Yes, unfortunately the local hi-fi shop has a contract with Sennheiser or something, so I've gotten to hear nearly every phone in their premium lineup, ranging from 555 to 800.
I'm not trying to bash the HD700 per say, but I'd go so far as to say I'd pay way less for every headphone on the market, as it's a sick game of price gouging, because they know the people they're targeting would just as easily pay another couple hundred dollars than something cheaper-- most of the time.
The HD700 doesn't sound anything special to me, it just sounds like another average open dynamic headphone with little resonance problems-- typical of the rest of the 500 and 600 series Sennhesiers, and some from other companies. They just threw in upper midrange and treble emphasis to make it sound more detailed. The same trick was done with the lean sounding HD800, but that in comparison sounds more balanced, and I actually consider it very fast, even though I do not like it. I'd only buy an HD800 if it was under 500. Beyond those technicalities, the frequency response is highly irritating to me. I think it's beyond the point of a person picking and choosing based on their desired coloration, because the upper midrange of the HD700 is far too intrusive and insulting to be considered high fidelity.
