[Stanfoo]

Also seeing complaints about these headphones being too "bright". So apparently it has treble problems and is bright.
 
Is it still worth buying with these problems?

 

[mikey1964]

Honestly, it sounds warm to me, been listening to it on my Lyr + Fostex HPA4 stack. Will listen on my iFi Micro iDSD to see if it sounds warm as well.

 

[Rob80b]

  Is the HD700 worth upgrading to from the HD598? Will it be better at everything? (If you can compare the two that'd be nice).
 
Also I heard the HD700 shines at female vocalists, is this true?

 
Hi Stanfoo
 
Just to quote myself on the HD598s........
 
Quote:

I’ve given them a comparative listen with the HD700s and AKG K712s. IMHO there are distinct quality differences, given the source (music)/amp the 700s have better detail retrieval and layering, also the overall sound is more sophisticated (natural) with deeper better resolved base..so with regards to the 700s and the K712s ..the 598s  “relatively” speaking are entry level  (which they’re not of course), they just do not scale as well. But un-amped, therefore straight from a computer etc, the HD598s can actually be more rewarding.

 
Given the quality of the recording, source and amplification there is a clear distinct quality difference between the two, much greater than lets say than between the HD700s and HD800s. While the HH598s do not do anything bad, they are a well rounded phone....but in direct comparison.....the HD700s IMHO are much truer/richer in the reproduction of harmonic overtones, detail retrieval, sound staging and layering... more life like if I may say….with the right recording…I’m almost there….the HD598s on the other hand still sound more like listening to headphones.
 
But having said that the HD598s are still a great headphone for casual listening, especially unamplified from ones laptop or computer…more so than the HD700s.

 

[Fred Hi-Res]

Having used the HD600 for several years I know all it's strengths and weaknesses quite well. I recently bought the HD700 and I now have a new favourite HP for classical music and jazz. The layering and dynamics is far superior to the HD600. Detail extraction extremely good without being analytical like the HD800. Depending on your source and amp I understand that people may complain about the hot treble. I don't use these phones for modern music as I prefer the less analytical more laid back and punchy sound of the LCD 3 for these genres.
 
Tomorrow I will get the Moon Audio Black Dragon 4-pin replacement cable for the HD700, can'y wait to see how they will transform the sound characteristic, I don't expect a huge improvement, but I hope that going from SE to balanced should at least improve the soundstage a bit further.

 

[Evshrug]

...

Trying out a Telefunken ECC88 6DJ8 (also have a pair of Amperex, trying to get some Mullard), I can't decide if I'm imagining it, but I did notice a little coarseness in the voice of a rather well known Chinese singer here (Jie Tou by Ah Mei) playing DSD64 tracks via my computer using Fostex music player with a Fostex HPA4 + Lyr stack. There was a little edginess/harshness when I was using the stock tubes that came with the Lyr. But with the Telefunken tubes, I noticed that this edginess seemed to have been smoothened out somewhat.....can different tubes do that?                                                     

Tubes! Tubes are the heart of the amp using them, and Definitely different tubes can do that. Stock Lyr tubes are pretty entry grade. Telefunkens are popular NOS options, considered very great, but I have yet to hear one. I have many good Amperex and a Sylvania JAN 6DJ8 which is forward and a bit coarse but amazing for electric guitar, my overall favourite so far are my four Russian Voskhods, very articulate and controlled better than the BugleBoy tubes I have.

l also agree. l was 3 days away and l was really missing the 700s. Yesterday, l sent the cable to a person to have it reterminated (XLR) and l took my HE-400 and X1s out to give them a chance.

I'd like a shorter cable, I have a pair of twist-ties holding together the extra slack of my stock HD700 cable.

 

[pietcux]

Evs, Telefunken was a German TV set maker in the tube TV time. They have been out of the business in the early eighties. Do you think that tubes from that brand are still good. They might be more than 25 years old. Don't they age unused?

 

[Stanfoo]

Thanks Rob.
 
Anyone know if the Fiio E17 & E09K DAC/AMP combo will do justice for the HD700? It's powerful enough, but as far as sound quality goes?

 

[ADD]

  Having used the HD600 for several years I know all it's strengths and weaknesses quite well. I recently bought the HD700 and I now have a new favourite HP for classical music and jazz. The layering and dynamics is far superior to the HD600. Detail extraction extremely good without being analytical like the HD800. Depending on your source and amp I understand that people may complain about the hot treble. I don't use these phones for modern music as I prefer the less analytical more laid back and punchy sound of the LCD 3 for these genres.
 
Tomorrow I will get the Moon Audio Black Dragon 4-pin replacement cable for the HD700, can'y wait to see how they will transform the sound characteristic, I don't expect a huge improvement, but I hope that going from SE to balanced should at least improve the soundstage a bit further.

 
Encouraging opinions from a fellow classical fan. After using the same PXC300 headphone for 6 years now I am ready for an upgrade but unbelievably (for some, not me), I still have not found anything for classical that I like better. I did have a relatively brief audition of the HD700 (and HD800) about 18 months ago. My recollections were that the HD700 was poor value for money and that based on it's asking price (I think it was around $1,000 Australian at the time) anyone would be mad not to go the whole hog and get the HD800 instead for another $400.
 
Mind you, I don't necessarily put too much weight on a 20 minute audition in a shop using a different source, amplification and cables (even though I was using my own specific test compilation of music). There is still no substitute for plugging the headphone into my own gear at home.
 
Still, I don't have high hopes for the HD700 when I go to audition it hopefully in a few weeks.
 
The best Sennheiser I have heard for classical to date is the HD580 (strangely the HD600 did not sound nearly as good to me) and HD800 - both as good at gets for their respective original price ranges upon release. The HD700 seems a bit of an orphan to me - as I say it did nothing for me when I heard it before and the HD800 was a big step up in a direct A-B comparisons. I did not really notice any of these HF "spikes" people have mentioned - but then again I am used to a PXC300 which some might describe as very shrill and peaky to begin with. 
 
It seems a pity that for whatever reason I don't seem to find a sound that satisfies me without spending huge amounts of money. I am also going to audition the Shure SHR1840 as this is also supposed to be a good classical phone (and Oppo PM-2). If I am not 100% happy with any of those I'm not going to spend any money. Better to do nothing for another year and come back with a higher budget next time.

 

[mikey1964]

I don't get where all this talk of HF spikes for the HD700 came from, either Sennheiser did some finr tuning in later releases, or my hearing is just crap. I A/B'ed it with the HD800 and seriously, the HD700 is all about warmth. My HD800 and K812 has some nice highs, not bright at all and with such high treble, one tends to hear a fair bit of detail. They are quite unlike the AD2000 which, to my ears anyway, are pretty bright, almost to the point of being intolerable......almost. It creates a sense of detail as well, but somehow, it doesn't quite sound right to me. Quite fatiguing to listen to for extended period, but no such issue with the HD800 (can't comment about the AKG K812 yet as I've only just acquired it).
 
When you audition the HD700, just keep an open mind and try it with a couple of source setups and see if it suits you. I tried the HD700 on my Lyr + Fostex HPA4 stack and found it to be dark actually, using the HPA4 alone (it's an amp/dac combo after all) brought helped bring out some highs, but certainly not to the point where it's bright, not even close. BTW, pretty new at this, so if I use the wrong word to describe a sound......my bad.

 

[Evshrug]

Evs, Telefunken was a German TV set maker in the tube TV time. They have been out of the business in the early eighties. Do you think that tubes from that brand are still good. They might be more than 25 years old. Don't they age unused?

Yeah, that brand can still sound good! Telefunken is quite respected for low noise and linear sound. NOS stands for New Old Stock. As long as the vacuum didn't leak, the tubes should still be good, very good. I have used some tubes from the 60's and they sounded GREAT! There's a pretty good guide out there, try googling Jesse's Tube Guide.

 

[Rob80b]

   
Encouraging opinions from a fellow classical fan. ..............................
 
Mind you, I don't necessarily put too much weight on a 20 minute audition ..........................................
 
Still, I don't have high hopes for the HD700 when I go to audition it hopefully in a few weeks.
 
The best Sennheiser I have heard for classical to date is the HD580 (strangely the HD600 did not sound nearly as good to me) and HD800 - .................................................
 

Hi  ADD
 
Prior to owning the HD700 I had been using the HD580/600 for 10 years and my initial impressions were the same, then I got it, extended listening revealed so many positive attributes that the HD700 had over the 580/600s, detail, clarity, staging and of course that extra octave…. especially with classical music …and most music ......IMHO Sennheiser’s R&D did an excellent job.
After a few months with both on hand it became obvious that the HD580/600s were indeed dated in their overall performance, still a satisfying listen but in direct comparison obviously lacking in overall dynamics and excitement and the HD580/600s were sold.
Still….having been in this hobby for 40 plus years I understand the allure of the HD580/600s, they are less demanding, better maybe for long listening sessions, more polite overall shall we say… than the HD700s.

 

[elwappo99]

  I don't get where all this talk of HF spikes for the HD700 came from, either Sennheiser did some finr tuning in later releases, or my hearing is just crap. I A/B'ed it with the HD800 and seriously, the HD700 is all about warmth. My HD800 and K812 has some nice highs, not bright at all and with such high treble, one tends to hear a fair bit of detail. They are quite unlike the AD2000 which, to my ears anyway, are pretty bright, almost to the point of being intolerable......almost. It creates a sense of detail as well, but somehow, it doesn't quite sound right to me. Quite fatiguing to listen to for extended period, but no such issue with the HD800 (can't comment about the AKG K812 yet as I've only just acquired it).
 
When you audition the HD700, just keep an open mind and try it with a couple of source setups and see if it suits you. I tried the HD700 on my Lyr + Fostex HPA4 stack and found it to be dark actually, using the HPA4 alone (it's an amp/dac combo after all) brought helped bring out some highs, but certainly not to the point where it's bright, not even close. BTW, pretty new at this, so if I use the wrong word to describe a sound......my bad.

 
 
I believe over time the HD700's treble has actually been tuned down from earlier releases 

. Did you get a chance to compare it to anything else? Many people complained the treble was so hot on the HD700, but I find it to be in the same area as the HD800 (a bit more bright though). I've never understood why the HD800 was so revered when it has many of the same issues as the HD700. 

 

[Stanfoo]

Just thinking out loudly but if Senn did fix the treble issue why don't they publicly announce it? You would think it would up their sales.

 

[elwappo99]

  Just thinking out loudly but if Senn did fix the treble issue why don't they publicly announce it? You would think it would up their sales.

 
Interesting point. I don't know if they necessarily went to "fix" it. I think it's just been toned down over time. Similarly the HD580/HD600 and HD650 had driver changes over time that weren't announced. 

 

[Evshrug]

Just thinking out loudly but if Senn did fix the treble issue why don't they publicly announce it? You would think it would up their sales.

Well, two thoughts on that:

One, they're confident in their products and they feel that they made a right choice at the time, even if they later evolve their strategy. It's like... If you and ten coworkers are working together helping customers, if you say one of them is bad at their job it makes the company look bad for hiring them and makes you look bad for undermining your coworker. Sennheiser has competent engineers, even if some (vocal) customers have a different taste while plenty of silent customers are satisfied with their product.

Two, people are just different. I bought my HD700 off of another head-fi'er because he thought the treble was too sharp but I wanted to try them, turns out the highs don't bother me. I did EQ them down at first when I first got them, later realized that I like 'em fine without EQ unless my ears are already fatigued from something.