The (new) HD800 Impressions Thread
May 31, 2015 at 6:35 PM Post #18,811 of 28,976
Bass on HD800 goes quite deep enough in terms of frequency. The problem for people who listen to rock or reggae, for example, is that the weight of the low end is quite light, so not much punch or weight. I am not a bass head but always found HD800 lacking in that regard even with very powerful amps, excellent cans though they otherwise are. Bass will be excellent for classical etc.


It's easy to fix with an EQ if you need more bass. 
 
May 31, 2015 at 6:45 PM Post #18,812 of 28,976
May 31, 2015 at 6:57 PM Post #18,813 of 28,976
When i listen to electronic music the drivers pound on my eardrums and feel the pressure ,so anything more than that will be crazy for me.
Maybe i have a"bass heavy" pair lol, because some describe variations of sound with different sets, but i am not sure.
 
May 31, 2015 at 8:48 PM Post #18,814 of 28,976
Just pulled the trigger on an HD800 today. Looking forward to hear the differences between some of my other headphones. Based on some of the comments in this thread, I am also going to enjoy trying these out on different amps. Should be a fun journey.
 
May 31, 2015 at 11:09 PM Post #18,815 of 28,976
deleted
 
Jun 1, 2015 at 4:34 PM Post #18,816 of 28,976
  Wow really? The Crack can be bright with the HD800's? If so, I think it's absolutely not an option for me 
triportsad.gif

 
To elaborate a little, this will depend on your tubes, listening level, particular pair of hd800's and whether or not you are willing to try the anax mod (which seriously takes less than an hour to make and can be dropped in and taken out again in less than a minute if you don't like it/want to experiment from track to track).  Crack and hd800's do not ever sound lean and bright together, like the O2, and will give the hd800's some of the same subtle fullness you get with your hd650's.  In fact, due to the relatively high output impedance, hd800's get a small bass boost out of the crack and other OTL amps due to the headphone's own impedance curve.  Purrin posted graphs of this on another site that you can find if you google up hd800 and 120 ohm IEC standard.
 
That said, because of the small peak most hd800's have at ~6khz, with certain music, the pairing can be bright on occasion when compared to amps with really refined highs and presumably lower high order and transient distortion.  Tubes also make a big difference here.  Combos that are great with hd650's, like a clear top and 5998, can be brighter that what was ideal to my ears, than, for example, a tungsol or amperex 12au7 and a good 6080 or 6as7g.  All in all, a good but not perfect, combo.
 
FWIW, if I ever had to compromise my main rig by selling either my hd800's or mainline, I would prefer to live with the mainline and hd650's as opposed to crack and hd800's.
 
Jun 4, 2015 at 8:51 AM Post #18,819 of 28,976
   
 
 
FWIW, if I ever had to compromise my main rig by selling either my hd800's or mainline, I would prefer to live with the mainline and hd650's as opposed to crack and hd800's.

Nope. I had a HD650 and a few barely ok amps when I got the hd800. I would definitely take an hd800 with a mediocre amp over an HD650 and a great amp... Just to prove the point that YMMV...
 
Jun 4, 2015 at 10:17 AM Post #18,820 of 28,976
  Nope. I had a HD650 and a few barely ok amps when I got the hd800. I would definitely take an hd800 with a mediocre amp over an HD650 and a great amp... Just to prove the point that YMMV...


I concur.  I've no doubt the HD800 scales nicely, but I feel the whole notion about it sounding horrible on entry level stuff is blown out of proportion.  I even quite like it out of my macbook air or iMac.  Regardless of the upstream gear however, I always tame its treble with EQ and give the sub-bass a bit of a boost.
 
Jun 4, 2015 at 10:24 AM Post #18,821 of 28,976
 
I concur.  I've no doubt the HD800 scales nicely, but I feel the whole notion about it sounding horrible on entry level stuff is blown out of proportion.  I even quite like it out of my macbook air or iMac.  Regardless of the upstream gear however, I always tame its treble with EQ and give the sub-bass a bit of a boost.


+1
 
 
Gotta love elitism. 
 
Jun 4, 2015 at 10:33 AM Post #18,822 of 28,976
I concur.  I've no doubt the HD800 scales nicely, but I feel the whole notion about it sounding horrible on entry level stuff is blown out of proportion.  I even quite like it out of my macbook air or iMac.  Regardless of the upstream gear however, I always tame its treble with EQ and give the sub-bass a bit of a boost.
+2
 
Jun 4, 2015 at 11:38 AM Post #18,823 of 28,976
 
I concur.  I've no doubt the HD800 scales nicely, but I feel the whole notion about it sounding horrible on entry level stuff is blown out of proportion.  I even quite like it out of my macbook air or iMac.  Regardless of the upstream gear however, I always tame its treble with EQ and give the sub-bass a bit of a boost.


 
Jun 4, 2015 at 12:31 PM Post #18,825 of 28,976
Just take the first opportunity to listen a totl rig... then decide if your current rig is enough... I thought like you 2 years ago. Now I have a total DAC... and the stratus is ordered.
 

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