[Xeculus]

How do these compare to the HD800?

To my ears there is really no comparison

To my wallet, at 2x the price difference, some thinking might be required

 

[Headphone4Life]

If you want to go just on technical ability then I'd say the HD800 is better but for my personal taste ID take the HD700 over it every time. For me the HD800 just sounded to dry and analytical while the HD700 has the warmth I want and a really good amount of detail along with a very nice presentation. The soundstage is pretty much perfect for me and imaging and separation are both really good as well, the HD700 just sounds right.

 

[Guidostrunk]

+1! I absolutely agree.

If you want to go just on technical ability then I'd say the HD800 is better but for my personal taste ID take the HD700 over it every time. For me the HD800 just sounded to dry and analytical while the HD700 has the warmth I want and a really good amount of detail along with a very nice presentation. The soundstage is pretty much perfect for me and imaging and separation are both really good as well, the HD700 just sounds right.

 

[HPiper]

For classical music I prefer the HD800 but for everything else I think the HD700 is just as good and for classic rock I think it is better.

 

[Headphone4Life]

Yeah there's a lot of people that say the HD800 sounds great with classical music. For edm which is what I mainly listen to the HD700 sound awesome with the right amount of bass and mids & highs that are perfect. The imaging and separation are outstanding and with music like trance you need that or everything just sound to congested and jumbled up.

 

[Xeculus]

Thought I'd give some more detailed comparisons

The HD700 falls short of the hyper detail of the HD800. That said, I don't feel any sense of lacking when I'm listening to the HD700. It's like comparing a 911 turbo to a 918. The performance is not equal, but you'll be perfectly happy with the 911.
The 700 bass definitely hits harder and has more impact than the 800. However, the HD800 bass is bit more accurate (sounds tighter) and has more extension. I've already gave my impressions on the HD700 which is a bit too sharp for my taste. To my ears, it's far more sibilant than the HD800 since it makes me wince anytime I hear something strident. This does somewhat ruin the headphone for me, but I'm awaiting my Black Widow to come in and give it another try. Soundstage is quite noticeably more narrow on the HD700 than the HD800, which has one of the widest stages out there. Still, the HD700 gives a wider presentation than the HD650 and certainly images better. Doesn't really touch the HD800 though, I have yet to hear a headphone that images as well as the HD800. I agree with what someone said about the 700 being a warmer headphone. But I don't think the HD800 is necessarily not a fun headphone. I personally really enjoy the HD800's extremely uncolored presentation, but this is entirely personal preference.

Hope this helps a bit!

 

[Headphone4Life]

Thought I'd give some more detailed comparisons

The HD700 falls short of the hyper detail of the HD800. That said, I don't feel any sense of lacking when I'm listening to the HD700. It's like comparing a 911 turbo to a 918. The performance is not equal, but you'll be perfectly happy with the 911.
The 700 bass definitely hits harder and has more impact than the 800. However, the HD800 bass is bit more accurate (sounds tighter) and has more extension. I've already gave my impressions on the HD700 which is a bit too sharp for my taste. To my ears, it's far more sibilant than the HD800 since it makes me wince anytime I hear something strident. This does somewhat ruin the headphone for me, but I'm awaiting my Black Widow to come in and give it another try. Soundstage is quite noticeably more narrow on the HD700 than the HD800, which has one of the widest stages out there. Still, the HD700 gives a wider presentation than the HD650 and certainly images better. Doesn't really touch the HD800 though, I have yet to hear a headphone that images as well as the HD800. I agree with what someone said about the 700 being a warmer headphone. But I don't think the HD800 is necessarily not a fun headphone. I personally really enjoy the HD800's extremely uncolored presentation, but this is entirely personal preference.

Hope this helps a bit!

That's a great comparison of the 2 and I agree with most everything you said. I really want to listen to the HD800s to hear the difference between the 2. I don't think it would make me trade in my HD700 for a pair but from what I've read it looks like they fixed a few of the problems I had with the original.

 

[Xeculus]

Just got back from some time at my local hi-fi shop. 
 
Tried the HD700 with these 4 systems: McIntosh MHA-100, Naim DAC-V1, Mojo, and my M2U stack
 
M2U stack honestly just sucks, let's get that out of the way. Strident and sibilant, I can't listen to the HD700 at all with them. Terrible pairing.
 
Mojo was very, very surprising. It was my first time listening to it. Extremely impressive sound coming out of that small little device. I kept on asking... How? Out of the Mojo, the HD700 was much more tolerable. Still somewhat bright, but very listenable. 
 
The MHA100 and the DAC-V1 were sublime. Both systems tamed the HD700 treble and I thought the HD700 sounded fantastic. Makes me even more excited for my EC to come in. 

 

[Headphone4Life]

Just got back from some time at my local hi-fi shop. 

Tried the HD700 with these 4 systems: McIntosh MHA-100, Naim DAC-V1, Mojo, and my M2U stack

M2U stack honestly just sucks, let's get that out of the way. Strident and sibilant, I can't listen to the HD700 at all with them. Terrible pairing.

Mojo was very, very surprising. It was my first time listening to it. Extremely impressive sound coming out of that small little device. I kept on asking... How? Out of the Mojo, the HD700 was much more tolerable. Still somewhat bright, but very listenable. 

The MHA100 and the DAC-V1 were sublime. Both systems tamed the HD700 treble and I thought the HD700 sounded fantastic. Makes me even more excited for my EC to come in. 

The Mojo is one of the amps I've been looking at getting along with some hybrid amps. The Mojo is on the short list that's for sure. I haven't read one review that had anything bad to say about it.

 

[AudioMan612]

I think that HD 800's can sound considerably better, mainly due to their soundstage (not that the HD 700's are lacking in this department) but they take a summit-fi amp to do that.  I was lucky enough to spend some time with the Liquid Tungsten prototype at CanJam recently, and that amp with the HD 800's was one of the best headphone setups that I've ever heard.  I don't think I've ever experienced such a wide soundstage as what this setup was putting out.
 
Do I think that HD 800's sound twice as good?  No, definitely not.  Diminishing returns are definitely a thing.  That said, I do think that HD 800's still have the potential to pretty easily out-perform HD 700's with the proper setup.  I kind of wish that Sennheiser would update the HD 800's.  The HD 800S' have a smoother top-end, but they also increased second-order distortion to add some low-end.  I'd love to hear some HD 800's with the smoothed high frequencies but with the bass left alone (or increased in a way that doesn't technically make it less accurate).

 

[DavidA]

  I think that HD 800's can sound considerably better, mainly due to their soundstage (not that the HD 700's are lacking in this department) but they take a summit-fi amp to do that.  I was lucky enough to spend some time with the Liquid Tungsten prototype at CanJam recently, and that amp with the HD 800's was one of the best headphone setups that I've ever heard.  I don't think I've ever experienced such a wide soundstage as what this setup was putting out.
 
Do I think that HD 800's sound twice as good?  No, definitely not.  Diminishing returns are definitely a thing.  That said, I do think that HD 800's still have the potential to pretty easily out-perform HD 700's with the proper setup.  I kind of wish that Sennheiser would update the HD 800's.  The HD 800S' have a smoother top-end, but they also increased second-order distortion to add some low-end.  I'd love to hear some HD 800's with the smoothed high frequencies but with the bass left alone (or increased in a way that doesn't technically make it less accurate).

Agree that the HD-800 will sound better than HD-700 on high end equipment (Liquid Glass, Gold and EC Balancing Act for me), but at that cost its really in the diminishing returns area as you noted.  But its also a personal preference thing as to what an individual likes.

 

[MWSVette]

  I think that HD 800's can sound considerably better, mainly due to their soundstage (not that the HD 700's are lacking in this department) but they take a summit-fi amp to do that.  I was lucky enough to spend some time with the Liquid Tungsten prototype at CanJam recently, and that amp with the HD 800's was one of the best headphone setups that I've ever heard.  I don't think I've ever experienced such a wide soundstage as what this setup was putting out.
 
Do I think that HD 800's sound twice as good?  No, definitely not.  Diminishing returns are definitely a thing.  That said, I do think that HD 800's still have the potential to pretty easily out-perform HD 700's with the proper setup.  I kind of wish that Sennheiser would update the HD 800's.  The HD 800S' have a smoother top-end, but they also increased second-order distortion to add some low-end.  I'd love to hear some HD 800's with the smoothed high frequencies but with the bass left alone (or increased in a way that doesn't technically make it less accurate).

 
 

  Agree that the HD-800 will sound better than HD-700 on high end equipment (Liquid Glass, Gold and EC Balancing Act for me), but at that cost its really in the diminishing returns area as you noted.  But its also a personal preference thing as to what an individual likes.

 
+1 I agree 100% on diminishing return.  As far as ability to scale I have both and HD800's SQ is far better on my higher end equipment than on my less expensive gear.  
 
Still love the HD700's and will not part with them.

 

[DavidA]

 
+1 I agree 100% on diminishing return.  As far as ability to scale I have both and HD800's SQ is far better on my higher end equipment than on my less expensive gear.  
Still love the HD700's and will not part with them.

My HD-800 would go before the HD-700 if I had to cut back on headphones, thankfully I don't have to do that, yet

 

[MWSVette]

  My HD-800 would go before the HD-700 if I had to cut back on headphones, thankfully I don't have to do that, yet

I would hate to give either one of them up.  I love them both.
 
The HD700's are just so comfortable...

 

[vaibhavp]

Anyone considering mojo for hd700 i wrote a review for mojo using hd700

http://www.head-fi.org/products/chord-mojo/reviews/15821

As for soundstage from hd700 i find it hard to get a big ss out of hd700. I find it to have narrow width but very good depth. So pairing with amp having width but no depth results is very congested sound like ifi ican. Also hard to find amps with more depth than width. Garage 1217 amps are good in that regard as you can change output impedence and have varying ss presentations.

Some ppl commented it sounds like speakers cause of great depth and i can see why.

Currently my favourite system for driving hd700 is x5-e12 classic with x5 in usb dac mode. Sound is transparent, dynamic, warm, smooth, great depth (e12 is one of those amps). Dont forget to put x5 in dac mode as it benefits greatly from added power from usb and also perhaps better processing from pc.