[rhythmdevils]

Quote:

Great post. I consider the HD800 to be a microscope. Feed it garbage, you'll see (hear) garbage. They have the capacity to sound worse than the HD600 and better than LCD-2/HE-6/K-1000. They're simply the most transparent cans I've ever heard, and ones that require careful component selection (including cables) to harness their potential. People say the same about the O2Mk1, but I haven't heard them out of a high quality amp like the BHSE so I didn't get a proper chance to test that claim.

I don't know.  Maybe I didn't give them enough of a chance or test them on the right amp/source, but they definitely had a sound to them when I heard them.  A "transparent" sounding sound as in very clean, but it wasn't real transparency, they were highly colored.  Unless the Singlepower Extreme has a glassy, lifeless, treble happy sound.  It sounded literally like the treble was getting reflected off of glass and bouncing all over the place in a huge soundstage.  The album I listened to with them did not sound right.  But I don't think the SP amp sounds that way and since many others have described the HD800 that way, I think it was the HD800.  But I'll have to listen again next meet. 
 
If they really were that transparent, they would have the capacity to sound very warm and fuzzy on the right amp/source.  Which I don't know from lack of experience.

 

[stainless824]

really try amping them properly. Tried it out of my laptop and ipod and they sound anemic at best. out of the burson ha-160 and they're a completely different beast altogether

 

[Shahrose]

Quote:

Quote:

Great post. I consider the HD800 to be a microscope. Feed it garbage, you'll see (hear) garbage. They have the capacity to sound worse than the HD600 and better than LCD-2/HE-6/K-1000. They're simply the most transparent cans I've ever heard, and ones that require careful component selection (including cables) to harness their potential. People say the same about the O2Mk1, but I haven't heard them out of a high quality amp like the BHSE so I didn't get a proper chance to test that claim.

I don't know.  Maybe I didn't give them enough of a chance or test them on the right amp/source, but they definitely had a sound to them when I heard them.  A "transparent" sounding sound as in very clean, but it wasn't real transparency, they were highly colored.  Unless the Singlepower Extreme has a glassy, lifeless, treble happy sound.  It sounded literally like the treble was getting reflected off of glass and bouncing all over the place in a huge soundstage.  The album I listened to with them did not sound right.  But I don't think the SP amp sounds that way and since many others have described the HD800 that way, I think it was the HD800.  But I'll have to listen again next meet. 
 
If they really were that transparent, they would have the capacity to sound very warm and fuzzy on the right amp/source.  Which I don't know from lack of experience.

The stock cable is a bottleneck IMO. I owned 3 aftermarket cables with the 800s and all of them improved the sound noticeably (lowered treble, increased bass punch, overall detail, and removed some grain).
 
But, as with all headphones, the 800s aren't perfect. They aren't 100% transparent, just the most transparent of the headphones I've heard and owned (most of the top ones).
 
WRT to the bolded, I've heard plenty of setups where the 800s sounded dull, dark, distant and overly warm. I'm talking nearly HD650 level. I think people do a great disservice to these headphones by listening to them at meets because it really does take experience with different gear/setups to realize how much they can change and transform.

 

[rhythmdevils]

Wow I would love to hear them on a rig that made them sound dull, dark and overly warm that sounds fantastic in comparison to how they sounded on my audition.  I guess if they are as transparent as you are saying, then a single audition doesn't do them justice at all, because they would sound so different.  But I thought the Extreme amp was pretty neutral and I have never heard a headphone change as much as the HD800 would have had to change in order to sound good.  The HE6 is often described as sounding transparent as well, but it had the same "transparent sounding sound" ie clean sound on every amp and source I used them with, even straight out of the ipod, while not nearly as dynamic or detailed, etc still had that same basic sound signature.
 
But hopefully I can check them out again!  So that I can um...have another expensive headphone that I wish I could afford...

 

[Shahrose]

Quote:

Wow I would love to hear them on a rig that made them sound dull, dark and overly warm that sounds fantastic in comparison to how they sounded on my audition.  I guess if they are as transparent as you are saying, then a single audition doesn't do them justice at all, because they would sound so different.  But I thought the Extreme amp was pretty neutral and I have never heard a headphone change as much as the HD800 would have had to change in order to sound good.  The HE6 is often described as sounding transparent as well, but it had the same "transparent sounding sound" ie clean sound on every amp and source I used them with, even straight out of the ipod, while not nearly as dynamic or detailed, etc still had that same basic sound signature.
 
But hopefully I can check them out again!  So that I can um...have another expensive headphone that I wish I could afford...

 
I don't think the HE-6 are even close to as transparent. Clean and clear yes, but not that revealing. It's not exactly a bad thing because it's this forgiving nature that makes their sound easy to like.
 

 

[dallan]

Quote:

Quote:

Shahrose /img/forum/go_quote.gif



 

 
 

The stock cable is a bottleneck IMO. I owned 3 aftermarket cables with the 800s and all of them improved the sound noticeably (lowered treble, increased bass punch, overall detail, and removed some grain).
 
 

I have the DHC full sized complement copper cable.  It totally warmed them up and made them and made them sound fuller.  They lost some transparency though.  Going back to the stock cable it sounds thin and ....etchy? but still way more transparent.  Kind of a trade off but i like the warm full sound better.  It did take a little getting used to though.
 
Edit- i see the three recables you had previously what are you using now?

 

[monsieurguzel]

 


I too used to have a dhc complement cable for hd800 and yes I agree that some transparency is lost. If I were to guess, its because of the crazy amounts of insulation layers the cable has. I know that unshielded cables are generally more transparent and fuller bandwidth.

 

[stainless824]

Apparently the TWAG reference x gives the best of both worlds

 

[Bubu1]

Quote:

Quote:

Quote:

 
One last thing, i heard the HD800s at CanJam a year ago and wasnt impressed at all, they were paired with a TTVJ 307a amp and i didn't notice the source. They sounded weak and distant imo. Please try these great cans with as many amps as you can find.
 

Wow, I thought i was one of the few that thought that at Canjam 09.  I talked to someone else with the same take on it, the HD800 sounded terrible out of the 307a amp in Todds room, and i bought my 800s from him.  What a let down that was.  I actually heard several amps I didn't like with them that were priced pretty high, i think the 307a was over five thousand dollars too.  
 
I liked the Woo upper end ones, i think it is the "5" that is the top of the line, sounded great and warm.  I liked my amp(Zana Deux), but it wasn't as warm or full but more transparent with lower noise and maybe a bit more detail.  The Beta 22 is great if you get a good one.  Didn't like the Headroom amps and wasn't blown away with the RSA ones either really although i would revisit that due to overwhelm of Canjam.

Dallan,
It is interesting to hear your thoughts on different amps with the 800's, especially in the context of a big venue such as Can Jam.  I happen to have the Headroom Balanced Ultra Desktop package that you probably heard at Can Jam.  What I have noticed is that some setups don't really wow you in these kind of settings.  Even with my own rig at mini meets, I don't get the same satisfaction listening to it as I do at home.  In a quiet setting without any distractions it never ceases to blow me away.  I think that a great deal of low level detail is obscured in these settings due to the 800's being open and perhaps that leads to being underwhelmed.  JMO of course!!

 

 

[Shahrose]

Quote:

I have the DHC full sized complement copper cable.  It totally warmed them up and made them and made them sound fuller.  They lost some transparency though.  Going back to the stock cable it sounds thin and ....etchy? but still way more transparent.  Kind of a trade off but i like the warm full sound better.  It did take a little getting used to though.
 
Edit- i see the three recables you had previously what are you using now?

 
Quote:

I too used to have a dhc complement cable for hd800 and yes I agree that some transparency is lost. If I were to guess, its because of the crazy amounts of insulation layers the cable has. I know that unshielded cables are generally more transparent and fuller bandwidth.

 
Agree with both of you. Any copper cable I've tried (Moon Audio Blue Dragon V3 and DHC Complement) has reduced transparency a little but added warmth and removed harshness and grain. I also found that they slowed the sound a bit by softening transients, an effect that a lot of tube amps I've tried have given relative to solid-state. The APS cable is faster than copper but just as smooth and with an even larger soundstage and slightly less warmth. DHC's Silver (7N purity), though, was my favourite hands down and I felt it was the most involving. It improved over the stock cable in every regard; speed, impact, texture, detail, transparency, bass SPL you name it. The soundstage on silver changes a lot with the recording. It's very revealing, so it will show all the flaws in your system that gets smoothed out by copper. Some may not like how unforgiving silver can be of upstream gear, but I loved it because it made it easier to evaluate ancillary equipment with the 800s.

 

[monoethylene]

Quote:

Quote:

Quote:

Shahrose /img/forum/go_quote.gif



 

 
 

The stock cable is a bottleneck IMO. I owned 3 aftermarket cables with the 800s and all of them improved the sound noticeably (lowered treble, increased bass punch, overall detail, and removed some grain).
 
 

I have the DHC full sized complement copper cable.  It totally warmed them up and made them and made them sound fuller.  They lost some transparency though.  Going back to the stock cable it sounds thin and ....etchy? but still way more transparent.  Kind of a trade off but i like the warm full sound better.  It did take a little getting used to though.
 
Edit- i see the three recables you had previously what are you using now?

I have already read a lot about recabling the HD800, in special using a DHC cable. When you say that this change "totally warmed them up and made them and made them sound fuller" are they now sounding closer to the T1? Or is this a comletely wrong comparison?..

 

[Shahrose]

Quote:

I have already read a lot about recabling the HD800, in special using a DHC cable. When you say that this change "totally warmed them up and made them and made them sound fuller" are they now sounding closer to the T1? Or is this a comletely wrong comparison?..

The T1s are the only (recent) high-end cans I haven't heard, so I can't say.

 

[monoethylene]

Quote:

Quote:

I have already read a lot about recabling the HD800, in special using a DHC cable. When you say that this change "totally warmed them up and made them and made them sound fuller" are they now sounding closer to the T1? Or is this a comletely wrong comparison?..

The T1s are the only high-end cans I haven't heard, so I can't say.

Hear them!! ..and you won't regret it!! , although my question isnt solved ..

 

[Shahrose]

Quote:

Quote:

Quote:

I have already read a lot about recabling the HD800, in special using a DHC cable. When you say that this change "totally warmed them up and made them and made them sound fuller" are they now sounding closer to the T1? Or is this a comletely wrong comparison?..

The T1s are the only high-end cans I haven't heard, so I can't say.

Hear them!! ..and you won't regret it!! , although my question isnt solved ..

Some people in this thread can answer that for you. MacedonianHero owns both and has his HD800s recabled. If I were to guess, based on prior experience with recabling, I would say the T1s will still sound significantly different from the 800s regardless of the wire.

 

[monoethylene]

Thank you so far!! I know him because I asked him already other things and if I would live in Canada I would lend you the T1 for listening