Sennheiser HD 700: Officially Unveiled at CES 2012! - Page 12

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.

Tonal balance is not at all like the HD600. HD600 is neutral with smoother and less elevated treble. Soundstage "openness" is between HD600 and HD800 as would be expected, but closer to HD600.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ak47-whaaa 

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

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

Yes, the MSRP was $1,399 in 2010, which means they were available around $1,100.

That's quite a wide gap to fill... Hopefully the HD650s will down in price a bit... Otherwise the HD700s will remain out of reach to me. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by keanex 

Yes, the MSRP was $1,399 in 2010, which means they were available around $1,100.

I'm pretty sure Sennheiser forced retailers to sell at MSRP.

I didn't see anyone discounting the HD800 and (recently) HD650 very much...people will have to pay $1000 for these puppies, and they'll have to beat the Audez'e LCD2 to have a chance.  They are probably more travel friendly, and much lighter...that's a big advantage.

Quote:

Originally Posted by keanex 

Yes, the MSRP was $1,399 in 2010, which means they were available around $1,100.

This means it's a better idea to get a pair of HD800s -_-

Looking forward to reading more about these in comparison to the other new kids on the block (1840/1440, HE400). Glad they're easier to drive also.

Quote:

Originally Posted by LFF 

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.

Would you mind telling us on which variety of amps and sources you were able to try them ? Thank you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jazz1 

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.

The HD700 is more technically proficient, but at the cost of an uneven treble response with peaks. The worse thing that's said about the HD650 has been its "veil". FWIW, I've never heard this so called veil, but I've only heard the HD650 on good amps (EHHA, B22, Dynahi, AGD Phoenix, BA, etc.) The HD650 is still a laid-back headphone though. Although I appreciated the technical capabilities of the HD700, I prefer the HD650, which IMO still has excellent detail retrieval capabilities. Maybe even as good as the HD700 although I can't say for certain without having both here in front of me. From memory, the HD700 bass is more articulate than HD650.

IMO, the HD800 is not something you make a little brother out of. The HD800 is one of those headphones that's already on the edge - you can't stray too much from it without ending up with serious flaws. My opinion of the HD700 is slightly less than that of LFF's.

I found the treble of the HD800 too sibilant, so if this ones worse then it's certainly not for me.

At that price I don't see success.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sfoclt 

At that price I don't see success.

Well, we don't have Sennheiser's sale data. The world of headphones is much larger than Head-Fi. For all we know, the Beyer T1 could have been selling like hotcakes, and Sennheiser wanted to fill in that gap. It's a business to make money after all.

A lot of people like peaky, I mean sparky treble.

I'm honestly a bit surprised Sennheiser went with a sound signature so close to the HD800's. I was expecting the HD700 to be darker for some reason. Wishful thinking, perhaps.

Yes it definitely looks less star trek like.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saintly 

I'm pretty sure Sennheiser forced retailers to sell at MSRP.

Even if that were true, which I saw them on Amazon around $1,100 a few times, the MSRP has still gone up from the original point. I can't think of one other headphone that has increased the MSRP as it got older.