[Taowolf51]

I own a modded pair of T50rp's, so I can't speak for higher end planars, but I think planars are made of damn unicorn tears and witchcraft!

 

[IEMCrazy]

Quote:

Thanks IEMcrazy, some food for thought. I'm a big 650 fan, have been for about six years. This may sound strange but I don't find the K702's any more fatiguing than the 650's? The Senns when properly amped have great treble, its not as edgy (for look of a better word)or extended as the K's but for me just as bright. I think it is the warm lower end that takes your attention off it. On a similar note, the K702's also need to be amped properly, when they are fed too much voltage or not enough current they can sound very dry and dare I say "harsh" at the top. 

 
That does sound strange!

  I'm very susceptible to treble fatigue.  K702 does it the worst of my collection, D5000 second most, but not nearly as much.   HD650 is by far the least. I could listen for hours with no treble fatigue.  I've used HD650 on O2 (a dead neutral SS), I've now used HD650 with a silver (silver!) cable on Lyr (a warm-ish amp.)  I haven't tried them with the silver cable on the O2 yet.  I still have not managed to make them fatiguing or edgy.  K702 is edgy and far extended into UHF territory.  D5000 is edgy and sparkly (it's known for its bass but it's biggest attribute is really its treble sparkle!)
 
HD650 has lots of treble detail, and this is no way scientific, but I mentioned in the HD650 thread that I think the HD650 driver manages to produce some level of frequency compression as well as dynamic range compression.   That's probably not enitrely the case, but they are both less dynamic (loud to soft) as the planars (or K702 for that matter), and I think some of the high treble gets crushed into the low treble so that you hear all the detail but within a less fatiguing range.   My description makes it sound like DSP and I don't mean it that literally, but I mean I think some attribute of the driver responds (by design) in a non-linear fashion. 
 
It's hard to feed 650 more power than a Lyr can (well the Lyr managed to feed them a bit more power than they can take....I had to replace the drivers as a result

) and they opened up spectacularly.  The silver cable finished their improvement.  Compared to HE-400, they're tonally bright, yes, but not in a fatiguing or treble sparkly way.  K70X does indeed manage to introduce some fatigue.  Not a harsh top (also on Lyr with its warming effect) but still fatiguing to those sensitive to treble fatigue.
 
If I were to associate a single phrase with each headphone it would be:
HD650: Refined; stately; clean; easy
K702: expansive; sharp; cold; crisp; distant; pure
HE-400 (assuming Lyr tubes, it changes character a bit on SS): Syrupy; rich; thick; smooth;alive
 
D5k holds a specialized position in my lineup, so it's not worth adding to the comparison.  It's a great can, but with the others around wouldn't be my all-rounder.   But for certain genres is the only "right" choice when reaching for one of my collection.
 
HE-400 is probably the most true "all rounder" and sounds the most lifelike (an attribute of planars), HD650 has the most "wow-factor" in its present configuratoin and has the most refined speaker sound of the bunch, K702 is also specialized.  There's no longer any genre that it would be my first choice to listen to on it, and yet there is no genre that I would not like to hear the album on it at least once.  I suspect with the right tubes though to warm it up right, classical would become spectacular on it again.
 
Quote:

I own a modded pair of T50rp's, so I can't speak for higher end planars, but I think planars are made of damn unicorn tears and witchcraft!

 
LOL, man, and I thought that was cheap leather on the HiFiMan headbands....

 

[WhiteCrow]

Quote:

awww me and uncle eric sitting in a tree! (wif our K702's on)

No, Eirc is the person that started the K701 hate, and the head-fi zombies quote him like a mad man. K701 are to music as Tang is to Orange juice...so does that mean the HD650 are to music as wood glue is to alfredo sauce?

 

[Katun]

Quote:

K701 are to music as Tang is to Orange juice...so does that mean the HD650 are to music as wood glue is to alfredo sauce?

 

 

[obobskivich]

IEM:

What you might be noticing is the lack of resonance on the HD 650 compared to the 70x. The 70x's have a treble ridge around 9k (especially the K701), while the 650 is fairly clean there. It makes the treble sound much different. See:
http://en.goldenears.net/index.php?mid=GR_Headphones&search_target=title&search_keyword=hd+650&document_srl=11616
and:
http://en.goldenears.net/index.php?mid=GR_Headphones&search_target=title&search_keyword=k701&document_srl=4138

Apparently the 702's tamed this a bit:
http://en.goldenears.net/index.php?mid=GR_Headphones&search_target=title&search_keyword=K702&document_srl=8281

And from what subjective reviews have said, the Q's probably do a better job than that. Unsurprising really; just like the HD 650 measures cleaner than the HD 580 in most respects. They get better at making the same thing after having done it for years and years.

I'd agree with the K701 being "cold" or "dry" compared to the Sennheisers - but as I've said before, nothing sounds bad through the Sennheisers; for better or for worse. They're certainly easier to listen to. That said, the 70x isn't a bad headphone by any means - I've never understood the gripes with the headband either.

 

[RexAeterna]

No, Eirc is the person that started the K701 hate, and the head-fi zombies quote him like a mad man. K701 are to music as Tang is to Orange juice...so does that mean the HD650 are to music as wood glue is to alfredo sauce?

well that uncle eric guy is a smart man with good taste! also you could understand as well since one of his favorites were the k501's and 240DF's.

also he didn't really started the spread of hate. he just was very disappointed in them cause he was hoping for something better especially all the high praise even to this day the k701 gets and just stated his opinion on them from a personal perspective/experience. me personally find the k701 meh and still found nothing better from akg than my 240 sextetts lp's and 240DF's. i even think the k601 is a better headphone than the k701.

 

[RexAeterna]

I own a modded pair of T50rp's, so I can't speak for higher end planars, but I think planars are made of damn unicorn tears and witchcraft!

darn right! the t50rp's are very impressive headphone when i use to own pair i modded myself. gave them away to a friend and of course i am already satisfied on what i have here so was no reason to keep them. when i had them though they sounded like floating magical rainbow unicorns gently swaying the flow of sound with abstract power of beautiful pixie dust unifying its' surroundings.

 

[RayleighSilvers]

To be honest I was going to ask a similar question as the OP. I read somewhere that AKG made the Q701 to compete with the T1 and HD800. They are also labelled as reference headphones and are the best headphones AKG currently make. Are the Q701's even in the same league? They are about a 1/4 of the price!

 

[obobskivich]

To be honest I was going to ask a similar question as the OP. I read somewhere that AKG made the Q701 to compete with the T1 and HD800. They are also labelled as reference headphones and are the best headphones AKG currently make. Are the Q701's even in the same league? They are about a 1/4 of the price!

You can't use price as a fair point of comparison, especially in the era of kilo-buck being the new normal. That said, I wouldn't believe rumors that the Q701 "competes with the T1 and HD800" - it's Harman trying to cash-in on celebrifone-dom (along with all of their other attempts, some of which aren't out yet, some of which are; including the Tim McGraw headphones, the Tiesto headphones, other Quincy Jones products, and so on).

The 70x is a great headphone, but it's not perfect. For the price, I'm skeptical there's much better though.

 

[eskimoo]

This headset costs minimal for a high-end cans ~ about $300. Very close to hifiman latest offering, $400 HE400. Total $700
Only cost half compared to HD800 $1400

 

[LugBug1]

Just thought I'd give an update on this thread since.. I finally got some HE500's! and can now hear what all the fuss is about... They are very, very good.
 
However, I'd still say that the K/Q70X's are the best bang for buck cans at the moment and I won't be selling mine anytime soon. The transparency at this price is amazing. Also the way they reproduce orchestral music is still the best I've heard.     
 
Cheers
D  

 

[obobskivich]

Just thought I'd give an update on this thread since.. I finally got some HE500's! and can now hear what all the fuss is about... They are very, very good.

However, I'd still say that the K/Q70X's are the best bang for buck cans at the moment and I won't be selling mine anytime soon. The transparency at this price is amazing. Also the way they reproduce orchestral music is still the best I've heard.     

Cheers
D  

Not having heard the HE-500, but having heard higher-end cans than the 701, I'd agree with your sentiments. They really do get that "reference quality sound" within a fairly tight budget.

 

[Lorspeaker]

my 2nd attempt at this wonderful Q701 that comes with an ALO cable paid big dividends...
took the wind out of my urge for the cans in the $tratosphere...T1/hd800 etc.
 
this combo is neck to neck with my hd600+cardas....
my big headache now is whether to keep both of these classics, or sell one.
the AKG has a taller soundstage over the hd600..
i will need another 100000hours to sort this out.
pureblisssss.
 
 

 

[estreeter]

That train left the station when various AKG fanboys leapt on Mike's claim that the K550 is a better headphone in almost every respect. Beats me - I'm going to revisit the HD600 when that blessed day comes that I have something resembling disposable income. I do miss the comfort of the K601, but I'm not gifting any more money to Harman Corporation if I can help it - much better going to those poor souls in the Sennheiser and Grado families.  

 

[headphonatic]

It's hard to explain.  K70x may be the most vast soundstage out there. HE-400 (which I doubt is much different in terms of soundstage/separation than HE-500 given the same pads and decent amp given wje's comparisons of the two) has a smaller stage (by far) than K70x.  It has a smaller soundstage than HD650 for that matter.  Yet the instruments are indeed more separated.  HD650 is better at painting the "whole picture", K70x can kind of smear everything into a soundstream 300ft away.  HE-400 has the instruments right on top of you, but they're still lined up next to you.   Picture one of the Miles Davis quintets, with Miles blasting a trumpet directly at your forehead, Wayne basting the sax at your cheekbone, and Ron drumming over your shoulder   It's an excellent separation of each instrument, even though they're all located close to you (and no, I don't mean to paint it as harsh.)

No one, in this universe, could have explained it better, ortho's make music very, engaging, the music is literally stuck in your head.