The Sennheiser HD 800: The First Listen, The First Review - Page 381

I'm enjoying the HD800s for several months now so they had time to fully break in. My DNA Sonett is also here for about 2 month and I had time to compare it side by side with my old Bada Ph-12. Knowing the glowing review the Sonett got around here I was expecting for the Sonett to blow away my Bada but I've been shocked to find out that even after burning in the Sonett, I preferred the Bada. I don't know if Bada just goes better with the EMM Labs and HD800 but this is one of the few cases where I've come to a conclusion so opposite to many experienced users around here !

site acting up :s

and again, grmbl!

Just got hold of some HD800s and they are very impressive, but also very surprising. Firstly, the soundstaging is utterly brilliant - I love the sense of space. I can also tell that it is going to take me a fair few hours to truly get my ears settled to the tonality. I have not owned 'neutral' headphones before - and my other can is an RS1i which is about a million miles away from being neutral! (I love it to death, though). That said, this tonal 'realism' is pretty exciting - my ears are jumping from one instrument to another marvelling at the texture!

Among other things that immediately strike me are build quality - which is really top notch. I was worried that they would be plasticky - but they aren't, they are re-assuringly heavy and solid. Another thing that has jumped out at me is the treble and, bear in mind I am comfortable with Grado treble, I find it to be very 'present' indeed.

You are right I am enjoying my HD800 a lot. They have bcome my favorite headphones in my collection due to their purity of sound and great soundstaging. To me they are the headphones with the closest speaker soundstaging.

I am running them balanced and with an aftermarket cable... they are incredible.

Great price on upgrade cable

I hadn't posted my impressions of the Locus Design Hyperion cable on this thread partly because I'm not sure how much improvement people who don't listen mostly to acoustically recorded music would benefit from an upgrade.
I listen to classical music almost exclusively.
There have been many rave reviews of different after market cables and since almost nobody can afford to buy more than one it's difficult if not impossible to really do a proper comparison of different cables.
The Hyperion cable was originally priced at $900 then lowered to $700 and finally $600. However, Lee at Cryoparts/Locus Design has decided that he won't continue his headphone cable line and has reduced his prices dramatically to get out of the rather crowded field.
The six foot Hyperion cable is now only $200 since I paid $700 I'm envious of anyone who could get this kind of deal.
The inner detail of good recordings really exploded and makes listening now really sublime.
If you listen to a lot of classical music and haven't already purchased an aftermarket cable I urgently recommend this deal.
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f163/b...-hd800-480182/

"Oh my god, sennheiser created the most beautiful thing Ive heard in my life. I seriously wanted to cry because it sounded so good." Words I spoke upon hearing them. Puts a new standard in the headphone world.

Don't say that dude... You'll make me want to sell my grandmother.

Hello everyone!

I'm new to this community and was drawn to it by my interest in musical experience.
I'm planning to invest in some audiophile equipment for the first time, and therefore it would be the Sennheiser HD800. For a while, I would prefer using it with portable music players, and laptop.

I heard of amplifiers, as well, that it helps to enhance and increase the sound quality of such music sources and portable ones are just what I will need for those headphones at first (later on, I would move to more serious amplifiers, but not for a few more years).

I put together these, after some surfing around, and like to ask, if it would be a good combo:

-Sennheiser HD800
-CablePro Reverie HD800 cable (from TTVJaudio: CablePro Reverie HD800 cable [Reverie] - $489.00 : TTVJ, Home of High End Audio ) (need something shorter than 10 feet)
-iBasso Amplifiers (not sure if D10 or T3/T4 would be better, would need help with it too)
-and another random cable from the portable amplifier to the music player/laptop.

Could someone with experience in audiophile equipments agree with my combo, or correct me if there is something better for that use.

(will stick to the HD800 for sure, as it looks much better compared to other high-end headphones and the reviews about its sound quality are also convincing)

((sorry for posting this in one other thread, as well, but wasn't sure which one would this fit in))

Thanks for the response in advance!

The HD800 is too revealing of source and amp. Certainly, you will need a much better amplifier, why don't use the money on cable to get better amplifier? I suggest Headamp GS-1 for home amp. I own similar amp (gilmore reference single end) and the combination is great. What is your source? Again, the HD800 is too revealing of an upsteam equipment. Unless, you build a good system around them they could reveal flaws in each piece of your equipment.

Thanks for the reply!
For home amp, I found the Corda Symphony from Meier-Audio very attractive. Tho I'm not sure what to look for in an amplifier yet, as I'm just now digging myself deeper in these technical details.

But first I was thinking of something "lighter" amp, a portable one. That's why I found iBassos's amps.

On a side note, which would seem a better solution for portable entertainment? A player, let's say Apple's with a smaller amp or the HifiMan 801 basically the combination of the two with its built in amp?

But for home entertainment, besides a high-end headphones and good amplifier (and lossless music file) what other equipment would be required?
Do HDD media players perform better than desktops/laptops as a music player?

I'm sorry for all these questions, I'm just totally new to this.

You should consider adding quality dac to that list. If you use digital signal out, you can just use your desktops/laptops as a music player.

You don't buy a costly headphone cable before you have a decent source and amp, so I would do some more research.

I agree, your cable should not be so much more expensive than your amp. If you are set on portability, check out the Protector portable balanced amp, and a balanced Twag cable for the HD800 from Whiplash (if there is one), just a thought off the top of my head but I believe you would get much more out of the HD800s that way.

Yep. With a $489 cable you can get a good amplifier - the discounted Audio-GD GCHA or Elekit TU-882AS, which some have recommended for the HD800 (at a budget level).

The HiFiMan seems have to a nicer DAC than an iPod, but I don't need audiophilia on the go. I just need good music - IEMs or transportable headphones do the job fine.