[CafeRocker]

I just received a pair of AD700's in the mail a couple of hours ago, and have been listening ever since. I just wanted to make a quick post about my initial impressions of these cans.
 
The biggest surprise has got to be the bass. It is really hard for me to believe that people think these headphones lack bass. I am running the AD700 through a JDSLabs CMOY (with the bass boost off mind you), and I think the bass is spot on; not over powering at all, but present and tight, just the way I like it.
 
I am coming from some DT770 Pro's, and am really enjoying the detail of the AD700's. This is the first time I have ever listened to an open set of headphones... It is something else.

 

[NA Blur]

They do lack the deep airy sub-bass the DT990 would have.  You can see this more in the charts than with your ears unless you compare them side by side.  At 30Hz there is almost a -15dB loss in bass.  Bass is one of those things that you have to train your ear to listen to in order to really decide how something sounds.  So many people think good bass is that 90Hz range, sure it sounds boomy and deep, but it really is not the great low bass we are able to hear.
=2141&graphID[]=2661]http://graphs.headphone.com/graphCompare.php?graphType=0&graphID[]=2141&graphID[]=2661
 
The AD700 is a nice set of headphones.  I convinced a friend of mine to purchase a pair and he really liked the sound signature as well as how comfortable they are.  They do improve with better sources and amps which is a plus.
 

 

[MalVeauX]

Heya,

Yes. They lack bass. If you think 250hz is all the bass you need or should hear, then well, I guess you'd be satisfied.
 
But the visceral sub-bass that is common to movies, games and quite a bit of modern music that is below 100hz, and more closer to 20~30hz, will not show up, hardly at all, on the AD700. So you're not hearing what's recorded. It's just lacking.
 
And note: amps do not improve the AD700 at all. Amps don't change headphones. Increased volume is not improvement in reference to sound quality or technical ability of a headphone.
 
Very best,

 

[jsplice]

Quote:

Heya,
Yes. They lack bass. If you think 250hz is all the bass you need or should hear, then well, I guess you'd be satisfied.
 
But the visceral sub-bass that is common to movies, games and quite a bit of modern music that is below 100hz, and more closer to 20~30hz, will not show up, hardly at all, on the AD700. So you're not hearing what's recorded. It's just lacking.
 
And note: amps do not improve the AD700 at all. Amps don't change headphones. Increased volume is not improvement in reference to sound quality or technical ability of a headphone.
 
Very best,

I agree with your opinion that the AD700s are not very full when it comes to bass, but I don't understand the statement "amps don't change headphones."  There is lot more to a better amplifier than just "increased volume".  Now will you hear as much of a difference moving up to a better amp while using the AD700s versus something like the K701s, HD650s, etc.? No.  Point being, I too agree that not a whole lot of money should be spent on amplifiers if you intend on using only the AD700s for a long time.
 

 

[Head Injury]

Quote:

I agree with your opinion that the AD700s are not very full when it comes to bass, but I don't understand the statement "amps don't change headphones."  There is lot more to a better amplifier than just "increased volume".  Now will you hear as much of a difference moving up to a better amp while using the AD700s versus something like the K701s, HD650s, etc.? No.  Point being, I too agree that not a whole lot of money should be spent on amplifiers if you intend on using only the AD700s for a long time.

Do you really want to start an amp fight here? I'm ready to throw down 

 
 
 
Here's why people say the AD700 is bass light. No mid-bass hump at all, and nothing but roll-off past that. The combination of no hump and weak sub-bass means a lack of punch and a lack of fullness. Some headphones without mid-bass humps can pull off punchy bass (the high-end planars, Denon D2000 and up, etc), but in order to do so you need the sub-bass to help out. AD700 has neither. The bass is audible, no doubt, but it is light.

 

[Astrozombie]

That's why i got them for classical....

 

[JayB18]

They lack subbass but for music without much below 80hz or so they do fine imo. The AD900 has a tiny bit of a midbass hump and much better extension in comparison to the AD700. It looks good down to around 30-40Hz which looks to be about 10dB louder than the AD700. Midrange and treble response look smoother as well. It doesn't look to have the recessed upprer mids/lower treble of the Ad700 or the treble spike around 10,000hz. Going by the graph alone the AD900 looks to be one of the better balanced phones in Ive seen with 40Hz to 10,000Hz being withing 5-7db.

 

[Head Injury]

Quote:

Going by the graph alone the AD900 looks to be one of the better balanced phones in Ive seen with 40Hz to 10,000Hz being withing 5-7db.

Most people don't want balance like that. Headphones should have somewhat shelved upper mid-range and treble, how large a shelf depends on preference. When I see that much lower treble on the AD900, and when I see that 4kHz peak, I think of listening fatigue.

 

[JayB18]

Quote:

Most people don't want balance like that. Headphones should have somewhat shelved upper mid-range and treble, how large a shelf depends on preference. When I see that much lower treble on the AD900, and when I see that 4kHz peak, I think of listening fatigue.

 
Maybe though I haven't heard them. I find the AD700 too laid back in the upper mids/lower treble and the peak at 10db causes me a little bit of fatigue.  The upper mids/lower treble peaks don't look that bad on the AD900 imo (compared to some Grado's) and they are somewhat shelved in some of the upper mid/lower treble frequencies.

 

[CafeRocker]

Wow, surprised to see so many comments on my post. I posted something in the computer source forum the other day and got only one response... Just shows you how passionate people are about their headphones.
 
So, after reading through this. I flipped the bass boost switch and played with the eq a little bit. I can see what you guys are saying about that deep open bass. Until I turned the bass boost on and cranked 30hz way up on the eq, I didn't even know it was there. Ya know what though, I didn't really miss it. I'll keep playing with it. I haven't had a chance to play any games or watch even movies with them yet.
 
The AD700's do seem funner with the bass boost on.

 

[TMRaven]

They have plenty of bass, but they lack a lot of Sub-bass.  Even the DT990 lacks some sub-bass.  I do feel they're a nice headphone to use for long gaming session for just regular gaming-- I like them even over my other headphones for long gaming sessions with dolby headphone, it's such a pleasure.  I think even with songs that don't have a lot of low bass information in them they're still not that good of a music headphone.  If you listen to any higher-end headphone then go back to the AD700, you can notice a difference in overall timbre presentation (might be because it has a -10db dip at 5khz).  The soundstage, while distant to the point of being presented in front of you at times with certain songs, is too cluttered for my tastes, and there is a noticeable lack of detail in comparison.  Throw them on with dolby headphones for gaming though, so nice!  Their comfort is their main selling point to me, and is the reason why I'm keeping them.
 
 

 

[RedSky0]