Sennheiser HD800 - need help please :) - Page 2

I'm more in favor of getting a nice amp and source first, then go for the phones.

I think one could be dissapointed in some really good phones and sell them off again just because they tried them not properly amped. And since your budget isn't that limited you could get some really nice gear.

Haven't made the calculation though, as you can find a lot here on Head-Fi used from nice people at a decent price.

Not going to comment much on the DAC side since I'm looking into it myself atm, but for a reasonable price I'd look at the Matrix Quattro, Apogee Duet 2 or Onkyo DAC-1000 amongst others mentioned here. Haven't heard any of these but these were recommended to me or have nice reviews by more than a few people and are priced right.

Amp wise, if you want to amp a HD650 and HD800 later on and you want big bang for the buck, look no further than an SPL Auditor. I had the Phonitor (which should be the same ampwise, just with crossfeed added) and I can tell you, it's high end sound with all the power you'll ever need. I even used it with the AKG K1000 with good results.

For the phones, the HD800's are great but completely different from the HD650's. Out of the box I wasn't too thrilled with the 650's since they were too bassy for my ears and had the "Sennheiser veil" everyone talks about. A silver cable took care of both problems and I must say now they are amongst the best phones I have. I often prefer them to my HD 800's since I like their warmer and more intimate sound over the very airy and spacious HD800 sound.

And no, I'm not a cable upgrade fan, these are my only phones that have a different cable and they need it.

So I'd look for a recabled HD650 here on Head-Fi if I were in your shoes. Just make sure the cable is silver.

/ end rant / or those are my ears subjective opinions anyway 

Quote:

Originally Posted by AppleheadMay 

I'm more in favor of getting a nice amp and source first, then go for the phones.

I think one could be dissapointed in some really good phones and sell them off again just because they tried them not properly amped. And since your budget isn't that limited you could get some really nice gear.

Haven't made the calculation though, as you can find a lot here on Head-Fi used from nice people at a decent price.

 

Not going to comment much on the DAC side since I'm looking into it myself atm, but for a reasonable price I'd look at the Matrix Quattro, Apogee Duet 2 or Onkyo DAC-1000 amongst others mentioned here. Haven't heard any of these but these were recommended to me or have nice reviews by more than a few people and are priced right.

 

Amp wise, if you want to amp a HD650 and HD800 later on and you want big bang for the buck, look no further than an SPL Auditor. I had the Phonitor (which should be the same ampwise, just with crossfeed added) and I can tell you, it's high end sound with all the power you'll ever need. I even used it with the AKG K1000 with good results.

 

For the phones, the HD800's are great but completely different from the HD650's. Out of the box I wasn't too thrilled with the 650's since they were too bassy for my ears and had the "Sennheiser veil" everyone talks about. A silver cable took care of both problems and I must say now they are amongst the best phones I have. I often prefer them to my HD 800's since I like their warmer and more intimate sound over the very airy and spacious HD800 sound.

And no, I'm not a cable upgrade fan, these are my only phones that have a different cable and they need it.

So I'd look for a recabled HD650 here on Head-Fi if I were in your shoes. Just make sure the cable is silver.

 

/ end rant / or those are my ears subjective opinions anyway 

Like I said, I opted to dish out my money on a pair of nice headphones first and have no regrets doing so.  I used my T1s with a Fiio E7/E9 for quite some time before upgrading to a Meier Concerto/HRT MS II and the T1s still sounded amazing to me on the E7/E9.  A good pair of headphones may not perform to their full potential when inappropriately amped but they won't sound like garbage.

If you like a warmer and more intimate sound than the HD800, why not look into the T1s yourself? 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saintly 

Like I said, I opted to dish out my money on a pair of nice headphones first and have no regrets doing so.  I used my T1s with a Fiio E7/E9 for quite some time before upgrading to a Meier Concerto/HRT MS II and the T1s still sounded amazing to me on the E7/E9.  A good pair of headphones may not perform to their full potential when inappropriately amped but they won't sound like garbage.

 

If you like a warmer and more intimate sound than the HD800, why not look into the T1s yourself? 

 

Beyerdynamic and Ultrasone are the brands I still have to try out. From what I have read I think Beyer will be to my liking, Ultrasone probably not.

I found a store that has both along with Grado, ATH and Sennheiser and they have the better stuff in stock. It's 500km back and forth though so I have been trying forever to find the time to get there. I was there once but they din't do Beyer yet then and the ED8 was out on a loan ... bad luck I guess.

I am certainly not discarding Beyer, just would like to try it first, or find it at a reasonable price here on Head-Fi so I can sell it off without much loss in the event it's not my sound.

I do indeed like a more intimate sound, but for classical the space the HD800 gives is priceless though. I grab the 650's when I listen to rock, sometimes for jazz as well.

I'm anxious to hear the T1 though.

It was between the T1 and HD800 for me when I was deciding on a pair.  After looking through reviews and impressions, I chose the T1 for the richer and more engaging sound although some say the HD800 may have a slight advantage in resolution.

In any event, the T1 is wonderful and the sound stage is by no means small, so it will suffice for classical.  Vocals are where the magic lies though.

I'm still very curious about the HD 800.  So many what-ifs...

Vocals and magic? Damn, I was secretly hoping that I wouldn't like it.

Will be one more brand of phones added to my inventory then. 

my hd800 has started to sound amazing after i've purchased this :

http://www.qeslabs.com/e_listening.asp

the amp works with Current drive: in the dynamic transducers, it's the current flowing through the voice coil which produces the magnetic field which interacts with the magnetic field of the magnet in the driver that causes the diaphragm to move back and forth. Thus a constant current amplifier has several advantages over the usual constant voltage amps: A current source amplifier delivers a precise current to the voice coil of the loudspeaker driver, ignoring the series impedance elements in the circuit, including the wire, connectors, the inductance of the voice coil, the resistance of the voice coil versus temperature, and so on, delivering higher accuracy and linearity.

The amp a very good dac and a really good balanced copper cable are the keys to put the hd800 in conditions to unleash their potential.

I've been mastering audio for some years using headphones a lot.

Hd800 are a big step ahead in the world of dynamic headphones especially when properly balanced driven

Quote:

Originally Posted by fradoca 

my hd800 has started to sound amazing after i've purchased this :

 

http://www.qeslabs.com/e_listening.asp

 

the amp works with Current drive: in the dynamic transducers, it's the current flowing through the voice coil which produces the magnetic field which interacts with the magnetic field of the magnet in the driver that causes the diaphragm to move back and forth. Thus a constant current amplifier has several advantages over the usual constant voltage amps: A current source amplifier delivers a precise current to the voice coil of the loudspeaker driver, ignoring the series impedance elements in the circuit, including the wire, connectors, the inductance of the voice coil, the resistance of the voice coil versus temperature, and so on, delivering higher accuracy and linearity.

 

The amp a very good dac and a really good balanced copper cable are the keys to put the hd800 in conditions to unleash their potential.

 

I've been mastering audio for some years using headphones a lot.

 

Hd800 are a big step ahead in the world of dynamic headphones especially when properly balanced driven

Uhh.. 164 ohm output impedance for your 300 ohm headphones?  You don't care about dampening factor, do you?
 

Saintly,

you should try the combo and don't look only at specs.

I've tried many many different amps with my previous set of headphones(mainly the hd 600) and this one with the hd 800 is really the best.

I don't consider myself an audiophile but a mastering engineer.People use ears in different manners.I've had the chance to test the hd 800 of a friend with my amp for a couple of hours in my studio with reference material.

If you want neutrality and a really high end monitoring system through headphones you should seriously consider this one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fradoca 

Saintly,

you should try the combo and don't look only at specs.

I've tried many many different amps with my previous set of headphones(mainly the hd 600) and this one with the hd 800 is really the best.

I don't consider myself an audiophile but a mastering engineer.People use ears in different manners.I've had the chance to test the hd 800 of a friend with my amp for a couple of hours in my studio with reference material.

If you want neutrality and a really high end monitoring system through headphones you should seriously consider this one.

I understand that real world results are what matters ultimately, but specs provide an insight into how things will perform.

With that said, I'm neither a serious audiophile nor a mastering engineer.  I aim to enjoy music and the Meier Concerto with T1 is good enough for now.  

by the way current driven headphone amplifiers don't need or don't have damping factor.

Damping factor is only valid for voltage-driven amplifiers.

The difference, therefore, between voltage-driven and current-driven amplifiers
is that in the first case the current in the coil is created in a vague and indirect way,
while in the latter case, power is supplied directly and more precisely.

My HD800s sounded way better on a Audio-GD Compass DAC than my HD650's sounded on the same. And yes, they sound even better through the StageDAC/Leben combo. Get the best head phones you can afford and a get a decent DAC/Amp. You can get a used HD800 for under a grand and the get any number of decent combo DAC/AMPs for 500 or less and still be under 1800. You can get a new HD800 and spend 300 on an inexpensive DAC/AMP, but better than the FIIO combo the OP had for about 1800. Any of these choices will sound waaaaay better than an HD650 or HD600 with a 1000 DAC + AMP.

Quote:

Originally Posted by shabta 

My HD800s sounded way better on a Audio-GD Compass DAC than my HD650's sounded on the same. And yes, they sound even better through the StageDAC/Leben combo. Get the best head phones you can afford and a get a decent DAC/Amp. You can get a used HD800 for under a grand and the get any number of decent combo DAC/AMPs for 500 or less and still be under 1800. You can get a new HD800 and spend 300 on an inexpensive DAC/AMP, but better than the FIIO combo the OP had for about 1800. Any of these choices will sound waaaaay better than an HD650 or HD600 with a 1000 DAC + AMP.

 

 

Seconded.

So for the ~1k mark what do you guys think is best bang for buck for the HD 800

Audio GD Phoenix

Woo Audio WA2

something else?

I know they are different (one being ss and other tube) but in a general matter of sense?

Still in favor of the Auditor here, less than 1k but certainly worth more.

It's got the power to drive the HD800 and the sound is wonderful.