There are plenty of neutral-ish headphones out there aside from the ones you mentioned. But if you want sound quality competing with the HD 800 on top of that, the list of contenders is going to be much smaller.

music alchemist said:

  Hey, I remember you from your custom title!
 
If you are going after reference headphones, check out this State of the Flagships publication.
 
Out of the ones you listed, only the HD 800 measures up, so to speak. The others aren't strictly reference headphones.
 
How can you not mention the STAX SR-009 and HIFIMAN HE1000 when discussing "the top reference headphones of our time"?
 

Click to expand...

 
Do you know who did this publication?

How about LCD-XC?
Is it truly an LCD-X just with a cover?

I don't know whether it is just an LCD-X with a cover or not, but it definitely has closed-back colorations.  It has a slight mid-bass hump, lower midrange null, and upper midrange emphasis, which leads it to sounding colder and bassier than your average audeze.

alynx said:

  Do you know who did this publication?

Click to expand...

 
Background info: http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/one-enthusiasts-take-top-line-headphones-state-flagships

thx

kawaivpc1 said:

 

tmraven said:

  Are you planning on using a headphone for mixing purposes?

Click to expand...

Yes, mixing, mastering, monitoring, and critical listening. I'm looking for headphones for professional usage.

Click to expand...

Then I would leave the LCD-X alone, and test these headphones:
 
Stax SR-009
Beyerdynamic T1 
Beyerdynamic T90
AKG K812
 
To me, they all are equal or better in every way, besides soundstage, where the HD-800 has a slight advantage over all of them besides the T90, where it has a strong advantage in soundstage.  It's just up to you, which frequency response you feel is the best for you.  I prefer the Beyerdynamic T-90 of them all for frequency response/EQ work.  And the AKG K812 for anything regarding decay and fine detail, whether outboard or ITB.
 
Also, if you don't mind spending less $, I must urge you not to discount the entire AKG K7__ series (of which K701 & Q701 have the greatest treble and midrange accuracy to what perfect monitor/room response would be), or the Sony MDR-7506 and MDR-V6, or Beyerdynamic DT250-250ohm.  Those are all truly great reference headphones, with the downside of the Sony models not having much soundstage at all.  If you need a closed headphone for working during travel, I would heartily recommend the Sonys or Beyer 250.
 
Don't think you need to spend over $1k to get the detail and balanced response you need.  I personally would demo as many of these as you can, and A&B them with the HD800, as i did.  I suspect you'll prefer the Beyerdynamics or AKG's to the sennheiser HD800.

alpha80 said:

Also, if you don't mind spending less $, I must urge you not to discount the entire AKG K7__ series (of which K701 & Q701 have the greatest treble and midrange accuracy to what perfect monitor/room response would be), or the Sony MDR-7506 and MDR-V6, or Beyerdynamic DT250-250ohm.  Those are all truly great reference headphones, with the downside of the Sony models not having much soundstage at all.  If you need a closed headphone for working during travel, I would heartily recommend the Sonys or Beyer 250.

Click to expand...

 
I'm listening to the 7506 right now -- but after using an HD 650 on a daily basis for awhile, so even though the 7506 is one of my favorite headphones, it sounds tinny and harsh now because my ears were used to the smoothness of the 650. I've been meaning to use a parametric equalizer to bring the pretty-neutral-but-somewhat-bright (with nasty peaks in the treble) 7506 closer to perfectly neutral.

music alchemist said:

  Hey, I remember you from your custom title!
 
If you are going after reference headphones, check out this State of the Flagships publication.
 
Out of the ones you listed, only the HD 800 measures up, so to speak. The others aren't strictly reference headphones.
 
How can you not mention the STAX SR-009 and HIFIMAN HE1000 when discussing "the top reference headphones of our time"?
 

Click to expand...

I feel this "state of the flagships" is correct in spirit (that for the pricepoints, these companies are under-delivering) , but badly wrong in execution, at least, so far, as the aforementioned flagships' ability to perform as true reference phones, for the pro audio field.
 
I mean, giving the LCD-3 an A+, and the K812 a C+ is laughable.  The LCD-3 is not balanced across the FR, nor does it have acceptable treble extension to mimic a properly treated room and genelec (or comparable quality) monitors.  
 
Audeze headphones (post fazor) in general do an incredible job representing all frequencies below 900hz/1khz.....but IMHO fail miserably above that.  And the soundstage isn't good at all for it's price point.  Both of those critiques, are a very well known weakness/limitation (or strength to some who favor an extremely dark sound signature) of planar magnetic technology.  Just like rolled off sub-bass is a weakness of traditional Dynamic drivers.  Imaging across the Audeze line improved with the fazor, but still isn't as great as the great dynamics.  A+ for the LCD-3 is laughable, in any sort of reference/academic/critical/engineering context.
 
Such extreme bias in regards to sweet harmonic bass distortion is fine, I encourage it, and is why I prefer other lower-THD phones to the K812/HD800/T1 (namely the T90), but then to simultaneously EXCUSE imbalanced FR, poor treble presence or extension, when FR is literally the baseline, IMHO, on which all headphones should first be judged, before other factors are brought into the equation..................reeks of something disingenuous, and is why I encourage everyone to take things like this with a grain of salt. 

music alchemist said:

   
I'm listening to the 7506 right now -- but after using an HD 650 on a daily basis for awhile, so even though the 7506 is one of my favorite headphones, it sounds tinny and harsh now because my ears were used to the smoothness of the 650. I've been meaning to use a parametric equalizer to bring the pretty-neutral-but-somewhat-bright (with nasty peaks in the treble) 7506 closer to perfectly neutral.

Click to expand...

Beyerdynamic DT250 pads on the Sonys softens the peaks in treble and increases soundstage slightly.  I will always keep a Pair or two of these SONY MDR's around.  Forever.  Every artist and engineer know their FR, for good reason.

alpha80 said:

  I feel this "state of the flagships" is correct in spirit (that for the pricepoints, these companies are under-delivering) , but badly wrong in execution, at least, so far, as the aforementioned flagships' ability to perform as true reference phones, for the pro audio field.
 
I mean, giving the LCD-3 an A+, and the K812 a C+ is laughable.  The LCD-3 is not balanced across the FR, nor does it have acceptable treble extension to mimic a properly treated room and genelec (or comparable quality) monitors.  And the soundstage isn't good at all, and imaging improved with the favor, but still isn't as great as the great dynamics.  Such extreme bias in regards to sweet harmonic bass distortion is fine, I encourage it, and is why I prefer other lower THD phones to the K812/HD800/T1, but then to simultaneously EXCUSE imbalanced FR, poor treble presence or extension, when FR is literally the baseline, IMHO, on which all headphones should first be judged, before other factors are brought into the equation..................reeks of something disingenuous, and is why I encourage everyone to take things like this with a grain of salt. 

Click to expand...

 
I was also a little confused by the LCD-3's rating. But the publication was more a commentary on certain aspects of measurements than anything else. Actually listening to audio gear trumps theorizing any day.
 

alpha80 said:

  Beyerdynamic DT250 pads on the Sonys softens the peaks in treble and increases soundstage slightly.  I will always keep a Pair or two of these SONY MDR's around.  Forever.  Every artist and engineer know their FR, for good reason.

Click to expand...

 
Good tip! Not sure why they're so popular for studio use, though. I mean, the sound is very good, but those treble peaks are so nasty I can't imagine relying on them when producing music. (And I doubt most studio professionals bother with serious equalization for headphones.) I'm in pain right now, but enjoying it at the same time. haha

My LCD3 (pre fazor) had too much upper treble.

music alchemist said:

   
I was also a little confused by the LCD-3's rating. But the publication was more a commentary on certain aspects of measurements than anything else. Actually listening to audio gear trumps theorizing any day.
 
 
Good tip! Not sure why they're (the 7506) so popular for studio use, though. 

Click to expand...

7506 has a prominent dip just underneath human vocal range, and is very detailed above it.  So it is an absolutely perfect vocal tracking headphone.....and most vocalists with experience recording in professional environments in the late 90's and all the 00's will know and love and trust it.  The MDR-V6 is IMHO, even better than the 7506.  Flattest headphone available, and way better bass (way better than it's graphs would indicate).....which is yet another reason as you said....listening to the actual gear trumps theorizing any day.

alpha80 said:

  7506 has a prominent dip just underneath human vocal range, and is very detailed above it.  So it is an absolutely perfect vocal tracking headphone.....and most vocalists with experience recording in professional environments in the late 90's and all the 00's will know and love and trust it.  The MDR-V6 is IMHO, even better than the 7506.  Flattest headphone available, and way better bass (way better than it's graphs would indicate).....which is yet another reason as you said....listening to the actual gear trumps theorizing any day.

Click to expand...

 
Flattest headphone available? Not even remotely close.
 
Look at the green lines (flat speaker HRTF -- ignore the labels) in these graphs and how closely the raw measurements follow it:
http://cdn.head-fi.org/8/8d/8d765f27_STAX_SR-009SNSZ92251_Frequency_Response_HRTF.png
http://cdn.head-fi.org/a/a9/a9650bb7_Sennheiser_HD800_Frequency_Response_HRTF.png
http://cdn.head-fi.org/d/dc/dc3a7830_Audeze_LCD-2SN5325928_Frequency_Response_HRTF.png
 
Now look how far away the MDR-V6 is from being neutral:
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/SonyMDRV6.pdf
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/StaxSR009.pdf
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/SennheiserHD800.pdf
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/AudezeLCD2SN5325928.pdf
 
(I added the Audeze because its bass is perfectly neutral.)

Well, Audeze guys claimed that LCD-X was made for professional audio engineers.
Several famous music producers, including Ken Andrews (Nine Inch Nails, Paramore, etc) sponsored LCD-X. That's why I have included it in the list.
I'm surprised to hear that LCD-X is behind AKG K812 and HD800.