[DavidA]

  I am wanting to pull the trigger on these.  I am replacing Fidelio X2's because they are falling apart.  I am getting a refund and looking to replace them.  I use them for about 80% gaming, 15% movies and the rest for occasional music.  I will be using the new headphones with a sounsblaster ZxR.
I am attracted to the HD700's because they used to be $1,000 and are now $520.  With my refund of $330, the additional cost is easily manageable.  I like the idea of getting a headphone that used to cost $1,000 for less than half the price basically.
I like the way the HD700's look.  They look awesome.  They seem to be well built and I don't see any weak points on them like the Fidelio's have.  The 700's are reported to be very comfortable and that's important.  They are said to have a large sound stage and good imaging and for gaming that's something I want.  I wonder how they would compare to the Fidelio's as far as the openness and positioning is concerned from a gaming standpoint.  I feel the Fidelio's do pretty good here and are much better than the DT770's that I used to use (those broke on me too).  I am interested in the 700's because I expect they will last longer than the Beyer's and Philips did (less than a year each, not abused).
I like the bass of the Fidelio's, but I can live with less.  I always considered myself a big bass lover, but I recently asked myself when the last time I was jamming out to music with a lot of bass...I couldn't remember.  I really spend most of my time playing games and watching movies.  I think the HD700's have less bass but I am prepared to live with that if the sound stage or openness of the headphones is at least improved compared to the X2.
I am about to just buy them but if you guys have any input I'd appreciate it.  Thanks.

I use mine for watching movies a lot and gaming when I used to play, the only game I play now is Test Drive Unlimited so knowing where things are is not important, much rather play with GF.
 
I had the X2 for a few weeks back in Dec and didn't care for it, the HD-700 does everything better, bass (quality), sound stage width/openness, and details to me.  $520 is on the high side, they were $425 a few weeks ago IIRC.
 
I can't imagine a headphone lasting less than a year under normal use, I have two that are over 30 years old and still working great.  One of them, a Stax SRD-34 was used almost everyday for 28 years in my office along with a SAE-X10A amp and Nakamichi CA-7 pre-amp which are also still working great.  There are some on the HD-650 thread who have HD-525, HD-650, HD-580 that are all over 10 years old.
 
@sygnus21 did you try and swap the cables around to see if the channel imbalance changed with the cable?

 

[moonbogg]

They do bass better and sound stage size also?  I'm sold.  Thanks.  Also, from what people say about these I was under the impression that the lower frequencies weren't even generated from the 700's drivers.  People say they basically have no bass at all and that the only sound coming from the headphones starts at like 200hz or something.  So these do reproduce bass frequencies and you can actually hear it?
Also, those other phones did break in less than a year.  The X2's headband screws came loose (you can't fix them) and the DT770's stopped producing bass frequency from the right driver.  I thought it was the left, but recently checked again and its the right driver that went out.  I am in love with my PC and take good care of my stuff.  Very gentle, but despite the love these phones broke on me.  Crossing my fingers that the 700's last longer.

 

[Matro5]

... I'd say my perceived issues with the 700's are rapidly disappearing and I may wind up keeping the current pair.
 
As for my original issue posted here, things seem to be getting better as I spend more time getting use to the HD 700's.  BTW I was just notified that Surf Cables have finished my balanced cable and it's on the way. They also said they hooked me up by doing some soft sleeving above the "Y" breakout which they normally don't do and would like my thoughts on it. Cool, can't wait.
 

 
Glad to hear you're experience is improving!
 
Would you mind posting a pic of your surf cables when they arrive? I'm doing my own personal shootout between HD650 and HD700 currently, and I'll probably end up replacing the cable for whichever pair wins. 
 
So far, I'm leaning towards keeping the HD700 over the HD650. 

 

[DavidA]

  They do bass better and sound stage size also?  I'm sold.  Thanks.  Also, from what people say about these I was under the impression that the lower frequencies weren't even generated from the 700's drivers.  People say they basically have no bass at all and that the only sound coming from the headphones starts at like 200hz or something.  So these do reproduce bass frequencies and you can actually hear it?

The bass goes low but not in the quantity like a Beats, its more about the quality

 

[DavidA]

  So far, I'm leaning towards keeping the HD700 over the HD650.

Interesting.......

 

[moonbogg]

Trigger pulled!  Damn these things almost cost me $600.00 after taxes.  Never thought I'd buy phones this expensive, but I am an extreme guy who enjoys ridiculous crap.  I will feel better when I get my refund check from the X2's in 4-6 weeks (they take forever).  I'm pumped!  I want to play with my new toy right now!  Should be here tomorrow.  Amazon prime next day shipping.
Also, I will still have the X2's for a few weeks at least, so I very much look forward to comparing the two directly for what I use them for. 

 

[sygnus21]

  I am wanting to pull the trigger on these.  I am replacing Fidelio X2's because they are falling apart.  I am getting a refund and looking to replace them.  I use them for about 80% gaming, 15% movies and the rest for occasional music.  I will be using the new headphones with a sounsblaster ZxR.

As one who actually runs a Creative ZXR soundcard is his system, I think I can offer an opinion here.
 
First, though I don't exclusively listen to the soundcard any more since adding a high end DAC to my system (Teac UD-503), I do keep it for gaming as I'm a huge gamer. With that, though the ZXR will power the HD 700's, I found them to sound a little harsh at times, especially with raspy vocals like Norah Jones, or even Adele, and a tad too bright. I think this is because of the extended highs, and mids of the HD 700's. 
 
Now granted my HD 700's aren't "fully" burned in, but this is has always been noticeable to me, even when I had my AudioTechnica M50's. I always thought the ZXR produced too "digital" a sound, and needed to be toned down by lowering (not disabling) the Crystalizer setting in the ZXR's settings panel.
 
The other thing you need to be aware of is these are very forward sounding headphones and the mids and highs can be overpowering, especially at low volumes. And while the bass will be there, it isn't an overpowering bass like say the AT M50, M50X. The way I would classify the HD 700's is if you're into jazz, classical, or music where bass isn't at the forefront, you'll love these. Make no mistake, the bass can hit, and these are good for all around music, but these aren't "bass" heavy phones. On the other hand, if bass is your thing, and you like a little weight to your music, you might look elsewhere.
 
With the ZXR card, you may find them a bit too bright (forward in mids and highs) for some music and find you'll also have to tweak the mid to right side of the EQ settings down a little. That said, like everything there's always a good and bad matchup, and for me, I found the HD 700's weren't really a good match with the ZXR; however the card will definitely power the headphones, so no issue there.  Of course these are my opinions, and yours and others may vary.
 
My two cents.

 

[sygnus21]

Originally Posted by DavidA /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
@sygnus21 did you try and swap the cables around to see if the channel imbalance changed with the cable?

No, I haven't because messing about in JRiver seems to have solved the unbalanced issue; plus what I was perceiving as unbalanced was actually the wide soundstage, and channel separation these are known for. In short, I'm thinking I was the one in error

 
Anyway things seem a lot better now that I'm getting use the sonics of the HD 700's and now know what to expect.  
 
Thanks.

 

[moonbogg]

 
As one who actually runs a Creative ZXR soundcard is his system, I think I can offer an opinion here.
 
First, though I don't exclusively listen to the soundcard any more since adding a high end DAC to my system (Teac UD-503), I do keep it for gaming as I'm a huge gamer. With that, though the ZXR will power the HD 700's, I found them to sound a little harsh at times, especially with raspy vocals like Norah Jones, or even Adele, and a tad too bright. I think this is because of the extended highs, and mids of the HD 700's. 
 
Now granted my HD 700's aren't "fully" burned in, but this is has always been noticeable to me, even when I had my AudioTechnica M50's. I always thought the ZXR produced too "digital" a sound, and needed to be toned down by lowering (not disabling) the Crystalizer setting in the ZXR's settings panel.
 
The other thing you need to be aware of is these are very forward sounding headphones and the mids and highs can be overpowering, especially at low volumes. And while the bass will be there, it isn't an overpowering bass like say the AT M50, M50X. The way I would classify the HD 700's is if you're into jazz, classical, or music where bass isn't at the forefront, you'll love these. Make no mistake, the bass can hit, and these are good for all around music, but these aren't "bass" heavy phones. On the other hand, if bass is your thing, and you like a little weight to your music, you might look elsewhere.
 
With the ZXR card, you may find them a bit too bright (forward in mids and highs) for some music and find you'll also have to tweak the mid to right side of the EQ settings down a little. That said, like everything there's always a good and bad matchup, and for me, I found the HD 700's weren't really a good match with the ZXR; however the card will definitely power the headphones, so no issue there.  Of course these are my opinions, and yours and others may vary.
 
My two cents.

 
Thank you for the input.  I decided that the crystalizer makes things sound too bright and I had to disable it even for the DT770's and the X2's.  If the HD700's are already treble heavy, I think turning on the crystalizer would make them go crazy in that area.  I think all the crystalizer does is add a massive V shaped EQ curve.  I will try it with and without just for the heck of it.  I will keep in mind that I may have to EQ the high pitch stuff down a little. 
How does the 700 sound with the ZxR's surround setting on?  Did you like it for gaming?  I play a lot of BF4.  I am #1 with the M98B in the world right now.  Maybe these phones can make me #0 or something.

 

[sygnus21]

   
Glad to hear you're experience is improving!
 
Would you mind posting a pic of your surf cables when they arrive? I'm doing my own personal shootout between HD650 and HD700 currently, and I'll probably end up replacing the cable for whichever pair wins. 
 
So far, I'm leaning towards keeping the HD700 over the HD650. 

 
I actually bought the HD700 based on this YouTube clip review. I also bought the Audio Technica ATH M50X based on his review here; though I already had the M50 until they broke. Anyway I find his reviews very informative. 
 
As for the cable for the HD700, yeah I'll post some images (if I can given my newbie status) when I get it in.

 

[sygnus21]

Quote:

   
Thank you for the input.  I decided that the crystalizer makes things sound too bright and I had to disable it even for the DT770's and the X2's.  If the HD700's are already treble heavy, I think turning on the crystalizer would make them go crazy in that area.  I think all the crystalizer does is add a massive V shaped EQ curve.  I will try it with and without just for the heck of it.  I will keep in mind that I may have to EQ the high pitch stuff down a little. 
How does the 700 sound with the ZxR's surround setting on?  Did you like it for gaming?  I play a lot of BF4.  I am #1 with the M98B in the world right now.  Maybe these phones can make me #0 or something.

This is why I say, don't disable Crystalizer, because to me, digital music files through the ZXR needs it, but not much. I for example found turning it all they way down or off, made my music sound a bit lifeless, but turning it too far up, enhanced the harshness the ZXR provides at times. For me around 10 percent was just right.
 
I've not tried it in surround yet as I really don't use the card unless I'm gaming, and right now I'm not. In fact the last time I used the card was when I ran through all the Dragon Age games again, but at that time I didn't have the 700.  When I did get the 700 I just tried the card to see what it sounded like vs my DAC for review purposes. Thus my statement about the harshness with certain types of music. That said, I didn't buy it for gaming I bought it for music, and more specifically, to go with my Teac DAC.
 
As for gaming, I don't play games like Battlefield, I'm more of a single player person who likes first person shooters like Deus EX, Metro, FEAR or RPG games like Skyrim, Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Fallout series, though I've not bought Fallout 4 yet.  I'm currently waiting for the new Dishonored and Deus EX games to be released later this year.
 
At any rate as someone pointed out to me, you'll either love or hate the HD700's, there's really no middle ground.  In the end I'm liking mine but it takes some use to getting their sound as they sound quite airy. If you, like me, never had a pair of open back phones, their sound can be a bit surprising at first and you'll either love or hate them.
 
Good luck.

 

[moonbogg]

To be honest I just like trying new things once in a while.  I expect the 700's to be of high quality, but more importantly very different from anything else I've tried.  I will probably enjoy the whole super airy thing for a while, get bored with it and buy a pair if bassy closed cans.  I'll update with my impressions tomorrow so long as Amazon meets their promise shipping date. 

 

[sygnus21]

Originally Posted by moonbogg /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
I will probably enjoy the whole super airy thing for a while, get bored with it and buy a pair if bassy closed cans.  I'll update with my impressions tomorrow so long as Amazon meets their promise shipping date. 

LOL - That's what I effectively did when I decided to get the AT M50X's as well. Now the issue will be who gets used the most???
 
Right now I need to spend time with the HD700's as this is an expense I can't fully recover from.  That said, I'm seriously beginning to like the 700's for their airiness as now listening to the closed cans of the M50X's leave me with a limited closed off sound feeling.  That said, when I want to party I'll probably gravitate towards the M50X's where weight of music is concerned... bass.
 
Anyway it's good having multiple cans for different types of environment and music.
 
Good luck.

 

[chowmein83]

  How does the 700 sound with the ZxR's surround setting on?  Did you like it for gaming?  I play a lot of BF4.  I am #1 with the M98B in the world right now.  Maybe these phones can make me #0 or something.

 
Hey moonbogg, while I don't exactly have the Soundblaster ZxR, I do have an older Creative X-Fi card that also does virtual surround through headphones. In short - it's very good. It's ridiculously good, in fact, with the HD700. I find that Creative does a great job of producing a convincing virtual surround, and with the HD700's excellent abilities in imaging and depth perception, you'll be quite easily able to tell where people are coming from and (to an extent) how far or close they are to you - especially in a game like BF4 with great in-game audio.
 
And I also agree with @sygnus21 about the HD700 probably being bright with the ZxR - my older X-Fi also leans toward the brighter side and it can become too much at times when paired with the HD700. It seems like Creative likes to make their sound cards sound bright.

 

[DavidA]

Anyway it's good having multiple cans for different types of environment and music.  
Good luck.

That's why I keep most of my headphones

 Also because my GF and her friends use them once in a while so need more that a few