[Maxx134]

The es700 stock is already a superior can.
The in-depth detail and resolution of the mids is noticeably greater than the dt1350 .
The trebles are more liquid than the momentums
The bass is complete with effortless subbass to it.
It does scale when amped.
It does improve with burn in.
Very "alive" sound.
soundstage placement puts you right there with musicians.

For more normal soundstage I use esw9 wich retains the "live" and "sweet" and bass qualities.

 

[sofastreamer]

esw9 pads or the whole phone?

 

[BenF]

Quote:

The es700 stock is already a superior can.
The in-depth detail and resolution of the mids is noticeably greater than the dt1350 .
The trebles are more liquid than the momentums
The bass is complete with effortless subbass to it.
It does scale when amped.
It does improve with burn in.
Very "alive" sound.
soundstage placement puts you right there with musicians.

For more normal soundstage I use esw9 wich retains the "live" and "sweet" and bass qualities.

You should try the 30$ JVC HA-S400. After couple hundreds hours of burn-in, it beats ES-700 to the bloody pulp.

 

[waynes world]

Quote:

You should try the 30$ JVC HA-S400. After couple hundreds hours of burn-in, it beats ES-700 to the bloody pulp.

 

[aroldan]

Here's a little mod I'm using right now:
 
Cut a couple of rounded traces of foam of about 1x1 cm that can fit the earpad circumference. 
 

 
Then put it behind the pad. There's no need to take it apart.
 

 

 
The result is a more comfortable headphone with reduced clamp and a bit wider soundstage. The drawback is a little recessed highs.

 

[sofastreamer]

never! es700 wipes the floor with the s500, so iam sure it will do with the s400 also

 

[BenF]

Quote:

never! es700 wipes the floor with the s500, so iam sure it will do with the s400 also

 
S400 is better balanced than S500, it has sweeter mids.

 

[Dsnuts]

Quote:

You should try the 30$ JVC HA-S400. After couple hundreds hours of burn-in, it beats ES-700 to the bloody pulp.

Ah.No. On second thought.. No. And wait a sec on third thought. No,
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
No..

 

[Dsnuts]

If you combined the best parts of both phones. They still don't equal the refinement in these cans. Sorry to tell ya Ben. I like my HA-S400 a lot myself but..We are talking about another level of sound here..I am glad you found the best phone for you in the HA-S400 but my ears don't lie to me when it comes to SQ. The HA-S400 is astounding for the price as is the HA-S500.
 
But if I had to choose one portable it would definitely be my ES700..  If your into your mids you should look out for a M-80.. That would be a nice upgrade over the HA-S400 for you.

 

[Twinster]

If you combined the best parts of both phones. They still don't equal the refinement in these cans. Sorry to tell ya Ben. I like my HA-S400 a lot myself but..We are talking about another level of sound here..I am glad you found the best phone for you in the HA-S400 but my ears don't lie to me when it comes to SQ. The HA-S400 is astounding for the price as is the HA-S500.

But if I had to choose one portable it would definitely be my ES700..  If your into your mids you should look out for a M-80.. That would be a nice upgrade over the HA-S400 for you.

Are you saying the M-80 are better then the ES700?

 

[Dsnuts]

Nope. I sold em off a while ago.. He likes his mids and not much else it seems and that is what the M-80 is.. ES700 is superior if you want a complete sound,. The sound signature of the M-80 is a progression of what the HA-S400 does best so that is why I suggested it..To me they sound limp but that is just my opinion.
 
The M-80 don't touch the ES700 in overall sound but if mids with not much else is what you consider a high end sound the M-80s are just that..To me the ES700 is what the M-80 should have been..
 
But we all have different taste in sound so I am merely suggesting what is a progression of the HA-400 does best but somewhat better on the M-80..

 

[BenF]

Quote:

If you combined the best parts of both phones. They still don't equal the refinement in these cans. Sorry to tell ya Ben. I like my HA-S400 a lot myself but..We are talking about another level of sound here..I am glad you found the best phone for you in the HA-S400 but my ears don't lie to me when it comes to SQ. The HA-S400 is astounding for the price as is the HA-S500.
 
But if I had to choose one portable it would definitely be my ES700..  If your into your mids you should look out for a M-80.. That would be a nice upgrade over the HA-S400 for you.

 
If you think that ES-700 is on another level compared to HA-S400, that means they JVCs aren't fully burned yet.
You have to go to AD-900X or HE-400 to get to the next level from HA-S400.
I wasn't too excited with their sound after almost 300 hours of burn-in with bass-heavy music, but running this noise for another 150 hours has opened them greatly:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/rnrj5g0mmbldj58/ZhYIByMYOE/White-Pink-Brown%20Noise%20%28For%20burn%20in%29.wav
 
Once the carbon nano-tubes become more flexible, SQ jumps up.
 
They now both sound very similar, but JVC has a tighter bass and livelier vocals. This is especially evident in well recorded live shows.
K81DJ pads make the best sound, but putting HM5 pads on top of them improves the soundstage and comfort dramatically - at the price of the bass losing some of the punch and tightness.
I still prefer the HM5 pads, because they make live shows sound even better.
 
Compared to HA-S400, ES-700 sounds "cold" - not in the "too much treble" sense, but in the "leaves me emotionally uninvolved in the music" sense.
 
The differences are clearer when using Sabre DACs.

 

[sfwalcer]

^ i would have to agree with Ds on this one, i owned 2 sets of S400s and have burned them in for months, esp. that set that i intended to gift to my sis. The mids are the only thing that these S400s have going for them. They mids sound sweet indeed, but the highs and lows on these S400s are so tamed that it feels too boring/ relaxing with stock pads even with those AKG DJ pads. With those AKG pads the highs gets extended a bit more but still sounds recessed compared to the S500s and there is no sparkle to them, the bass is tight but they are nothing home to write about.
 
These ES700s are much more refined than the S400s in it's overall sound and sonic capabilities. For me these 700s is somewhat of a fusion of all the best traits of the S500 (great extended highs and awesome lows) and the S400s (sweet forward mids) but with even more refinement added on top of it.  The treble of the S400s is really lacking and was the 1st thing i noticed on them, so i am pretty confused to hear some say the highs of the S400s are better than the S500s. They are more smooth that is for sure, but if you are looking for great extension and sparkle these S400s don't have it.
 
The S400s is a great easy/ relaxing listen on the cheap, but these ES700s gives you not only that easy listening experience but it also makes things much more lively and fun to listen. They are much more refined and sophisticated.

 

[waynes world]

Quote:

 
The S400s is a great easy/ relaxing listen on the cheap, but these ES700s gives you not only that easy listening experience but it also makes things much more lively and fun to listen. They are much more refined and sophisticated.

 
^ So says "Mr Sophistication" himself! 

 

[sfwalcer]

Quote:

 
^ So says "Mr Sophistication" himself! 

No doubt, though i would just consider myself uppity.