[trellus]

Differences in ear shape account for how we perceive soundstage, perhaps?

 

[Slim1970]

The soundstage is decent on the HD700's. It's the cloudiness and lack of detail in upper mids that is bothering me. I thought the HD700's would have a better defined midrange in comparison the HD660's. To my ears they are not, at least not yet. But I'm still letting the HD700's play.

 

[Sylaw]

The soundstage is decent on the HD700's. It's the cloudiness and lack of detail in upper mids that is bothering me. I thought the HD700's would have a better defined midrange in comparison the HD660's. To my ears they are not, at least not yet. But I'm still letting the HD700's play.

How did the flat eq go? Even after EQIng the phones, you may have to get used to its sound abit (ear burn in & driver burn in). I have the HD800s, 700 and a 600. So you can understand my situation since all three of them sound completely different (although with eqing 700 come darn close to 800s in terms of tonality and i would say 90% of its detail retrieval - but 800s got some amazing micro details up on top with that psychotic soundstage ) after listening to my hd700 for a good day, I started hating my 600s and even had the impression of them being a muddy mess. Although it isn't It's just the tonal characteristics of our daily headphone clouding the judgement.

And yes, they won't have lush / soulful mids of 600/650/660, but instead what you get is a microscope to the entire tonal range with 700s with some of the fastest bass responses I've heard upto date (dynamic) . Its one of those rare analytical/musical cans.


BTW.. Its very interesting to see that you own both the 660s and the 700s. Please try to do a non bias comparison between both of them. We would love to hear your thoughts.


Try to couple it with a tube since tubes do wonders to 700s.

 

[DavidA]

The soundstage is decent on the HD700's. It's the cloudiness and lack of detail in upper mids that is bothering me. I thought the HD700's would have a better defined midrange in comparison the HD660's. To my ears they are not, at least not yet. But I'm still letting the HD700's play.

HD700 don't have the mids that you'd get from the HD6 series and to me they are a recessed in the mids, bit too much at times, but I would not consider the mids to be cloudy or lack details.

I'd also see if you can try them on a tube amp like @Sylaw suggested, hybrid or OTL are my suggestions.

 

[Sylaw]

HD700 don't have the mids that you'd get from the HD6 series and to me they are a recessed in the mids, bit too much at times, but I would not consider the mids to be cloudy or lack details.

I'd also see if you can try them on a tube amp like @Sylaw suggested, hybrid or OTL are my suggestions.

Exactly. They don't lack details on upper midrange, in fact I hear more detail up on top next to my 600. It's just the tonality fooling you to believe as such..

Remember, hd700 is the least sennheiser sounding headphone. They don't have the comfy yet flawed sennheiser vail to it. They are extremely analytical with a sufficient amount of oomph to it. (specially after EQing.)

 

[Slim1970]

How did the flat eq go? Even after EQIng the phones, you may have to get used to its sound abit (ear burn in & driver burn in). I have the HD800s, 700 and a 600. So you can understand my situation since all three of them sound completely different (although with eqing 700 come darn close to 800s in terms of tonality and i would say 90% of its detail retrieval - but 800s got some amazing micro details up on top with that psychotic soundstage ) after listening to my hd700 for a good day, I started hating my 600s and even had the impression of them being a muddy mess. Although it isn't It's just the tonal characteristics of our daily headphone clouding the judgement.

And yes, they won't have lush / soulful mids of 600/650/660, but instead what you get is a microscope to the entire tonal range with 700s with some of the fastest bass responses I've heard upto date (dynamic) . Its one of those rare analytical/musical cans.


BTW.. Its very interesting to see that you own both the 660s and the 700s. Please try to do a non bias comparison between both of them. We would love to hear your thoughts.


Try to couple it with a tube since tubes do wonders to 700s.

@DavidA I no longer have the HD660S’s. I sold them a couple of months ago. But from what I recall about them they were amp picky and had a grainy sound to them in the treble that I didn’t like. I hated the HD660S’s out of my Hugo 2. They were lifeless and lacked any kind of body to me ears. However, I loved them out of my DACPortable. Mainly because the class A sound gave them a little bit of flavor. The bass and treble boosts added some nice low end depth and opened up the top end.

However, the HD700’s still have much better treble than the HD660S’s. Although I think they could use some more. The HD700’s also has better bass. The midrange is were they defer the most. The HD660’s mids were more in line with the rest of frequencies. They were a nicely balanced headphone.The HD700’s mids seem to be pushed back. I’m finding the HD700’s need a lot more eqing to sound right than the HD660S’s did. The HD660S’s only needed some subbass. The HD700’s need a little boost in the bass, midrange and treble to get to my desired sound preference. But they offer similar dynamics with the HD700 having just a little more clarity. My pick is HD700’s but they definitely need a little EQ boost in certain frequencies to good, imo.

Before I purchased the HD650, HD630VB, HD660S, or the HD700’s I owned the HD800 and HD800S’s. I guess I am use to the openness and dynamics the HD800/HD800S’s provide. The problem is I can’t unhear how they sound. They make the other headphones in Sennheisser line sound veiled in comparison. I can easily pick out what the other headphones are missing or lacking in their sound. The HD700 are the closest in sound to the HD800’s. But they don’t produce the sound as effortlessly as the HD800’s can. The HD700 also lack the detail, transparency, and clarity of the HD800 series. I guess that’s the drawback of starting at the top and working you way backwards through the Sennheisser line. You can hear all the gaps in the sound frequencies on the other headphones. But that doesn’t mean you can enjoy them.

 

[DavidA]

@Slim1970, I also own a HD800 and T1gen1 and used to have a SR009, the problem with these headphones is that they are so clear and pick up every detail that poor or sub-par tracks really sound bad on them. I've heard a friends HD660S quite a few times and I didn't find them picky with amps but I did notice the grain in the treble at times, a bit like the HD58X and HD600 to me while the HD650/6XX don't seem to have as noticeable grain due to the treble being rolled off a touch more. I'm a bit surprised that you didn't keep either HD800 or HD800S and went back down the line to the HD6 series and now the HD700. FWIW I use my Ypsilon R1 build a lot more than my HD800, HD700 and T1gen1 combined since its just as detailed, really nice open and effortless highs and bass that makes my HD700 and even LCD-2f seem a little bass lite at times.

I'm going to guess that you are a little older but still younger than me if you were born in 1970 if you find that you want a bit more treble with the HD700 since my GF says the HD700 is a bit too bright for her at times and she is 39 with really good hearing (easily 18khz most days), which can be both good and bad for me, LOL.

 

[Sylaw]

@Slim1970, I also own a HD800 and T1gen1 and used to have a SR009, the problem with these headphones is that they are so clear and pick up every detail that poor or sub-par tracks really sound bad on them.

I'm going to guess that you are a little older but still younger than me if you were born in 1970 if you find that you want a bit more treble with the HD700 since my GF says the HD700 is a bit too bright for her at times and she is 39 with really good hearing (easily 18khz most days), which can be both good and bad for me, LOL.

Cant agree more..

I think im abit of a odd case here , preferring brighter cans at the age of 24 :|

 

[GumbyDammit223]

I'm 53 and guess I have a fair amount of high frequency loss due to some tests I ran on myself. I've run my HD700's eq'd and not with varying types of music. With some music it feels like an icepick is being driven through my ears, regardless of equalization. The funny thing is that when I go from eq'd to not, and vice versa, right after the switch, the music sounds "wrong". Not better or worse. Just "wrong". Yet, if I go with it for a few minutes, it all sounds good again (except for those icepick tracks). To me this illustrates how subjective music perception can be. Just my 1.237 cents....

 

[Sylaw]

I'm 53 and guess I have a fair amount of high frequency loss due to some tests I ran on myself. I've run my HD700's eq'd and not with varying types of music. With some music it feels like an icepick is being driven through my ears, regardless of equalization. The funny thing is that when I go from eq'd to not, and vice versa, right after the switch, the music sounds "wrong". Not better or worse. Just "wrong". Yet, if I go with it for a few minutes, it all sounds good again (except for those icepick tracks). To me this illustrates how subjective music perception can be. Just my 1.237 cents....

I thought its just me........ this is exactly how i feel about it when i switch back and fourth..

 

[Slim1970]

@Slim1970, I also own a HD800 and T1gen1 and used to have a SR009, the problem with these headphones is that they are so clear and pick up every detail that poor or sub-par tracks really sound bad on them. I've heard a friends HD660S quite a few times and I didn't find them picky with amps but I did notice the grain in the treble at times, a bit like the HD58X and HD600 to me while the HD650/6XX don't seem to have as noticeable grain due to the treble being rolled off a touch more. I'm a bit surprised that you didn't keep either HD800 or HD800S and went back down the line to the HD6 series and now the HD700. FWIW I use my Ypsilon R1 build a lot more than my HD800, HD700 and T1gen1 combined since its just as detailed, really nice open and effortless highs and bass that makes my HD700 and even LCD-2f seem a little bass lite at times.

I'm going to guess that you are a little older but still younger than me if you were born in 1970 if you find that you want a bit more treble with the HD700 since my GF says the HD700 is a bit too bright for her at times and she is 39 with really good hearing (easily 18khz most days), which can be both good and bad for me, LOL.

I loved the HD800/HD800S's. In both instances I used them as trade bait to move up to the Susvara's and Abyss Phi's which to me are noticeable upgrades. I thought the HD700 would be a nice compromise but it's not in the same league as the HD800S's. So I might return them and get a used HD800S.

Being a little older bright headphones don't bother me. I did EQ the HD700's treble up quite a bit to suit my taste. While I thought the HD800's treble sounds great without EQ . Even the treble on my Utopia's aren't bright to me. But on bad recordings they do nothing to make them listenable. I must say the HD700's are fairly good at making bad recordings more enjoyable. But the HD660/HD650/HD600 are much better at that.

 

[GumbyDammit223]

[QUOTE="Slim1970, post: 14630362, member: 330061" *snip*I thought the HD700 would be a nice compromise but it's not in the same league as the HD800S's. So I might return them and get a used HD800S.
*snip*
[/QUOTE]

Well, considering the HD800S is $1k more than the HD700, I would certainly hope they are NOT in the same league! Would love to get a pair to experience the difference, but a little out of my price league at the moment...

Current Amazon US pricing: $449 (HD700), $1505.64 (HD800S)

 

[Slim1970]

[QUOTE="Slim1970, post: 14630362, member: 330061" *snip*I thought the HD700 would be a nice compromise but it's not in the same league as the HD800S's. So I might return them and get a used HD800S.
*snip*

Well, considering the HD800S is $1k more than the HD700, I would certainly hope they are NOT in the same league! Would love to get a pair to experience the difference, but a little out of my price league at the moment...

Current Amazon US pricing: $449 (HD700), $1505.64 (HD800S)

So true, lol. But you’ll notice the sound difference immediately. The HD800S is still considered a bargain when you put it up against other TOTL offerings. It also competes very well with them in sound quality. I really wasn’t expecting the HD700’s to beat out the HD800S’s from a sound standpoint. I just wanted it to be somewhat close. After some EQing they can be made to sound really good.

 

[larzy]

Does Sennheiser make an official 3.5 mm cable that can be bought separately? Or do I need an adaptor for the larger stock cable?

 

[Slim1970]

I've been listening to the HD700's after a few more hours of letting them play unheard. Before listening I hooked up my Loki Mini to the Gilmore Lite Mk2 and played around with some tone adjustments. After boosting the midrange they sound much, much better. I still would like a little more body and fullness to their sound and then I think they would be perfect. I'm thinking of trying the Moon Audio Black Dragon cable. But with the Loki in the mix I think these may be a keeper. I'm really enjoying what I'm hearing now.