[grizzlybeast]

 
I do prefer the Pro900.  I could return I guess and maybe that's what I'll try. 

sorry to bug ya

but would you mind even  a one sentence description of why you like the pro better? besides cable.

 

[Oregonian]

  sorry to bug ya

but would you mind even  a one sentence description of why you like the pro better? besides cable.

Stock pads are better (larger opening) plus I adapted a pair of Alpha pads to them.  Sound is 'fuller' to me.  Bass is more precise.
 
Saying that - do you guys think the Senns need a burn in?
 
The 7 would be better for portable use as its more streamlined.
 
Senn allows a 30 day return so may do that. 

 

[Eugguy]

HD8>Pro900 anyday here. The Pro900 was metallic and sibilant. No mids! Wasn't even enjoyable for listening purposes. However, to each their own! 

 

[grizzlybeast]

  HD8>Pro900 anyday here. The Pro900 was metallic and sibilant. No mids! Wasn't even enjoyable for listening purposes. However, to each their own! 

you are probably right but he has the hd 7 not 8. and his gripes are about fullness of sound. 
 
I wonder if the 8 has close to as much bass as the pro900? I heard the pro900 has the most bass of any hp. 

 

[Sennheiser]

Hi guys,
 
Here's a link to another review of the HD7 DJ from djforums..
 
http://www.djforums.com/forums/showthread.php?36778-Sennheiser-HD7-DJ-headphone-review

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

  Hi guys,
 
Here's a link to another review of the HD7 DJ from djforums..
 
http://www.djforums.com/forums/showthread.php?36778-Sennheiser-HD7-DJ-headphone-review

Since you are working at Sennheiser, can't you comment on sound differences between HD7 and 8, I bet that's what everywhere is anxious to know about. We know HD6 has less pronounced bass for more flatter response as that's the goal, a flatter response for studio use but what's the goal for the sound of HD7 and 8? Boosted bass and...? Is HD8 more pronounced in the highs for easier snares/clap matching or? I don't expect any detailed sound description but I'm more interesting in the marketing jargon that pretty much every headphone product in a series has agreed on, how the Sennheiser rep in a booth had commented like if a person was asking what's the differences in sound between HD7 and 8. Usually there is a clear goal set for each product in the series.

 

[greenback]

  you are probably right but he has the hd 7 not 8. and his gripes are about fullness of sound. 
 
I wonder if the 8 has close to as much bass as the pro900? I heard the pro900 has the most bass of any hp. 

No way does the Pro900 have more bass than any other headphone. I have a pair of Sony Xb800's with more bass, but it's all bloated compared to the Pro900. 

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

  No way does the Pro900 have more bass than any other headphone. I have a pair of Sony Xb800's with more bass, but it's all bloated compared to the Pro900. 

Yea Pro900 is definitely not the bassiest but it has some of the very best bass quantity/power vs quality bass response out there. Too bad the rest of the range doesn't match anywhere close to its bass qualities.

The thing with Pro900's bass or the secret of it, lies mostly in its bass curve shape. It has like ideal configured curve for maximum bass punchiness/impact. This "punchiness/impact" or slam if you will is what many associates as it being percieved as very strong bass response, even if there exists several extreme bass headphones out there with more bass, but the way it "hits-you-in-the-face" is of very impressive authority on Pro900.

Here let me talk for a bit what brings maximum impact/punch/slam. I've experienced the same with testing various basshead headphones with their varied bass characteristics and compared the frequency response as well as when mastering hardstyle tracks for various newcomers. Hardstyle genre, bass-wise, is all about punch/impact, not necessarily so much about sheer (sub)bass quantity why I'm a big fan of it as I like punch/impact. In fact too much bloated subbass quantity can actually worsen the impact significantly. 


Notice, the marked areas with green circles reveals also how much punchiness there is to the bass in Tyll's 30Hz square wave measurements, the peakier this area is, the more punchier the bass is and also the lower vertically stretched the signal is (from the top to the bottom of the square wave), the more controlled/tight it is. The Pro900 is both tight/controlled and punchy. Useful to know, Tyll explained these things also a little while ago how to interpret his graphs.
 
 
1. The key ingredient is in the shape of the bass curve, for maximum impact/punch you want a narrow hillshape curve in the frequency response graph that rolls-off down deep, starting to roll-off after maybe 40~50Hz or so and also in the upper-end of the bass curve in the region between 150-200Hz. The "peakier" the response (higher & more narrow), the more impact is felt as the bass becomes focused and there's a lot of energy focused on a narrow area. It's like comparing high-heels vs normal flat shoes, the high-heels wear out dancefloors a lot sooner due to applying a very high pressure on a small contact area. Translate this to headphone's frequency response and you can say a headphone gets a similar focused high-impact bass response with a peaky hill-shape bass response.

2. Around which frequency the bass response peaks at. For maximum impact, you want it to peak at the border between sub and midbass (+upper bass if you want, but I prefer to just speak about sub & midbass so that when I speak of midbass I mean the entire bassrange above the subbass range) to get equal amount of both. From my testing over the years, it seems when they both are in balance, the impact is ideal. From my experience this goes at about 80Hz.

3. Which affects the impact to a lesser extent but still noteworthy would be reverb. The drier or the less reverby the bass is, the more impact is felt due to the reason the reverb makes the response more diffuze but the quantity bass is percieved bigger though but "muddier" (again you want as focused bass response as possible for maximum impact). A too dry bass response will sound unnatural though due to you're being used to the reverbs happening everywhere, especially with speakers in rooms. Reverb also helps to give it a smooth flow so some reverb is always welcome but too much and it will hurt the impact. Very noticeable in mastering too, reverb helps the music flow smoother but too much will worsen impact.

A bit offtopic but couldn't resist bringing it up on your question. So to get back to your response regarding XB800 vs Pro900, a big reason behind why XB800's bass sounds muddier in this case (I've also demoed it myself so can confirm it being the case) is that the bass boost is more "wide" and there's more reverb in it.

XB800/900 measurement for comparison:

 

[grizzlybeast]

 

 

Thanks for the explanation @RPGWiZaRD in short its all about attack, decay, and 40-80 hz.

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

This is getting offtopic, maybe take the quote to Basshead club or some new thread and we shall continue the discussion there.

 

[gelocks]

 
Do you find the mids & highs well balanced though? That's where I think the differences in HD7 and 8 might be (based on a product presentation somewhere on youtube I think it was). The HD8 was said to be livelier up top with a boosted bass and the HD7 was just said to be focusing on a boosted bass response and the HD6 to be more flat throughout.

What I'm trying to figure out which of the HD7 or 8 has more closer to "^--" shape response, if the HD8 is more V-shape than ^-- shape or if HD7 is closer to that (or if the highs are more veiled than neutral). I love Q40's balance and find it pretty much a "^--" shape (I prefer around 8-10dB peak bass boost that ideally should be centered around 80Hz) why I'm still using it after 2 years+ as I couldn't find an option closer to it, it has measured ~8dB peak bass boost centered around 80Hz and mids and highs pretty much similar level with around 5dB varieties at most except the 9kHz spike present in nearly all headphones. Would love to have an airier sound and better soundstaging though which is pretty much the only factors where I personally feel there's a lot of headrooms to do better, in these Q40, I'm looking for a similar but better sound.

Some basshead headphones and their imperfections for my taste:

M100: too big of a drop from neutral level in the lower mids and slightly too varying in the highs. Not perfect but nearly perfect bass.
Denon Dxxxx series: Slightly too analytical/cold, with slightly bit too withdrawn midrange, I prefer a more "in-your-face" sound which a forward enough midrange brings. Also the bass is too subbass skewed and a bit too linear as opposed to "peak" shaped, bringing more rumble than "punch" for my needs. Also the isolation is far less than ideal.
WS99: Very nicely fitting sound signature for my taste but unfortunately a bit too weak bass
Ultrasone PRO900: Way too much V-shape, the mids far too withdrawn and the highs too boosted but the bass is pretty much perfect.
 

 

 
I'll have a lot of time Friday to figure out what the 7 most closely resembles and post up my findings.  Already checking on it this morning the bass seemed more controlled.  And the good thing is I've had or currently have all four headphones you list above to compare to. 

 
Interesting... So... Frank, did you ever reply with your views?
(Maybe I glossed it over and don't remember.)
 
Also, I think Arly was going to send the Dido D901s to you this week so I would love to hear/read a comparison as well
 
Finally, are these already selling somewhere? I can't seem to find them, maybe I'm failing at "google-ing".... will probably wait and see if Razordog Audio starts to carry them...

 

[grizzlybeast]

  This is getting offtopic, maybe take the quote to Basshead club or some new thread and we shall continue the discussion there.

lol you started it you could have also just picked a letter but I will do that. this is though so I can look at the future graphs of the hd 8 and read them right. 
@gelocks 
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=1024946&is=REG&Q=&A=details

 

[campj]

 

 
Do you find the mids & highs well balanced though? That's where I think the differences in HD7 and 8 might be (based on a product presentation somewhere on youtube I think it was). The HD8 was said to be livelier up top with a boosted bass and the HD7 was just said to be focusing on a boosted bass response and the HD6 to be more flat throughout.

What I'm trying to figure out which of the HD7 or 8 has more closer to "^--" shape response, if the HD8 is more V-shape than ^-- shape or if HD7 is closer to that (or if the highs are more veiled than neutral). I love Q40's balance and find it pretty much a "^--" shape (I prefer around 8-10dB peak bass boost that ideally should be centered around 80Hz) why I'm still using it after 2 years+ as I couldn't find an option closer to it, it has measured ~8dB peak bass boost centered around 80Hz and mids and highs pretty much similar level with around 5dB varieties at most except the 9kHz spike present in nearly all headphones. Would love to have an airier sound and better soundstaging though which is pretty much the only factors where I personally feel there's a lot of headrooms to do better, in these Q40, I'm looking for a similar but better sound.

Some basshead headphones and their imperfections for my taste:

M100: too big of a drop from neutral level in the lower mids and slightly too varying in the highs. Not perfect but nearly perfect bass.
Denon Dxxxx series: Slightly too analytical/cold, with slightly bit too withdrawn midrange, I prefer a more "in-your-face" sound which a forward enough midrange brings. Also the bass is too subbass skewed and a bit too linear as opposed to "peak" shaped, bringing more rumble than "punch" for my needs. Also the isolation is far less than ideal.
WS99: Very nicely fitting sound signature for my taste but unfortunately a bit too weak bass
Ultrasone PRO900: Way too much V-shape, the mids far too withdrawn and the highs too boosted but the bass is pretty much perfect.
 

 

 
I'll have a lot of time Friday to figure out what the 7 most closely resembles and post up my findings.  Already checking on it this morning the bass seemed more controlled.  And the good thing is I've had or currently have all four headphones you list above to compare to. 

 
Interesting... So... Frank, did you ever reply with your views?
(Maybe I glossed it over and don't remember.)
 
Also, I think Arly was going to send the Dido D901s to you this week so I would love to hear/read a comparison as well
 
Finally, are these already selling somewhere? I can't seem to find them, maybe I'm failing at "google-ing".... will probably wait and see if Razordog Audio starts to carry them...

Razordog told me about a week ago that they would have them in about a month.
 
@Rosmadi Mahmood Hello, are there any intentions of making a shorter cable for these? I think a lot of people would like to use them as portable headphones, but the cables are too long. Thanks,
 jon

 

[gelocks]

  lol you started it you could have also just picked a letter but I will do that. this is though so I can look at the future graphs of the hd 8 and read them right. 
@gelocks 
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=1024946&is=REG&Q=&A=details

 
Thanks grizz!!
 
Totally forgot about BH. I'm surprised about the pricing though, I really thought they were going to be more expensive! Nice. Still will probably wait for amazon and/or razordog. I'm pretty sure I have a few of those "amazon points" to spend... also, will need to keep on selling a couple of headphones (I still have a few cheaper ones on the way...)

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

 
Razordog told me about a week ago that they would have them in about a month.
 
@Rosmadi Mahmood Hello, are there any intentions of making a shorter cable for these? I think a lot of people would like to use them as portable headphones, but the cables are too long. Thanks,
 jon

I also would have thought it had made sense with a shorter straight cable. I think for DJ's they will use the coiled when out n about doing gigs but the straight would be used portably. I think it would have been smarter to pick a shorter straight cable, IMO 1.5 m. Two different length cables had complemented each other better, not that many DJ's use straight cable @ while DJing I'd imagine so the length for that purpose isn't really needed IMO. Since these headphones doesn't look like something only DJ's will use I also favor the idea of a shorter (~1.5m) straight cable.

(+1.5m is perfect for me at home ^^)