[roguegeek]

 
Just don't go to a meet and hear it out of something like the Cavalli Liquid Glass and you'll be good. It's too late for me. Unfortunately I can't unhear it.

Well thankfully that's out of the range I want to pay.

 

[kugino]

   A quote with no reference to the comment does not make too much sense, does it ) ?
 
I haven't mentioned anything about wire gauge but you are right about that.
The current needed to be transported for a headphone usually doesn't pose a challenge for the wire.
 
What I was referring to were connections.
Every connection is worse than a straight wire. A high quality connection is less worse ). Therefore hard wiring, when the connection is not really needed, is optimizing the signal path.

aah, right. wrong post i quoted. it was the post where he mentioned that the internal wires were so thin and were being replaced by thicker gauge wires. thanks for clarifying...

 

[Blasyrkh]

   certainly any connection in the signal path that is not necessary can potentially degrade SQ.

by how much? what does it improve?
 
i don't want to be mean, but for me it's ridicolous....maybe you should hardwire EVERY connection in your system to gain some benefits

 

[TwoEars]

Perhaps it's not possible to hear the difference between hardwired and not.
 
Perhaps it's not possible to hear an extra connector in the signal chain.
 
Perhaps it's not possible to hear the difference between thicker wires or thinner wires.
 
Perhaps it's not possible to hear the difference between generic supermarket interconnects and hifi ones.
 
Perhaps it's not possible to hear the difference between balanced or single ended.
 
But add it all together and maybe you have something that is more than the sum of its parts? Hmmm?

 
Rewiring my HD800's is one of the best mods I've done to any of my hifi gear. For me it has lifted the HD800 up onto a platform where it sounds not only equal or different than the LCD-2/3/X, but to my ears and for my tastes, clearly better.
 
Rememeber that this is the High-End section, the constant strive for perfection is nothing new here. It is possible I could get the majority of the percieved improvement by simply changing the cable, and not hardwiring. But I could do it, so I did it. It was a fun project and I'm more than happy with the combined result.
 
If you don't want to do it, you don't have to.

 
 
I just wanted to share something fun for you guys to get inspired by.

 

[Blasyrkh]

  Perhaps you can't hear the difference between hardwired and not.
 
Perhaps you can't hear an extra connector in the signal chain.
 
Perhaps you can't hear the difference between thicker wires or thinner wires.
 
Perhaps you can't hear the difference between generic supermarket interconnects and hifi ones.
 
Perhaps you can't hear the difference between balanced or single ended.
 
But add it all together and maybe you have something that is more than the sum of its parts? Hmmm?

 
Rewiring my HD800's is one of the best mods I've done to any of my hifi gear. For me it has lifted the HD800 up onto a platform where it sounds not only equal or different than the LCD-2/3/X, but to my ears and for my tastes, clearly better.
 
Rememeber that this is the High-End section, the constant strive for perfection is nothing new here. It is possible I could the majority of the percieved improvement by simply changing the cable, and not hardwiring. But I could do it, so I did it.
 
It was a fun project and I'm more than happy with the combined result. If you don't want to, you don't have to.

 

 
but it would be much more interesting to understand the benefits of hardwiring....
if you didn't listen to the same non-hw cable you could not compare, and my words have the same weight as yours

 

[rydenfan]

So count me as another believer. HD800's ordered today. I always enjoyed them in the past but never "needed" them until the recent demo with my Auralic stack. I can't wait!

 

[James-uk]

I find that a regular listening session with the stock cable and O2/odac is the best way to keep me grounded in this crazy hobby. I have 'better' gear but honestly who am I kidding it's all about the headphones and the hd800 sound like the hd800 in any which way you attach them to the source.

 

[bearFNF]

  Perhaps it's not possible to hear the difference between generic supermarket interconnects and hifi ones.

Whoa, cool supermarket that would have headphone interconnects...

 
Also, I appreciate your sharing your mod, thanks.

 

[TwoEars]

I meant cheapies like these

 

 
 
Also - no problem!

 

[icebear]

  by how much? what does it improve?
 
i don't want to be mean, but for me it's ridicolous....maybe you should hardwire EVERY connection in your system to gain some benefits

Every plug connection has metal to metal contact. It depends on the matching specs of the dimensions of plug and receptacle how good the connection is mechanically. In most cases these surfaces are not of identical materials. Consequently you'll have local voltages that promote corrosion. If you keep the connections spanking clean, you'll have the best case scenario. Dust, fingerprints, sweat, humidity and what not can and will degrade the connection.
A straight wire will obviously eliminate all of these negative influences but hey, if that's all ridiculous to you anyway, then don't worry and enjoy your set up

.

 

[paradoxper]

Unless you've heard a hardwired HD800 and didn't think much of it, shutup. Firsthand experience
counts for everything and everything else counts for nothing.
 
Twoears, very nice job. Pretty cool that you did it yourself considering most go with James or Robert.

 

[James-uk]

Every plug connection has metal to metal contact. It depends on the matching specs of the dimensions of plug and receptacle how good the connection is mechanically. In most cases these surfaces are not of identical materials. Consequently you'll have local voltages that promote corrosion. If you keep the connections spanking clean, you'll have the best case scenario. Dust, fingerprints, sweat, humidity and what not can and will degrade the connection.
A straight wire will obviously eliminate all of these negative influences but hey, if that's all ridiculous to you anyway, then don't worry and enjoy your set up .

Now that's an interesting point . Hadn't thought of it like that.

 

[Blasyrkh]

 
Every plug connection has metal to metal contact. It depends on the matching specs of the dimensions of plug and receptacle how good the connection is mechanically. In most cases these surfaces are not of identical materials. Consequently you'll have local voltages that promote corrosion. If you keep the connections spanking clean, you'll have the best case scenario. Dust, fingerprints, sweat, humidity and what not can and will degrade the connection.
A straight wire will obviously eliminate all of these negative influences but hey, if that's all ridiculous to you anyway, then don't worry and enjoy your set up

.

 
that's the theory, and i think you are right....what I want to know is in practice what does it improve and by how much, because we are talking about good connections, not bad rusty ones

 

[TwoEars]

It's quite fun to make your own cable actually. If anyone wants to try you can you can find HD800 connectors here:
 
http://www.moon-audio.com/sennheiser-hd800-diy-headphone-connectors.html
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Large-Custom-Sennheiser-HD800-Connectors-for-DIY-plusSound-/271450421117?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f33b4b77d
 

 
Soldering these bad boys is probably the hardest part of any HD800 cable build since they are a bit small. But if you take your time it shouldn't be too difficult.
 
After that I would recommend neutrik plugs, canare or mogami microphone cable and techflex expandable sleeving. You can get most of it from ebay or stores that do studio and stage equipment. And both moon audio and partsconnexion carry a lot of nice stuff.
 
I got lucky and in my home town I found a small firm that did speaker repairs job, they carried a lot of stuff and let me buy some stuff from them.
 
Don't forget some adhesive shrink tubing, and if you can find a Y-shrink (can be hard to find) that will make it look real professional:
 

 
You'll need a basic soldering iron, some thin 60/40 solder and a small portable heat gun ($10) like this (for the heat shink):
 

 
And... not much else actually. A pair of wirestrippers and a pair of small diagonal cutters is nice and I would recommend it, but a pair of scissors will do the job if you're careful.

 

[icebear]

   
that's the theory, and i think you are right....what I want to know is in practice what does it improve and by how much, because we are talking about good connections, not bad rusty ones

It depends what you are looking for to achieve in your set up. If a live feeling of the performance, the illusion of being there and the musicians playing in your room, rather the obvious just reproduction of preserved sound from what ever source, then a there might be just a small step that makes all the difference. Obviously if you are looking for a rating increase in percentages, then go buy one of these advertising hifi magazines and you'll get the difference in black and white numbers

.