Concerns HD800 - Page 2

Qualia 010 > HD800? Interesting. I was hoping it will be the other way around, but I guess we need more users to report their impressions with this comparison.

Does it really matter? One costs twice as much as the other Unless cost is no object, people who save up for the HD800 are not the same people who will end up with a Q010.


I too had a hope - a hope that the K501 would outperform the R10, but I guess we need more users to report on this comparison as well

I have no financial interest in HD800 in that i own a pair that I will never sell, as i have never sold a pair of headphones that I have owned, and if i did these would be the last one to go. I have no interest in this site or in Sennheiser, I work with autistic kids. Of the people i have met in person that own them most like them and have no intension of selling them. That tells you something, but again most that i have mentioned the Qualias to dislike the sound of those, so maybe it is taste. I do like the L3000s and may never buy another pair of headphones unless those come available somewhere.

The 800s are very source and amp dependent by the way, changing my transport helped ant then even going from optical to good quality digital coax changed the sound for the better fairly dramatically on my system. So maybe look at your system, I have heard mixed reviews of how they are with the Grace a few positive but mostly not.
Good luck.

David I have seen your posts around from time to time and you say you have no full sized headphones and when i look at your signature it says you have no headphones, none? Huh.

And you are accusing people who like their headphones of being employees or something........ wow ballsy.

Interestingly, I've read a number of comments about the Grace 902/HD-800 pairing that were negative. I've had mixed results with the amps I have here too.

Cost is not an indicator of performance.

HD800s are at least 5 years newer than Qualia, so they SHOULD be better. Even at half the cost.

of course cost does not indicate performance. it does, however, indicate that comparisons are only of use to those who can afford the more costly of the two items in question

i wish one could simply say, as you have, that headphones should - every 5 years - halve in price for better quality. by your logic, i should be able to find headphones that rival the R10's for $500

You can get money for praising the HD-800? I had no idea. Where do I sign up? It'd be nice to earn a few dollars to offset the $1,400.

I think this boils down to taste and preference. I had zero intention of buying the HD-800. I was a little offended by the price - and still am - and had decided to commit to Speaker-Fi instead. After a few thousand into the Linkwitz Orion + and Quad ESL-63, I heard the HD-800 at CanJam.

Damn. They were good. So good, I decided to sell off several pairs and put the proceeds into the HD-800. Believe me, I didn't want to sell the HD-600, DT880, et al., but the HD-800s were that good. So far, I'm very happy with the purchase. Trading off between the HD-800 and Quads leaves me pretty damn close to audio nirvana. No complaints here.

As for the Qualias... I didn't think they were that good at CanJam. Actually, I like the MDR-SA5000 a little better. Again, this is just personal taste. To these ears, the SA5000 was worth keeping, while it was also worth i to sell some headphones for the HD-800.

The OP is honest about his impressions, but don't take that as an indication of overall thoughts on the HD-800. Some of us absolutely love them. I know it's fun to knock dkwn the big kid on the block. Maybe you can count beating up on a popular headphone as a feather in your cap as a reviewer. But a lot of us sincerely love them.

Again, if I can get paid for this opinion, please let me know where to sign up.

Nicely put Uncle Erik. I did not insinuate that so "many" people would profit from promoting the HD800. I merely said "some". I still believe that but I will keep names to myself. This is not a black and white issue here but shades of gray I believe. On one hand, it was just nice to read someone's actual experience with the HD800 that was not covered in pixie dust. On the other hand, your experience with the HD800 is like so "many" here that are very pleased with it's sound quality. Positive or negative, we are all entitled to our opinions and I really like to read about them. Congratulations, by the way, on your Quads. They are some of the best speakers I have ever heard.

Not for me...i have had good experience with the qualias and while they're good, they're pretty sterile sounding to me.
I miss the tone from the music.
I find that after listening to it for a while, I miss the emotional component from music that I get from other headphones.
I do like the hd800s better...they are all-around really good headphones taht sound great if you can get a good source and amp for it.
That being said, I still like the k1000s the best.

HD800 are pretty expensive headphones and likely to be used with equipment costing even more. I'm sure plenty of HD800 buyers will be interested in how HD800s compare to Qualia, R10, K1000, etc. If you're not and $1400 is the highest you can stretch, its okay!

And yes, its quite possible that one day a headphone at a K501 price point will outperform Qualia. Don't expect it anytime soon though.

I have to call you out on this, either PM a MOD with the names of the people that you can prove have gained financially from the promotion of the HD800 (that are not MOTs) or stop repeating the (in my eyes and from what I know) completely baseless accusation. If you can back up what you say we can do somethings about it and the community will be better for it and if you can't you'll need to retract your statement.

I should add that the HD-800 is frighteningly amp dependent. I get a different signature from everything I've plugged them into. I do like them out of the Zana, but I've been leaning a lot more on the Moth lately. At the meet yesterday, I loved them with Donald North's Sonett. I really don't need another amp, but if I were to buy one, that would be it. I wonder if transformer-coupled triodes might be the path to glory with the HD-800.

I've got to put together an electrostat amp pronto (Omega II on the way ), but the next build will be Ciuffoli's SESS with the 417A/5842. I've had the iron and tubes to build one of these for some time, but need to warm up the iron and get to work. I have a suspicion that the HD-800 will be magical with the 417As on transformers.

The HD-800 is amazingly transparent. If the OP doesn't like them with the Grace, it'd be worth trying them with a different amp before dismissing them as a "bad" headphone. I know that swapping amps is an expensive proposition, so it'd probably be best to hit a meet or hook up with another local member for a listen.

Another factor is that it seems that some people need some time with the HD-800 to get fully acquainted. I "got" them right away because they reminded me of the DT48 and my ribbons and Quads in terms of transparency and revelation. As soon as I heard them, I knew they were right for me. But not everyone has spent a lot of time listening to those - there are only a handful of us withe ribbons and the DT48 is a polarizing cult item. But I think it's worth trying a few amps and possibly different sources to maximize the HD-800.

It's also important to keep in mind that the HD-800 is new. We've only had them for a couple of months and haven't yet nailed down the amps they best pair with. This isn't uncommon with top-of-the-line headphones. All of the other high-end pairs have been around for years and consensus has formed over how to get the best out of them. Look at the K-1000 and how tricky it is to amp correctly. Its amplification issues are well known and most of us agree on the right way to handle it. That hasn't quite happened yet with the HD-800, but no one disparages the K-1000 because the amping requirements are well known today.

A year from now, there should be a solid consensus on how to amp the HD-800 to get the best performance. We'll know which amps deliver and which ones don't. But for now, you shouldn't dismiss the HD-800 because of performance with one amp.

Assuming the 010 would still be on the market, which is not the case. The same goes for the R10, or the Orpheus, or the K1000.
Frankly, all these "HD800 vs *legend X headphones*" are interesting for a curiosity or for the (not many I guess) lucky owners of these "legends", but quite useless for other ones. Is the R10 better? Fine, but who cares if I can't buy one...they were discontinued several years ago and the chance of finding a new set is now near to 0%.

Someone in the community that pretty much own all the holy grail of headphones mentioned what the OP said about the HD800 vs the Qualia. That person has great amps and terrific sources as well. I own the R10s and I still am waiting for my HD800s, but I've heard similar impressions of the HD800s as well. As Hopstretch mentioned, sometimes it's different strokes for different folks.