[Anvil]

Well, that's his opinion, don't knock it.

 

[bangraman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by scytheavatar /img/forum/go_quote.gif LOL, this is a funniest review I have ever read . Marginally worse sound quality? The AE can only dream of having the sound quality of the ES7.

If you - like many consumers - equate 'sound quality' with 'quantity of bass', sure.


I also give you that some people are more sensitive to 'closed phone honk'... but the fact that the ES7 has less of it is a byproduct of it's significantly decreased isolation. I dunno about you, but I'd rather actually hear the music in reasonable quality in comfort with some honk than having to turn up the tide of bass even more to drown out the surrounding noise, while fiddling with the phones all the time to adjust for the supraaural earache.


I'm not saying the ES7 is a bad choice for some. I think for those types who like a pounding bass, generally agreeable sound and have it delivered in an easily driven, nominally 'isolated', stylish manner there are worse choices you could make. Since it folds flat, it's also easier to store than the Bose and it's definitely built to a higher standard. However whether it's actually as tractable / useful in everyday use as well as evaluating the actual sound quality it delivers in a portable environment is something else altogether.


A audition with a made-up mind at an Apple Store, etc isn't a valid opinion. I have/had both for a very long time and used them both extensively while travelling, and it's only recently I've given the last set of ES7's I'll be buying away. What's really funny to me is the sheer number of people who think that reading a few reviews or following a peer group makes them worthy of giving an opinion themselves. Of such foolishness are the 'flavour of the months' made.

 

[scytheavatar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bangraman /img/forum/go_quote.gif I think for those types who like a pounding bass, generally agreeable sound and have it delivered in an easily driven, nominally 'isolated', stylish manner there are worse choices you could make.

Like the Boses, which has bloatly basses and poor clarity. While the ES7 retains reasonably good clarity while having lots of bass.

 

[bangraman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by scytheavatar /img/forum/go_quote.gif Like the Boses, which has bloatly basses and poor clarity. While the ES7 retains reasonably good clarity while having lots of bass.

You do know that the ES7 bass is even more bloaty while also suffering from a slight reduction in clarity, don't you? I wonder if people actually listen to these back to back or just fish opinions out of the peer group...

 

[scytheavatar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bangraman /img/forum/go_quote.gif You do know that the ES7 bass is even more bloaty while also suffering from a slight reduction in clarity, don't you? I wonder if people actually listen to these back to back or just fish opinions out of the peer group...

I'll like to ask you too whether you have listen to these back to back, cause I have and while there are times where headphone opinions are subjective and debatable I think I'll have to question your definition of clarity. Cause one of the best things about the ES7 is how it can retain most of its clarity and its forward mids while have lots of bass, like the Denons. You could dispute my opinions about the ES7, they aren't the prefect phone or better than all phones of its price, but I think its laughable to say that the Boses aren't bloaty. Or that its bass response is better than the ES7.

How much burn in do you have with the ES7 anyway? They are known to need intensive burn in to perform at their best.

 

[Eagle_Driver]

The ES7 is still not as good as I expected for the price. In fact, I have not found one single set of portable closed-back headphones which satisfied me sufficiently (in terms of overall sonics) for daily use. The ES7, in particular, still suffers from that funky recessed midrange (though not as badly recessed as, say, the Bose TriPort OE fart cannons

). The only headphones which sonically have satisfied me sufficiently for me to want to use every day are either very large (read: too big to be portable) or are open-back or are IEM's.

 

[bangraman]

Jeez, the OE's... now that was something I thought might be better given the intervening time since the intro of the AE's, and definitely wasn't. The stupid earcup design turns it into an ES7-pulverising fart cannon unless you have ears the size of a chimp.


@Scytheavatar, I did a favourable-for-consumer-ears review for them back at the end of 2005. I had them until I gave them away later that year, then bought another one to do back-to-back listening tests on in mid '07. They have been used for comparisons until I gave them away again just a couple of months ago. My AE's will reach the end of their 2-year warranty in January. Suffice it to say burn-in, the great get-out-clause-of-the-tin-eared, is not an issue in this case.


On the other hand, I don't think you've actually ever done what you're saying I haven't done.

 

[Eagle_Driver]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bangraman /img/forum/go_quote.gif Jeez, the OE's... now that was something I thought might be better given the intervening time since the intro of the AE's, and definitely wasn't. The stupid earcup design turns it into an ES7-pulverising fart cannon unless you have ears the size of a chimp.

This is one of the few things that we both agree on - almost from the time the OE's were introduced.

We have disagreed in the past with regards to Grado (or is it Grato?

) and the Sony V700 and the V900/7509 (the old version, not the newer HD version). I had an SR325 (non-i), which I wholeheartedly agree with you (these aren't just Grados; they're Gratos!

), but sold it off some time later. (Like you, I have realised that Grado isn't the end-all of headphones. And I like and dislike various Grado headphones individually - and on their own merits.) And now that I revisited my 7509, I am beginning to appreciate it for what it is (its sound output is inoffensive enough, but doesn't really sound its best unless I feed it a fair amount of amplification).

And I still stand by my non-recommendation of the V700 - if only because it's painfully uncomfortable for me to wear for even a few minutes. Its sound quality is not the best in its price class, though I have heard worse.

My verdict is still 'undecided' on the ES7, however.

 

[bangraman]

I suspect that we would agree on more if you had my headphone history