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Do you mean it's definitely not darker than the HD650?
In terms of treble energy, I would rate HD650 > HD800 > HD700 in increasing order. Interesting isn't it? Anyway, as promised here we go and I'll try to keep it short and of course, the impession is more like a comparison using the HD800 as the baseline.
Overall the HD700 is cut from the same cloth as the HD800: both headphones have a neutral, airy, bright-ish and lean sound presentation. However they do differ in several key aspects, the HD700 is less resolving than the HD800. Some of the details and micro-details which are otherwise present in the flagship are missing in the HD700. The HD700 also has a slight tendency to make everything sounds thin and lacking body, which reminds me a bit of most Stax Lambdas which also struggle in conveying texture. The HD800 in comparison is fuller-sounding compared to the HD700.
I honestly thought that treble is the weakest area of the HD700. There is simply too much treble energy there and there are obviously some serious ringing and peaks going on in the upper mid area. As the result, female vocal especially poorly-recorded one is going to sound quite sibilant and some instruments like saxophone is almost unlistenable. While the HD800 is also too bright for me, its treble energy is more evenly distributed and the peaks do not sound quite as extreme as the HD700.
The HD700 however, has a superior headstage compared to the HD800. One of my main chief issues with the HD800 is how everything sounds wide with the headphone. Most of live recordings with vocal in the HD800 will sound disjointed, with the vocal component dead smack at the center while the instruments are located at far left and far right. Sometimes hall ambience is sorely missing in the HD800. To my great surprise,Sennheiser has fixed this issue in the HD700 and hence, it is able to capture the recording venue more faithfully than its older brother. As the result we have a more realistic and tightly focused headstage in the HD700.
Build quality-wise, certainly it looks plasticky compared to the HD800 but it is sturdier than it looks. I am not sure whether I am a fan of the overall aesthetics though. Perhaps an interesting issue is how it sits on your head. Compared to the HD800 and HD650, there is almost no clamping force which is more comfortable but since the headphone just kinda "sits" on your head which is reminiscent of the wing system of certain Audio Technica headphones, the HD700 has a tendency to slip from your head especially if you move your head around. I also feel that the padding could be thicker on the headband.
So to conclude, what do we have here with the HD700? I can sum it nicely: a HD800-lite with a superior headstage and inferior everything else. It does provide an alternative option in the sub-$1k range and in my opinion, having a choice is always nice.
Please keep in mind that the HD700 I have heard here is a pre-production version so I do not guarantee that the release version will sound or look 100% the same as the unit that I have auditioned.