RP-HTR70
These are a new mid-range price headphone from Panasonic, the RP-HTR70 series. These were released in the Japanese market November 20th, 2007 and are available in five colors; white, pink, silver, gold, and black.
The stats for these are as follows...
Type: Sealed dynamic stereo headphones
Drive diameter: 30mm
Max. input power: 1000mW
Impedance: 20 ohms
Sensitivity: 108dB/mW
Freq. response: 14Hz to 24,000 Hz
Plug: 3.5mm gold-plated mini-plug
Cord: Adjustable, 0m to 1.2m
Weight: 85 grams
Accessory: cellphone adapter cable
Taking the case out of the box, we have this...
...the headphones with the cellphone adapter cable. As revealed in the above picture, the headphones can be folded up for convenient storage in a backpack or case.
Pulling these out of the case...
...you can see that the cups twist 90 degrees from listening position and that they adjust up to 45 degrees. The headband is stainless steel with a foam padding on top and the cups can be adjusted from the home position approximately 1,5 inches.
These headphones also have a retractable cable...
...that sits in the left earcup and extends up to 1.2m in length. To recoil the cable, you put the 3.5mm plug back into the earcup and that activates the wind-up mechanism.
Sound quality
I don't have another set of headphones with 30mm drivers to use for comparison so I switched between the HTR7's, the Pioneer SE-EX9 armless headphones, and Audio Technica ATH-ON3 headphones for the past few weeks to try and have something to say for comparison.
Against the ATH-ON3's it is no contest, the HTR70's sound better. Going from ON3's to the HTR70's the difference doesn't seem noticeable but if you do it in reverse, HTR70 to ON3, then the difference is immediately noticed. The HTR70's bring the soundstage closer to your ears and the music sounds cleaner; as if you were first listening to headphones with the earcups wrapped in a layer of plastic wrap then with the wrap taken off. Now, the ON3's only cost 2,000 en and have 20mm drivers whereas the HTR70's cost 5,000 en and have 30mm drivers so I expected there to be a difference in quality. If you are new to after-market headphones, I still recommend the ON3's as your first set since they sound good and are inexpensive. If you have experience with after-market headphones, then I recommend you skip the ON3's and go for a higher quality sounding headphone, albeit higher priced, such as the HTR70 set.
As mentioned earlier, I also did some comparative listening between the HTR70's and the Pioneer EX9's with 40mm drivers. Right away, I noticed that the HTR70's were louder than the EX9's when plugged into the same source. Perhaps this is due in part to the EX9's being open while the HTR70's are closed. Putting my hands flat over the EX9 cups didn't increase their volume to being equivalent to the HTR70's. The 70's seemed tighter against my ears but that is because they are supported by a headband rather than a clip on the ear. After two weeks of regular use, the 70's are now more comfortable or I've adjusted to them.
I think these are well balanced as the bass isn't thick and the mids and highs are up front in the sound stage, like the EX9's. A peculiar thing about these is when I was listening to "To Be Free" by Emiliana Torrini, the snare drum was coming through the right channel and with the HTR70's the sound was right at my ear while with the EX9's, the snare seemed to be part way up my skull...just an observation I thought interesting.
Would I recommend these? Yes, a nice sound and the phones fold up for easy storage. The price when these were introduced was 4,980 en and that hasn't dropped any; I bought mine on May 5th for 4,980 en. Unfortunately, I don't see anyone offering these outside Japan, no one is exporting nor is anyone importing.