[DavidA]

  Probably been up before, but can somebody tell me about HD800 vs. HD700.
 
I could use a can with a more relaxin signature thats easier to drive and im a Sennheiser fanboy

seeing that you have 650 and 800 the 700 is between them, highs and sound stage closer to 800 while bass/mids closer to 650,easier to drive than 650 and 800

 

[sheldaze]

 
Out of the Schitt line of amps, people recommend the Vali, Valhalla 2 & the Ragnarok for pairing well with the HD800.
 
From my experience, tube amps do pair better with the HD800.

Is the Ragnarok generally considered better than the Valhalla 2 for the HD800?
 
Let me preface by stating that my Valhalla 2 is stuck in a snow drift, en route to my house - my personal preference today is still not the Ragnarok for my HD800. It is currently the Liquid Carbon. But there are many opinions on Head-Fi. And if the general consensus is Rag and HD800 are a good pair, or more to the question a better pairing at 5X the cost of the Valhalla 2, so be it. I am simply curious 

 

 

[Moonhead]

Thanks Guys. 
 
Im not a fan of planar headphones, so it seems im lookin for something thats not on the market right know. 
I think I will wait some, maybe there will come HD700s who knows or something entirely different.  

 

[Dadracer]

  Thanks Guys. 
 
Im not a fan of planar headphones, so it seems im lookin for something thats not on the market right know. 
I think I will wait some, maybe there will come HD700s who knows or something entirely different.  

I have just been comparing my own HD700s to the new Meze 99 Classics this week and have posted a review over in the review section. Anyhow long story short the Meze 99s only really lose out to the HD700 in terms of imaging and are very comfortable and have a warmer balance which is very easy to listen to the music with. Oh and they are less money..........

 

[Moonhead]

Thanks dad racer

Not a big fan of closed cans, that's why I only have T51p which I hardly use.
My HD650 gets almost as much time as my HD800

 

[ajlong12]

Hello,

This is my first post on these forums so please forgive me if this is a newbie question.

I recently purchased a pair of HD 800 headphones via Italian reseller on eBay. These will be my new PC gaming cans, replacing my AKG Q701's. My current setup is as follows: Creative Labs Titanium HD sound card, feeding Objective 2 headphone amp, feeding Q701.

My question is, is the O2 amp a good fit to drive the HD 800's? I will be listening to some music, but the primary function will be PC gaming. This means I want the best positional audio I can get, and the most immersive experience possible in games.

Will I be well served by the O2 amp? How does it compare with something like the Shiit Valhalla2 or another tube style amp? I am willing to spend a further $500 or so to upgrade the amp if it will produce superior sound with the HD 800.

Thank you for reading and I appreciate any replies!

 

[mcandmar]

Fancy an XLR balanced cable for the HD800 without spending €300 for Sennheisers?  Cheap skate recipe is as follows requiring about €10 worth of parts, a brave pill, and a little soldering skill. Parts needed are,
 
Neutrik NC4FXX-B Female four pin XLR : http://www.neutrik.com/en/xlr/xx-series/nc4fxx-b
Neutrik NC4MXX-B Male four pin XLR: http://www.neutrik.com/en/xlr/xx-series/nc4mxx-b
 
The stock cable is a very nice design with a two separate cables for the left and right channel, each having a + and - wire wrapped inside an outer shield.  The other two black strings are only rubber to give the cable assembly some strength.  The four of them are all spiral wound together and wrapped in two layers of cloth.
 
1) Take a brave pill and snip off the stock TRS connector with approx. 4" of cable attached.  Peel back the cloth layers on the headphone cable to expose the two cables inside, then carefully strip about half an inch of rubber off each one.  Separate the shield wires that are wrapped around the two inner conductors and twist all the strands together as shown below leaving you will two wires and a shield wire for each channel.
 

 
 
 
2) Disassemble the male four pin XLR socket and slide the strain relief onto the headphone cable. Strip back ~5mm on the Red and White wires and solder the Red onto Pin1: Left +, and the white onto Pin 2: Left – of the XLR socket.  Then Take the Green and White wires and solder the Green onto Pin3: Right +, and the white onto Pin4: Right -.  The two remaining shield wires then connect to the ground solder tab on the XLR connector.  Slide the connector inside its housing and screw the strain relief onto the plug and you’re done, as shown below.  For a final sanity check take a multimeter and using the continuity setting ensure you have a good electrical connection from each of the four pins to the connectors at the headphones, and also confirm that you have no shorts between pins.  The outer bodies of the connectors at the headphones should also have continuity with the XLR outer shell.
 

 
 
 
3) Optional if you want the ability to plug into regular TRS sockets: Disassemble a female four pin XLR connector and slide the strain relief onto the short cable attached to the TRS socket.  Prepare the wiring the same as step 1, and then solder the wires onto the XLR socket using the same pinout as listed in step 2. You will then have a short XLR to TRS adapter as shown below.
 

 
 
 
4) Final pic showing the adapter plugged onto the end of the headphone cable.  The nice thing about this mod is it preserves the correct wiring for use with regular non balanced TRS sockets, and also for balanced XLR sockets using the same cable.
 

 

[Taowolf51]

Anyone happen to know if the HD800 plug (the one that plugs into the headphones) can be disassembled and removed? I'd like to see if I can fix my HD800 cable, or at least make a new one in the future.

 

[Blackmore]

Doesnt under part of it can be rolate? The right one.
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 

Quote:

  Anyone happen to know if the HD800 plug (the one that plugs into the headphones) can be disassembled and removed? I'd like to see if I can fix my HD800 cable, or at least make a new one in the future.

 

[mcandmar]

There are a few sources for those connectors if you google "HD800 plugs" so you could just cut them off and replace.

 

[pietcux]

Hello,

This is my first post on these forums so please forgive me if this is a newbie question.

I recently purchased a pair of HD 800 headphones via Italian reseller on eBay. These will be my new PC gaming cans, replacing my AKG Q701's. My current setup is as follows: Creative Labs Titanium HD sound card, feeding Objective 2 headphone amp, feeding Q701.

My question is, is the O2 amp a good fit to drive the HD 800's? I will be listening to some music, but the primary function will be PC gaming. This means I want the best positional audio I can get, and the most immersive experience possible in games.

Will I be well served by the O2 amp? How does it compare with something like the Shiit Valhalla2 or another tube style amp? I am willing to spend a further $500 or so to upgrade the amp if it will produce superior sound with the HD 800.

Thank you for reading and I appreciate any replies!

I personally think that you are perfectly set for all you want with the Sound Card and the O2 for starters. The HD800 is the best can for gaming, that I can imagine too. You can always do more later if you feel you need to. I run a Asus Xonar STX using the included Dolby headphone on 8 channels for gaming and on pure Stereo for listening to music. In both cases the amp is my Meier Audio Jazz ff. But I know the O2 and it is good enough to drive the HD 800. The Creative surround simulation for headphones is known as very good for gaming and watching movies too. For more information about your special purpose of gaming with headphones, you might want to check on the two threads here:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/593050/the-nameless-guide-to-pc-gaming-audio-with-binaural-headphone-surround-sound
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/534479/mad-lust-envys-headphone-gaming-guide-1-14-2016-final-section-updated
 
It is a lot of info, but you should find all your questions already answered.
 
Cheers
 
Peter

 

[ajlong12]

Excellent info, thank you pietcux!

 

[62ohm]

Can anyone please give me a link to a post or a thread that compares the HD800 to the HD800S? Searching 'HD800S' yields myriads of results as there isn't any differentiation between updated 'HD800S' and the old HD800 being referred to as plural HD800s..

 

[sheldaze]

  Can anyone please give me a link to a post or a thread that compares the HD800 to the HD800S? Searching 'HD800S' yields myriads of results as there isn't any differentiation between updated 'HD800S' and the old HD800 being referred to as plural HD800s..

This is the best thread:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/795365/sennheiser-hd800-s-impressions-thread-read-first-post-for-summary

 

[62ohm]

  This is the best thread:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/795365/sennheiser-hd800-s-impressions-thread-read-first-post-for-summary

 
Thanks