I think Sennheiser was having some sort of contest for people to try out a new prototype of theirs.  Could it be this?

I believe so. The same question popped into my head.
 
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marximus said:

I think Sennheiser was having some sort of contest for people to try out a new prototype of theirs.  Could it be this?

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head injury said:

If it combines the technology of the HD800 with a sound signature more like the HD600/650, I'll be interested.

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Day 1!

subscribed

Definitely subscribed - HD600 sig with HD800 technology could be heavenly

Can't wait!

 
 Should be easier to drive properly than the HD600/HD650...ummm..you'd think.

Right. Just when I bought a pair of HD650 .
 
But we still only have rumours and the picture hasn't been certified as legit yet. Let's see how that tuns out. The task for Sennheiser is quite difficult : it has to represent a clear technical improvement over the HD650 (like the HD800 is), but while keeping a sound signature that's likely to attract their consumers in this price range.

I'm still skeptical. It looks like a good fake, lol, but why not.

It looks like a mix between actual HD5xx and HD800 and if it remains like that it could cost at least 600-700 €.

That looks like epic!
 
So it'd be like between 650 and 800?
 
Sounds like interesting. Keep informating here.

They will be releasing new phones at CES but from what I've gathered from speaking to them the HD800 is still their reference headphone, so isn't likely to be replaced.  An HD850 would be incredible though, since the HD800 are still my favorite headphone (alongside the SR-Omega).

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homuhomu said:

Is this for real?

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All you have to do is look at the driver to tell it's fake.  The driver is fully exposed.  They would last a day until you poked your fingers through them.

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dvdrey said:

I'm still skeptical. It looks like a good fake, lol, but why not.

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That's what I'm thinking as well. It could be a rendering. Also, there are no markings whatsoever on the headphones such as "300 ohms", or "blabla drivers" like on the HD800 or other headphones in general.
But I really like that design.

My Hypehope for the HD700 is:

1. 600/650 sounds with HD800 refinement and soundstage.
2. The above, but with HD598 sound instead.
3. The HD800's drivers in a cheaper housing. (Which, let's face it, Sennheiser would probably actually do.)

All this is good and well, but I'd be FLOORED if the price of the 650 finally came down because of these headphones.

Day 1 purchase. Sennheiser is the only company in addition to Stax from whom I would buy a new product without ever hearing it first. After selling all my headphone gear to go speakers, I decided that I would get a small (integrated DAC+AMP) setup for my PC again one day if Sennheiser updates the HD 600/650. Looks like it´s happening sooner than I expected
 
EDIT: Some speculation...
 
I think that picture, even though it is obviously a rendering, is too well made to be a fake. Likely an internal company picture for a presentation or something similar. I´d say it´s highly unlikely someone would have put so much effort into conning audiophiles (a small niche). As for the release date, anything is possible - the january one might be a bit too optimistic though, but we also have to keep in mind that Sennheiser does have a history of fast "paper launch to in stores" product launches (just look at IE80, it´s already on sale here in Finland, just that the first batch is sold out now). And finally more speculation: the driver in the pictures looks smaller, my guess would be that the driver comes from the HD 600/650 factories and is similar to those. What I believe we are seeing here is indeed the HD 600/650 using HD 800 technology.