Very interesting comments relating to amping. I tend to use a FiiO E12 amp with the M500s, which is more neutral compared with the E07k and E17. Perhaps I will need to give the P7s another try using a different amp.
So, would you summise that overall the P7s are better than the M500s?
Well I haven't done a direct comparison between the P7 and M500, was only able to do so from memory (which is unreliable with these things). I only did a direct A/B with the Momentum and to me, personally, in many respects the P7 is better than the Momentum. And I'll soon be doing an A/B with the B&O H6 which I should receive tomorrow, because I'm still not sold on the comfort with the P7 (actually not sold at all, my left ear hurts after a while and no matter what fit I try it can't get a comfortable fit on my left ear. My right ear is perfect though). I'm just worried I won't like the sound of the B&O as much, from what I've read so far. But we'll see, different ears, different experience
As for the M500, from memory all I can really say is that the M500 is also a very good headphone. To me personally I didn't like the quality of the vocals with some songs on the M500, it would sound a bit unnatural to me. Again, only with some songs, with others they sounded great. And to me there sounded like there was a slight peak in the upper mids which would make certain treblish sounds (I'm not that great with all the sound language yet, so forgive me) sound a bit harsh at times (there we several times that I felt like yanking off the headphone because it was a bit too harsh to my liking, those specific sounds). Having said that, I thought the M500 was overall a very delicious sound headphone and I regretted returning them (mostly because of comfort issues). I'd say the M500 and P7 both have a big soundstage (not sure which one's bigger though) and both have a nice deep bass that's not overpowering the rest of the spectrum. I think I'd overall prefer the mids of the P7. And the highs I guess is a draw (but again, it's been a few weeks now since I last heard the M500 so it's not very reliable). They're both quite detailed, but in different ways. On some songs I remember hearing different details than I do with the P7, perhaps because the M500 either has more forward mids compared to the P7, or the P7 has more recessed mids compared to the M500 (I don't know which one is more neutral in the mids). But again, overall I like the way the mids sound on the P7 a bit more than the M500, especially the vocals.
As for the amps, when using the iPod classic, you're basically using a Cirrus Logic DAC, which apparently has a somewhat dryer sound. When using the Fiio E07K as a DAC, you're using a Wolfson chip as a DAC, which apparently has a somewhat warmer sound. Using the E07K purely as an amp with the iPod classic still produces more or less the same sound that is produced by the Cirrus Logic DAC, or at least I'm not hearing any differences. From what I've read, the E12 is a fairly neutral amp and doesn't add much or any coloration to the input signal. So yeah, try a different amp, they might become a bit more alive to your ears with a different amp. I think the bass is slightly fuller (in a nice way) when using the E07k as a DAC through my laptop.
