Sennheiser HD 700: Officially Unveiled at CES 2012! - Page 11

Quote:

Originally Posted by tribestros 

Why is everyone bitching about price?  They'll go down in price with sale and they're positioned in between the 650 and the 800.  It's really dumb.  Also the design is way better and more modern than the ugly old styling that the 600 have.  I want babies with these phones.

That's funny!!!

I want good sound.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rithrin 

Yea right, 1000$ bucks. These better make it down to 600$ really quickly. If Sennheiser discontinues their product lines HD 6xx and tries to gouge the industry like this then they're screwed. Looks like Hifiman is the only one in the industry who's the right idea to me.. And they're coming out with lots of revamped improved products!

 

It also looks like they're they only one's who've listened to their headphone market and designed headphones to what we've wanted them to be.

 

Silly Sennheiser. I hope they snooze and lose. They need to be taught a lesson. 1,000, heh. Right!

Nobody has said anything about discontinuing the HD6xx line.

I'll chime in with my impressions based on the prototype model I have. Thanks again to Sennheiser, for letting some of us try them out early!

I think it is illuminating to read Jude's updated impressions, and then read LFFs take on it. For me, this kind of sums up the divide that the HD 700 will cause with people. I identify more with favorable side of things, like Jude. But I certainly don't think this is the best headphone for everyone. It really depends on what you value in your listening experience -  how much bass is "enough", how much highs are "too much", and your take on perceived build quality versus comfort. For me, the HD 700 makes a lot of the right choices in these categories. But I can see how others would disagree.

I've mentioned in the private discussion subforum that I think these are competitive with HE-500 and LCD-2. If I had to choose just a single full sized headphone to live with for a while, it would be a tough choice, but I'd take the HD 700 over the other two. I might feel differently from song to song or from amp to amp, but more often than not I believe the Sennheiser would get the nod.

Here is a repost of a comparison I did with the $1295 Beyerdynamic T5p. I recognize that they are not direct competitors due to open/closed differences, but still a valid comparison imo.

I wanted to update with my experience comparing the HD 700 to the Beyerdynamic T5p. I heard the T5p at a friend’s house on his gear (which isn’t anything special), and thought pretty highly of it upon initial listen. It was quick, detailed, exciting. So I borrowed it for a week to listen in my own setup as well as compare with the HD 700.

Long story short, the $1295 T5p was nowhere near as enjoyable as the HD 700. Once I got to know it, I found it to be bright, thin, and somewhat artificial sounding, with a “fake” soundstage stretch. True, on first listen it was really engaging, but that wore off very quickly for me. In as little as 10 minutes, I would find myself constantly fiddling with the volume knob – wanting more volume so I could feel at least somebass impact, but then wanting less volume because the upper mids and highs were grating. I realize that this is just the way it was tuned... I just can’t help but feel that if the highs were a bit smoother, I could live with the thin bass, and this would be sort of a “dynamic driver Stax” type experience. Kind of like the HD 800. But it just didn’t get there for me.

In contrast, the HD 700 has cleaner and smoother highs, coming just shy of perfect for my taste. The soundstage is wider and deeper, but more importantly it sounds very natural. I can’t stress enough just how much I enjoy this aspect of the HD 700. And the impact is actually present when it comes to bass drums, tuba, pipe organ, double bass, etc. It’s no bass monster but for me, the balance is spot on – not bass shy, not overbearing. Midrange seems notably more open and clear, irrespective of the bass/treble balance.

The T5p initially seems like the better built of the two models. I like the sturdy construction, and it feels like you could accidentally sit on it without snapping it in half (I’m not so sure how the HD 700 would do in that case). Comfort is mostly good, though not quite as “forget you are wearing headphones” as the HD 700. Unfortunately my ears consistently touch the top of the inner-cup area on the T5p, which gets annoying. My left ear does this on the HD 700 every once in a while, only if I am wearing them a certain way; I can usually avoid it, making the HD 700 by far the more comfortable model for extended use. While the leather earpads on the T5p are well executed, I do prefer the material (Alcantara?) used by Sennheiser.

Both of these headphones are sub-flagship models, positioned just below the top model (though the T5p is priced the same as the T1, go figure). So I assumed they would be reasonable to compare. But I don’t think there is much comparison here – to my ears, the HD 700 is clearly superior across the entire board. Only closed-headphone related categories like isolation and sound leakage go to the Beyers. For bass reproduction, midrange realism, treble quality (and quantity), coherency, soundstage and imaging accuracy, comfort, and even price (~$300 is not insignificant even in the world of high priced headphones), the HD 700 is consistently superior. 

Nice to read all your impressions. Still can't let go of the fact that it's an unforgivingly ugly. May be the ugliest hi-fi headphone I have seen in a long, long time. But sound matters most :) 

Now that the cat's out of the bag...

I happened to dropped by LFF's place a week ago and had a chance to listen. Sennheiser tried to make these sound like the HD800. The bass, midrange warmth, and slight dip around 4k is there. However, where it fails is the treble. The treble is very peaky. If the HD800 has an elevated treble, then the HD700 has extremely peaky treble. The HD700 does sound less grainy than the HD800 (out of a modest amp), but where it fails is that certain tracks where snare drums and percussion fall on those peaks, the HD700 is basically un-listenable, at least for me. Soundstage and low-level information retreival seemed just slightly behind the HD800. IMO, it reminded me somewhat of a "good" T1 I measured a few weeks ago, although I feel the T1 has more upper midrange energy (i.e., not recessed) and is actually less peaky. I've always liked Sennheiser headphones (HD558, HD600, HD650, HD800), but this one I don't like. 

LFF thanks for the information. Can you give a more direct comparison to HD-650, or is the HD-650 way outclassed? For those of us with HD-650's who want to upgrade and stay in the Sennheiser family this might be of interest. As others have pointed out some people might just consider skipping over the HD-700 and go right to the 800's.

Quote:

Originally Posted by project86 
...sums up the divide that the HD 700 will cause with people.

Don't get me wrong here!

I do like the HD700's! I work with a few headfi members and I was probably the one who enjoyed it the most.

At near $1,000.00 USD it is priced like a high end headphone and as such, I compared it with headphones at those price points. At that price point, and in comparison with other headphones at around the same price, the HD700 is a decent effort by Sennheiser! It sounds nearly the same as a T1 but the T1 being slightly better in my honest opinion when properly made. What is even more reassuring to me is that Sennheiser has better quality control than Beyer. Does this mean that the HD700 will be the best for everyone? No...but it's reassuring to know there are alternatives to other headphones at the same price point. Are there better headphones than the HD700? Once again, IMHO, yes but it comes down to personal preferences in what I listen to in music.

Like you said, it will come down to how much bass you want, personal preferences, technology limitations, sound signature preferences, etc. However...once gain...I do like the HD700.

sigh...sounds like a tonal balance closer to HD600 with open soundstage of HD800. will have to wait til HD750 come out...in the meantime my wallet thanks u.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SemiAudiophile 

sigh...sounds like a tonal balance closer to HD600 with open soundstage of HD800. will have to wait til HD750 come out...in the meantime my wallet thanks u.

No...not at all. The tonal balance is closer to the HD800.

Hmmmm..... I find this treble issue really interesting. It's reminding me of the IE8 treble vs IE7 treble, it had the same problems as well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tribestros 

Why is everyone bitching about price?  They'll go down in price with sale and they're positioned in between the 650 and the 800.  It's really dumb.  Also the design is way better and more modern than the ugly old styling that the 600 have.  I want babies with these phones.

Remember when the HD800 were $1,000-$1,100 new? They, for some unknown reason, jumped to $1,500. There's a reason for it.

double post

Quote:

Originally Posted by SemiAudiophile 

sigh...sounds like a tonal balance closer to HD600 with open soundstage of HD800. will have to wait til HD750 come out...in the meantime my wallet thanks u.

:facepalm:

Quote:

Originally Posted by keanex 

Remember when the HD800 were $1,000-$1,100 new? They, for some unknown reason, jumped to $1,500. There's a reason for it.

 

WAIT A SEC! ! ! ! ! ! ! WHAT! ! ! ! ! ! ! 

I thought these were little bros to the HD800!!!!!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by LFF 

At near $1,000.00 USD it is priced like a high end headphone and as such...

 That's shocking. I guess it really isn't. I'm quitting this hobby. People will buy them. I'm sure Sennheiser will make lots of money.