I'm in the camp of Head-Fi'ers who changed cables from the stock cable to an aftermarket cable, but my reasoning wasn't just "ooh boo-teek cable!".  My reasoning was to get more power up to the headphones by changing from single-ended to balanced.  Unfortunately, I don't have a DAC/AMP combo...

I just wanted to give a little update on my HD700 Balanced / PONO "ecosystem."  Before anyone says that I'm polluting my "ecosystem" by using HD700s (as HD700s seem to have a notorious 7k treble spike), there's something to be said for why I wound up being someone who is still enamored with this...

green tambourine and 

I finally bought the balanced Black Dragon for the HD700... let's just say that with a balanced cable the PONO can drive HD700s at 25 to 30% no problem... and the soundstage, depth, and clarity are terrifying.  DEFINITELY helps the PONO live up to its hype, and makes me feel like a genius for...

This is precisely what happened to me.  I wound up very happy with my PONO and HD700.  That being said, I have no qualms with appreciating the Orpheus / HE1 for what it is:  A technological tour-de-force in which cost is no object.  It did however, open my eyes up even more to the implications...

Isn't the HD800s significantly bigger than the HD700?

The more I listen to my PONO, the more I feel that the PONO has become a victim of its own fanfare and eccentricity.  This comes from someone who owns a PONO and has it hooked up to HD700s (and now has a balanced cable).  The PONO was marketed as a means of "bringing 'music' back to the people"...

That's a shame, because the Orpheus is a BEAST of a system.  I had the pleasure to try it out @ Prince Street in SoHo and even with Tidal on the tablet @ CD Quality, it was very nice.  I wish I had remembered that day to bring my player so I could have hooked it up to Orpheus and see what it...

of three femtoseconds

I'm not discouraged at all :-).  I balanced my HD598s through my PONO and it was much louder, and more open / transparent.  So I figure with a bigger and higher-tier headphone I should get the same result.  Also, the PONO is smaller, so I think being able to feed more power to the headphone will...

Does anyone know of a good carrying case for the HD700?   Thanks! Jason

HD700 Balanced Cable is on its way!

That's my worst fear, that my HD700s get mucked up.   Side note: I have balanced cables for PONO / Codex coming in a few weeks, who wants a review / comparo when driven by the world's most maligned music player?!

OK, back to serious.  One of the things I like with my 598s is that while they aren't as good in 99.99999% of the ways my HD700 is good (and that includes balancing them... which does wonders for the 598), the 598 is a MUCH more portable setup than the 700.  The 598 can deal with around the neck...

He forgot the part that the amount of outside noise that leaks in from them is YUUUUUUGE   (sorry, had to)

  Don't feel bad.  I'm thinking of spending mine on a Bimby / Lyr 2 stack.  I have the HD700s... or maybe an Ayre Codex... or maybe a Schiit Stack and some HD800s headphones.... AGH!

  There may be so little impedance they will overdrive.  The PONO has something like 3 to 5 ohms of impedance, so not only with 9 ohms is the 846 on the low-end, but balancing the 846s may result in an unusably loud experience.

What are you hooking them up to?  HD800s?  SE846s?

Balanced is great for two things in my eyes (having used a PONO with HD598s and HD700s.     a)  If your headphones are already kickin' it in Single-Ended, Balanced will make everything that much richer, lower in noise, and just more expansive (sound-stage, audio dynamic range (NOT recording...

of biological turpitude

  And now I'm dorking over the HD800s.... go figure... 

I made a nice big initial impressions of my HD700s.  They can be as shrill and spiky as they're accused of being, they mate FANTASTICALLY with the PONO.   The longer I listen, the less things bother me about them (other than the cord length, give me 1.5m with PONO balanced setup and I'd say...

  HD700 + PONO in Clear.... yes, see-thru PONOs exist.  YES the PONO can drive the HD700s with no outside help single-ended.... and YES, I'm going to put a balanced cable on these.