[Bigrock2150]

I wouldn't get the hd595. It's too similar to the Hd555.
 
There are VERY simple modifications that can be done to the HD555 to make it sound exactly the same as the HD595 and even close to the hd600. The hd555 and the Hd595 share the exact same drivers, the hd555's driver is just covered with an adhesive strip of foam to dull the sound(Sennheiser are a bunch of cheeky bastards).
 
If you think you'll like the Sennheiser sound over the AudioTechnica sound grab the hd555 and save the extra cash. 
 
Hd555 vs AD700 is very close race, although more people choose the AD700 as the victor 4 to 1. There's a very interesting Poll comparing the two if you type Ad700 vs hd555 into the search engine, I'm sure you can find it fairly easily. 

 

[jschristian44]

i had the modded h555 and then i tested the ad700 out just to see the difference and the ad700 was way more clearer and detailed so i went with that one.   both are great headsets for their price though.

 

[Bigrock2150]

I also had the modded HD555, I sold them and kept my ad700. 

 

[jschristian44]

Quote:

I also had the modded HD555, I sold them and kept my ad700. 

lol exactly the same thing i just did.  probably for the same reasons right?

 

[SoSpecial]

Maybe I am just weird but I simply don't like cold or dry headphones.That was sort of the impression AD700's gave me. I just can't get into music if it feels lifeless.

 

[1Time]

Headphones can sound very different when plugged into different equipment. 
 
Quote:

Maybe I am just weird but I simply don't like cold or dry headphones.That was sort of the impression AD700's gave me. I just can't get into music if it feels lifeless.

 

[jschristian44]

Quote:

Maybe I am just weird but I simply don't like cold or dry headphones.That was sort of the impression AD700's gave me. I just can't get into music if it feels lifeless.

wow you must have had realtek 97' source or something to feel this way.  even my realtek "HD" didnt make them sound lifeless.  then again you must be an audiophile and the ad700 and hd555 are the most expensive headphones i've tried out thus far.

 

[SoSpecial]

Quote:

wow you must have had realtek 97' source or something to feel this way.  even my realtek "HD" didnt make them sound lifeless.  then again you must be an audiophile and the ad700 and hd555 are the most expensive headphones i've tried out thus far.

 
Not it's not that, I'm just so used to something being emphasized that when it's so airy like the AD700's I feel like not much is going on, at least not much musical. I like warmer sounds, Sens were my first headphones and HD555's were the first real lones I listened to. I just got really used to that sound and now I like I'm  lacking when a headphone feels cold. It's kinda like how some people perfer Tube amps to Solid States, yes the Solid States have less distortion but that doesn't mean they are better, they are just different.
 
I'm not saying AD700's are bad, I don't think to many headphones are bad, I just see them as different and if I don't particularly like them then I don't like them doesn't mean someone else wont either. Nor do I expect them to or am I surprised when they do like them.
 
I think it's important to remember these are nothing but my opinions and in my opinion people should remember that it is just that, their opinion. It's based off a subjective experience with their ears which are different then my own. They probably listen to different genre's then me too so my headphones wont suit them.

 

[jschristian44]

ah very nice explained.

 

[Bigrock2150]

@SpSpecial I think the words you're looking for are Bright and Airy rather than cold. The K701 is a headphone that is better described as cold and analytical. 
 
The AD700's are anything but cold, in fact they tend to be very musical, so much so that some find them to be too colored in the midrange. 

 

[SoSpecial]

Quote:

@SpSpecial I think the words you're looking for are Bright and Airy rather than cold. The K701 is a headphone that is better described as cold and analytical. 
 
The AD700's are anything but cold, in fact they tend to be very musical, so much so that some find them to be too colored in the midrange. 

Your right they are brighter, it's been a while since I last listened to them.I just remember not being so impressed. I mean don't get me wrong I liked them, I like most cans I listen to. And to be honest if they were the only ones availble to me then I could grow to like them. Hell if I bought them and listend to them for about a month I'm sure I'd end up liking them.

 

[Ypoknons]

XB700 sound nothing like AD700 and HD595/555

Figure out which sound signature you want, and you'll have your choice.

 

[Dev Avidon]

Quote:

It's kinda like how some people perfer Tube amps to Solid States, yes the Solid States have less distortion but that doesn't mean they are better, they are just different.  

This is actually an interesting point.  Tube distortion is fundamentally a different kind of distortion than solid state distortion, in several meaningful ways.  Without getting too technical, essentially the first part is that tube distortion produces even order harmonics (2nds, 3rds and 5ths primarily) that are pleasant to the human ear, and sound, in may ways, not unlike the natural harmonics of many instrumental tones.  Secondly, when you drive a tube into distortion, first you get the kind of "overdrive" crunch that so many rock musicians since the 1950s have turned into a mainstay.  Effectively the tube just runs out of gas.  Yes, you can blow a tube if you feed it enough juice, but it's not as hard a cutoff as solid state gear presents.  Since tubes function (really rough justice here) essentially by creating a charged field that pulls electrons in opposite directions depending on how much current gets run through it, eventually it just hits the limit of how electron flow it can sustain (again, gross oversimplification, but close enough for government work).  With solid state gear, if you push a capacitor beyond what it's rated to handle, it creates a square wave, which can completely destroy your equipment in a matter of seconds, and believe me produces probably the most unpleasant sound you've ever heard in your life.  Even before that, the kind of distortion that solid state gear produces is odd order; harsh, random, atonal distortion.  So yes, while the rated THD+N statistic on solid state gear is usually a lot lower, it's actually not measuring quite the same thing.

 

[SoSpecial]

Quote:

This is actually an interesting point.  Tube distortion is fundamentally a different kind of distortion than solid state distortion, in several meaningful ways.  Without getting too technical, essentially the first part is that tube distortion produces even order harmonics (2nds, 3rds and 5ths primarily) that are pleasant to the human ear, and sound, in may ways, not unlike the natural harmonics of many instrumental tones.  Secondly, when you drive a tube into distortion, first you get the kind of "overdrive" crunch that so many rock musicians since the 1950s have turned into a mainstay.  Effectively the tube just runs out of gas.  Yes, you can blow a tube if you feed it enough juice, but it's not as hard a cutoff as solid state gear presents.  Since tubes function (really rough justice here) essentially by creating a charged field that pulls electrons in opposite directions depending on how much current gets run through it, eventually it just hits the limit of how electron flow it can sustain (again, gross oversimplification, but close enough for government work).  With solid state gear, if you push a capacitor beyond what it's rated to handle, it creates a square wave, which can completely destroy your equipment in a matter of seconds, and believe me produces probably the most unpleasant sound you've ever heard in your life.  Even before that, the kind of distortion that solid state gear produces is odd order; harsh, random, atonal distortion.  So yes, while the rated THD+N statistic on solid state gear is usually a lot lower, it's actually not measuring quite the same thing.

Haha don't worry I know all of this, I just didn't want to type that out. I was just making a point that it's more based on opinions then evidence that doesn't clearly state what is really being heard.