Sennheiser HD800 Appreciation Thread - Page 402  

Quote:

Originally Posted by olor1n 

I owned the NFB10SE and it was a very good match for the LCD-2 in balanced mode. I moved on from it because the upper mids were dry and grating with the HD650. I didn't own the HD800 at the time, but I suspect it would be a very bad pairing. The HD800 deserves better and you may end up hating its presentation if your ancillary gear isn't up to scratch.

I agree with olor1n.  If your hardward is not up to snuff.  You might not like the HD800s at all.

+1 for better dac and/or amp. you headphones are only as good as what's feeding them. everything down the line from your source subtracts from sound quality. While HD 800 don't really subtract, they will not improve anything up stream. IF your dac and amp dont give you a good holographic presentation, with good frequency response, HD800 will only magnify the flaws. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by YoengJyh 

You could get other good amp if you don't want the NFB-10SE. There are few amps got rave review for HD800 with cheap price like Matrix M-stage?

yes i heard that the mstage is a good cheaper pairing due to its warm sound which tames the hd800s treble response.... people say that he500 is very much like the hd800 with lesser soundstage and resolution, which also makes he500 a good hifi phine rather than just almost-hifi... odac and mstage might be an okay hifi entry level rig for the hd800s.... my question is that will this setup sound better than an he500 and bifrost/lyr combo? if not then i should not bite out more than i can chew, considering the fact that i was on the moon with cheap 20$ headphones only a couple of years ago and have only spent 5 months with midfi phones like d2000s and hd650s with cheap essence st and e9

Everyone should try the album: "Sessions from the 17th ward" by Amber Rubarth. It sounds spectacular with the HD 800s. The track "Sneak" in particular really shows of the great soundstage layering and naturalness/clarity of the sound! 

Quote:

Originally Posted by h4mm3r 0f th0r 

i have a simple querry... i have a budget of about 2k$ which would also include shipping etc..... should i buy something like hd800 with would only leave me a small amount for amp and dac combo, something like o2/odac combo or audio-gd nfb 11.32... or should i go with a lesser headphone like he500 and buy a powerful amp like schiit lyr and a dac etc.... which should i choose? i am interested in music with a lot of flute and violin with these... i have plenty of fun headphones for other purposes... o2/odac are known as good entry level equipment which is very neutral but i doubt that it will mask the brightness of hd800's detailed treble... and also that they are okay with hd800 if not good...

My personal take is that the headphones have a much larger effect on the nature of the sound you hear that the electronics, so long as the electronics aren't crap.  So... figure out what are the phones that you like and use the balance of your money to purchase decide electronics. If the electronics doesn't get everything out of the headphone you want, upgrade them when you have the money.

IF detailed tremble is a concern though, then the HD800 are likely the wrong headphones for you. No amp with "fully tame" the HD800 without destroying what's great about them. Especially if you go used, there are a variety of ways to go with the HD800. Sure, the best options for the HD800 typically involve $6-8k worth of DAC and amplifier, but that's not required. At the lower end, the system in my study which is a Dragonfly DAC feeding a Headamp GLite I purchased used (combined cost $480) was only incrementally less good (say 30%) that the top systems I listened to, and not a factor of two, and certainly doesn't track against the order of magnitude price difference of top end systems.

--Mark

Quote:

Originally Posted by verber 

 

My personal take is that the headphones have a much larger effect on the nature of the sound you hear that the electronics, so long as the electronics aren't crap.  So... figure out what are the phones that you like and use the balance of your money to purchase decide electronics. If the electronics doesn't get everything out of the headphone you want, upgrade them when you have the money.

 

IF detailed tremble is a concern though, then the HD800 are likely the wrong headphones for you. No amp with "fully tame" the HD800 without destroying what's great about them. Especially if you go used, there are a variety of ways to go with the HD800. Sure, the best options for the HD800 typically involve $6-8k worth of DAC and amplifier, but that's not required. At the lower end, the system in my study which is a Dragonfly DAC feeding a Headamp GLite I purchased used (combined cost $480) was only incrementally less good (say 30%) that the top systems I listened to, and not a factor of two, and certainly doesn't track against the order of magnitude price difference of top end systems.

 

--Mark

As they say, the law of diminishing returns is more apparent once you have decent gear. 

Personally, I'd go try some of the headphones out before I decide on them either by using the cable co (?) service or going to some stores.

The sound signature of the HD 800's are quite polarizing I find, and the only reliable way of deciding whether it's for you is to try them!

Quote:

Originally Posted by DairyProduce 

 

As they say, the law of diminishing returns is more apparent once you have decent gear. 

 

Personally, I'd go try some of the headphones out before I decide on them either by using the cable co (?) service or going to some stores.

The sound signature of the HD 800's are quite polarizing I find, and the only reliable way of deciding whether it's for you is to try them!

i have no place to test them.... n my country, when i import something then i have to stick with it...i compensate by having an evolving taste in music and sound preference.... if i don,t  go for the mstage then would a lyr be far better?

No need to mess around, just get the HD800. 

You will love it. The performance could be scaled far from what u know later after you upgrade your amp. Better than you buy HE500 + Hi-end amp...

You won't regret.

Enjoy~

Edit: Draygonn is selling his HD800. Grab it fast!

Quote:

Originally Posted by h4mm3r 0f th0r 

i have a simple querry... i have a budget of about 2k$ which would also include shipping etc..... should i buy something like hd800 with would only leave me a small amount for amp and dac combo, something like o2/odac combo or audio-gd nfb 11.32... or should i go with a lesser headphone like he500 and buy a powerful amp like schiit lyr and a dac etc.... which should i choose? i am interested in music with a lot of flute and violin with these... i have plenty of fun headphones for other purposes... o2/odac are known as good entry level equipment which is very neutral but i doubt that it will mask the brightness of hd800's detailed treble... and also that they are okay with hd800 if not good...

Both are very good headphones though I would prefer the HD800 for listening to acoustic instrumentation. Don't worry too much about the amp/dac, you can find something for the remaining 500-900$ which would work quite well.

I listened to "Kid A" on my HD800s for the first time and it was like a completely different experience. I've listened to that album countless times before but I was still in awe with it. The detail and staging was phenomenal especially. Idioteque was probably the most impactful in that regard. I can't wait until I get my new DAC and WA22 so that I can experience the effects from those on the music.

Question for all the knowlegable HD800 buffs here (and please forgive me if it has been asked before as I could not find it) on IMPEDANCE MATCHING.

I've just purchased a M2Tech Vaughan and have balanced Warren leads connected into the XLR out - nominally 600 ohms. To these ears the sound is superb & described in another thread.

But another headfier has chastised me for a bad impedance match - the 300 ohm HD800 should meet a much lower amplifier impedance load, not higher.  I'm told that the bass will be ill defined and poor yet that is not what I hear!!

Research suggests there is a lot of myth about the topic and I've read contradictory reports, although none specifically addressing the HD800.  Impedance varies with frequency so I guess my critic is extrapolating that to mean the bass is likely to be compromised. But to these ears it is not. And there is heaps of power reserve and no distortion detected so no problems with the Vaughan therer.

I'm happy with what I hear and am not worried so please do not misinterpret - I'm not getting paranoid about the impedance, but am curious to find out a bit more.

So what is the experience of HD800 owners on this?

TIA

John

Normally a DAC is designed to drive a high impedance load (like 10KΩ or greater).

And normally you want, generally speaking, a 10:1 ratio (or greater) between the input to output rated impedances. 

And again normally you don't drive headphones from line level outputs, mostly due to the (in)ability of the line level amplifiers to deliver power (current).

And if you look at the impedance curve for the HD-800's you'll see that they dip well below 600Ω, which in effect is a reverse ratio relationship to the line level outputs from your dac.

Now having stated all of the above, will the headphones make music?  Yes.

Will the electrical relationship be matched properly?  No.

If you look at the specs for your dac, pay attention to the output impedance of the headphone output. "Output impedance 600 Ohms (XLR), 0,5 Ohm (RCA), 10 Ohms (headphones)"

As an experiment try plugging in your headphones into the 1/4" jack on the front (you'll need an adapter, or just use the stock cable) and pay attention to the sonic differences.

Power amps are designed to deliver the power to drive dynamic loads (headphones and speakers etc) where line level outputs are designed to drive non dynamic loads (inputs to power amps etc.).

JJ

I am using Phonitor and M2tech Young Dac with MBA.  how do you guys think if HD800 will be good with these combination?