[DavidMahler]

Quote:

Thanks, David. I bought an used HD 600 two years ago with the foam removed on both sides. I thought its a bit bright and fatiguing without the foam.
I think it's time to bring my HD600 back to the Sennheiser office to get the foam back into the headphone. I'm excited on how good it would be with the foam back into its place.

I think the HD600 sound noticeably better with the foam 
 
Quote:

 
Seems like we have very similar tastes. I want an SR009 and Orpheus now.

either one will "do"
 
Quote:

Hey David, wonderful write-up.  I originally used your Top 20 list back in 2010 to get my DT-880/250, HD-650 (Thanks to DaveDerek), a prototype HE-6 and HE-5, D-7000, AKG-501 and 702 in my collection.  My personal fave is the ATH-AD2000. 
 
However, I am inclined to agree that since then, the newer flagship models I have heard at meets are significantly better in various ways, especially the HE-6 and LCD-3, when properly driven.  The fact you have several high quality sources and amplifiers to work with allows you to find the best qualities of the ones that come out to the forefront of the pack.  I daresay its a gestalt one must take into consideration when looking at the rankings you have made.
 
Once again, a truly herculean and much needed effort....so warm thanks are due.....

The D2000 is a great one too.  I've personally owned the 5000 and 7000 as well.  The D2000 definitely has its merits apart from those two, but I liked the 7000 best.
 
Quote:

I will not be original - David, thank you, it was epic!
BTW, LFF,s Paradox definitely deserved to be on your radar - insane price/performance, maybe even better than HE-500 (I have both)

I will definitely check em out at some point.
Quote:

Thank you for the response, sir. I own the T1 and am pretty happy with them for classical (and other well recorded music). I was just trying to see if, short of the top-tier Stax, Sennheiser, and Sony, I should switch to the likes of an HD800 or HE6. That would be more or less a lateral move I guess?

For classical, the HD800 or HE-6 should be an upgrade.  If you go a Stax route, you will probably hear a quicker decay, although I don't think that the SR007's for instance are better than either the HD800 or HE6.
Quote:

 
Exactly. You're looking at the same graph you posted earlier.  Which is precisely why you can't trust frequency response.  Decay time, transient speed, distortion etc all have something to do with the sound signature that just the FR can't represent.  I'm not trying to say you should go HE-400, but merely pointing out the flaw in relying on FR graphs so heavily.  I'd totally keep the LCD-2 if I had it.

Lots of talk about the HE400, I definitely would like to add them at some point soon. 
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David, in honor of this excellent review, I will pull out some Mahler and listen to some great classical music today. Since I'm at work I'll be using the T5p's, not quite flagship, but close enough. 

Thanks for all the work on this. 

 

[DavidMahler]

UPDATE:

I have received an email regarding the removability of the HD800 earpads.  Apparently there is a way to do this, which I wasn't aware of.  An example is explained here http://www.head-fi.org/t/503058/how-to-remove-hd800-ear-pads-finally-i-figured-how
 
It's not a procedure I recommend doing unless you are absolutely positive you want to do this, as I believe the pads are easily damageable if the procedure is done incorrectly.  At this time I am uncertain that there are pads easily available from Sennheiser. 
 
I would like to give credit to head-fier "onesec" for informing me of this.  I will be updating the OP accordingly.  This will not affect my ranking or value-rating of the HD800.
 
Furthermore, I have updated the opening statements regarding the Jade headphone.  It has come to my attention through Muppetface's recent posts that Dr. Fang Bian, was not alone in the design/creation of the Jade.  Thank you Muppetface.

 

[preproman]

Quote:

 
Exactly. You're looking at the same graph you posted earlier.  Which is precisely why you can't trust frequency response.  Decay time, transient speed, distortion etc all have something to do with the sound signature that just the FR can't represent.  I'm not trying to say you should go HE-400, but merely pointing out the flaw in relying on FR graphs so heavily.  I'd totally keep the LCD-2 if I had it.

 
 
I'm so glad David didn't include FR graphs and such in his reviews.  

 

[Kashtan]

I propose that these headphones are very interesting:
Final Audio Design Muramasa VIII (8000 $ full-size)
Final Audio Design Piano Forte X (earphones 220000 yen)
Spiral Ear SE-5 reference (custom 1400 $)
Hidition NT-6 pro ( custom$1250)
AKG-340 (full-size 2-way headphones)

 

[satanigatan]

I'm bummed the HD-700's aren't better in the treble area. In terms of price, and the fact that they are "warmer" than the HD-800, on paper they sound like the perfect headphones for me. But I've read so many reviews that have said the HD-700's are harsher in the treble (the exact reason the HD-800 bothered me).

=/

 

[DavidMahler]

UPDATE: I have changed my closing statements (in the AH-D7000 section) regarding the D5000 and D2000 from still being available to Discontinued. At the time which that section was written, both those headphones were still readily available.  Unfortunately, this is no longer the case, although you still may be able to find it used or NOS.
 

 

[jixuanran]

Amazing review .can't imagine the future  ...

 

[arnaud]

David, I haven't read the 40 or so pages of comments but did go through your thorough review and have to say I was mightily impressed with the level of detail yet concise way to managed to pull it all together. I was concerned it would be rather unhelpful due to strong influence of personal taste but you contrasted your personal opinion against the general perception of the can when they were differing (such as the edition 10 for instance). So, overall, I find this work to be quite valuable. Congrats on this herculean effort and don't forget to update it with the next Senn ES flagship and other Stax 011 .

 

[RushNerd]

Quote:

Lots of talk about the HE400, I definitely would like to add them at some point soon. 

I would be honored to hear your opinion on them, especially since you obviously think highly of Hifiman. From everything I have gathered the difference between the 400 and 500 is mostly the sound sig. 
 
Like I mentioned before, the 400 has one of those rare sound signatures that not many headphones have (or at least get right) and I have heard their voicing is similar to the Stax 007 series, you could obviously confirm this. I only heard the 007's for a very short while, but the 400's do remind me of them.

 

[MickeyVee]

After owning the HD600, 650, and  HE400 among others, I really appreciate the airiness and openness of the HD700 and don't find them at all harsh and I'm pretty sensitive to that.  Maybe it's my setup with the Lyr/BiFrost and a little EQ, but it works for me. Underamped they can be a little screechy but with the Schiit stack, they're really quite good.  I'm actually listening to the HD700 driven by the Audioengine D1 right now (definitely underamped) and on some pop songs they are a little harsh at times but acceptable at lower volumes.
At the last Toronto HeadFi meet, I had a chance to audition the HD800 through my system and no thanks, sticking with the HD700.  The owner of the HD800 tried my HD700's through some of his gear and preferred it. You really need to spend some time with them.
I wish the HD700 scored a little better but what the heck.  
 
Again, many thanks to David on the awesome post.  Just the kind of reviews that I as a relative newbie need to help me in making purchase decisions. Next on tap is the HE500 or the LCD2 but at this point, I'm in no hurry.
 
Quote:

I'm bummed the HD-700's aren't better in the treble area. In terms of price, and the fact that they are "warmer" than the HD-800, on paper they sound like the perfect headphones for me. But I've read so many reviews that have said the HD-700's are harsher in the treble (the exact reason the HD-800 bothered me).
=/

 

[starNdust]

amazing...

 

[pp312]

Quote:

 
Exactly. You're looking at the same graph you posted earlier.  Which is precisely why you can't trust frequency response.  Decay time, transient speed, distortion etc all have something to do with the sound signature that just the FR can't represent.  I'm not trying to say you should go HE-400, but merely pointing out the flaw in relying on FR graphs so heavily.  I'd totally keep the LCD-2 if I had it.

 
You can't trust FR as a totality, but it's certainly evidence to build your case. Some people don't seem sensitive to it; I find I can predict it with sometimes distressing accuracy. I remember when I first heard the 32ohm DT880. Waaay too bright, but there seemed something honest about the sound. I was using an integrated amp so turned the treble down about 10db--and suddenly it reminded me very much of an HD650. I wasn't surprised upon checking the FRs on Headroom to find that they were almost identical except for the rising treble on the 880. And time and again I've been able to pick the likely FR of different phones (I've probaby owned nearly as many as David over the years, but never kept more than two at a time*). I don't have especially good ears, just seem to be sensitive to this area of a phone's performance.  
 
In any case I'm not looking for another phone, just picking between the two I have.
 
Here's an observation for those with the same dilemma. Last night I played a heavy orchestral CD right through, swapping between the two phones. By the end, there was no doubt in my mind that the HE-500 did reproduce timbral tone more accurately, especially brass. The sound isn't as open to my ears, and for that reason perhaps not as attractive, but in terms of giving one the sense of a real instrument playing, the HE-500 won out (just).
 
Does this mean it's a better phone? No, just that it may--may--be more suitable to my particular requirements. In that sense David's enthusiasm for its overall value is fully justified.
 
(*I even owned a Stax Sigma back in the 70s, and there aren't many who can say that.)

 

[OneSec]

Quote:

UPDATE:

I have received an email regarding the removability of the HD800 earpads.  Apparently there is a way to do this, which I wasn't aware of.  An example is explained here http://www.head-fi.org/t/503058/how-to-remove-hd800-ear-pads-finally-i-figured-how
 
It's not a procedure I recommend doing unless you are absolutely positive you want to do this, as I believe the pads are easily damageable if the procedure is done incorrectly.  At this time I am uncertain that there are pads easily available from Sennheiser. 
 
I would like to give credit to head-fier "onesec" for informing me of this.  I will be updating the OP accordingly.  This will not affect my ranking or value-rating of the HD800.
 
Furthermore, I have updated the opening statements regarding the Jade headphone.  It has come to my attention through Muppetface's recent posts that Dr. Fang Bian, was not alone in the design/creation of the Jade.  Thank you Muppetface.

 
You're welcome. Great job David and Roger Strummer for efforts looking into this. Glad to confirm its "user replaceable". I didn't attempt the process as HD800 doesn't really have a tough build (by the looks of it)  
 
 
I sent my pair to service center for the job.

 

[DavidMahler]

Quote:

David, I haven't read the 40 or so pages of comments but did go through your thorough review and have to say I was mightily impressed with the level of detail yet concise way to managed to pull it all together. I was concerned it would be rather unhelpful due to strong influence of personal taste but you contrasted your personal opinion against the general perception of the can when they were differing (such as the edition 10 for instance). So, overall, I find this work to be quite valuable. Congrats on this herculean effort and don't forget to update it with the next Senn ES flagship and other Stax 011 .

Thanks! I'm excited about the possible new Sennheiser ES 
Quote:

I would be honored to hear your opinion on them, especially since you obviously think highly of Hifiman. From everything I have gathered the difference between the 400 and 500 is mostly the sound sig. 
 
Like I mentioned before, the 400 has one of those rare sound signatures that not many headphones have (or at least get right) and I have heard their voicing is similar to the Stax 007 series, you could obviously confirm this. I only heard the 007's for a very short while, but the 400's do remind me of them.

At some point I will definitely bring the HE-400 in  I can only hope this will be soon
Quote:

After owning the HD600, 650, and  HE400 among others, I really appreciate the airiness and openness of the HD700 and don't find them at all harsh and I'm pretty sensitive to that.  Maybe it's my setup with the Lyr/BiFrost and a little EQ, but it works for me. Underamped they can be a little screechy but with the Schiit stack, they're really quite good.  I'm actually listening to the HD700 driven by the Audioengine D1 right now (definitely underamped) and on some pop songs they are a little harsh at times but acceptable at lower volumes.
At the last Toronto HeadFi meet, I had a chance to audition the HD800 through my system and no thanks, sticking with the HD700.  The owner of the HD800 tried my HD700's through some of his gear and preferred it. You really need to spend some time with them.
I wish the HD700 scored a little better but what the heck.  
 
Again, many thanks to David on the awesome post.  Just the kind of reviews that I as a relative newbie need to help me in making purchase decisions. Next on tap is the HE500 or the LCD2 but at this point, I'm in no hurry.
 

I don't want my review to look as though I discredit the HD700 as a legitimate offering.  It is a wonderful headphone in its own right (as most of the headphones in my list are). I try to pinpoint the issues I had with it, without making it appear that I thought it was subpar.
 
Quote:

 
You're welcome. Great job David and Roger Strummer for efforts looking into this. Glad to confirm its "user replaceable". I didn't attempt the process as HD800 doesn't really have a tough build (by the looks of it)  
 
 
I sent my pair to service center for the job.

Thank you.  Just a word of caution, I want to comment that I don't feel the HD800's earpads are genuinely user-replaceable.  I say this because I think its easy to accidentally tear the pads.  Whereas with the HD650/HD600 the pads are a breeze to remove.  In the OP, I have attempted to warn the user of this potential damage

 

[snappyaxolotl]

I understand that you have not yet reviewed the Sennheiser IE80, but I can easily say it fixes many of the major problems of the Sennheiser IE8, and reduces the bass by a lot. Placing tape over the bass tuning port on the IE8/80 fixes some of the problems, such as controlling the bass.
 
Also, the Etymotic ER-4 has been a long standing flagship from Etymotic, have you done a review of it?