Denon AH-D700
Released in 1988 and ended production in 1989. This had only a year or 2 in production! Kind of a shame since these are pretty awesome!
First Impressions (Pre-mod):
- Feels very premium for a studio headphone, no creaking; way better than Sony’s studio headphones (MDR-V6, MDR-7506, etc.)
- Very thick and bassy sounding
- Vocals sound fairly muffled
- Midrange is not immediately detailed; probably masked by the thick bass region
- Treble has pretty good resolution and decay, smooth and not harsh at all
- The bass masks a lot of the frequency range
Impressions (Modded):
Bass:
Now this was the main part I was trying to tune or get less of. The fake Shure pads help these seal much better onto my ears and on the EARS measuring system. Because of that bass extension is much better. No, I don’t really hear rumbles on these but there is a good sense of weight behind kick drums and other instruments that I can’t name out the top of my head. No longer is it a bloated mess that rivals the first iteration of Beats; now, it’s a much more controlled and tight response. I would say it’s a bit lighter from what is perceived as neutral but still a satisfying response - I may be overstating it, but it is similar to a typical Hifiman headphone’s bass response.
Midrange:
I am pretty peculiar about this range. I dislike much or any emphasis here especially in the upper midrange. To me, I would put this at
about neutral. There may be just a ever-so-slight upper midrange or lower treble emphasis but it doesn’t bother me a bit. Vocals and guitars sound pretty natural and clear. Resolution and detail are very good in this area. Overall timbre is also very natural.
Treble:
I like a smooth response and these got a smooth response. It’s great for long listening sessions since less fatigue from being speared by treble BUT there does seem to be a lack of sparkle. If I were to be critical, it’s
just a bit dull. There does seem to be some air up top that helps the headphone have some excitement. Resolution and detail are also very good here.
Imaging/Soundstage:
Soundstage is about average for a closed studio monitor - a bit more spacious than the M50 (or at least I think; I don’t have a working M50 on hand). Instrument separation is fairly good in that it doesn’t sound like a cluster of sound shooting into my ears. Imaging is ok - I wouldn’t say I would be able to precisely locate instruments listening on these.
Measurements:
Edit: Forgot this bit of info. Program used is Room EQ Wizard. Measuring rig is MiniDSP EARS. Compensation used is MiniDSP's default headphone compensation.
Channel imbalance on stock measurements is from gunk being stuck on the driver grills - the left side had significantly more gunk on it than the right.
With the stock earpads, they didn't quite seal very well so the bass response doesn't seem that big in measurements. To me, it's more like this:
I may be overstating this, but these are one of my favorite sounding closed back headphones once modded (if not, my favorite). Of course, I haven't heard all the high end closed options so take it as you will.