so i went ahead and picked up the AD700s today. Ive been using them all day and I can honestly say that I dont see (or hear, technically) what all the fuss is about. Now im no audiophile but I do love music. I have been listening to all kinds of different genres on these today, as well as movies, and obviously gaming. While I do notice a subtle difference, its just that... subtle. I think im gonna return these and go back to my old headset =/

just my 2 cents for anyone considering getting a pair.

The AD700 excel with classical, acoustic, and other bass light (but still requires accurate bass) music with many different instruments. They are not that great for movies either. They really excel with soundstage representation which greatly helps positional accuracy especially while playing fps games. That is why they are recommended for people switching from a gaming headset, it generally is comparable to one except for its massive soundstage.

Also, I would give the headphones a week before you decide to return them, it generally takes a while before you get used to a pair of headphones. After that week try playing with your old headset and if you don't notice a difference then return them.

It depends on what quality you listen to as well. If I watch a random 240p music video on youtube, there's little difference. The first thing I my AD700s on was a Beethoven recording in .flac and boy, it was cash. Try to listen do some .flac and different types of music in good quality. Also play some mge and try playing "blindfolded" as in staring at the ground. You might notice how well you are able to orient based just on the sound. Also make sure that you have your tf2 sound settings set correctly for headphones.