[mikey1964]

Speaking of using fullsizes in public, yeah, I'm not seeing lots of fullsizes in street nowadays. I do see some cheap $40 made in china cool-looking headphones.
I think the trend is now going to IEM/earbuds now.
I don't use IEMs now since they have way too small soundstage compared to full-sizes... Which matters to me, since classical depends a lot on soundstage
Good thing that she now knows the hi-fi world does exist... Many are still in hells of overpowered boom boom bass in BeatsLand.

Not an IEM/CIEM guy myself, but the local audio forums here talk about Vision Ears, Fitear, UM, Noble, Heir and the likes.....pretty expensive stuff. For me, at those prices, I'd look at full size cans, but I guess I'm one of the few.

 

[KopaZ]

We all know IEM's need for $ for performance match to over-ear.. That's one of the reason why I like full-sizes.
Yeah, getting full size for those custom IEM seems to be much better unless one needs IEM for outside use
(But why are you even here if you care about the looks over sound lol)

 

[E3SEL]

  I'm one of those people who vastly prefers the HD600 to the HD650, a lot of it due to the relative aggressive bass profile of the HD650.  People in the same camp who have tried the HD700, how did you feel about it?  So many of the comparative reviews seem to focus on the improved bass that it's a little worrying.

I have not heard the hd600, but I have both the hd650 and hd700. The hd700 is definitely not a bassy headphone. Let me put it this way, when I am listening to my music, I hear the trebles actually dominating over everything else. On the hd650, I hear the bass dominating over the trebles. The hd700 can definitely sound bass-light on songs that demand some low bass and its mainly due to the treble peaks. I wouldn't worry about finding the hd700 too bass heavy.

 

[chuck8403]

 
I have not heard the hd600, but I have both the hd650 and hd700. The hd700 is definitely not a bassy headphone. Let me put it this way, when I am listening to my music, I hear the trebles actually dominating over everything else. On the hd650, I hear the bass dominating over the trebles. The hd700 can definitely sound bass-light on songs that demand some low bass and its mainly due to the treble peaks. I wouldn't worry about finding the hd700 too bass heavy.

+1

 

[KopaZ]

I have not heard the hd600, but I have both the hd650 and hd700. The hd700 is definitely not a bassy headphone. Let me put it this way, when I am listening to my music, I hear the trebles actually dominating over everything else. On the hd650, I hear the bass dominating over the trebles. The hd700 can definitely sound bass-light on songs that demand some low bass and its mainly due to the treble peaks. I wouldn't worry about finding the hd700 too bass heavy.

Yeah, it makes HD700 good for classics and jazz... The reason why hd700 is on my top of the inventory because of classical dominance

Does anybody listened/have 700 and 800? If yes, how does that compare with classical?
I know 800 has wider soundstage though, but i'm not sure if treble is toned down for classical.
(I don't think i even have right amps for 800 though.)

 

[donlin]

Surprised nobody mentioned that the HD700 is socially abnormal and will get stares and questions if you wear such large headphones in public while walking around. TH900 and K812 as well. I wore a much smaller pair of Bluetooth headphones and I got all these "Cyberman" comments. However, if you meant you wanted these headphones to use while you were in an office, that would be fine.

I liked the HD700, and once you get used to them other headphones can sound weird... but they're not a reference/neutral headphone. I like their thick mids and cohesive presentation (except it does have a small treble area in a bit of a "spotlight," but I liked that okay too), but they're not what I'd call neutral. What is neutral anyway, I can hear things better through headphones than live performances in most venues

Your comment about other headphones sounding weird after getting used to the 700's is very perceptive and matches my experience exactly. I've tried a few very highly regarded phones recently and they all seem to have a strange thinness or hardness in the midrange compared to the 700's. Definitely not a neutral reference, but if their particular tonal balance suits your taste, they are hard to beat.

 

[donlin]

Yeah, it makes HD700 good for classics and jazz... The reason why hd700 is on my top of the inventory because of classical dominance

Does anybody listened/have 700 and 800? If yes, how does that compare with classical?
I know 800 has wider soundstage though, but i'm not sure if treble is toned down for classical.
(I don't think i even have right amps for 800 though.)

I had the 800's for quite a while as well as 650's and 700's. Although the 800 does have a bigger soundstage, I had a hard time listening to classical (which I typically listen to a lot) because of the thin, analytical sound. I prefer both the 650 and 700 for classical as well as most other music. i would hate to have to choose between the 650 and 700 though.

 

[DavidA]

I had the 800's for quite a while as well as 650's and 700's. Although the 800 does have a bigger soundstage, I had a hard time listening to classical (which I typically listen to a lot) because of the thin, analytical sound. I prefer both the 650 and 700 for classical as well as most other music. i would hate to have to choose between the 650 and 700 though.

I saw in your profile you use a HDVD600 for your amp, was this the amp you were using for the HD-800 as well?  I was using a Lyr2 or Ember with my HD-800 and they both sounded thin, bass lite, borderline harsh at times.  After building the Crack it has made the HD-800 a really great sounding headphone.  The HD-700 actually sounds better on the Ember and the HD-650 works equally well with either the Ember or Crack.  Another thing is the quality of the music files when using the HD-700/800, they need to be good to great quality or the sound will suffer.

 

[KopaZ]

personally, i might have used the HD650 continuously if it didn't had the V shaped soundstage...
HD700, which is somewhat complete opposite of HD650 (emphasized treble with toned down bass) has bigger soundstage (though not bright as 800) ... so I prefer hd700 for classics and jazz, and 650 for everything else.

 

[donlin]

I saw in your profile you use a HDVD600 for your amp, was this the amp you were using for the HD-800 as well?  I was using a Lyr2 or Ember with my HD-800 and they both sounded thin, bass lite, borderline harsh at times.  After building the Crack it has made the HD-800 a really great sounding headphone.  The HD-700 actually sounds better on the Ember and the HD-650 works equally well with either the Ember or Crack.  Another thing is the quality of the music files when using the HD-700/800, they need to be good to great quality or the sound will suffer.

No, I mostly drove the 800's with a Cary Xciter tube amp which was a pretty "tubey" sounding amp. The HDVA600 wasn't available yet when I had the 800's.

 

[DavidA]

No, I mostly drove the 800's with a Cary Xciter tube amp which was a pretty "tubey" sounding amp. The HDVA600 wasn't available yet when I had the 800's.

Thanks for the reply, I guess the HD-800 is really amp picky, more so than the HD-700.

 

[Click]

 
I have not heard the hd600, but I have both the hd650 and hd700. The hd700 is definitely not a bassy headphone. Let me put it this way, when I am listening to my music, I hear the trebles actually dominating over everything else. On the hd650, I hear the bass dominating over the trebles. The hd700 can definitely sound bass-light on songs that demand some low bass and its mainly due to the treble peaks. I wouldn't worry about finding the hd700 too bass heavy.

HD700 may not have rumbling sub bass, but it's not bass-light either. The bass / lows on HD700 is accurate, punchy, and has good texture. While I do miss the low rumbling sometimes (my ESW9 and Miles Davis Tributes give me plenty of rumble), I can live without that rumble, as long as I have everything else the HD700 delivers.
 
I don't agree however, that HD700's treble dominates over everything. I can clearly distinguish the lows, mids, and highs perfectly. HD700 balances all of the dynamic ranges, while at the same time, is able to give clear, transparent, and accurate separation of all instruments. It's one of the reasons why I love this headphone so much. It combines amazing soundstage, comfort, details, and imaging into 1 headphone... as long as you have a proper amp for it and feed it a high quality source. 

 

[Rob80b]

  .................
 
I don't agree however, that HD700's treble dominates over everything. I can clearly distinguish the lows, mids, and highs perfectly. HD700 balances all of the dynamic ranges, while at the same time, is able to give clear, transparent, and accurate separation of all instruments. It's one of the reasons why I love this headphone so much. It combines amazing soundstage, comfort, details, and imaging into 1 headphone... as long as you have a proper amp for it and feed it a high quality source. 

ditto!!!
 
Obviously we all do not hear the same....but your impressions mirror mine perfectly.

 

[donlin]

HD700 may not have rumbling sub bass, but it's not bass-light either. The bass / lows on HD700 is accurate, punchy, and has good texture. While I do miss the low rumbling sometimes (my ESW9 and Miles Davis Tributes give me plenty of rumble), I can live without that rumble, as long as I have everything else the HD700 delivers.

I don't agree however, that HD700's treble dominates over everything. I can clearly distinguish the lows, mids, and highs perfectly. HD700 balances all of the dynamic ranges, while at the same time, is able to give clear, transparent, and accurate separation of all instruments. It's one of the reasons why I love this headphone so much. It combines amazing soundstage, comfort, details, and imaging into 1 headphone... as long as you have a proper amp for it and feed it a high quality source. 

All true, agree completely!

 

[Hibuckhobby]

I'm on my second pair of HD700's and am waiting to get back home (working out of town) to roll some tubes
on my Bottlehead Crack with it.  My first one sounded great with a Woo WA2 and NOS RCA power tubes.
One of the most comfortable cans I've owned, right up there with the Beyer 880's and 990's.  Will be interesting
to see how I like the 700's this time around.  I am also on my second pair of Koss 950 esl's and hated them the
first time, love them now.
Hmmmm...
Hibuck......