[Matro5]

This is interesting feedback re: Woo. I'd be very curious to hear my 700s with a WA6 or WA2.

@Tylerr8865 can you elaborate a bit more on what you like about the 700 / WA6 pairing? I'd be buying blind so any more insight would be great.

 

[Matro5]

double post

 

[Tyler8865]

This is interesting feedback re: Woo. I'd be very curious to hear my 700s with a WA6 or WA2.

@Tylerr8865 can you elaborate a bit more on what you like about the 700 / WA6 pairing? I'd be buying blind so any more insight would be great.

Hey sorry, got busy and forget to respond. I would say the clarity of the treble really improves. The "peak" that some are sensitive to seems to be tamed very well with even the stock tubes. I heard the Sophia upgrade can improve upon this even further but I want to give the stock tubes a year to appreciate first. Mids are more than satisfying for me but I feel the HD700s might have some more clarity to squeeze out but the soundstage is definitely there, everyone who has tried them on (actual friends, none audiophiles but love music) said it feels like they're in the middle of a recording session. Drums have very cool spacial placement. They definitely feel very musicical and still studio like in depth, imaging, and tonality. I don't think these are as bright as some people say and my previous cans were HD600s. Might just be treble deaf but I've always been more a treble > bass guy. Though considering that I would say the tubes made their greatest improvement here. The sub bas response especially is extremely present in the headphones. Really makes Rap/R&B another experience because the bass is so clean and not distorted by most crappy subs people bump (how I usually hear it at least). Bass is also brought more forward than before but not an actual basshead, as mentioned above, so someone else can probably speak more to this than me. Sorry for the kind of review if you were looking for something shorter, I just really wanted to share my thoughts with this thread now that I feel my setup is up to "par."

 

[Tyler8865]

I've never cared for the Valhalla2 since it was a cold/dry sounding amp that didn't change much with different tubes and I almost never use my Lyr2 with the HD700 since its not as smooth compared to the BH Crack and the headphone output of my UD-301 with the HD700. The best looking amp I've owned was a WA7d, too bad it didn't perform as good as it looked and was very limited with tube rolling. The Elise (with different tubes) is one of the better amps for the HD700 that I've tried under $700 (old price) but they are going up in price these days so they went from a great value to a good value IMO. While I haven't heard a WA6 in a few years I'd imagine that they are a great pairing for the HD700 just like the WA2 and WA22 that I heard a few months back.

DavidA,

You have a sweet collection of gear man. Hope to someday get to try as many setups as you've gotten to own. Saw you had a X3ii and also several desktop DACs and was curious if you could give me any comparison of differences in soundstage/detail of the FiiO vs Schiit or something in the $400-800 range? Trying to determine what the next upgrade to my setup should be. I'm currently thinking DAC > HD800(S) > Crazy balanced amp (lol). Love to save the money if the DAC isn't limiting and just get new cans first.

 

[dobigstuff]

So anyone here running the HD700 out of a LD MKIII? I've recently acquired the combo and looking for potential tube recommendations. I've got fairly minimal hours on both the amp and the headphones, but I have to say I find the LD a better match for these than the Asgard 2 that I also have.

pez:
I also have both. Yes the Little Dot MK III does a slightly better job with the 150 ohm HD700's than the Asgard 2. However the Darkvoice drives the HD 700's better than the Little Dot MK III

See below for one of the best tube combos for the Little Dot MK III:

See below for one of the best tube combos for the Darkvoice:

 

[vaibhavp]

If anyone finding mids recessed on hd700, i have a solution. Get a chord Mojo.

I know its a beaten dead horse, recommending a chord product. But it does makes sense. Mojo has mids focussed sound lacking bass and treble extension.

I recently upgraded my dac from fiio x5 to chord mojo. I use burson soloist sl as amp. No lacking in extension on extreme frequencies thanks to amp with wonderful thick, slightly upfront mids.

 

[DavidA]

@dobigstuff, nice tubes in those amps

 

[pez]

Appreciate all the input guys! It's been a while since I've been any type of active on here, so it's a nice welcome back . Also, prepare for some noob questions considering I'm completely new to tube amps .

I don't have a LD-mk3 but and I don't know if the driver tube equivalents are similar but I've found most Amperex and Mullard driver tubes tend to be on the warmer side in the 6922/ECC88/6JD8/12AXX series used in my Ember, BH Crack and Lyr2. Agree with you about the Asgard2 not being a great match for my HD700 due to the pairing being a little on the bright side but there are SS amps like the Liquid Carbon, G-109, HD-501 and Polaris that do pair nicely with the HD700 for those that don't want to deal with tubes.

Cool, I'll check Mullard and Amperex out. I'm familiar with the names for sure (along with Western Electric, Tung-Sol, etc.) but always strayed away from actually learning what I should about tubes .

I'll be curious to throw my Asgard 2 back into the loop to see how it fairs, but from my earlier dealings with Schiit, the Asgard 2 at the time was probably the warmest sounding SS amp they made.

I am enjoying the LD quite a bit. It's doing the HD700 justice (obviously more than the Asgard 2 did ) and it's quite beautiful. It's not the prettiest thing (i.e. the WA7 Fireflies has always been a gorgeous amp, IMO), but it looks better in person than pictures make it seem.

For now, though, I'm perfectly happy going down the path of tubes as I'm eager and willing to roll tubes now (I've at least got a better budget to do so ). That and after hearing the HD800 years ago, hearing it out of the WA7 that was driving it was the most satisfying I remember that headphone sounding to me (I literally disliked it on every other amp at the meet ).

I'll go back to my Spotify collection soon enough, but I feel like I've noticed for the first time that high quality audio files can make or break this headphone. My unfounded guess is that treble gets compressed quite a bit in lower-quality files and that's what can cause the treble here to be quite awful. Going through even the worst produced stuff I have in my music collection, it's all pleasant so long as it's my ALAC files.

pez:
I also have both. Yes the Little Dot MK III does a slightly better job with the 150 ohm HD700's than the Asgard 2. However the Darkvoice drives the HD 700's better than the Little Dot MK III

See below for one of the best tube combos for the Little Dot MK III:


See below for one of the best tube combos for the Darkvoice:

Alright, so here are my nooby questions. I think I've located each of the tubes for the LD MKIII that you recommended, and possibly even the adapters. However, I'm wondering where is the best place to purchase from? I've come across a few sites, but like every hobby, I know people have their special sites and places to order from.

 

[dobigstuff]

@dobigstuff, nice tubes in those amps

DavidA:

Thanks!!!

 

[MrMan]

So 2 years old HD700's. Went from head to desk and no where else. One of the pads is completely coming undone. Is there an upgraded version of HD700 pads that won't fall apart ?

 

[rlisin]

Not that I know, but there is a cheaper Chinese version ($10 including shipping) on AE, and there was a post a few pages back from someone who tested them and said they were just as good as the original pads (both sound and comfort). So instead of an upgraded version that does not exist and probably never will, for the price of 1 pair of pads from Sennheiser (about $80) you could buy 8 pairs of those and presumably you'd be set for much longer than with 1 pair of Sennheiser pads. Search for "HD700 XRHYY".

Edit: Actually you can get 9 pairs for $80, shipment gets cheaper with more pairs.

 

[MrMan]

Not that I know, but there is a cheaper Chinese version ($10 including shipping) on AE, and there was a post a few pages back from someone who tested them and said they were just as good as the original pads (both sound and comfort). So instead of an upgraded version that does not exist and probably never will, for the price of 1 pair of pads from Sennheiser (about $80) you could buy 8 pairs of those and presumably you'd be set for much longer than with 1 pair of Sennheiser pads. Search for "HD700 XRHYY".

Edit: Actually you can get 9 pairs for $80, shipment gets cheaper with more pairs.

I'd swear the ones that came with my hd700 were chinese knockoffs. Really poor quality. Probably going to sell my hd700 just due to the cheap pads.

 

[rlisin]

Or you could buy original pads from Sennheiser. Or buy much cheaper RS160 pads, they are thicker but the same shape and can be adapted for HD700, I actually used them like that.

In any case, I now have brand new original HD700 earpads that I bought in December because at the time there was no information on the quality of the Chinese ones (and they weren't that cheap then), and I am planning to get the Chinese ones too to have spares so I will be able to compare them and confirm whether they are really as good as the real thing. But shipment from AE usually takes weeks, so that won't be happening soon.

And pads coming apart or becoming too flat after 2 years of regular use is nothing strange, there are many headphones with pads that last less than that (Sennheiser, Beyerdynamic AKG). Guess we should be happy that the replacements are available (unlike, for example, Philips A5pro that made a big deal of their proprietary twist off pad replacement mechanism but replacement pads were available only for a few months). But the price Sennheiser charges for these pads (and the HD700 cable) is absurd.

 

[Malfunkt]

I bought some pads (China) off of eBay, they are quite firm. The originals are much more comfortable, but perhaps these cheaper ones will break in. With the HD700, I've been taken care of my original pads by periodically soaking them in some mildly soapy water, rinsing and squeezing them out and letting them dry. Definitely gets any oils out. Still my most comfortable headphone, though my HD250 is quickly getting there as well(it too had stiff pads, but are breaking in).

 

[pez]

I know the HD650 Chinese knockoff pads are really bad and noticeably thinner. I'd be curious to probably invest in a pair or two of the knockoffs for the HD700, but I'd be really weary due to how much pads can effect headphones like the HD700 or HD650.