Ok everyone, if you guys are done punching each other in face, I'd like to report that I took Oklahoma's advice, went to the nearest Best Buy Magnolia Design Center and tested out some stuff.
I was pleasantly surprised that they had Audio Technica W1000's, some sony stuff, BeoPlay H6, Momentum 2.0 over ear wired and the HD700.
Test Conditions :
Hardware : Iphone 6+ with Tidal streaming lossless audio
Source : Michael Jackson, AC/DC, Metallica, Frank Sinatra, Bach (organ stuff), Beethoven (piano concerto's)
W1000 and H6 :
I immediately went for the BeoPlay and the W1000 because I wanted to get them out of the way. BeoPlay was alright but not something I would want to pay for, definitely sounded worse than the H8's that I tested at the Bang and Olufsen store, not very comfortable. W1000 sounded lifeless, probably because of no amplification but were very comfortable. I did not care for them and moved on.
Momentum 2.0 wired:
Then went to the momentum. It was good all around, although people say they are uncomfortable, they have fit my head pretty nicely, my ears did fit in the cups and I was comfortable. It is hard for me to describe audio using attributes like tight,fuzzy,wide, sparkly etc.... so all I can say is, they felt like they did their thing for all genre's I played. Nothing sounded bad, or off. I was not put off by any of the notes, high, mid or low.
HD700:
I was very excited to test these, the guy (a very nice gentleman) who was helping me out immediately pointed out that they were gonna sound like crap without an amp... I said I know, but I want to hear for my self and put them on. First of all, yeah they are the most comfortable headphones I have ever put on. You don't even feel them on your head, its like someone brought two high quality speakers near your ears and holding them there. They are so open, I could feel the AC unit moving cold air by my ears. And They sounded like crap....I mean not broken, flappy or wrong, but sounded almost like if you do not push a stereo connector all the way in and lose the second audio channel and the other one gets to split over 2 speakers...kinda like that, lifeless and weak. So I said do you guys have a headphone amp? His response was come this way.... and 5 steps to the right there was a complete McIntosh rig sitting there. I plugged in to the receivers headphone output and.....
HD700 + Amp:
Listened to the same tracks again. Michael Jackson meh, AC/DC-Metallica good but not better than the Momentum, Frank Sinatra...wait a second these things sound pretty darn good and.......
Beethoven hit the stage. I must say that I have never ever heard a piano concerto sound that clear before. I felt like the piano was inside my head, that I could hear each and every note, the slight pressure variations on the keys as the notes sped up, they all became visible. I felt like I was listening to classical music underwater up until now and Hd700's just brought me outside and now I can hear everything. There was so much information available, I had to close my eyes to concentrate. Just to make sure I was not being subjective to the very pretty tube and transformer filled 5 rack Mcintosh rig and the Senheisers, I ran and put the Momentum's back on and yes everything sounded muddy. Maybe amping the Momentum would also clear it up...I doubt it though.
What I've got out of this audition:
For my liking HD700's perform exceptionally well with Classical and Big Band genre. Maybe they would do good with others using a different amp. I do not know if the amp can change the sound characteristic of a headphone that much. I also don't know if a McIntosh receiver is the best pairing for these cans.
Overall I would love to have these through a nice tube amp and vinyl classical records, sitting on an Eames chair in front of a fireplace, sipping single malt scotch.
