[wilzc]

With all due respect, Mr. M. Night Shyamalan is a horrible director :|

 

[purrin]

Exactly.

 

[sterob]

i see TS mentioned about hd6500 but what about hd600? if i love the neutral and warm sound of hd600 while looking for better soundstage like the hd800, should i try the hd700?

 

[roBernd]

Quote:

I also wouldn't rule out a "damping material change for production purposes" in a year or two, say, from stainless steel to a form of black silk that will have absolutely no impact on the sonic character at all.

This, as a former HD650 owner made me burst out into a horrid and sad laughter. Nice one indeed

 

[Argo Duck]

Purrin and LFF, I have to congratulate you both.
 
This is a model review. Partly, for your findings about the HD700. Mostly, for your demonstration of a new and very useful review method. Not least, it forges a path that could satisfy objectivists and subjectivists, Spacey's misgivings notwithstanding.
 
Whilst combining measurements and subjective listening has been done before (but not on head-fi AFAIK), I can't recall a single instance in which this has been done with the degree of insight you show of how the two measurement types do and don't or don't yet relate. This is a real achievement.
 
I have to thank you both too. I was considering the HD700. It's pretty clear it's not for me, and that I need to look elsewhere in the Sennheiser range.

 

[Dionysus]

I also read the review and though I agree that they did a great job It doesn't mean that you may not have liked the 700.
I took a chance dispite the review, I purchased them with the same thought that I would probably send them back after a few days of listening just based on what the review said and post comments.

Guess what though I kept them because I believe they are great cans perfect for me so again dispite what you read the final test is your ears and not what you read IMHO. BTW I come from hd650 which there is a lot of love around here for, but I didn't personally like them as much because I didn't like the base and thought they were a bit to laid back and had uncontroled base and I had purchased them twice.

Did you even listen to them?

 

[Huntersluch]

.

 

[Argo Duck]

If this is addressed to me - no, I didn't "even listen to them?". That's why I qualified my statement with "pretty clear" rather than just "clear". Added to this, they're not readily available in my country, which has about the population of a modest city!
 
Believe me, I understand very well one's own ears are the final judge - based on my profession, as much as my audio experience. I conducted a review of three dacs last year, which made me sharply aware of the pitfalls of reviews and wary of the influence my 'findings' might have on others.
 
I decided never to do another, which is why I respect the far superior review posted here.
 
That said, I believe there is value to reviews and impressions - of any kind, honestly done and with sufficient information about the listener. If pushed, I would say they might have as much as 10% (in variance accounted for terms) predictive value in relation to what people hear.
 
If there is in fact zero value, forums such as this have no validity in terms of their ostensible aim of sharing audio experience. They probably serve other purposes such as making friends and enemies whilst arguing how many angels fit on the head of a pin.
 
Whatever, the point of my post was to praise a fine effort.
 
Whether or not I happen to supplement my LCD2, T1, Lambda-Pro and RS1 with an HD700 is trivial and meaningless in the schema of things, no? Since no-one else knows my listening preferences, neuro-decoding/learned responses, musical tastes, HRTF etc, it's meaingless to anyone else whether I do/do not like the HD700!
 
I would, I see, have been better not to have posted that last paragraph. For this, I apologize.
 
Btw, I like your handle.
 
Quote:

Did you even listen to them?

 

[purrin]

While LFF and I did not like the HD700, we attempted as much as possible not to interject our personal feelings into this review as much as possible (it's pretty clear in other parts of HF where we stand on the HD700 Numerous edits were made before we posted the review and I'm sure there are little traces of how we personally felt about of the HD700. After all, it's impossible to totally eliminate bias. Still, we did not want to discount those who may happen to enjoy the HD700's sound signature. I am sure there are many.
 
The point is that we wanted to throw several comparisons out to help people calibrate their own tastes, and what they may have already been familiar with, to the HD700's sound. It appears that we have been successful and we welcome your appreciation!

 

[mironathetin]

Quote:

 
Concerns
 
Because of the high amplitude and sharpness of the peaks at 5.5kHz and 11kHz, we urge listeners to be careful when listening at loud volume or for prolonged periods of time. Most people will adjust their volume to set the midrange to a certain level. The 5.5kHz peak is 6db above the level at 1kHz. This is a doubling of volume intensity. As an example, let's compare the HD700 to the ESP950, a headphone which I've listened to at loud levels ~85db for prolonged periods.
 

HD700 (green) vs. ESP950 (red)
 
At 5.5kHz, we can clearly see that the HD700 is 10db louder than the ESP950. Noise induced hearing loss (NIHL) has been shown to manifest as notches from 3kHz to 6kHz. We are especially concerned with those listeners who do not notice or do not mind the treble characteristics of the HD700. We recommend taking regular breaks to check for any discomfort, ringing, deafness, or nausea. This advice is not restricted to the HD700, but all other headphones with similar characteristics such as the more aggressive Grados, Ultrasones, and some Beyers.

 
I think here you point to a very important issue. These peaks do not only influence the tonal characteristics of the headphone, they also boost the volume in that frequency range ( which is the same effect put into different words ). 
 
I had exactly the problems that you describe with a Grado RS1. The cans always sounded very fatiguing to me and literally fell on my nerves after a short listening time. Although I never listen at high volumes, the short use of the RS1 caused a persistent ringing in my ears. It took many months until it more or less disappeared. I sold the RS1 and got RS2 who have a dip at exactly the 5 KHz position where the RS1 peaks. Problem solved.
 
It is a really good point to note that the HD 700 show the same behavior. Something to listen to carefully when auditioning them.

 

[grokit]

My curiosity regarding both the HD700 and the RS1 has now been quenched, thanks.

 

[mironathetin]

Quote:

My curiosity regarding both the HD700 and the RS1 has now been quenched, thanks.

Not everybody seems to be sensitive to these effects. Otherwise it could not be understood that the RS1 has been so popular.
Just listen for a while to one of those headphones. Then go into a quiet room or use earplugs. If you hear a ringing in you ear, be careful. It may persist after a while.

 

[roBernd]

Quote:

Not everybody seems to be sensitive to these effects. Otherwise it could not be understood that the RS1 has been so popular.
Just listen for a while to one of those headphones. Then go into a quiet room or use earplugs. If you hear a ringing in you ear, be careful. It may persist after a while.

Not everybody has heavily damaged ears yet (and or is still young). Otherwise it could not be understood that the Beats have been so popular.
Just listen for a while to one of those headphones. Then go into a quiet room or use earplugs. If you hear a ringing in you ear, be careful. It might just be the light bulbs, the powerlines or anything on standby. It may persist after a while or was there all this time and you just didn't notice it till now.

 

[davidross]

I'm not new to headphone listening but have been listening to the Etymotic 4S almost exclusively for many years (most recently with custom molds and upgraded cabling). Can someone give an idea of how they compare to the Senn 700s or any of the other important phones mentioned in this thread?

 

[crzycuyler]

How might the HD700s perform for gaming and movies?