Sennheiser HD700 a Re-evaluation

I wanted to reevaluate the Sennheiser HD700 Headphones since their recent price drop from $799 USD to $499.99 USD (Amazon has them for $428).

I was fortunate enough to receive a loaner pair from Sennheiser to evaluate the HD700. Naturally, I was curious why such a dramatic price in drop. It could possibly be because of the newer Headphones that Sennheiser has released (i.e. the HD800s, etc.).

I spoke with a representative from Sennheiser and was curious if they had taken any shortcuts in quality of the HD700 to reduce the price by over $200 USD. I was assured by a Sennheiser representative that the HD700 has had no changes, or reduction in quality of parts, components or otherwise.

Sennheiser was also generous enough to allow me to evaluate the HD700 for a few months before I returned them so I had plenty of time to listen to them and evaluate them.

Gear Used:
JRiver MC22->Schiit Wyrd->Schiit Bifrost MB->Schiit Valhalla 2


Almost immediately I was impressed (I can hear some of you know moaning as I was told by members and friends that I trust to steer away from the HD700).

But I must say I was pleasantly surprised out how good the HD700 sounds. The have nice, accurate bass (not muddy), crisp treble, and decent mids. Now of course my go to Sennheiser headphones are the HD800 and HD650 (for obvious reasons)

Needless to say, I was extremely skeptical after what I had heard about the HD700 so I wanted to try them for myself.

Now I understand that everyone's tastes in headphones are different, what sounds amazing to one person, may sound horrible to another, for me though, it seemed from the first time I put them on and played some tracks, I was instantly in love with the HD700. For my tastes, the HD700 provided the warm bass that I like, the thump of the kick drums, and the crispness of cymbals and high-hats. The vocals were a little recessed, but not horribly. I soon found myself listening to nothing but the HD700 until it was time to return the loaner to Sennheiser.

I have listened to many different headphones, from high-end, to low-end. There are some high-end headphones (which I won't name brands) that I thought sounded terrible, while some mid-range headphones sounded incredible.

After listening to the HD700, for my tastes, they sound incredible. Perhaps it is just my taste in sound, however I absolutely fell in love with the HD700. As stated above, are they better than the HD800 or HD650? In my opinion, probably not, however for me, I would choose the HD700 over a lot of other headphones, some that are even considered "High-End".

Again the purpose of this reevaluation is because of such the dramatic decrease in price. And again, Sennheiser claims they did not change a thing from the $799 cost to the $499 cost or even at certain authorized dealers, the $429 cost.

Another aspect of the HD700 that I would like to mention is their comfort. I can listen for hours and the HD700 still feels extremely comfortable, and for me personally, non-fatiguing. As stated above, once I received the loaner HD700, those where the only headphones I listened to until I had to return them to Sennheiser.


Perhaps it is just my personal taste in sound, but I immediately loved the HD700. Would I have purchased a pair at the $799 price point? Probably not, however now that the price has dropped around $200 - I would purchase them in a heartbeat if I could.

The majority of this review was based on listening with my own ears. I did not do any extensive measurements as these have already been done (CSD Waterfall plots, etc.) and while those measurements are extremely revealing about the sound signature of a headphone, for me personally, it comes down to what sounds good in the end. As we all know, music and sound is very subjective. What sounds amazing to one individual, may sound horrible to another. However for me, the HD700 would be my go-to headphone if I did not own the HD800. I would most likely go back and forth between the two headphones quite often.

Of course these are my own opinions (unless otherwise stated as facts). Some individuals may not like the sound signature of the HD700, some, like myself, may fall in love with them. Like I said, if I had the money on hand, I would snatch myself up a pair in a second.

I know there have been reviews on the HD700 before, however with the recent dramatic decrease in retail cost, I felt it would be worth re-evaluating them. After speaking with some of my most trusted friends and colleagues, they were not too keen on the HD700, which goes back to my point of how subjective music and sound can and is.

I am fully aware that many of you will disagree with my opinions of the HD700 in this review/reevaluation, and that's ok! Everyone has their own tastes and everyone likes different sound signatures. It is rare that that there is a headphone out there that everyone likes without question (although the Sennheiser HD650's may be one of them).

I would also like to make one thing perfectly clear. The opinions expressed in this review are my own. I was not paid to hype the HD700, nor did I receive any compensation or pressure from Sennheiser to write a positive review on the HD700. The opinions I have expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Sennheiser was gracious enough to give me a loaner unit for a few months, but have had no influence on this review and the opinions and thoughts in this review are strictly mine and mine alone.

The purpose of this review was to simply do a reevaluation of the HD700 because of the significant price drop. Now that the HD700 is at the $450 to $499 retail price point, I felt it would be a good idea to write my opinions on them.

In the end, it is up to the listener themselves to decide what headphones they like, and what headphones they don't like. But with the incredible reduction in retail cost of the HD700, I believe that those who have not had the opportunity to listen to the HD700 should give them a shot. Get a loaner pair from a friend or colleague, see what you think. But at the new price point, for me at least, they are definitely a headphone worth checking out.

 

Totally agreed - people should really go out and listen to them rather than just read the opinions of others and solely making a judgment based on those opinions.

I own the HD700 too. I will admit that it doesn't get the most listening time compared to my other headphones, however I still enjoy what it has to offer.

Personally, I don't think the tone is all that great (has problems with the upper-mids and treble IMO, but everything else is good) but it's not bad to the point where it totally ruins the headphone for me. Plus, the driver is very quick and keeps up with complex music, the soundstage is quite open, and imaging and layering are excellent.

Oh yeah, it's probably also one of the most comfortable headphones I have ever worn.

Is it worth it at the original price? Probably not. But it is worth it around the $400 - $500 price point? If you can live with the less-than-excellent tonality (at least to me, YMMV) then yes it is so worth it.

 

Right, I am going to audition one in Essen.

 

I am sure that the HD700 will sound different depending on source and audio gear used to pair with them, but with JRiverMC22, the bifrost and Valhalla 2, I really fell in love with them. I am not sure how well the HD700 scales, maybe with lower end, or higher end gear they may not sound as good, or it could be simply my tastes are just geared towards the HD700's sound signature, but I absolutely loved them. If I had the money, I would snatch up a pair right away. Right now, Amazon has them brand new for $428.

 

Hearing that a pair of headphones has great technicalities but bad tonality is like being told a car can go really fast but handles terribly. I haven't heard the HD700 so I can't say how it sounds, but to me and I think many others here, tonality is often more important than absolute technicalities.

 

I understand - different people look for different things in their headphones. I'm not sure if I really agree with that analogy in this case, but perhaps that is because tone is not the single most important aspect to me when looking at a headphone.

And going on what @The Alchemist said, I've found the HD700 to be somewhat sensitive to the audio gear used to power them. No, it isn't going make you magically like the headphone if you hated it upon first listen, but it may mean the difference between being unlistenable and being tolerable.

 

If the track doesn't have many turns, the overall experience can be quite good.

 

Why isn't @takato14 in this thread?

 

This.

 

When I tried the HD700, my thoughts were that somebody took the HD800 and wondered how could they grab a piece of the Grado market. While the HD800 has that whispy "bright" top end, I find it at least consistent in that area. I felt the HD700 was just so... uneven. I don't mind non-flat FR, just so long as the transitions are somewhat smooth. With the HD700 it was like I was riding the Grado rollercoaster and they just hit all the bad parts for me. Maybe all those peaks and valleys will suit someone else, just like how the Beyer peak is fine for others, but for me I was wincing almost immediately.

 

Just curious, 650s and 800s were modded with great success. Were attempts made with the 700s and if so what happened?

 

Some relavant links

http://www.superbestaudiofriends.or...er-hd700-is-now-listenable-the-hd750-mod.142/

http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/SennheiserHD700.pdf

http://www.innerfidelity.com/conten...aper-filters-front-driver#bTU6xdVZCYfV6dr2.97

Subjectivley I thought these stunk.

 

Takato had some success by mangling the pads as I recall.

edit: looks like JoshMorr ninja'd me with more relevant information

 

My immediate reaction when hearing the HD700 for the first time at SF Canjam was I couldn't understand how anyone could like the sound. Really uneven in wide bands through the entire range. I spoke with Will later that day about future Massdrop collaborations and mentioned the possibility of an HD7X0. He said Sennheiser believes there's too much to change that it wouldn't be worth it for them to try and fix everything wrong with the HD700. This is not like the HD800 where the issue was isolated to a narrow frequency band. Not saying it couldn't be fixed via mods, and it's hard to say if this has changed given the price drop, but it appears that for the amount of effort required, you're better off just getting a different headphone with a solid foundation like the HD600/650.

 

OK, scanned the thread, which ties in with ibzrg1570's post - a lot of effort for a questionable return. The 700s must have been a letdown, I know Marv has posted on this. Kudos to Alchemist for reevaluating.

 

I'll add that I agree with the original point of this thread, depending on your preferences it may work out. Someone on either here or Reddit (or both) managed to find a used pair for $200 and was able to resell for the same cost, so that's something else to consider.

 

I got to audition one when I was in Frankfurt. There was some big mall with a big store with speakers, headphones, and other tech stuff, camera stuff, ect. Dont remember what it is.
So much better than the best buy near me... But its about a 12 hour plane ride away.

I tried the HD700 for a very short time, from my 2 mins, I thought they were way to bassy. But I would need to try them again.

 

Never listened to the HD 700, but I respect that @The Alchemist took the time provide a thoughtful writeup on one of the most roundly despised headphones in our end of the hobby. At the risk of being overly relativistic, individuals do hear things quite differently.

 

Was the super dupont mod ever tried on the HD700?

 

Tak's mod actually made them more warm balanced and relaxed. Unfortunately, they became a bit too warm for me so I sold them and upgraded to the hd 800s. I don't know how these will sound with my current modi multibit and project polaris set up unmodded, but they did not go well with the O2. The harsh treble was really evident with that amp.