HD800-are they worth their price when compared to other dynamic headphones that have a 1000$+... - Page 3

Yes.

X2 regarding the Harbeths, no headphone is even close in midrange or its musicality.

As far as the comments regarding the K1000, which I owned for about 3 years and used them with several speaker based amps from Mark Levinson, Classe and Cary, it has no low bass. I even tried a REL subwoofer with it, but I might as well listen to speakers if I had do that to get any bass. IMO, K340 is better than the K1000. My only fond memory of the K1000 was that after purchasing them brand new for $375, I was able to sell them for about $1000.

Compared to the K1000 and the Edition 9 that I owned, the HD800 is well worth the price.

@OP They don't suck, they're just less refined. 32 gauge silver plated copper really isn't the best size, or kind of material for these cans.

Very much so.

I think part of it may be that a lot of music is badly recorded and thus doesn't sound pleasing on HD800s, while other headphones may color badly recorded music. I don't find HD650 to be particularly revealing, compared to HD800 that is, so it's good for listening to most anything and being moderately entertained. For well recorded stuff, with the rest of your gear optimal, the HD800 is scary good. You'd have to be deaf not to see its vast superiority to cheaper cans, although I still need to hear Omega2s, K1000s, R10s. All I know is, I am very happy with them. They don't seem to do anything badly.

K1000 are in another league than PS1000, GS1000, HD800, E9, etc. when properly amped. Say, kind of fully modded ASL Twin Head MkIII with DACTs, teflon tube sockets, CCa drivers, 45 Mesh Plate from EML, other NOS tubes in the PSU, all of that for the purpose of pre-amplifier + Croft Polestar w/Mullard 8137 as the power stage. But coming back to Earth, I prefer GS1000, GS1000i, PS1000, O2 MkI, K1000 and E8 to HD800. E9 - I don't. Talking about the ATH-AD2000 here I find as a joke. It's a good competitor for $200 headphones. SR325i are more natural.

Oh, Chuck!

I respectfully submit that it may be time for ol' Chuck to bang the big Gong in the sky and call a moratorium on HD-800 threads.

Yeah, these threads suck a nut. If you are so curious, demo it, buy it, or go to a meet. They're good, according to a percentage of people. Enough.

I too have ears and I must maintain my opinion of the HD800.....insofar that they're actually pretty good headphones! Wait....what?!

Ok I admit it, I was intentionally playing up my previous post (as serious as it looked when it really wasn't intended to be serious) to be more contentious than what I actually wanted to imply, simply for the sake of provoking a similarly contentious response. Sorry, won't do it again. I was motivated to do it after seeing so many positive impressions of the HD800 here on Head-Fi and since my own experience hasn't been quite as positive I thought I would provide an overly negative opinion to counteract.

That said, I think I should further clarify my points against the HD800. Disregard the previous post as I made just about every point to be overly contentious and more negative-sounding than my actual experience.

1 - I do vastly prefer the HP1000 and OII MKI over the HD800. This is just me of course though.
2 - The HD800, HP1000, and OII MKI are different flavors for different folks. The latter two are not necessarily superior to the former.
3 - In terms of speed only, in my experience the HD800 is moderately fast, and faster than most other dynamic headphones, but not as fast as the Sony Qualia 010 or Audio-Technica AD2000.
4 - I'd still maintain I've never been impressed by the HD800 in all the configurations that I've heard it in (with respect to source, amp, & cables), though this could certainly change if I heard it in the right system. I also have some doubts that the HD800 will ever impress me either, as I have previous experience with amps, cables, & balanced mode.
5 - I didn't say the HD800 was terrible in terms of treble, bass, dynamic range, mid-range, and speed, only that it was lacking in those aspects. I also did not say by how much it was lacking either.
6 - I'd also still maintain the HD800 could have been faster. It's not the fastest dynamic headphone on the planet you know, and there are several headphones that eclipse it: the two I've mentioned, plus the AT W5000, Sony SA5000, Grado RS1, etc.

I'll also put my opinion of the HD800 in the proper perspective and summarize my thoughts on it. First, I've heard and owned many headphones (a full list is available in my profile) over the last 3.5 years. At this point, I've heard all the headphones I've wanted to and I now own the ones that bring me the most satisfaction for my unique preferences. I would call myself a treble-head - I value treble highly and I think it's one of the most overlooked aspects of SQ. There is only one headphone that meets my treble preferences, the Qualia. There is also only one headphone that meets my bass preferences, the AD2000. I could've been happy with just those two but the HP1000 threw a monkey wrench when I heard it and I decided I had to own it as well for its amazing mid-range and rendition of classical and jazz music. On the electrostatic side, the OII MKI amazes me despite the fact that it has neither the AD2000's bass, the Qualia's treble, or the HP1000's mid-range, and so that's why I own it as well. Compared to these headphones, I could find no reason to keep the HD800 long-term. It didn't have the AD2000's bass or speed, or the Qualia's treble, or the HP1000's mid-range, or the OII MKI's level of detail and smoothness throughout the frequency range (which I didn't find out until after I sold it of course). It was not the all-in-one headphone that I wanted it to be and when it came down to it, the other headphones doing what they did best made a more convincing case for multiple headphones rather than one that fell short in multiple areas. But just because I found the HD800 lackluster (as far as meeting my expectations) doesn't mean it's bad either, it's still a fine headphone in most aspects - I just wouldn't call it outstanding. I wouldn't call the HP1000 outstanding either for that matter, but I would call the OII MKI outstanding, at least when it's properly amped and sourced.

7 - Dollars can't be equated to sound quality, especially when most headphones are designed to have a specific type of sound and the perception of this sound is subjective.

To me the HD 800 is also a terrific headphone but not perfect, like the K 1000 (both properly amplified).
I would rate both one league higher than GS/PS 1000 and Edition 8/9 (which I like nonetheless).

Although I really like the HD800's and consider them todays best, current production headphone, I get a lot of musical satisfaction out of other headphones. The R10's were an extremely difficult headphone to sell, as they made all music some alluring shade of gorgeous. The K1000's were also stunning. One thing about the K1000's though, and how should I say it? When worn, they make the wearer look, well, "unique." As I do all of my headphone listening at work, I just could not bring myself to wear them in the public place, no matter how good they sounded.

So now, the HD800's are sitting on the table gathering dust as I enjoy the heck out of the SA5000's and CD3000's. As ASR said, the SA5000's in particular are an extremely fast headphone (especially balanced), and the balanced CD3000's have a touch of that old R10 magic.

But when I put the HD800's back on, I just know these are the best headphones I own.

Thanks for your impressions. I really appreciate the input from people who actually own the headphones they talk about.

Asr, I appreciate the clarification. Reading your second post, your first post now makes a lot more sense to me. I think I get it.

I am looking for one really great headphone to use for all of my music. The HD800 has compromises to be sure, but it's a good all-rounder. I am willing to accept that some characteristics are out-performed by other phones in order to get a phone that does everything really well and pleases me sonically with a wide variety of music.

The difference is that you are looking for exceptional and have sought out many options to find the one that pleases you most in the particular areas that you value most. I haven't gone through that exercise (and maybe never will). I guess you could say the HD800 is "great phones for dummies" or maybe for the lazy.



My universe has more "outstanding" headphones than yours. Maybe I throw that around too often and thus devalue it. I am also less experienced than a lot of others here, having heard a lot of phones briefly but not having owned a lot of phones. So I am willing to accept that my "outstanding" might not really be outstanding. But I have spent a lifetime (and it's a long one, trust me) listening to music on high-end speaker systems and I know great sound when I hear it. The HD800's deliver great sound for me with my system and my music. Since it is a solo hi-fi, I guess that's all that matters here.

Just make sure you don't go blind!