A Massdrop version of the Sennheiser HD700
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keyboard_arrow_downZeSnake
13
Nov 20, 2019
The HD 700 was discontinued right? I wouldnt mind seeing a HD 700S down the line. I own the HD 700 and love the sound of it.
VinceTheStampede624
143
Mar 2, 2019
@CEE_TEE What would this post have to do or how much attention would it have to garner for Massdrop and Sennheiser to start talks for this to become a new collaboration?
Owndapwn
1
Feb 8, 2019
Hey, I own a pair of HD700's, and I got the opportunity to borrow my buddy's HD800S's when he went out of town. That said, I like the HD700 better. Day four I had put his back in the box and just went back to mine. Audio quality is marginally worse if you're really focusing on it on a higher-than-normal volume on a song you've heard a billion times, but the HD700 is so much more comfortable it really decided the difference for me almost immediately. It's not a big difference.
I do have one issue with the 700's and that's the band adjuster being too loose. I've thought about taking a heat gun to the stickers on the inside of the band that seem to cover the adjustment mechanism screws and seeing if I can do something to tighten them up, but just haven't yet.
However, your photoshop rendering is absolutely gorgeous. To the point where if you did a black theme and fix the adjustment band, I'd be down to pay between $450 and $500, depending on accessories, and just sell my stock 700's (Which don't have the treb issue. They fixed it a while ago).
VinceTheStampede624
143
Feb 8, 2019
Thanks for your impressions! Interesting, I didn't know they adjusted the treble.
SpinyNorman
107
Jan 6, 2019
The last thing I need is another set of phones. I joined the Meze drop, and they haven't even been delivered yet. Having said that, the HD700s recently dropped to $370 on Amazon, and I was sorely tempted.
As to the supposed treble issue, more recent reviews imply that it doesn't exist anymore, at least not to the extent it originally did. Some reviewers openly wonder if Sennheiser has done an unannounced in production revision (many claim they have done this before).
If it happens, the price will need to be quite good for me to join (I passed at the $370 on Amazon, so it needs to be significantly better than that).
dcha12
424
Dec 18, 2018
This already pretty much happened IMHO; the HD 58X Jubilee has similar drivers to the HD 660 S, which in turn has drivers from the HD 700. Just doesn't have the frame and earcups.
The HD 700 actually has great drivers; it's the s*** pads that makes them sound....polarizing. I highly recommend anyone who has a pair of these to give velour pads a try; my friend had me take a listen after the pad roll and I was shocked that a headphone I originally absolutely hated could actually be something I'd seriously consider buying.
Evshrug
2297
Sep 16, 2020
Thanks!
Some people say “faster” or use PRAT, but I think agile is more intuitive, and also notes don’t literally come sooner or later in a song just because you change a headphone.
It’s all about inertia, “Transient response,” and being able to respond to an impulse to move or recover quickly when there’s no impulse. A headphone with less agility would be sluggish, and a really sluggish (lethargic is another fun word) sound might also have some sounds bleeding over others and masking/obscuring them.
If I can ever stick to a “Thursday Thoughts” schedule, I would like to do a video about “Audiophile Terms and what they mean” and “How to review a headphone.” I’m a bit late on this week’s “Tuesday Teaching,” but I was doing some additional research and practicing drawing, and then I’m getting back to it after some pizza lunch. Today’s video will cover the different types of drivers (Dynamic, Planar, Electrostatic, Balanced Armature, and maybe a small mention of “other” like Bone Conducting or MEMS).
(Edited)
Evshrug
2297
Sep 16, 2020
Check out "Launch of the EvShrug Audio Guides!" post on Drop!
https://drop.com/talk/53304/launch-of-the-ev-shrug-audio-guides?utm_source=appshare&referer=Z2JXCA
I used to be a headphone reviewer, then I got an opportunity to work with Axel Grell (formerly Sennheiser) and Tal Kocen (formerly Dekoni Audio, now Lucid Audio with Etymotic and Westone) as a consultant. I miss interacting with people myself though, and the roles I took restricted what I could say. I’m not getting paid to do these new videos (maybe someday, somehow?), but it’s my way of sharing what I’ve learned with the community.
Juanan
2
Dec 17, 2018
HD800 is still a flagship from sennheiser. They won't do a Massdrop version because it would damage the sennheiser image. That's the main reason the price does not drop even though 7 years have passed. In fact it has even increased price.
GiantHeadphoneSquid
607
Jan 6, 2019
Thank you so much for sharing these pictures and your experiences! Sennheiser have such an important history for headphones and audio electronics, what a treat to be able to tour their German site.
I was able to visit the Bose HQ here in the US several years ago, and that 'high school/ campus science lab' feel you describe would be very accurate in many ways for them as well. I don't think they are on the original site (I don't know for sure tbh), however. . . It is very special that Senn has kept the original farm :)
Evshrug
2297
Jan 6, 2019
Cool to hear that the people trying to make fun music entertainment products for us aren’t super industrial at heart!
Rhamnetin
178
Oct 20, 2018
The HD 700 is a piece of crap. Massdrop should do a version of the HiFiMan HE-500 instead.
CausalInternetUsed
3
Oct 19, 2018
700 gets hated alot,i dont think massdrop will support that.Maybe a hd 600 clone? but the 6xx exists idk?
CausalInternetUsed
3
Oct 22, 2018
I would say fix the treble spikes known to the 700,velour instead,shorter wire. Keep the D shape though.The price shold be around 300 i think for the 700 remake
Evshrug
2297
Jan 6, 2019
I agree to keep the shape if possible (should be), the wire is probably more expensive than it has to be (and that jacket does kink easily), also Velour Earpads (I like Sennheiser’s microsuede on the HD 800 and 800 S, but never liked the stock HD 700 pads), more realistic price of $400.
I’m wearing a pair of HD 700 with Dekoni’s Velour Pads right now, they already to a lot in making the sound more cohesive, sounding even better integrated than the less squiggly lines on their published FR Graphs suggest. I would have to look it up again, but I believe the HD 800’s treble peak is even higher than the HD 700’s, but because the rise is gradual rather than coming from a dip the HD 800 is easier to digest, stock. My ears are treble sensitive (can’t listen to Beyerdynamics for long), and this HD 700 + Dekoni Velour sounds like it’s still on the right side of treble being balanced between too little/too much. Having Sennheiser’s engineers look at the treble again and see if a bit of treble absorption (or some of the HD 800 S’ tech improvements over the HD 800) makes sense wouldn’t be a bad idea, but it may not be strictly necessary if it would hurt the detail/soundstage of the HD 700.
Cole104
16
Oct 17, 2018
Maybe it could use build changes to lower the price, but its actually one of the lightest and comfiest headphones on the market, IMO. Much better than k7xx, hd650, etc. Still, the sonics could stand to be improved, and I think different pads could do a lot for them. The treble could use a bit more damping, but mids need to get brought up into the mix more. its a very open headphone and the treble isn't as bad as it might seem from measurements. I wonder what those dekoni pads do for FR, though that's an expensive experiment to take
Evshrug
2297
Jan 6, 2019
Did you see Dekoni published graphs using their new measurement rig? I’m wearing the Dekoni Velours on a pair of HD 700 right now, it’s a good change, less distant sounding and less jarring rise in the treble.
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WOW; I didn't expect as much improvement to the sound quality in my headphones.
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As seemingly typical of Massdrop, the first thing to change for sake of differentiation is to darken the colorway to a mostly matte-black finish, as I approximated in the poorly-edited photo I'm attaching to this post. It could definitely stand to look something like what Massdrop did with the Focal Elex, which I own and love.
Perhaps the model number could be HD 7X7, to avoid confusion with AKG's K7XX.
Build quality changes are the bulk of what I'd like to propose, and as I have yet to hear a stock HD700, I'll leave desired sound-signature changes for others to speak of (aside from what I hear is a general love or hate of the 5.5KHz peak and the 11Khz peak).
I'll start off with the headband. The rubberized top portion has been said to add a bit of unnecessary weight for some, and could probably be changed to plastic in order to lighten it a bit. This would also help with color consistency when going for the all-black look.
Next, perhaps a more robust click-adjust mechanism. I've read and watched many a review complaint about these being a little too light with the clicks (noticeably, Zeos of Z Reviews shaking the HD700 lightly and having them fall all the way to the lowest setting rather quickly).
Another point of dismay for several reviewers was the rather unwieldy 10-foot cable. As with previous Sennheiser collabs, this one could be cut from 10' to 6', terminated in 3.5mm with a 1/4" adapter instead of the monstrosity of its current stock form.
Otherwise it is apparently a pretty comfortable headphone, with many reviewers enjoying the ear-shaped pads. However, I think it's probably worth experimenting with an alternate material to see if that will yield positive sound-signature changes. Some modders out there have experimented with that, to varying levels of success.
Others, feel free to chime in about the sound-sig. I'm hoping this can be the humble start of some much needed love for a very polarizing and somewhat overlooked headphone.