The Audio-Technica ATH-DSR9BT are fairly versatile over-ear headphones. They're comfortable to wear for a while, and they're made with premium and solid materials. However, they feel a bit tight on some larger heads, and they aren’t very versatile since you can’t use them with a regular audio cable. They also take a long time to charge, which is disappointing for the amount of battery life you get. They look and feel like premium headphones but might not be worth the investment for some.
Our Verdict
The Audio-Technica DSR9BT are okay for mixed usage. They have a good audio reproduction but sound thin on vocals and leads, making them better suited for bass-heavy music. They won’t be a great option for commuting since they don’t block out lower-end frequencies like engine rumbles. They trap quite a bit of heat inside their ear cups, and the over-ear design won’t be ideal for sports. On the other hand, you can use them at the office since they don’t leak too much and have good battery life. However, their latency might be a bit too high for watching TV and gaming.
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Comfortable fit.
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Premium and durable design.
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Good audio reproduction.
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Very long charging time.
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Sub-par noise isolation.
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Bass delivery is prone to inconsistencies across users. Sensitive to glasses.
The Audio-Technica DSR9BT are decent for neutral sound. Their bass is powerful and decently well-balanced, their mid-range is mostly flat, and they have an excellent treble range performance. However, their bass is prone to inconsistencies across different users and is slightly boomy. There's also a big dip in their mid-range, making vocals and lead instruments sound noticeably thin. Overall, these headphones will be good but not ideal for bass-heavy music. Also, the dip in mid-range will hurt most genres with vocals.
The Audio-Technica DSR9BT are passable for commuting. They don’t do much against plane and bus engine rumbles, which means noise will seep into your audio. Their bulky design is also a bit harder to travel around with, but the cups swivel to lay flat, meaning that you can wear them around your neck or store them in their nice hard case. On the upside, they're comfortable, and their 16-hour battery life should be more than enough during long rides and flights.
The Audio-Technica DSR9BT are decent for sports. They're tight on the head and are fairly stable. However, this means they trap heat inside their ear cups and make you sweat more than usual when using them during physical activity. These headphones weren’t designed for sports.
The Audio-Technica DSR9BT are alright for the office. They're comfortable to wear throughout your workday, although they might be a bit tight for people with larger heads. They have decent isolation against ambient chatter and A/C systems, and their 16-hour battery life should be long enough for a typical workday. You can use them with their USB cable to get hi-res audio when plugged into your work computer. They also don’t leak too much, so you shouldn’t bother surrounding colleagues when playing music at high volumes.
The Audio-Technica DSR9BT aren't suitable for wireless gaming. When used wirelessly, these headphones won’t be a good option for this use due to their Bluetooth latency. Their microphone is also sub-par for online games. On the upside, if you don’t need a mic, you can use them with their USB cable for hi-res audio and eliminate the latency as well.
- 6.7 Mixed Usage
- 7.0 Neutral Sound
- 6.8 Commute/Travel
- 7.0 Sports/Fitness
- 6.6 Office
- 5.3 Wireless Gaming
- 6.8 Wired Gaming
- 5.5 Phone Calls
- Updated Jun 11, 2021: Changed USB Audio results for clarity.
- Updated Mar 11, 2020: Converted to Test Bench 1.4.
- Updated Nov 21, 2019: Converted to Test Bench 1.3.1.
- Updated Nov 21, 2019: Converted to Test Bench 1.3.
- Updated Apr 17, 2019: Review published.
- Updated Apr 15, 2019: Our testers have started testing this product.
- Updated Apr 15, 2019: Early access published.
- Updated Apr 13, 2019: The product has arrived in our lab, and our testers will start evaluating it soon.
- Updated Apr 04, 2019: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.
Compared To Other Headphones
The Audio-Technica ATH-DSR9BT are okay mixed usage headphones that set themselves apart by their looks and build quality. However, they might not offer the best value for Bluetooth headphones, especially since you can’t use them passively and they take a very long time to charge.
See our recommendations for the best audiophile headphones and the best budget wireless headphones.
The Sony WH-1000XM3 Wireless are better and more versatile headphones than the Audio-Technica ATH-DSR9BT Wireless. They have a great noise cancelling feature, are more comfortable, and have a great companion app that offers plenty of controls and customization options. While the Audio-Technica have a better out-of-the-box sound profile, you can EQ the Sony with their app to suit your preferences. The Sony also have amazing battery life and can also be used wired with phones, which you can’t do with a normal 1/8” cable with the Audio-Technica.
The Bose QuietComfort 35 II/QC35 II Wireless 2018 are better and more versatile headphones than the Audio-Technica ATH-DSR9BT Wireless thanks to their very comfortable fit and well-balanced and natural sound profile. The Bose are one of the best noise cancelling headphones we’ve reviewed so far, making them great for commuting or travel as well. Their battery lasts longer, and they take less time to fully charge than the Audio-Technica. You can also use them wired with a phone, even if the battery is dead, which is convenient. On the other hand, the Audio-Technica look and feel more premium overall, but the Bose are likely a better value for most people.
The Bowers & Wilkins PX Wireless are more versatile headphones for everyday casual use than the Audio-Technica ATH-DSR9BT are. The Bowers & Wilkins have a great noise cancelling feature, a longer battery life, and their metal build is very sturdy. On the other hand, the sound quality of the Bowers & Wilkins is more suited for bass-heavy genres. The Audio-Technica have a more neutral sound profile, which some users may prefer, and are more comfortable. However, they can’t be used wired with phones since you can’t use them with a 1/8” cable. The Bowers & Wilkins also offer more battery life and can connect to multiple devices simultaneously.
The AKG N700NC are overall better headphones than the Audio-Technica ATH-DSR9BT. The AKG are noise cancelling headphones that are decent at every use case, on top of having a very good audio reproduction. They offer about the same battery life but take half the time to fully charge, which is nice. The AKG can also be EQ’ed in their app and be used wired with phones. On the other hand, the AKG have a bit of a plastic feel compared to the very well-built Audio-Technica. Overall, the AKG will offer better value.
The Audio-Technica ATH-DSR9BT Wireless and the Beyerdynamic Amiron Wireless are closed-back Bluetooth headphones designed with audiophiles in mind. The Beyerdynamic have a better battery life, more Bluetooth codec options, including the lower-latency aptX-LL and a companion app. However, they fit rather awkwardly and reproduce audio even less consistently than the Audio-Technica across different users.
Test Results
The Audio-Technica DSR9BT are very nice-looking headphones. They're made of premium materials, and the brushed metal finish on the ear cups adds a nice touch to the overall style of these headphones. The cups are big, and their padding is thick. They have a bit of a neutral look due to the different greys but look very high-end.
The Audio-Technica DSR9BT are comfortable headphones that you can wear for a while before feeling any fatigue. However, they have high clamping force and may feel tight for some people. They also feel a bit heavy once on your head. On the upside, the padding of the cups and headband is soft and comfortable.
The Audio-Technica ATH-DSR9BT have an okay control scheme that gives you access to common functionalities, but with a mix of physical buttons and a touch-sensitive area. You can play/pause, display the battery information, and trigger your voice assistant on the touch-sensitive surface. On the other hand, you can control the volume, skip tracks, or rewind with the physical slider. The physical buttons are easy to use, but the touch-sensitive area is hard to locate and is easily touched by mistake when taking off or putting on the headphones. There's no way for you to manually enter pairing mode, which is unfortunate and makes it hard to switch between multiple Bluetooth devices.
Since the Audio-Technica ATH-DSR9BT are very tight on the head, they create a good seal around your ears that doesn’t let in much air flow. It results in a good amount of heat being trapped inside the ear cups, and most people will feel a noticeable temperature difference. These won’t be suitable for working out, as you will sweat more than usual.
Like most over-ears, the Audio-Technica DSR9BT aren't very portable headphones. Their design is quite bulky, but their cups swivel to lay flat, making it easier to slide them inside a bag or fit them inside their traveling case.
The Audio-Technica ATH-DSR9BT come with a solid hard case that protects the headphones well against scratches, minor water exposure, and drops. There isn't much wiggle room in the case, which is good. The design also doesn’t add too much bulk, which means they won’t be too hard to carry around while they’re in their case.
The Audio-Technica ATH-DSR9BT are very well-built headphones. Materials used feel high-end, and the headphones should survive impacts and accidental falls without too much damage. Most of the build feels made from sturdy metal, and the headband is solid yet flexible. The overall build feels durable, like the Dolby Dimension and the slightly better-built Bowers & Wilkins PX.
These headphones are tight on the head, so they’ll be fine to jog with, although they aren’t very breathable and won’t be suited for sports. You shouldn’t have any problem with them swaying around if you only use them during casual listening sessions.
- Audio-Technica ATH-DSR9BT headphones
- Micro-USB charging cable
- Carrying case
- Cable pouch
- Manuals
The frequency response consistency is sub-par. Their bass delivery is inconsistent across our human subjects, and the maximum deviation at 20Hz is about 6dB. If you have a lot of hair between the headphones and your ear or have glasses that aren't flush to your temple, you may experience a noticeable drop in bass. In the treble range, we measured more than 9dB of deviation under 10kHz, which isn't good and will be noticeable.
The Audio-Technica ATH-DSR9BT have good bass accuracy. LFE (low-frequency extension) is at 27Hz, which is good. Low-bass, responsible for the thump and rumble common to EDM, hip-hop, and video game effects, is lacking by about 1.5dB, but this won’t be too audible. The mid-bass, responsible for the body of bass guitar and kicks of drums, and high-bass, responsible for warmth, are overemphasized by about 3dB, which will result in a slightly boomy bass.
Also, their bass delivery varies noticeably across users and is sensitive to the quality of the fit, seal, and whether you wear glasses. The response here represents the average bass response, and your experience may vary.
The Audio-Technica DSR9BT's mid-range accuracy is decent. The response is very flat and well-balanced in mid-mid and high-mid. However, there is an 11dB dip in low-mid centered around 350Hz, which will make vocals and lead instruments noticeably thin-sounding.
The Audio-Technica DSR9BT have very good treble accuracy. The response throughout the range is well-balanced and even, which results in accurate reproduction of high frequencies. However, not everyone experiences treble frequencies the same way, so your listening experience may differ.
The Audio-Technica ATH-DSR9BT have a great imaging performance. Weighted group delay (GD) is at 0.44, which is within good limits. The GD graph also shows the response is below the audibility threshold. It suggests a bass that's tight for the most part and a transparent treble. Our unit's drivers were very well-matched, important for accurate localization and placement of objects (voice, instruments, video game effects) in the stereo image. However, these results are only valid for our unit, and yours may perform differently.
The Audio-Technica ATH-DSR9BT's passive soundstage is sub-par. The PRTF graph shows a decent amount of pinna interaction, and it is also decently accurate. There's a decent notch around the 10kHz, helping to bring the soundstage in front of the listener's head. The soundstage will sound relatively large and spacious, but their closed-back design won’t be as open-sounding as open-back headphones.
The Audio-Technica ATH-DSR9BT have a poor noise isolation performance. They don’t have any ANC feature, which means they don’t do much against low-end frequencies, where the rumble of bus and planes engines sit. It means they won’t be great for commuting. In the mid-range, important for blocking out speech, they isolate by about 11dB, which is decent. In the treble range, important for blocking out sharp S and T sounds and A/C system noise, they achieved about 31dB of isolation, which is good.
The Audio-Technica DSR9BT are slightly leaky. The significant portion of their leakage is between 500Hz and 4kHz, a relatively broad range spread across the mid and treble ranges. However, the overall level of the leakage is quite low; with the music at 100dB SPL, the leakage averages 39dB at 1 foot away and barely peaks at 50dB, which is lower than the noise floor of most offices.
The Audio-Technica DSR9BT's integrated mic has poor recording quality. The LFE of 310Hz results in recorded or transmitted speech that is noticeably thin. The HFE of 1.3kHz suggests speech that lacks detail and presence and sounds muffled.
The integrated microphone has sub-par noise handling. In our SpNR test, it achieved a speech-to-noise ratio of about 9dB, indicating it's best suited for quiet environments. However, it will struggle to separate speech from ambient noise in even moderately loud situations.
The Audio-Technica DSR9BT have a good 16-hour continuous battery life, more than enough for a typical workday of casual listening. However, this amount is disappointing considering they take 5 hours to charge fully, which is noticeably longer than most over-ear headphones. On the upside, they enter a standby mode when idle for a few minutes, saving battery life if you forget to turn them off. You can also use the headphones while they are charging, which is convenient. However, they don’t have a regular 1/8" audio cable, meaning you can’t use them passively.
The Audio-Technica DSR9BT don’t have a companion app to offer customization and control options.
The Audio-Technica DSR9BT are Bluetooth wireless headphones. They can only connect to a single device at once, but they remember the last eight synced devices. On the upside, they support NFC for a quicker and easier pairing procedure. It's convenient since there's no way to manually enter pairing mode once you pair to a device.
They have somewhat high Bluetooth latency when connected to PCs and iOS devices, so you may notice a delay when watching video content or gaming. They also support the aptX and aptX HD codecs, but that doesn't seem to lower their latency with PCs. On the plus side, they have lower latency with Android devices.
Update 06/11/2021: We have changed USB Audio to 'USB Type A' to reflect the source port instead of the headphones' port. When using their USB cable, the USB-A connector can connect to any device with a USB-A port. The scoring of this box hasn't changed.
You can’t receive audio over a 1/8" audio cable since the Audio-Technica DSR9BT don’t have a jack for it. However, you can get hi-res audio with the USB cable on PCs. Unfortunately, this isn't compatible on consoles. Note that not every micro-USB-to-USB cable seems to be compatible with the headphones' port.