[thomascrown]

   
I'm basing this on the price point. Sennheiser 650's go for $400 new and you can find them as low as $200 for a good used pair. I personally think the 650's are superior if you like their slightly colored sound (which I do.) The 650 comfort-wise are superior to any pair of headphone I've ever used. The weight, design and pads are comfortable but where they really shines is the sound. They are buttery smooth and I've yet to hear a musical note that I cringed at or felt the slightest bit of listening fatigue while listening to them. Due to this I consider the 700's slightly under the 650's. 

Ahahah fair enough, I used to have the hd 650 as well, and I consider the 700 superior comfort wise and for classic (80% of my listening), but de gustibus... 

 

[Rob80b]

I have a K712 too, how do you think the HD700 complements it? Contrasting points?

I think my HD700 is on the porch now... Anticipation!!!

Hi Evshrug
 
The HD700s are crisper/cleaner with better defined/focused details, the K712 continue with AKGs slightly exaggerated sound stage and warmer overall like the HD600s, the 700s more linear sound stage is also I find more intimate.
Base is also slightly better on the HD700s being tighter with better definition although extension and fullness are quite similar.
All said the K712s are still enjoyable to listen to but one gets spoiled with the HD700s comfort and confidence in the fit, the AKGs I find have a tendency to migrate on ones head.

 

[Evshrug]

Thanks rob.
The AKG soundstage is one of the things I like most about them, that doesn't mean I don't listen to other headphones but it does help AKG stand out. How does the treble compare?

The HD700 came, and the post-man taketh away. They didn't come by till 4:45 according to the signature confirmation (or "authorized recipient") ticket they left, but I guess I'll go to the post office tomorrow morning at 8:30 when they open. I have the weirdest work shift tomorrow: 2pm-11pm, I think I know what I'll be doing in the morning (unless I sleep in) but perhaps I can bring the headphones to work with me since I'm scheduled two hours past closing time. Maybe it's personal development/training time, hopefully I can listen to music once the customers leave.

 

[Rob80b]

Thanks rob.
The AKG soundstage is one of the things I like most about them, that doesn't mean I don't listen to other headphones but it does help AKG stand out. How does the treble compare?

The sound stage on the HD700 is also quite good but as I mentioned "the HD700s are crisper/cleaner with better defined/focused details" and that applies also to the treble so that there is better perceived depth, layering and separation if the recording contains that information, the K712s while expansive are more 2 dimensional.
 
Just a heads up, if your HD700s are "brand new" and although break-in is debatable, I found the 700s more than any other phone to be slightly congested and lacking base for the first few hours of use and then they open quite a bit and after a few days hit their full stride.
If they arrive just prior to heading off to work plug em in, set a healthy volume with some good base music and put it on repeat.

 

[Head1]

Does anyone who got the outlet deal want to sell and can ship to the UK? tx

 

[Evshrug]

I found the K712 to have great layering with my tube amp and one of the nicer tubes. Remains to be seen, but more layering and better imaging would be fun. I'm at least counting on wearing comfort, looking forward to that as the top of my head starts to look less like a forest and more like a grassland...

I do actually have burn-in validated from my experience, whether it be from driver or pads (most likely both) I've found evolutions and side-by-side differences (some unexpected, such as the Q701 having more midbass than the K712 when the K was new and the Q was like 2 years old) on my headphones which have mostly been the ones classically said to change from burn-in. I have a playlist with pitch sweeps, pink noise, and stretches of breaks, so I can do it pretty efficiently, but now that I'm not concerned with proving it to myself I'll usually listen instead of automating the process. It's a Sennheiser refurb unit.

My only other owned sennheisers were PX100, still have them but the Earpad foam is mostly disintegrated and the plastic housing pokes through. It'll be interesting to go back to an "old" brand.

 

[migasson]

My 2 cents.

I haven't had an as addictive set of phones since my LCD-2/WA22 combo.

Something about these gets my toes tapping, gets an emotive response out of me. I can hear texture, but not in a "oh look how great I am at extracting detail" kinda way. It adds to the musical pleasure. I'm not hearing equipment, I'm hearing the music. For once, some of you guys need to stop, and actually feel if your getting involved in the tunes. I'm a creative sole, so my purchases is the quest for the goal of being involved in the music, not the equipment. These phones do exactly that, which for me, is the sonic qualities of the HD700's, plus the superior comfort. Can't wait to get the WA6, that'll complete the picture then I'm done

 

[Sundown]

Can't stay away from these headphones. They may sound inferior to my X2's in the vocals/clarity but something about them keeps me coming back. The comfort, the weight, the looks, and something about the sound. There are times where something is played and I have to keep/remind myself it's in the headphones as I want to look back or to the side as if something happened outside the headphones them self. It's like as if I'm upgrading again from Sennheiser HD201/202 to the HD558's. 

 

[migasson]

Can't stay away from these headphones. They may sound inferior to my X2's in the vocals/clarity but something about them keeps me coming back. The comfort, the weight, the looks, and something about the sound. There are times where something is played and I have to keep/remind myself it's in the headphones as I want to look back or to the side as if something happened outside the headphones them self. It's like as if I'm upgrading again from Sennheiser HD201/202 to the HD558's. 

You're right, it has this x-factor that makes it addictive!!

 

[IYAshike]

  Paid mine 500 and it's in my opinion the right value for these headphones, at its actual higher price I would buy immediately the LCD2f instead (but comfort wise the hd700 are way superior).

l paid almost $500 for my HD-700, too.
 
When it comes to comfort, they surely are comfortable. But it's a different comfort than LCD-2s offer. HD-700 are pretty lightweight, they provide good room for you ears, and their shape 'wraps' your head in a very natural (i.e. ergonomic) way.
 
The first time l put my LCD-2s on, l thought "Boy, these are heavy!". l also thought that maybe, l would have to agree with that 'legion' of people who claim they are not comfortable, especially not for long sessions. Well, hopefully with permission of another headfier, "MacedonianHero", l will take the expression he used in his review of the XCs: l am not a "pencil neck geek"

 (needless to say, with all my respect to people who have a thin or non muscular neck; and to 'geeks'). l have always practiced sport, and l'd say my neck might be at least a bit stronger than the average non-sporty person. This might be the reason why, the other day, l could listen to the LCD-2 all day long, not only without problems, but finding them very comfortable. What l absolutely loved about them, is the way the earpads feel, they way they embrace your ears as if they were 2 soft feather pillows. However, at the beginning l didn't like that sucking sensation they exert but, a few minutes later, it was all fine. Besides, even though they're open cans, they still offer some degree of isolation to external noise than others don't (e.g. Hifiman). 
 
All in all, l love the way both HPs feel on my head, but l think l prefer the LCD-2 'embracing' feeling. Now, you can surely forget you're wearing the HD-700; that won't happen with the LCDs (which might be good:

 "Yes! l have a pair of LCD-2s resting on my head!!"

). 
 
ln any case, chances are l am an 'outlier', so take my opinion with caution. lf l were to recommend any of the two, speaking strictly about comfort, l would go for the HD-700 (if only to be on the safe side).   

 

[thomascrown]

l paid almost $500 for my HD-700, too.

When it comes to comfort, they surely are comfortable. But it's a different comfort than LCD-2s offer. HD-700 are pretty lightweight, they provide good room for you ears, and their shape 'wraps' your head in a very natural (i.e. ergonomic) way.

The first time l put my LCD-2s on, l thought "Boy, these are heavy!". l also thought that maybe, l would have to agree with that 'legion' of people who claim they are not comfortable, especially not for long sessions. Well, hopefully with permission of another headfier, "MacedonianHero", l will take the expression he used in his review of the XCs: l am not a "pencil neck geek" :bigsmile_face:  (needless to say, with all my respect to people who have a thin or non muscular neck; and to 'geeks'). l have always practiced sport, and l'd say my neck might be at least a bit stronger than the average non-sporty person. This might be the reason why, the other day, l could listen to the LCD-2 all day long, not only without problems, but finding them very comfortable. What l absolutely loved about them, is the way the earpads feel, they way they embrace your ears as if they were 2 soft feather pillows.....

ln any case, chances are l am an 'outlier', so take my opinion with caution. lf l were to recommend any of the two, speaking strictly about comfort, l would go for the HD-700 (if only to be on the safe side).   

Exactly! That's why i said that for $700/900 range I'd buy the lcd2 instead, I owned them as well and I really miss those earpads. I tried the alpha primes: heavy, but so comfy, that headband is a bliss, audeze should seriously consider the same solution (as hifiman has rightly done).

 

[Rob80b]

  Can't stay away from these headphones. They may sound inferior to my X2's in the vocals/clarity but something about them keeps me coming back. The comfort, the weight, the looks, and something about the sound. There are times where something is played and I have to keep/remind myself it's in the headphones as I want to look back or to the side as if something happened outside the headphones them self.............

Headphones will never portray the “you are there” like speakers can but the HD700s quite often give me an eerie sense of receiving a live feed of the recording in progress (I worked in recording back in the 70s and 80s), switching to the K712 or HD580/600s that magic is lost and while good it’s more like a second generation recording.

 

[Evshrug]

^ Disagree (in a good way!) with Robbob there, it doesn't happen throughout a whole song but I often have moments when a background effect (eg environmental like thunder, truck, creaking, someone talking) will fool me to think it happened in my room or nearby, and sometimes a recording (and my playback volume) happens to be so good that I don't even have to concentrate yet I can feel the room/amphitheater the recording was made. This happened even with my "lowly" AD700, but more often with the Q701, and almost never from a studio recording session where each performer was recorded separately then had the tracks combined on the editing table.

 

[Rob80b]

...................................................I often have moments when a background effect (eg environmental like thunder, truck, creaking, someone talking) will fool me to think it happened in my room or nearby, and sometimes a recording (and my playback volume) happens to be so good that I don't even have to concentrate yet I can feel the room/amphitheater the recording was made. This happened even with my "lowly" AD700, but more often with the Q701, and almost never from a studio recording session where each performer was recorded separately then had the tracks combined on the editing table.

My K701s did it, the K712s which I felt have more layering bring it up a notch but the HD700s, as I hope you’ll hear shortly, have what appears to be the ability to expose even more layers of fine details but at the same time creating even more space and air between instruments and/or performers. To visualize, sort of like going from DVD to BluRay.

 

[Folex]

  My K701s did it, the K712s which I felt have more layering bring it up a notch but the HD700s, as I hope you’ll hear shortly, have what appears to be the ability to expose even more layers of fine details but at the same time creating even more space and air between instruments and/or performers.

 
If fine detail and space is what you want I would save up to get the HD800. It's like comparing Gordon Ramsey to Mcdonalds. I was absolutely blown away by  HD800's seperation and detail. Outside of the Stax 009 ($4,000) I've yet to hear a headphone do it better.