Sennheiser HD700 a Re-evaluation

They are very comfortable to wear. I haven't used them for gaming, however after reading the last few posts with members commenting on how good they are for gaming, I am going to try it.

 

I'd put a caveat that do stupid stuff like pour two "5 hour energy" drinks into a redbull and then shotgun it, so my sense of what is 'good' may vary from your experience.

In other news, I can now smell colours.

 

Finally tried Sonarworks... Disclaimer: not a big fan of heavy EQ usually - some tuning is usually good, but when you start redoing most of the signature things often tend to break apart in my experience.

Anyways, positively surprised! On the flat settings they now sound like a more technically advanced HD 600, but without their soul and musical decay. Resolution and clarity are both superior though. I can imagine many liking this way more than the stock signature. While I like what it does to the treble peaks, I have to admit I think it breaks the mids somewhat at the same time. The clarity suffers a bit too, but it always does when you tame the treble peaks. That being said, I personally believe all the treble peaks in so many modern headphones are simply by design: they know it will result in sibilance and makes some music painful, but it´s what creates the extreme clarity treble-heavy headphones tend to have. In other words you basically agree to take the pain in exchange for the good things the treble peaks do. Not a bad trade off in the end, but obviously not optimal. Just a limitation of the medium - at least for now.

On the flat settings the mids are now finally as loud as they should be, but they don´t sound as natural and clear anymore vs. stock. Mids are always so difficult to EQ though as our ears are so sensitive to those regions. I think I´ll try to experiment with leaving the bass and mids as they are and just applying some targeted EQ on the treble peaks.

All in all very neat technology, might buy it just for doing some less profound EQ. The dry/wet slider for example is really nice plus the software is fairly priced too.

In regards to gaming, just finished another long Overwatch session with these. Nothing to complain... As already covered, in this use the treble peaks are actually good to have. They add clarity and in first person games the 3D surround effect is fantastic. These and the AKG K700-series are probably the best headphones for gaming out there.

My ears are also getting more and more used to the stock sound. I seem to be able to handle more albums now. It´s still hit and miss though. While these may not become my go to headphones for music, I think they might just push me over to the HD 600 instead of the 650 now that my brain is more used to treble

EDIT: Moved to HD 600! First impressions are really, really positive. More on the HD 600 thread later...

 

The face tweeter nature and metallic ringing of HD700 can be fixed by converting them to fully dampened semi-opened headphones. Put in a *lot* of cotton wool everywhere you can fit it. Changes tonality a lot. I've tried an experimental mod like that on a friend's headphone, trivial to reverse.

The problem is, this will make them sound like Paradox in terms of soundstaging, think a small overdampened studio vs open space.
Good material for a closed highly dampened headphone probably. I wouldn't inflict something so heavy handed on HD800, but HD700 is a different matter.

Oh, and replace pads with proper dimension fabric ones. For sure. Fixes all sorts of issues quite a bit, combined with cotton it's an entirely different headphone.

 

I remember takato14 said all the ringing came from the cheap pleather on the inside of the pads making reflections. You can't fix them without modding the pads or using different pads altogether

Wonder what stuffing it with cotton does to the FR.

 

HD700 without cotton stuffing: <banshee screeching>

HD700 with cotton stuffing: <muffled banshee screeching>

Jokes aside, I'll try this when I get home. Have a bunch of cotton stuffing at home (got a big bag of it for leather cleaning/polishing purposes)

 

Not stuffing, not dense enough. Use cotton hygienic pads.

Dynamat works too but makes them really narrow and dank soundstage.

 

New to the forums and a little late to this thread, but I had both the Hd 605's and the Hd700's. I love my 700's. They are extremely comfortable, and I actually love the sound. Great bass, i can see where some people don't like the treble, but like many have said here, Most people just go off of reviews with out actually trying the equipment. I have mine paired with a little dot mk iii with a Matched Pair of Voshkod 6ZH1P-EV (6Ж1П-ЕВ) and the power tubes have been upgraded to a matched pair of 6N6P-IR. This definitely took care of the treble spikes, and my gaming setup they go very well with my Pioneer Elite VSX-72TXV receiver.

 

I decided to give these another try, I have been gaming all week with them and they are fabulous. Specifically positioning/ staging for FPS when using SBX/DH. I've also enjoyed the k series in the past for gaming, but these are just so much more comfortable. Ps4>Creative X7>Modi Multibit>Val 2

When listening to music I've been using sonar works for j-river. Sound pretty good with something electronic or "pop" but I don't listen to that type of music too often. I'll be sticking with the 650's for most of my music.

 

That's a bold statement. What made you come to this conclusion?

 

Just going off of several forums alone and being a frequent online shopper, A lot of people tend to just read and read what everyone's opinion is, but sound is so subjective. Yes there are certain standards and variables that are fixed, but someone like myself can love something that someone else could completely hate. I was fortunate to hear several pairs of headphones before purchasing my HD 700's. Not saying that you shouldn't research something, but the subjectivity is a reason why people always retry something and like it, or stop loving something and buy something else.

 

= most?



I understand your point, but not sure I agree. I don't think buying equipment after (only) reading review(s) is necessarily a bad thing vs listening first.
I think system synergy is very important and it might not be that easy to hear a specific system setup prior to purchasing one or several parts of such a setup.

Personally I've learned to trust a group of people; many of which are members here. Their ears and written impressions help me to make sound desicions and to avoid making bad ones.
It has saved me from many purchases and had I only followed my ears I think I might have ended up with lots and lots of gear that I didn't need.
Sometimes you need a slap over the head to teach your ears how to hear. That at least holds true for me