just got 700 today with gsx1000 with vol at 8% very good loud to listen to. usually with 598 with 6%. music mode works good. at least better than fiio 09+17 combo..getting groove soon hope good. just dont want big dac+amp casue moving a lot.
I completely forgot about sonarworks lol. I tried it on the hd800 and it absolutely kills the sounstage. With the hd700, it helps a lot with guitars, but kills some of the soundstage, not to the degree of the hd800 though. I'm loving how the guitars sound through the plugin but personally I still prefer my EQ since the treble of the HD700 never bothered me
I completely forgot about sonarworks lol. I tried it on the hd800 and it absolutely kills the sounstage. With the hd700, it helps a lot with guitars, but kills some of the soundstage, not to the degree of the hd800 though. I'm loving how the guitars sound through the plugin but personally I still prefer my EQ since the treble of the HD700 never bothered me
I agree the hd800's did lose some soundstage, but for me I really enjoyed them with the plug in. I'm very curious to hear the hd700's with it. Considering buying them again.
akg fanboycurious if you find the hd700's superior to the k712'/k7xx's? How so?
I agree the hd800's did lose some soundstage, but for me I really enjoyed them with the plug in. I'm very curious to hear the hd700's with it. Considering buying them again.
@akg fanboycurious if you find the hd700's superior to the k712'/k7xx's? How so?
I think the HD700 is an immensely capable headphone and pretty underrated for what its going for right now. Sure it might not have the most optimal frequency response, but the comfort and design alone are already a huge upgrade from the hd600, and to my ears, it is a much more capable headphone with a larger soundstage and better imaging. Without EQ, I definitely prefer the akg 700 series (q701) and have very little to complain about the sound signature, but with EQ, that would be a tougher call. I would say the akgs have an edge in soundstage while the hd700 has an edge in imaging. Probably going to write a review comparing them one day but for now, I will say I prefer the q701 for the lighter weight and much better value. The hd700 main advantages would really be the bass and the design
The edge in the soundstage for the akgs are most likely due to the subdued upper mids of the hd700 which leads me to turn up the volume higher than I normally listen to, while I can listen to the q701 on much lower volumes for the same pleasure. At volume matched levels, the hd700 has a better soundstage though. Once EQed, I would call the HD700 a slight upgrade from the q701
I'm also a fan of the AKG's and think they are fantastic value these days. But I don't they do anything better than the HD700. The soundstage size is large yes, but in comparison it seems walled off? By that I mean its not free, it stays the same size regardless what kind of music is playing. I've found that the soundstage on the HD700 breaths; it extends when the music calls for it, seems more focused. This is no magic trick just the more open design doesn't have boundaries.
And yes the imaging is superior on the HD700. The depth and separation is world class!
Regarding the dip in the upper mids... I noticed this instantly and is mentioned in my review. And when you get used to it other headphones with flatter responses can sound aggressive in comparison. It's weird how your ears get used to frequency responses... Think that why in the past Grado lovers found Senns boring and vice versa etc.
I remember my first day with the HD800. I'd had nothing but a pair of K701 for a month before they arrived (sold all other headphones to save for them) and I remember thinking how warm they sounded? Seriously these are warm headphones! nice details but warm!! It took a long time for my ears to adjust and accept the new FR. Putting the K701's back on weeks later and they were put in a cupboard never to be used for a very long time. They sounded sterile, lifeless.. flat. As time went on the brightness of the HD800 came more and more apparent. They are not warm headphones at all.
I'm also a fan of the AKG's and think they are fantastic value these days. But I don't they do anything better than the HD700. The soundstage size is large yes, but in comparison it seems walled off? By that I mean its not free, it stays the same size regardless what kind of music is playing. I've found that the soundstage on the HD700 breaths; it extends when the music calls for it, seems more focused. This is no magic trick just the more open design doesn't have boundaries.
And yes the imaging is superior on the HD700. The depth and separation is world class!
Regarding the dip in the upper mids... I noticed this instantly and is mentioned in my review. And when you get used to it other headphones with flatter responses can sound aggressive in comparison. It's weird how your ears get used to frequency responses... Think that why in the past Grado lovers found Senns boring and vice versa etc.
I remember my first day with the HD800. I'd had nothing but a pair of K701 for a month before they arrived (sold all other headphones to save for them) and I remember thinking how warm they sounded? Seriously these are warm headphones! nice details but warm!! It took a long time for my ears to adjust and accept the new FR. Putting the K701's back on weeks later and they were put in a cupboard never to be used for a very long time. They sounded sterile, lifeless.. flat. As time went on the brightness of the HD800 came more and more apparent. They are not warm headphones at all.
A lot of people criticize the akg 700 series for plasticy mids and bad imaging but I think both of these issues are heavily exaggerated. For the plasticy mids, I always tried to hear it but couldn't and actually became biased against my q701, but later on found out that it was exaggerated by people who don't like forward mids and that's when I began to appreciate my q701 even more. And the imaging of the q701 is actually pretty good, it's great for directional audio and it doesn't sound unnatural for classical music, and the instrument separation is truly one of a kind. It only starts to fall obviously short against imaging kings like the hd800, but anything within that under $500 price point, the q701 is hard to beat. That's also one of the reasons my q701 was replaced with the hd800; the imaging is obviously better rather than just a hint, the soundstage and instrument separation is better by a good margin, transparency in the mids is quite a bit better even though it has less mids, and the bass has much more quality and a better "3 dimensional" feel to it rather than quantity. That's what made the hd800 a "successor" to my q701.
The hd700 is a very rare headphone, with most v shaped headphones subduing the 2khz area while the hd700 does it in the upper mids, so male vocals were not affected as much as female vocals which was quite different for me. I immediately loved the soundstage and imaging of the hd700, it did it better than the T1 without sounding as bright to my ears. The extra bass prowess is just right and it never sounds dark and muddy like I have come to expect from bass heavy headphones. Me being a mids-head, unlike most people being bass head or treble head, from that reason alone I never thought of the hd700 as better than my q701, but believe me when I say I hate v shaped headphones, I absolutely abhor them. The hd700 is a very rare headphone that falls within that category that actually gets pretty high praises from me, and really shows its capability with a bit of EQ, and which in that case is better than the q701 in just enough categories to surpass it
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