper and treble will be reduced a little.

acoustic-fleece disc

The DT 700 PRO X model, just like the DT 900 PRO X, TYGR, T1mk3, T5mk3 and Amiron Wireless all have substantially different anti-dust discs in front of their drivers compared to the foam discs in earlier models that all have substantial treble peaks.
The center part of these fleece discs (over the driver) is thicker and reduces the treble.
The effect of this material in front of the TYGR is shown in the evaluation of it.
In the TYGR 300 R (below on the left) a different disc is used from the one of of the DT 700 PRO X (on the right).

Below the effect the fleece disc shown by removing the disc compared to the stock DT700X.There is a (4dB) reduction of treble in the sibilance/sharpness area.

This prompted me to install the DT 700 PRO X fleece disc in a stock DT 990 Pro/250 to see how effective the DT 700 PRO X fleece disc would be in lowering the dreaded ‘Beyer Treble Peak’ and compare that to 1- and 2-plies of 2-ply toilet paper and a passive filter on the DT990

The long held dream of many DT770/880/990/1990/T1 etc. owners to tame the treble peaks of their headphones without resorting to modifications, EQ or filtering by simply replacing the regular foam disc with a fleece disc from a DT700 or DT900 can be answered by… keep dreaming.
The fleece disc is no more effective than 2 single sheet of 2-ply toilet paper tucked underneath the foam disc. So a slight reduction but not enough.
This fleece disc is specifically designed to lower the treble from this new driver to the level as intended by the Beyerdynamic designer(s).
Of course, when one still finds it too much a single ply of toilet paper can reduce the upper treble slightly more.

treble reduction

The DT 700 PRO X also has a new driver type which doesn’t have the usual paper covering as seen on the earlier drivers. Below the business end of the DT700 PRO X.
That upper treble range usually can de addressed by covering the exposed part of the driver with a single ply. So not a sheet of a 2- or 3-ply toilet paper but the individual layers pulled apart after they have been cut to the desired shape. The middle part must only cover the open area.
Below an idea how to do this without covering the paper damper around the driver.
The effect is subtle but as it is over a wider range it is still a small improvement.

Below the stock DT 700 PRO X with the single ply toilet paper addition (as shown above) between the fleece disc and the driver.We can see a very slight treble reduction above 5kHz.
The difference is subtle and may not be worth it to some. There will be many that may even prefer the stock DT 700 PRO X treble. Fully reversible modification but does require popping out the ring without damaging the fleece disk nor the ring nor the headphone itself.
It requires removing the pads (easy) and removing the retaining ring for the fleece disc (harder to do).
Note: when mounting the ring and the pads that there are small slots that allow placement in one specific position only. The rings of the left and right cup are not the same so do this one cup after the other.

lowering the bass

Those that feel the bass is a bit too emphasized and are looking for a bit less bass there is a solution for that.
This is also fully reversible and does not require opening up the
DT 700PRO X. It involves partially sealing 2 small bass-ports hidden under the yokes. Each cup has one of those ports just below the cable entry from the headband.
To me closing 2/3 of the hole with some (matte black) tape gave the desired results.
On the picture on the left the red part is closed and the green part is left open.
This lowers the bass just enough. As a side effect the 3rd harmonic distortion increases a little.
Below the effect of closing the port in various amounts.Fully open, half open, 2/3 closed, 3/4 closed and fully closed.

Below the stock DT 700 PRO X versus the modified version with 2/3 closed ports (see picture above) +1 ply of toilet paper covering the exposed part of the driver.
The difference is small but a less emphasized bass (2dB reduction) and reduced upper treble is the result.

Below the frequency response with both channels modified. (Left, Right)

conclusion

The Beyerdynamic DT 700 PRO X is a well built semi-closed over-ear headphone that can easily be driven even by relatively low powered devices. The pads and headband padding can be replaced and is an official spare part. At € 249.- it isn’t a very expensive nor particularly cheap headphone.

Those loving the typical DT770 Beyerdynamic sound (elevated lows and treble) may find the DT 700 PRO X lack some of the ‘hyper detail’ while in reality they got used to hyped treble.
The DT 700 PRO X however has a more neutral, forward, open and dynamic sound with a correct amount of treble. It certainly does not sound dull or boring.

The DT 700 PRO X can easily be driven from phones and portable players and play quite loud. Also quite for commuting.

This headphone can be used in studios and will work great for monitoring and can also be used for enjoying music.
One thing that one has to take in mind in a studio. The driver is easily blown up due to its low power rating. Accidentally increasing the volume while it is lying around can kill this headphone.

The replaceable cable is handy, a feature the DT770 lacks. The DT1770 has the same connector but the headphone is much more expensive.
The replaceable pads are quite comfortable and will fit most (but maybe not all ears).
The clamping force is on the high side and wearing it for more than an hour gives me a headache.
Maybe it can be lowered but have not tried this as the tested headphone was not mine but was kindly sent in by the owner for measurements.
Probably fine in a studio but the clamping force is too high for wearing all day or even just a few hours enjoying music.

In short: A quite neutral, dynamic sounding headphone with excellent bass extension, not a typical ‘closed’ sound. It has dynamic and open mids and good quality treble that is never harsh nor sibilant.

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