[satanigatan]

I'm currently using Macbook  Pro > Schiit Lyr > Bifrost > 
 
And holy crap, these really irritate my ears. What's strange is, when I'm listening - I have no discomfort at all. They are really comfy, my ears don't feel any irritation. But then hours after listening, I get this intense burning in my ears. It feels almost like a bubble (when you get water in your ears) + they feel itchy and hot. I actually had a similar issue with the HD-800's. So it must be the sound signature that just doesn't mix well with my ears. 
 
Kind of bummed, because I really love the build and design of these. Love the sound signature too. But even with the Treble mixed down, I'm getting irritation. Maybe it's not the treble that is causing my irritation, but something else. I'm also not listening at loud levels. 
 
Quote:

What equipment/music were you using? I agree they have a relatively strong treble presence but like many people on this thread I never found it to be problematic and certainly never harsh. Though I use a balanced tube amplifier so that might be why 

 

[MickeyVee]

Interesting, that's pretty much my setup but with a MacMini as the source.  What tubes are you using? Right now I'm using the stock GE's.  OTOH, I usually don't have them on straight for more than an hour or two before I get irritated even at low levels.  But this was true with the HD600, HD650 and HE400. Still like the HD700 the best of all.  All others are gone.
Quote:

I'm currently using Macbook  Pro > Schiit Lyr > Bifrost > 
 
And holy crap, these really irritate my ears. What's strange is, when I'm listening - I have no discomfort at all. They are really comfy, my ears don't feel any irritation. But then hours after listening, I get this intense burning in my ears. It feels almost like a bubble (when you get water in your ears) + they feel itchy and hot. I actually had a similar issue with the HD-800's. So it must be the sound signature that just doesn't mix well with my ears. 
 
 

 

[satanigatan]

Interesting.
 
To be fair, I'm far from being an audiophile/expert like the majority on this board are. I just know what I hear. I only bring this up, because I don't understand all the technical aspects of the hobby. 
 
So that said, I had no idea that tube amps (and specific tubes) could make the sound harsher or smoother. I'm using the stock tubes Schiit sent me as well. I'm thinking I just have much more sensitive hearing than most, as I've always been fairly sensitive to treble. For instance, I could never listen to Grados because of this.
 
But apart of me thinks it's more than treble. I think it's how transparant/fast the sound signature is at retrieving detail. I had a similar issue with the HD-800s in regards to irritation (which makes me think it's not simply the treble).
 
I also tested these out, solely amped from a Macbook Pro and a Fiio e17 (w/ the treble at  -10), and they still drove my ears nuts.
 
I just wanted to be clear, and say that I'm not dismissing these cans. I'm far from an expert, and I would be the last person to give an objective review/statement on these. So hopefully no one reads what I say and takes it as gospel. I just know for me, personally, these are not settling very well with my ears. Maybe with more time they will settle? But right now I can't even go 3 hours listening, without getting sore ears for 5 hours after. =/
 
And it really bums me out, because I love Sennheiser cans. I've gone all the way from $60 cans to $1,700 cans. And I always came back the HD-600/650 sennheiser sound. Just my personal preference. So I keep trying to fall in love with the higher end models. But, it doesn't seem like my ears are a match.
 
 
 
 
 
Quote:

Interesting, that's pretty much my setup but with a MacMini as the source.  What tubes are you using? Right now I'm using the stock GE's.  OTOH, I usually don't have them on straight for more than an hour or two before I get irritated even at low levels.  But this was true with the HD600, HD650 and HE400. Still like the HD700 the best of all.  All others are gone.

 

[eleathar]

I get this intense burning in my ears

Works as intended 

 

[satanigatan]

I take you're not a fan of these?
 
lol 
 
Did you every try the HD-800's? I had a similar issue with those as well. =/
Quote:

Works as intended 

 

[eleathar]

Just joking.
I greatly appreciate HD700s, but I can understand they are not suited for all.
Never tried HD800s, hope to do soon thanks to a friend: from what I read in this forum, I think they are more refined, more revealing and less forgiving than HD700s (perhaps also less fun?). They have more treble, but less uneven then their little brother (or evil twin for someone).

 

[Bulb]

I had the HD700's for about a month with a pretty significant burn in period, and i was a little torn. For such a large price the quality i was hearing was pretty superb but was lacking in my opinion. Dont get me wrong they sounded fantastic and when compared to the LCD-2's they did a decent job considering the price point but over all i think that they were just not as full as i was looking for and for the price i can get them for i might just try them again in the future. After all they look amazing and i wasn't disappointed just not as educated as i am now. i would much rather have the LCD-2's IMO for the price.

 

[garysan]

Quote:

I had the HD700's for about a month with a pretty significant burn in period, and i was a little torn. For such a large price the quality i was hearing was pretty superb but was lacking in my opinion. Dont get me wrong they sounded fantastic and when compared to the LCD-2's they did a decent job considering the price point but over all i think that they were just not as full as i was looking for and for the price i can get them for i might just try them again in the future. After all they look amazing and i wasn't disappointed just not as educated as i am now. i would much rather have the LCD-2's IMO for the price.

 
Not sure if prices are different in US but here in UK the HD700 are £599 and the Audeze LCD-2 are £849. So I would expect the Audeze to sound better as they're almost half as much again in price. They're priced closer to the HD800 than the HD700 so not a truly fair comparison IMO.

 

[Ultrainferno]

Quote:

 
Not sure if prices are different in US but here in UK the HD700 are £599 and the Audeze LCD-2 are £849. So I would expect the Audeze to sound better as they're almost half as much again in price. They're priced closer to the HD800 than the HD700 so not a truly fair comparison IMO.

 
I prefer my HD700 over my LCD2. I should sell it really and get the LCD3, that one I do like.

 

[extrabigmehdi]

Quote:

 
Not sure if prices are different in US but here in UK the HD700 are £599 and the Audeze LCD-2 are £849. So I would expect the Audeze to sound better as they're almost half as much again in price. They're priced closer to the HD800 than the HD700 so not a truly fair comparison IMO.

Such considerations are more misleading than anything else. You might miss great headphone, just because of the snobbish attitude "hey, they are not enough expensive!". And by the way the LCD-2   and hd700 are similarly priced  for US (around 1000$) , so what now the hd700 sounds better ?

 

[garysan]

Quote:

Such considerations are more misleading than anything else. You might miss great headphone, just because of the snobbish attitude "hey, they are not enough expensive!". And by the way the LCD-2   and hd700 are similarly priced  for US (around 1000$) , so what now the hd700 sounds better ?

Have you inferred somehow that what I said above gives the impression of a snobbish attitude on my part? How the hell do you get there from what I wrote? If I've mis-understood what you've written then fair enough we'll leave it at that, otherwise; get over yourself.
 
I was merely pointing out that in general 'you get what you pay for' and so a headphone which is on the way to being 50% more than the one that it's being compared it to *should* sound better. Not always the case but I'm old enough to know that in most things, you do indeed get what you pay for.

 

[extrabigmehdi]

Quote:

so a headphone which is on the way to being 50% more than the one that it's being compared it to *should* sound better

Well, I disagree with this statement only. Sorry, if I've been offensive by using the word "snobbish", but I was not talking especially of you, it 's actually a very common attitude.

 

[streetdragon]

ruling out a headphone as 'better' by its price alone and stopping there is snobbish but its hard to not have a slight bit of expectation that a headphone that much more expensive would sound worse, its first impressions. 
also considering that is 'hurts' you (wallet) more you'd expect to be rewarded more, if not why buy it if it hurts you more and doesn't reward you as much?(thus expecting the more expensive one to sound better) its a general mindset which works in a perfect world, but not always on ours where marketing, price markup and most of all preference come in to play. so the best way is to listen to them yourself and make the decision there, and see which one really is better for you

 

[garysan]

Quote:

Well, I disagree with this statement only. Sorry, if I've been offensive by using the word "snobbish", but I was not talking especially of you, it 's actually a very common attitude.

 
Yes but you've misunderstood. I wasn't saying that anyone should discount a particular headphone because it's cheaper than another (look at headphones in my sig.) just that relative pricing should be taken into account when comparing.
Quote:

ruling out a headphone as 'better' by its price alone and stopping there is snobbish but its hard to not have a slight bit of expectation that a headphone that much more expensive would sound worse, its first impressions. 
also considering that is 'hurts' you (wallet) more you'd expect to be rewarded more, if not why buy it if it hurts you more and doesn't reward you as much?(thus expecting the more expensive one to sound better) its a general mindset which works in a perfect world, but not always on ours where marketing, price markup and most of all preference come in to play. so the best way is to listen to them yourself and make the decision there, and see which one really is better for you

 
The guy who posted previously that my first post/comment was based on *had* auditioned both pairs and made a decision for himself.
 
<beginning to wish I'd kept my head down and my headphones on>

 

[Bulb]

yeah in the us the HD700's are 1000 dollars and the LCD-2's 995