Sennheiser HD800 Appreciation Thread - Page 58

Agreed. The M3 is indeed a very, very good and powerful amp.

Hi, How much bigger are the earcup of HD800 compare to Omega2 ? I have Dumbo ears, I am at the moment is leaning towards HD800 but if it isn't that much bigger I might go for Omega2. Can you do side by side shots of HD800 and Omega2 earcup ? Thanks

Well your chosen path is a good one...the buffalo dac should be excellent. And the combo with the M3 just might work out as the HD 800 burns in...then you can try it balanced with your LD VI. Yup budgets do get in the way. My source' may not see a change till next year.

My first impressions:

Source: Cambridge Azur 840c
Amp: Balanced Bijou, 6n1p / 6n6p tubes (sorry, no SE anything)
Cable: APS v3 (yes, now available)

Total burn time: Phones 11 hours, cables 6 hours

1. The hd800 is no harder to 'drive' than is the hd600, but it responds WAY better to being driven. The Bijou will drive K1000, so I am fairly certain the hd800 responds well to lots of dynamic headroom (having more power than you actually use).

2. Exceptionally fast - it is damn near he60 fast, and with better micro detail than the he60. I am hearing details heretofore not heard, like a chorus vocal overlay on Rhianna's 'Shut Up and Drive'. Truly a 'WTF was that' moment.

3. Dynamics - Literally shivers down the spine goodness on Tool's '10,000 Days'.

4 Balance - The Who's 'Real Me' has always been a standard for bass for me - it just sounds so balanced - bombastic bass, Keith Moon's drums crisp, the horns and guitar all PERFECTLY balanced - was that what Pete heard when he mixed / wrote it? Then, off to Neil Young 'After the Gold Rush', 'Don't Let It Bring You Down' - very sparse - Neil, guitar, drums and bass - nothing extra, no production, just music. Again, just presented what was there.

5. Bass - OK, maybe my amp and tubes - but anyone that thinks these are 'bass light' and lacking 'impact' - not in my rig. Whipped out the B-52s 'Good Stuff' - bone rattling bass, and neck breaking snap on the snare.

6. Texture - not a term I use often with headphones, and, honestly, not sure if it is the phones, synergy with the Bijou, or what, but Radiohead 'Paranoid Android' just has scrumptuous layers, all discrete, yet sintered into a ingle presentation.

Got many 000s of hours of rotations, genres, moods, and changes to go yet, so this is what I am hearing the first day. I am Senn fanboi #1, with my hd600, hd650, he60 sitting by idly (for now), as their new sibling is kicking their *****.

I can hardly wait until things are burned in - oh, and the amp I built for these phones (a transformer coupled tube amp) is almost ready to roll. The new he60 amp may be ready this weekend, so everything will be ready for the Texas Shootout on June 27th.

Thanks to Alex for the cable (delivered in person) and to Marc (luvdunhill) for the inpromptu mini-meet this afternoon. No better way to burn a half day of vacation.

All apologies - fair and balanced is not my bit.

Great impression!
Can't wait to try a new cable for this baby.

Good to read that my ears aren't the only ones hearing it like that.

I that think my HD800/WA6 competes very well with my HE60/GES (or my O2/GES and other stats for that matter). It will be interesting to see how the HD800 respond to the upgrade to my EC ZDT (another transformer coupled amp like the WA6 but balanced drive should help even more). It's due sometime this month according Craig.

Please keep us posted on how the HD800/HE60 compare with your new amps.

The Square Wave XL and the HR balanced amp converts a single ended input into balanced using a phase splitter of some sort. That's why you should get all/most of the benefits of going balanced. Can the ZDT do this?

Have you compared APS v3 with the stock cable? How much better is it?

I can't answer that question.

Make something up.

I'm just saying that if it doesn't you won't get the benefits of going balanced. You should probably ask Craig.

I will ask Craig - I seem to recall we discussed a little of this, but I'm not sure how he gets a dual differential transformer driven output.

hpa, have you tried your hd800 with a portable usb dac/amp? How does it sound if you have?

Any other HD800 owners hearing this weird spring creak? Other owners on the another forums stated that I should ask for an exchange...

+ YouTube Video

Single.