iandh
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2009
- Posts
- 21
- Likes
- 11
So, to start. I previously owned a set of HARX900's which I modded. I didn't enjoy the post-mod sound, so I sold them. I would actually say that most people would prefer them modded, but I need attenuated highs because my ears are sensitive, so the weak highs these come with stock is absolutely perfect for me.
Shortly after, I decided I wanted another pair. I found the best deal I could... to my dismay, the new pair had a bad driver. The seller refuses to respond, and I need a working set of phones. 900's seem scarce, and I'm tight on cash, so I picked up some 700's for now.
Firstly, the 700's are NOT closed back as I see people state repeatedly. In fact, I even spread this misinformation myself based upon listening to other's misinformation. On top of that, the one member that tried to correct this misconception in the "official" thread was chastised. The 700's are no more closed back than the 900's, they are just vented differently. In fact, the vents are almost identical in size, but the 900 has mesh over them, so I would actually say the 900's are more closed back than the 700's are... people just assume the opposite because they see the mesh.
Proof?
Here:
If anyone doesn't believe me, I'd be more than happy to provide many more pics. It's quite obvious once you have the cup removed and seperate the two pieces. There's even a piece of foam in between the two pieces of the outer earcup to prevent the vent trim piece from rattling against the cup body.
Here starts the comparison.
The 700 sounds VERY similar to the 900. Being that my investigation of the two revealed that they are both equally vented in the ear cups, the only major differences I can find between the two is that the 900 has the acoustic lens screwed over the felt inside the earcup, this part is not present on the 700's. This supposedly helps with imaging which is why I suspect people say the 900 has better imaging (which I do agree with to some point).
Additionally, when I removed imaging ring from my 900 and added sound dampening to the earcup, it did tighten the bass up... in fact, it made the 900's sound much more similar to the 700's. Up until now, people have attributed the misconception that the 700 is a "closed back" phone to its tighter bass, but this is absolutely incorrect, being that the 700 is not closed back as described above. The 700 does, however, have a foam anti-vibration pad inside the earcup, and this could explain at least partly why the bass is tighter in stock form, as the 900 does not have anything other than a single thick layer of plastic.
This means that the tighter bass on the 700 can only come from one of three places IMO... either the acoustic lens, the foam anti-vibration pad combined with the vent topology, or the driver itself is different. I personally would lean towards a little of each. There is also one more place that folks overlook... the ear pads. The 700 pads are stiff and not very grippy, for lack of a better term. The the 900 pads are softer and seal against your head very well. I feel that could have a good part to do with the 900's fatter bass.
As far as the drivers go, I do know that the 700 is lower impedance. Additionally, the circuit board connections on the 700 are slightly different than the 900... so they may use similar components such as the diaphragm, but they are most definintely not 100% identical. I did notice for sure that the 700 has lower power handling. It was not able to sustain the same listening volume as my 900's without distorting, especially in the highs. I can say that the bass does hold together a bit better on the 700's.
I did, however prefer the overall sound of the 700 a bit more. Unfortunately, I also prefer the earpads of the 900 and the aesthetics of the 900's outer earcups. As far as sound goes, I am not 100% convinced that the 900 vs. 700 outer earcups have any significant impact on sound. I am pretty sure that the main difference is quality. The 900's have anodized aluminum covers and painted mesh, and the 700's have imitation anodized painted plastic along with chromed plastic for the outer rings.
One thing I do like about the 700's vs. the 900's is the nice open mesh headband... the pleather one on the 900's can get sweaty.
So, here is what happened:
This is a HARX700 body and headband, with 900 outer earcups + dynamat, 700 inner earcups, 900 ear pads, 700 drivers, and 900 acoustic lenses.
This hybrid basically took the best parts of both cans and combined them into one. This, IMO, is the ultimate HARX mod. There is only one weakness IMO, which is that the 700 drivers have lower power handling. Other than that, I think I may actually stick with this setup. I'm quite happy with the sound. I've got the tight bass of the 700, the imaging of the 900, the comfortable headband of the 700, the good looking ear cups of the 900, and the more comfortable ear pads of the 900.
Shortly after, I decided I wanted another pair. I found the best deal I could... to my dismay, the new pair had a bad driver. The seller refuses to respond, and I need a working set of phones. 900's seem scarce, and I'm tight on cash, so I picked up some 700's for now.
Firstly, the 700's are NOT closed back as I see people state repeatedly. In fact, I even spread this misinformation myself based upon listening to other's misinformation. On top of that, the one member that tried to correct this misconception in the "official" thread was chastised. The 700's are no more closed back than the 900's, they are just vented differently. In fact, the vents are almost identical in size, but the 900 has mesh over them, so I would actually say the 900's are more closed back than the 700's are... people just assume the opposite because they see the mesh.
Proof?
Here:
If anyone doesn't believe me, I'd be more than happy to provide many more pics. It's quite obvious once you have the cup removed and seperate the two pieces. There's even a piece of foam in between the two pieces of the outer earcup to prevent the vent trim piece from rattling against the cup body.
Here starts the comparison.
The 700 sounds VERY similar to the 900. Being that my investigation of the two revealed that they are both equally vented in the ear cups, the only major differences I can find between the two is that the 900 has the acoustic lens screwed over the felt inside the earcup, this part is not present on the 700's. This supposedly helps with imaging which is why I suspect people say the 900 has better imaging (which I do agree with to some point).
Additionally, when I removed imaging ring from my 900 and added sound dampening to the earcup, it did tighten the bass up... in fact, it made the 900's sound much more similar to the 700's. Up until now, people have attributed the misconception that the 700 is a "closed back" phone to its tighter bass, but this is absolutely incorrect, being that the 700 is not closed back as described above. The 700 does, however, have a foam anti-vibration pad inside the earcup, and this could explain at least partly why the bass is tighter in stock form, as the 900 does not have anything other than a single thick layer of plastic.
This means that the tighter bass on the 700 can only come from one of three places IMO... either the acoustic lens, the foam anti-vibration pad combined with the vent topology, or the driver itself is different. I personally would lean towards a little of each. There is also one more place that folks overlook... the ear pads. The 700 pads are stiff and not very grippy, for lack of a better term. The the 900 pads are softer and seal against your head very well. I feel that could have a good part to do with the 900's fatter bass.
As far as the drivers go, I do know that the 700 is lower impedance. Additionally, the circuit board connections on the 700 are slightly different than the 900... so they may use similar components such as the diaphragm, but they are most definintely not 100% identical. I did notice for sure that the 700 has lower power handling. It was not able to sustain the same listening volume as my 900's without distorting, especially in the highs. I can say that the bass does hold together a bit better on the 700's.
I did, however prefer the overall sound of the 700 a bit more. Unfortunately, I also prefer the earpads of the 900 and the aesthetics of the 900's outer earcups. As far as sound goes, I am not 100% convinced that the 900 vs. 700 outer earcups have any significant impact on sound. I am pretty sure that the main difference is quality. The 900's have anodized aluminum covers and painted mesh, and the 700's have imitation anodized painted plastic along with chromed plastic for the outer rings.
One thing I do like about the 700's vs. the 900's is the nice open mesh headband... the pleather one on the 900's can get sweaty.
So, here is what happened:
This is a HARX700 body and headband, with 900 outer earcups + dynamat, 700 inner earcups, 900 ear pads, 700 drivers, and 900 acoustic lenses.
This hybrid basically took the best parts of both cans and combined them into one. This, IMO, is the ultimate HARX mod. There is only one weakness IMO, which is that the 700 drivers have lower power handling. Other than that, I think I may actually stick with this setup. I'm quite happy with the sound. I've got the tight bass of the 700, the imaging of the 900, the comfortable headband of the 700, the good looking ear cups of the 900, and the more comfortable ear pads of the 900.
