Anyone else using Sennheiser HD 700 Cans with their Caiman MK2 and Capella?

[Old George]

I have been happily running a pair of Hifiman HE-500 cans prior to the 700's, but i took the plunge after reading some favourable reviews on the 700's.
The 700's seem more revealing and offer a wider sound stage, plus a brighter treble than the HE-500. In contrast the HE-500 is warmer sounding with deeper bass (the 700's are not bass-shy though). The 500's are more forgiving of poor recordings, swings and roundabouts really.

What are your findings folks?

[wee tee cee]

George,
Thats my headphone rig. I moved from 650s(which I still have). The tuneabilty of the Capella really lets the 700s sing. Stan has updated the firmware on the Caiman well worth trying if you havent already.

Mark Grant sold fuses for internal use on both, again worth a try.

Going off grid and feeding both with a battery is also beneficial and IMHO gets the best out of what you have.

Im happy to share my Capella settings for the 700s if you fancy some experimentation.

The 700s get quite mixed reviews but are by far and away the best cans I have used and to my ears are marvellous and worth every penny(listening to them as I type).

[Old George]

George,
Thats my headphone rig. I moved from 650s(which I still have). The tuneabilty of the Capella really lets the 700s sing. Stan has updated the firmware on the Caiman well worth trying if you havent already.

Mark Grant sold fuses for internal use on both, again worth a try.

Going off grid and feeding both with a battery is also beneficial and IMHO gets the best out of what you have.

Im happy to share my Capella settings for the 700s if you fancy some experimentation.

The 700s get quite mixed reviews but are by far and away the best cans I have used and to my ears are marvellous and worth every penny(listening to them as I type).

Hi Tony,

Thanks for your response. I bought the uprated chip approximately thee months ago, i've fitted a AMR Audio Hifi fuse to the Capella.
I've got the Caiman powered by a Ankaka battery and the Capella running off a Anker MK2 battery.

Spot on with the 700 comment, seems like a 'Marmite' headphone.
I'm enjoying the (subtle) extra detail and wide sound stage, I've not quite weaned my ears off the warmer HE-500 yet, but i'm getting there!

I'd certainly be interested in your greater experience concerning settings, thank you for the kind offer. :)

[wee tee cee]

George,
You have went down the same road as me.
Just out of interest what IC are you using?

I swither between a Mark grant 2000 with the silver wbt plugs and the latest version of Brians mc5000.

My settings on the Capella are started by setting the gain according to my preferred listening level at about 10 o clock on the volume pot which corresponds to about 10 o clock on the gain.

As an aside I have removed the inner foam on the 700s ( as I did on the 650s-akin to removing speaker grills in my mind).

Damping is about half past nine.

HF about 1 o clock.

Depth 1 o clock.

Balance smack in the centre.

The 650s have, I believe the same drive units but I run very different settings.

I noticed you run a toslink to the Caiman...a glass optical like a fisual hollywood is also worth a try.

Usual caveat-my ears/tunes/preference.

The lovely thing about a headphone rig is how noticeable small changes in cables etc effect the sound IMHO.

Let me know how you get on or if you are using wildly different settings!!!

[Old George]

George,
You have went down the same road as me.
Just out of interest what IC are you using?

I swither between a Mark grant 2000 with the silver wbt plugs and the latest version of Brians mc5000.

My settings on the Capella are started by setting the gain according to my preferred listening level at about 10 o clock on the volume pot which corresponds to about 10 o clock on the gain.

As an aside I have removed the inner foam on the 700s ( as I did on the 650s-akin to removing speaker grills in my mind).

Damping is about half past nine.

HF about 1 o clock.

Depth 1 o clock.

Balance smack in the centre.

The 650s have, I believe the same drive units but I run very different settings.

I noticed you run a toslink to the Caiman...a glass optical like a fisual hollywood is also worth a try.

Usual caveat-my ears/tunes/preference.

The lovely thing about a headphone rig is how noticeable small changes in cables etc effect the sound IMHO.

Let me know how you get on or if you are using wildly different settings!!!

Hi Tony,

I'm using a Fisual Hollywood Digital Optical Toslink Interconnect (1m) between PC and Capella.

Gain and volume same as your settings.

Damping centre, or first click clockwise

Depth 1 O clock.

Balance centre.

I've been reading some articles that say a tube headphone amp brings out the best treble, what are your views?
I'm using a Litz cable from Custom Cans. Are you running the stock cable or an upgrade?

[wee tee cee]

Stock cable....valves I dont know on the cans-have a couple of nice valve amps for my main rig. Prefer temple audio mono blocks!!!

[Old George]

...........Prefer temple audio mono blocks!!!

Just had a look on their website, reasonably priced.

[wee tee cee]

Interesting, tried your damping setting....I find it leaves the 700s a little bright with a smidge of sibilance on female vocals. Might well be down to me removing the inner foams.

Again my own observations but the 700s on my av amp headphone output for watching movies sound bloody awful-bright,thin, aggressive and quite fatiguing. The 650s on the same amp are marvellous.

I have a wee collection of superlux cans 330/440/660/668b and find with some tweaking on the Capella they can be made to sound really rather good indeed.

The adjust-ability really lets you get the most out of what you have IMHO.