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Comparisons: 36 of the Top Closed/Portable Headphones Around
Dec 3, 2013 at 8:24 AM Post #1,036 of 4,373
greq said:
It's dead-horse beating time!
So I've auditioned the M500 and P7 for the fifth or sixth time last night, and I'm satisfied with my conclusions.

♦ M500 is brilliant. Easily worth it's price tag. What it doesn't have in sound stage it easily makes up for in instrument separation, placement, texture and resolution. If I had the money, I would own this beside my Momentum, as it would complement it very well as a more excitable sound against the Momentums laid back smoother sound. 
♦ P7 is just not my cup of tea. The mids are a tad coloured, just slightly too forward and with a slightly unnatural timbre (doesn't decay well). It does so so much very well. Resolution and texture are top notch, but it just fails at rock music, specifically electric guitars. I love Grados for their forward mids in rock music, but it keeps the timbre natural and the decal is phenomenally realistic. The P7's just simply fail at this. Most other instruments, voices and genres are reproduced effortlessly, but as more than 70% of my collection is various types of rock music it doesn't make sense to my ears.
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if you've not gotten the m500 or the momentum, which one will you buy?
 
Dec 3, 2013 at 1:11 PM Post #1,037 of 4,373
snip3r77 said:
if you've not gotten the m500 or the momentum, which one will you buy?
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Honestly - whichever one goes better with my clothes/style.
 
Dec 3, 2013 at 2:20 PM Post #1,038 of 4,373
I just don't get the love for the momentum. Well built and gorgeous, but way to warm for my taste. The musical clarity just isn't there for a headphone that costs that much, to me.
 
Dec 3, 2013 at 2:33 PM Post #1,039 of 4,373
minarets said:
I just don't get the love for the momentum. Well built and gorgeous, but way to warm for my taste. The musical clarity just isn't there for a headphone that costs that much, to me.
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It took me about 5 years to warm up to Sennheiser's house sound. (warm and slightly veiled). 
After toying with Grados for a couple of years I just wanted to add something deeply contrasting to my arsenal.
That's also why I don't feel the need to get the M500 - it's not different enough to my other headphones to make me want it. 
 
Dec 3, 2013 at 4:53 PM Post #1,041 of 4,373
trunks159 said:
Welcome to the dark side Greq.
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The welcome might be a year too late, but I'm happy to be there. 
beerchug.gif

 
Dec 3, 2013 at 4:57 PM Post #1,042 of 4,373
Dec 3, 2013 at 8:22 PM Post #1,043 of 4,373
greq said:
  It's dead-horse beating time!
So I've auditioned the M500 and P7 for the fifth or sixth time last night, and I'm satisfied with my conclusions.
 
♦ M500 is brilliant. Easily worth it's price tag. What it doesn't have in sound stage it easily makes up for in instrument separation, placement, texture and resolution. If I had the money, I would own this beside my Momentum, as it would complement it very well as a more excitable sound against the Momentums laid back smoother sound. 
♦ P7 is just not my cup of tea. The mids are a tad coloured, just slightly too forward and with a slightly unnatural timbre (doesn't decay well). It does so so much very well. Resolution and texture are top notch, but it just fails at rock music, specifically electric guitars. I love Grados for their forward mids in rock music, but it keeps the timbre natural and the decal is phenomenally realistic. The P7's just simply fail at this. Most other instruments, voices and genres are reproduced effortlessly, but as more than 70% of my collection is various types of rock music it doesn't make sense to my ears.
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Funny, I'd put it the other way around with the M500's mids a tad too forward (kinda like the SE535s) and a bit un-natural when compared to the P7s. 
 
Dec 4, 2013 at 5:04 AM Post #1,045 of 4,373
Dec 4, 2013 at 5:07 AM Post #1,046 of 4,373
Dec 4, 2013 at 10:05 AM Post #1,048 of 4,373
randy98mtu said:
  I have 5 or 6 hours on my P7's now, coming from Senn HD380pro.  I'm rather confused now.  Yesterday I loved my HD 380's.  Couldn't imagine anything better.  Last night when I compared them, they sounded very similar and I was scratching my head as far as what to do.  I came in this morning and listened to the P7's all morning with my NuForce ICON-IDO amp.  They sound great and are very comfortable.  Much more comfortable than my 380.  I just put my 380's back on after roughly 4 hours with the P7.  The 380's are big, heavy skull crushers by comparison.  And now I am looking for the blanket someone put over the tweater.  I think the 380 has a bit more bass, but suddenly the sound is muddy and muffled.  The P7 highs are much more vibrant, but not too sharp or bright.  The 380's isolate a bit better, likely due to the higher clamping.  I think I'm happier with a lighter clamp though as my ears aren't getting so hot.  There is still something to the treble in the P7's that is bothering me, but I can't put it into words.  Reading the glossary I'd say it sounds sibilent, like dragged out sss or ssshhhh, but it's in cymbals not in vocals.  Not sure what to make of it...  Overall after doing further A/B comparisons today, I like the P7 much more.  They are my first headphones north of $150 so I have a hard time knowing what is really good and what's not, but I'm happy.  Going to do some more comparisons and possibly go try out the Momentums at Best Buy again.  I wish there was someplace I could try out the Shure 1540's...
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To put it nicely, P7 are sibilant and not only on cymbals, on the vocals too. To offer a non diplomatic view of the P7's treble, it is shrill. I tried them and I found the treble frequencies to be unpleasant for an extended listening; and this evaluation is by my hearing sense that finds Beyerdynamic T1's treble inoffensive. Some people complain about the T1's treble . To me, the high frequencies of P7 are way more piercing. After the listening session I went online to find the frequency response graph for the P7 to see if it would confirm what I had heard. Here it is : http://stereos.about.com/od/StereoHeadphoneReviews/ss/Bandw-P7-Measurements.htm
 
FR.jpg

I do not want to sound too harsh because, sonically,  P7 is a step up on the quality of P5, but I have to say that if a major headphone manufacturer of a sound reputation made headphones whose high frequencies exhibited this kind of a mountain on the FR graph, then a lot of the members of head-fi would be shaking their heads and saying to themselves - "This is insanity".
Obviously there are bright days ahead here for the mod squad.
[B&W will have to readjust the diaphragm's response if they want to climb the stepladder of reputation]
 
Dec 4, 2013 at 6:43 PM Post #1,049 of 4,373
My one real critique of the P7 is it exhibits a slight boxy character and the bass is a bit pointy. I'll revisit them and check out that treble.....don't recall hearing a problem in that area.
 
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