Sennheiser HD700: Mini Review
Build quality and comfort:
Just by the looks and holding one at your hand, one can guess that this is not a headphone designed for the price range it is now. HD700 has this same futuristic design as it's big brother HD800. It's just smaller in size but the family resemblance is there. Can't argue with the design. Ear cups are shaped like an ear, not round, triangle or oval.
I actually find hd 700 to be more comfortable than hd 800. HD800 is quite a bulky beast. It engulfes most of my head and feels quite intrusive even. Suede on HD 700 might not match luxury of alcantara on hd800 but it is very high quality and extremely pleasent against skin.
On some aspects I even find hd700 to be superior to hd800. HD800 has exotic lemo connectors where as hd700 uses more traditional 2.5mm X 2 to 6.3mm connection. HD700 cable is more common, so spares don't cost as much. And when you actually take a look, HD700 cable looks better. Plug has some design effort going on and the Y-splitter has some details too. Quite funny how they neglected this aspect with HD800. However I find HD800 cable to be more convenient, it just somehow rolls better into a circle and is easier to store.
For design and comfort HD700 is best in it's class. I can't find anything bad about it. It is light, it is comfortable and about equal to it's a lot more expensive big brother.
Sound Quality:
Let's take a listen. First thing that I pay attention with hd700 is the soundstage. Surely it can't match hd800 somewhat legendary soundstage. However among it's similarly priced peers hd700 soundstage is very good. Imaging is accurate but not to the level of Brainwavz alara or Hifiman Sundara in my opinion. HD700 does easily beat both when talking about the soundstage size though.
Bass on HD700 is tight and precise but it does roll of too early. I't starts rolling of after 100hz which is unaccebtable performance if compared to planars or better dynamics in this prize range. What bass is there, is tight and punchy but it just lacks presence.
With the midrange hd700 has some issues too. Gradyally downwards sloping response gives the mids some body but it does that to an extent it becomes a bit too dark.
Highs are notorius for their peakyness. And it is true. Treble peak around 7khz region makes these allmost unbearable with some recordings.
Here is hd700 frequency response measured with hd650 for comparison. That peak on hd650 measurement is not there in reality. It's a measurement glitch.
Conclusions:
I won't go into further detail because at this point it is clear, that Sennheiser dropped ball on this one. HD700 does not have the bass to please the bass crowd. Mids are quite laid back and have nice smoot tone to them which is killed by the treble peak. Someone said that HD700 is a combination of what is wrong with HD650 and HD800 and I have to agree. I't takes some effort to make a headphone that is bass light, dark and exceedingly bright. With it's original msrp of about $900 HD700 is a bad joke. Now that they cost about 1/3 of the original price, I still can't recommend them. Even if one wants a headphone with treble peak HD700 would not be my first choice. Beyerdynamic DT1990 has that traditional peaky beyer treble but it also is a better headphone than HD700. Only if build quality and comfort is an utmost priority only then HD700 is something to consider.
Build quality and comfort:
Just by the looks and holding one at your hand, one can guess that this is not a headphone designed for the price range it is now. HD700 has this same futuristic design as it's big brother HD800. It's just smaller in size but the family resemblance is there. Can't argue with the design. Ear cups are shaped like an ear, not round, triangle or oval.
I actually find hd 700 to be more comfortable than hd 800. HD800 is quite a bulky beast. It engulfes most of my head and feels quite intrusive even. Suede on HD 700 might not match luxury of alcantara on hd800 but it is very high quality and extremely pleasent against skin.
On some aspects I even find hd700 to be superior to hd800. HD800 has exotic lemo connectors where as hd700 uses more traditional 2.5mm X 2 to 6.3mm connection. HD700 cable is more common, so spares don't cost as much. And when you actually take a look, HD700 cable looks better. Plug has some design effort going on and the Y-splitter has some details too. Quite funny how they neglected this aspect with HD800. However I find HD800 cable to be more convenient, it just somehow rolls better into a circle and is easier to store.
For design and comfort HD700 is best in it's class. I can't find anything bad about it. It is light, it is comfortable and about equal to it's a lot more expensive big brother.
Sound Quality:
Let's take a listen. First thing that I pay attention with hd700 is the soundstage. Surely it can't match hd800 somewhat legendary soundstage. However among it's similarly priced peers hd700 soundstage is very good. Imaging is accurate but not to the level of Brainwavz alara or Hifiman Sundara in my opinion. HD700 does easily beat both when talking about the soundstage size though.
Bass on HD700 is tight and precise but it does roll of too early. I't starts rolling of after 100hz which is unaccebtable performance if compared to planars or better dynamics in this prize range. What bass is there, is tight and punchy but it just lacks presence.
With the midrange hd700 has some issues too. Gradyally downwards sloping response gives the mids some body but it does that to an extent it becomes a bit too dark.
Highs are notorius for their peakyness. And it is true. Treble peak around 7khz region makes these allmost unbearable with some recordings.
Here is hd700 frequency response measured with hd650 for comparison. That peak on hd650 measurement is not there in reality. It's a measurement glitch.
Conclusions:
I won't go into further detail because at this point it is clear, that Sennheiser dropped ball on this one. HD700 does not have the bass to please the bass crowd. Mids are quite laid back and have nice smoot tone to them which is killed by the treble peak. Someone said that HD700 is a combination of what is wrong with HD650 and HD800 and I have to agree. I't takes some effort to make a headphone that is bass light, dark and exceedingly bright. With it's original msrp of about $900 HD700 is a bad joke. Now that they cost about 1/3 of the original price, I still can't recommend them. Even if one wants a headphone with treble peak HD700 would not be my first choice. Beyerdynamic DT1990 has that traditional peaky beyer treble but it also is a better headphone than HD700. Only if build quality and comfort is an utmost priority only then HD700 is something to consider.