Sennheiser HD800 Appreciation Thread - Page 382  

Hello folks, I first went to this forum for gaming headphones (MLE thread) and I purchased a few cans. I still game out when I get a chance but I am beginning to listen to music more in my spare time. I recently purchased HD800's and my wife thought I was crazy for spending such a large amount of money just for headphones. I never tried the senn's line but I got my chance when I was in Edmonton this past weekend so I bought them. I am extremely satisfied with my purchase and I been listening to tunes for a few days now(15hrs or so). I am not that great at posting reviews but I must say these phones are very clear and detailed. They have just have the perfect amount of bass for me and are comfortable for long hrs of use. I am very pleased to be a senn's owner and I look forward to hearing comments to further improve my existing setup. Thanks

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gamerzhell 

 

Not sure if this is entirely correct. The wire seems to be around 28-30 ga on the outside but there's some plastic stuff inside so probably 32 effective.

 

It's definitely not as thick as the K701s stock cable which is probably 28.

Yikes!  I thought the K70x cable was the thinnest headphone cable ever made...the HD800 cable looks beefy on the outside.  Kind of sad that it's so thin inside.

I take it back, the Sennheiser tradition for crummy cables remains unbroken.  They just made this one look and feel better

Quote:

Originally Posted by TwoEars 

 

Holy cow!

 

Looks like someone wired his mains to the HD800s - lol.

No kidding...that looks painful!

Quote:

Originally Posted by IEMCrazy 

 

Yikes!  I thought the K70x cable was the thinnest headphone cable ever made...the HD800 cable looks beefy on the outside.  Kind of sad that it's so thin inside.

 

I take it back, the Sennheiser tradition for crummy cables remains unbroken.  They just made this one look and feel better

 

 

No kidding...that looks painful!

That is why I even got the tiny wire that connects internally the connector to the driver replaced too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by musicman59 

That is why I even got the tiny wire that connects internally the connector to the driver replaced too.

Heh, I'm familiar with those hairline wires from HD650.  I'm not bold enough to worry about the last 1/4" of wire, but the 9ft of invisible wire preceeding it...that I may do something about

I understand the importance of a quality cable but I'm a bit skeptical if there is any noticeable difference between an aftermarket cable and the stock one.

It's extremely hard/impossible to find a place where I can 'test' cables, even finding a HD800 dealer was a bit of trouble imo.

Does anyone know where I can find some graphs? Or has this never been proved anyway?

Quote:

Originally Posted by MelvinV 

I understand the importance of a quality cable but I'm a bit skeptical if there is any noticeable difference between an aftermarket cable and the stock one.

It's extremely hard/impossible to find a place where I can 'test' cables, even finding a HD800 dealer was a bit of trouble imo.

Does anyone know where I can find some graphs? Or has this never been proved anyway?

Cable unbelievers will point out there's never been serious graphs proving it.  Cable believers will tell you that the wrong things are being measured by the unbelievers. 

Personally, I can hear the difference though it depends on the headphone.  HD650 is highly responsive to cable changes.  HE-400 showed a very slight change in the presentation of treble but nowhere else.  HE-6 showed very little change at all.  Similar cleaning up of some treble as HE-400 but to an even lesser degree.  For HD650 the cable thing is significantly sonically worth it, for the other two sonically it's almost irrelevant to me (it's different but not in a significant way.)  HD800...it's a Senn dynamic and it seems Seen may have, if the above is true, made the same error they made with HD650: Going cheap and using too thin a gauge of cable.  Even if you don't believe in magic cable geometry and the improvement in noise rejection, loss etc.....using too thin a gauge to carry all frequencies at a given current/voltage at a given distance without distortion or loss would indeed be measurable.   I suspect that's what was wrong with the 650 cables too...the gauge. 

The thing that takes me out if the wire is so thin, though is the huge hefty jacketing it's packed into to make it look and feel like a high quality cable (and, yes, to make it rugged for studio/stage use.)

Though the point of my initial posting was purely ergonomic in nature.  The silicone jacketed stock cable just doesn't do what I want it to do when I want it to do it   It makes the Moon Dragon cables look well behaved!

To answer the question. Yes, the HD800 is responsive to cable changes, especially when switching materials (stock is SPC). However, I wouldn't worry about cables until I spent a good deal of time and money on my source and amp. The stock doesn't sound bad IMO; there are just better cables out there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shahrose 

To answer the question. Yes, the HD800 is responsive to cable changes, especially when switching materials (stock is SPC). However, I wouldn't worry about cables until I spent a good deal of time and money on my source and amp. The stock doesn't sound bad IMO; there are just better cables out there.

A universal truth for all cans

In my case, my source is endgame, amp...I've shuffled around for a few ideas....the PM6004 actually sounds great but it has a serious problem that is either a defect or a design flaw....very very quiet passages (-40dB or less) of classical recordings especially with soft wind instruments there's a bit of "extreme grain" or crackle sound that detracts from the music.  It seems to only occur on HD800.  It happened on HE-6 if I forced the signal level really low via the EQ, but never if at normal signal level.  On D5k and HE-400 it wont' do the noise.  And I discovered with HD800 on a recording that doesn't have signal levels that low, if I drop the input voltage to a certain range the noise occurs, but if I raise the signal level above or below that range it's fine.  I suspect a combination of the input signal level combined with the high gain, low input sensitivity, and just the right vgain when used with HD800 on the pre section is creating the problem.  Ugh. It's a shame, it's otherwise a very nice sounding amp for HD800!  

I'm thinking of avoiding tubes, just grabing a Mjolnir given the positive response from other HD800/MJ users and calling it a day   I'm EQ'ing so I don't need my amp to color anything favorably...I'll create my own coloration.  Darn you, sphinx, for getting me to buy your headphones and thus another amp!

I bet HD800 would sound fantastic on my MM7025, and with the HE-Adapter would probably even work....but I'm hesitant feeding HD800 to such extreme power potential, even if it's well controlled.

Thanks for all the answers.

But from what I've heard changing cables smooths out this or tames that, basically really small changes that change the 'feel' of the headphone to something one would prefer more.

Now the HD800 is the first serious headphone I've ever bought (I had 'gaming' headsets before, neutral ones though) and I compared it to the T1 ,D7000 and HD650. I found D7000s way too bassy. The T1 and HD800 aren't that different but I prefered the more open and detailed sound that the HD800 had so I got the HD800.

Now I do enjoy listening to music (which doesn't happen that often) when I do but I don't have the experience to use vague terms like smoothing out treble and what not.

Perhaps I can find some way to test cables after I get a HDVD800 (or V200 and V800, depends on HDVD800's quality).

Quote:

Originally Posted by MelvinV 

Thanks for all the answers.

But from what I've heard changing cables smooths out this or tames that, basically really small changes that change the 'feel' of the headphone to something one would prefer more.

Now the HD800 is the first serious headphone I've ever bought (I had 'gaming' headsets before, neutral ones though) and I compared it to the T1 ,D7000 and HD650. I found D7000s way too bassy. The T1 and HD800 aren't that different but I prefered the more open and detailed sound that the HD800 had so I got the HD800.

Now I do enjoy listening to music (which doesn't happen that often) when I do but I don't have the experience to use vague terms like smoothing out treble and what not.

Perhaps I can find some way to test cables after I get a HDVD800 (or V200 and V800, depends on HDVD800's quality).

Honestly, if you're happy with what you have, I wouldn't worry about cables, it's the very last part of the equation or "the cherry on top" of a well established system.   My main gripe about the HD650 cable is that it does hinder the sound of the headphone.  My main gripe about HD800's cable is purely ergonomics.  I may well like the sound of an upgraded cable, but my principal desire to upgrade it comes from being spoiled by a cable that physically handles better.   It's a shame, they got it almost right, and I do suspect durability of studio type abuse was their main goal...and with all that padding I think they nailed it.  But generally if the gauge is too small bass response (or detail at least) is the first thing to suffer....so it would be interesting to see how it changes in that sense.  A general "smoothness" in the treble can't hurt either, of course, and if I get another Q cable, I expect HD800 will react like HE-6 in terms of treble change...just a bit less harsh/granular and more even.  

Headphones > Source > Amp > Tweaks (Outboard PSUs, etc.) > Cables

Quote:

Originally Posted by IEMCrazy 

 

Honestly, if you're happy with what you have, I wouldn't worry about cables, it's the very last part of the equation or "the cherry on top" of a well established system.   My main gripe about the HD650 cable is that it does hinder the sound of the headphone.  My main gripe about HD800's cable is purely ergonomics.  I may well like the sound of an upgraded cable, but my principal desire to upgrade it comes from being spoiled by a cable that physically handles better.   It's a shame, they got it almost right, and I do suspect durability of studio type abuse was their main goal...and with all that padding I think they nailed it.  But generally if the gauge is too small bass response (or detail at least) is the first thing to suffer....so it would be interesting to see how it changes in that sense.  A general "smoothness" in the treble can't hurt either, of course, and if I get another Q cable, I expect HD800 will react like HE-6 in terms of treble change...just a bit less harsh/granular and more even.  

My main question for those that have recabled their HD800, is it worth it to get a hardwire recable installation-or are most of the benefits heard with just a regular (not hardwired) cable replacement?

-Daniel

Quote:

Originally Posted by BournePerfect 

My main question for those that have recables their HD800, is it worth it to get a hardwire recable installation-or are most of the benefits heard with just a regular (not hardwired) cable replacement?

 

-Daniel

I can't speak for HD800, but I know with HD650 which uses pretty much the same "connector to driver" hairline wire, the benefit was seen with just the main cable (3/4" of wire doesn't seem all that important...especially when it's wire that's directly attached to the voice coil! ) There are plenty of folks that go for it though.  My personal feeling is I wouldn't bother but there's certainly folks like musicman who do prefer getting rid of that bit too. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by BournePerfect 

My main question for those that have recables their HD800, is it worth it to get a hardwire recable installation-or are most of the benefits heard with just a regular (not hardwired) cable replacement?

 

-Daniel

I have a HD800 recabled and I compared it to a HD800 hardwired with the same cable I have. The difference was small but noticable. I did not want to loose the flexibility of changing cables hardwiring them so what I did I got the tint cable connecting the connector to the driver replaced with the same wire use in my cable and got almost the same benefit of the hardwired without loosing the flexibility.

The main benefit I found was an aparent better efficiency (maybe becuase reduced resistance) and a little better bass but again not huge difference. The change from the SPC stock cable to the OCC Copper cable I am using did make a difference mainly eliminating the harshness at the top and providing better bass.

Guys read through the comments of this HD 800 review and youll get a good laugh( this guy is on another level of noobness)

http://www.amazon.com/review/R2SCXEUBQPFPKD/ref=cm_cd_pg_pg1?ie=UTF8&asin=B001OTZ8DA&cdForum=Fx1668PM7M4QFZO&cdPage=1&cdThread=Tx1OZZKIJGZZ0ST&store=electronics#wasThisHelpful

tell me who buys a bible on amazon and gives it 1 star? what happen it  missed a chapter rofl