[yzhengyu]

Chiming in on the MrSpeakers line, I didn't find the Dogs or Primes to be particularly outstanding in comparison to the other phones in the price-range I have auditioned in the past. 
 
To be honest, the only planar that has really impressed me thus far has been the LCD-3f - no chance to hear the Abyss or HE-6 yet, so no comments on the two of them. Overall, really well rounded, very nice tone and did very well in detail retrieval on my selected tracks that I didn't miss the HD800. It does have a "closed" feel via it's narrower soundstage, but that wasn't the killer - main issue was that it was heavy and hot and it didn't last more than 20 minutes on my head. 
 
On a side note, while listening to the Dogs and Primes, I saw the TH900 and asked to listen to it. Was instantly drawn to its very unique signature - hey, I have the IE8i and I'm not bothered by its bass.. *coughs* - and after searching for a good deal for it, I now have a pair that just arrived yesterday and is sitting beside my HD800. 

 

[drez]

I suspect it is some kind of resonance from the grill, so the only way to solve that would be to remove the offending part or try to dampen the mechanical vibrations.
 
If you note, the baffle in front of the driver is made from some kind of plastic or something with some cool looking structure to it.
 
The shelf liner probably disrupts the resonance coming off the silver mesh, but seems to affect sound too much for me.

 

[knowhatimean]

  I suspect it is some kind of resonance from the grill, so the only way to solve that would be to remove the offending part or try to dampen the mechanical vibrations.
 
If you note, the baffle in front of the driver is made from some kind of plastic or something with some cool looking structure to it.
 
The shelf liner probably disrupts the resonance coming off the silver mesh, but seems to affect sound too much for me.

I did exactly that today & removed those grills today ! Doing this along with a well implemented "Anax 2" mod helps the HD800 get
out of it's own way & lets whatever qualities your listening system & source material come through.
 
Removing the metal "retainer" ring that is holding down those "grills" was a bit challenging though as the tiny "star bit" screw head
opennings may have been slightly "distorted" (probably from being slightly over torqued a bit) . I had to improvise a very slow, steady technique & consistently be aware of how the screw angle was changing as I was unscrewing these 4  little "B@#$A%DS"
on each ring ! ( I have to be honest & say unless you have a "mind over matter" mindset & willingness to adapt to whatever obstacles
arise , you might want to leave this mod to a rainy day)
 
Thanks go to Maxx134 for posting this & for the suggestions that you sent to me

 

[earthpeople]

  Who here has the WA2 paired with the HD800
 
I may give this combo a go......Is it a worthy option ?

 
I think general consensus is that it's a very solid pairing. I definitely enjoy the two together. 

 

[akhyar]

Does the HD800 pair well with Woo Audio WA7? My initial findings say yes, but just want to confirm that. 

I had that pairing with after-market OCC cable and I liked it a lot.

 

[Sorrodje]

I don't think there's any consensus about woo audio amps. Especially the wa2. Some people hate it. Some other like it. Didn't try myself.

 

[whirlwind]

I don't think there's any consensus about woo audio amps. Especially the wa2. Some people hate it. Some other like it. Didn't try myself.

Well.....in most of my inquiries.....most people seem to think it is a very nice amp when paired with the HD800.....some have called it analogue sounding, some say it is too laid back......so I am getting a good vibe about it

 

[Sorrodje]

  Well.....in most of my inquiries.....most people seem to think it is a very nice amp when paired with the HD800.....some have called it analogue sounding, some say it is too laid back......so I am getting a good vibe about it

 
Yup but some people think it's too slow and tubey to do justice to the HD800. Just saying

 

[knowhatimean]

 

  Well.....in most of my inquiries.....most people seem to think it is a very nice amp when paired with the HD800.....some have called it analogue sounding, some say it is too laid back......so I am getting a good vibe about it

 
Yup but some people think it's too slow and tubey to do justice to the HD800. Just saying

The thing you have to realize is that a lot of people these days seem to love using upsampling DACs. It is my belief these DACs
aren't as "Synergistically" a good match w/ the HD800 as any other speakers or headphones they may be using.
 
The HD800 is only trying to "resolve" (because of it's technical capabilities to do so) whatever upper frequency information is presented to it. As a result people end up assigning the blame of how their music sounds to these headphones. They are only "reproducing"
what they were "designed" to "reproduce".
 
What many people end up doing is to "blunt" the DAC / HP "semi- handshake" to fix the HD800s "rebellion" is to use a Tube amp.
Depending on the design of the tube amp & how "dynamic" their music of choice normally is, they may only occasionally notice
a "Tubey" characteristic (or they may not.
 
I find it a continuous source of entertainment when I read what people have automatically assumed what the HD800 needs !
 
Sennheiser should have very slightly "reduced" the technical capabilities of these headphones or (& this makes more sense to me)
been way more specific about what kind of equipment they don't feel works with this TOTL headphone (if you expect TOTL performance
from them)

 

[Justin_Time]

The thing you have to realize is that a lot of people these days seem to love using upsampling DACs. It is my belief these DACs
aren't as "Synergistically" a good match w/ the HD800 as any other speakers or headphones they may be using.
 
The HD800 is only trying to "resolve" (because of it's technical capabilities to do so) whatever upper frequency information is presented to it. As a result people end up assigning the blame of how their music sounds to these headphones. They are only "reproducing"
what they were "designed" to "reproduce".
 
What many people end up doing is to "blunt" the DAC / HP "semi- handshake" to fix the HD800s "rebellion" is to use a Tube amp.
Depending on the design of the tube amp & how "dynamic" their music of choice normally is, they may only occasionally notice
a "Tubey" characteristic (or they may not.
 
I find it a continuous source of entertainment when I read what people have automatically assumed what the HD800 needs !
 
Sennheiser should have very slightly "reduced" the technical capabilities of these headphones or (& this makes more sense to me)
been way more specific about what kind of equipment they don't feel works with this TOTL headphone (if you expect TOTL performance
from them)

 


It is my humble opinion that no one single audio gear is perfect, claims to the contrary by manufacturers or avid fans nothwithstading.

So it makes sense to me that we should select the links of the sonic chain to work synergistically together, maximizing their strength and minimizing their shortcomings--this is easier said than done as the sonic signature of each component cannot be isolated but only deduced from different combinations and permutations of links in the chain.

It has been known for a long time in the audio world that a "high-resolution" componhent like the HD800 (and also the HE-6 in my opinion) is at once a blessing, when everything else in the chain performs flawlessly, and a curse when there is a major flaw in one or several components in the chain.

It is like a person who always tells the truth. Sometimes a white lie may the lesser of two evils.

 

[longbowbbs]

 

  The thing you have to realize is that a lot of people these days seem to love using upsampling DACs. It is my belief these DACs
aren't as "Synergistically" a good match w/ the HD800 as any other speakers or headphones they may be using.
 
The HD800 is only trying to "resolve" (because of it's technical capabilities to do so) whatever upper frequency information is presented to it. As a result people end up assigning the blame of how their music sounds to these headphones. They are only "reproducing"
what they were "designed" to "reproduce".
 
What many people end up doing is to "blunt" the DAC / HP "semi- handshake" to fix the HD800s "rebellion" is to use a Tube amp.
Depending on the design of the tube amp & how "dynamic" their music of choice normally is, they may only occasionally notice
a "Tubey" characteristic (or they may not.
 
I find it a continuous source of entertainment when I read what people have automatically assumed what the HD800 needs !
 
Sennheiser should have very slightly "reduced" the technical capabilities of these headphones or (& this makes more sense to me)
been way more specific about what kind of equipment they don't feel works with this TOTL headphone (if you expect TOTL performance
from them)

 


It is my humble opinion that no one single audio gear is perfect, claims to the contrary by manufacturers or avid fans nothwithstading.

So it makes sense to me that we should select the links of the sonic chain to work synergistically together, maximizing their strength and minimizing their shortcomings--this is easier said than done as the sonic signature of each component cannot be isolated but only deduced from different combinations and permutations of links in the chain.

It has been known for a long time in the audio world that a "high-resolution" componhent like the HD800 (and also the HE-6 in my opinion) is at once a blessing, when everything else in the chain performs flawlessly, and a curse when there is a major flaw in one or several components in the chain.

It is like a person who always tells the truth. Sometimes a white lie may the lesser of two evils.

The chain is the thing.....

 

[zilch0md]

My HD800 is happiest here...



FiiO X5 Coaxial Out > Metrum Octave MkII (NOS DAC) > Metrum Aurix (zero-feedback, transistor-less, tube-less amplifier)

 

[skeptic]

Nice.  So the Aurix is kind of like the ECP black diamond?  Looks like it does actually use a couple of fet's though.
 

  The Aurix design was created where voltage gain is achieved via a so-called step-up transformer, instead of transistors or tubes. Only two FET transistors are utilised to convert the signal from the step-up transformer into power, which plays into the strength of these semiconductors.”, says Rujtenberg.

 
Will have to add this to the short list of amps to try and sample in the future.

 

[zilch0md]

I should have said that gain is not achieved via use of transistors or tubes, but rather, via a step-up transformer (magnetic induction).
 
It's got a toggle switch at the rear for 0 dB gain (acting just as a passive pre with analog volume control) or 10 dB gain (bringing the step-up transformer into play.)
 
  Quoting the 6moons review:
 

 
 
For the HD800, beyerdude finds the Metrum Aurix to be very similar to his WA6SE with good tubes:
 

 
The HD800 do sound more euphonic with the 10db gain switched on, I spent some time a-b ing between the two and there is a greater sense of dynamics in the music, more energy, more emotion/scale - the HD800 sound very similar through the Aurix at 10db to the WA6SE with a good set of tubes - so again I would absolutely agree it does to some degree achieve a tubelike sound (The WA6SE is one of the least tube like amps I have heard which for me is ideal for the HD800 but not for some other headphones like the DT880 600ohm) - The HD800 with a good OTL amp sounded syrupy and over euphonic - it was a solution too far to solve the shortcomings of the HD800 - initially very pleasing but the thicker meatier bass and less detailed/rolled off treble in the end destroyed all that I like about the HD800. 
 
I am not so sure about the treble roll off with the 10db gain enabled - it is not simply a matter of pure decibel gain - there is something else being added to the music (ahhhh so vague) - but maybe it  is simply a case of the additional voltage more suiting the HD800. I might revisit the gain switch and confirm this - as you said if there were any roll off then it would be very slight.
 

 
Mike

 

[skeptic]

   
Yup but some people think it's too slow and tubey to do justice to the HD800. Just saying

 
/signed 

  It is very nice with hd650's - a full lush amp with gorgeous case work that will be particularly pleasing with some genres, but you aren't going to hear all the details, dynamics and speed that the hd800's offer.  Then again, maybe this is the preference of some listeners?
 
The topology also seems a little outdated at this point though.  For > $1k, an OTL headamp should, at a minimum IMO, load the tubes with constant current and use nice quality film output caps.  WA3/WA2 do neither (unless you mod them like crazy like grindingthud), whereas a bottlehead crack with simple diy cap upgrades ticks both boxes for less than half the money.  YMMV and all that jazz.  
 

  I should have said that gain is not achieved via use of transistors or tubes, but rather, via a step-up transformer (magnetic induction).
 
It's got a toggle switch at the rear for 0 dB gain (acting just as a passive pre with analog volume control) or 10 dB gain (bringing the step-up transformer into play.)
 
  Quoting the 6moons review:
 
 
For the HD800, beyerdude finds the Metrum Aurix to be very similar to his WA6SE with good tubes:
 
 
Mike
 

 
Great post and thanks for the explanation!  Definitely sounds like a nice match for hd800's with an interesting design uniquely suited for driving headphones.