[myc]

Quote:

Hm
 
Mine are 19xxx as well, and I just recently got them.
 
Definitely an annoying peak at around 6k, but bass is pretty nice IMO.
 
Only got around 130 hours burn-in on them, and probably a good 100 hours of just listening to them so far, perhaps it changes with time.
 
(Oh, I also tried the Fostex HP-A8C for 3-4 days with the HD800's, and alltho the DAC seemed good I felt it could not drive the HD800s very well, especially the bass response seemed too thin.)

Thanks.. so what is your current favorite dac/amp to be paired with HD800? 
 
I am interested in Luxman because it's much cheaper here as well.

 

[purrin]

   
We are fortunate to still have the creator of that mod around. I hear he nearly died modding a tube amp.
 

 
 
^ 2.0 version of the mod. There are templates available too in PDF for v2. (make sure you don't fit to margins while printing)
 
There is new 3.0 version which is still being tweaked right now. It's not public yet.
 
I speak only for myself and do not speak as a proxy for others.

 

[DefQon]

   
 
^ 2.0 version of the mod. There are templates available too in PDF for v2. (make sure you don't fit to margins while printing)
 
There is new 3.0 version which is still being tweaked right now. It's not public yet.
 
I speak only for myself and do not speak as a proxy for others.

Nice...what new features will 3.0 have? I see 2.0 has reduced those 5 - 6k peaks.

 

[Sko0byDoo]

I got my HD800 recently from Crutchfield.com, refurb. for $1100 with 2-year Sennheiser warranty.  Serial 13xxx.
 
How am I going to obtain the freq. response certificate?  Write an email directly to Sennheiser via their website?  Thanks for a pointer.
 
Anyway, it sounds great!  Still in burn-in period with a WA6SE. 

 

[DefQon]

Yep send Sennheiser an email with your S/N and they will be able to retrieve it from their database and send it off to you. I wonder if Sennheiser (for a little fee) will refurbish used units (such as getting rid of paint clips etc)......

 

[CybDev]

Thanks.. so what is your current favorite dac/amp to be paired with HD800? 

I am interested in Luxman because it's much cheaper here as well.

I'm not sure I have a favourite yet, I'm in the process of finding an amp/dac for them as we speak .
Like I mentioned earlier: http://www.head-fi.org/t/645367/lcd-3-hd-800-amp/30#post_9086398

I don't think anyone around here has Luxman products so I doubt I'll have a chance to compare any of those to the ones I listed in the thread above.

 

[purrin]

BTW, pertaining to the OP. I've measured five pairs of HD800 with s/n's from the hundreds to ~15000. (I can't say for units s/n ~20+), but all of the HD800 basically sounded the same and measured the same, at least on my rig (despite provided Senn graphs.) Maybe, maybe one pair, Maxvla's s/n ~15k seems slightly warmer with less of a peak in direct comparison with two other pairs (Jason and Analmort's) we happened to have had on hand for that session. Even then, the measurements on Maxvla's pair did not indicate any significant differences which would explain this. The subjective differences between so called early pairs and late pairs can probably be accounted for as follows: 1) individual pair characteristics; 2) music being played at the time; 3) equipment being used at the time; 4) mood and/or developing tastes.
 
It's possible the later production pairs do sound different, but I haven't encountered this specifically with early s/n and late s/n pairs in direct controlled tests using the same measurement equipment, and same sets of ears, test tracks, and gear. Besides, if you've ever talked to a Senn rep, they will say the HD800 is neutral and perfect. One tends not correct neutral and perfect.

 

[purrin]

Quote:

Nice...what new features will 3.0 have? I see 2.0 has reduced those 5 - 6k peaks.

 
This is what the state of the mod is so far. There is a side effect of the mod taking away too much of the openness of the headphone (confirmed via listening tests.) There is a promising solution which is thought to have a high probability of fixing this, but it has been fully vetted yet.
 
STOCK

 
 
3.0 (still under development)

 
It's still an HD800 with some brightness, but that treble "hardness" is gone. I would love to comment more, but I can only comment on what I personally know and cannot act as a proxy for those who have been banished.

 

[J-Pak]

Quote:

 
This is what the state of the mod is so far. There is a side effect of the mod taking away too much of the openness of the headphone (confirmed via listening tests.) There is a promising solution which is thought to have a high probability of fixing this, but it has been fully vetted yet.
 
STOCK

 
 
3.0 (still under development)

 
It's still an HD800 with some brightness, but that treble "hardness" is gone. I would love to comment more, but I can only comment on what I personally know and cannot act as a proxy for those who have been banished.

 
 
Looking forward to seeing more as it develops!

 

[Shahrose]

All mods I tried that involved adding material reduced the openness of the sound. None of them were worth it for me, especially since component and cable upgrades yielded improvements without such drawbacks.

 

[preproman]

Quote:

All mods I tried that involved adding material reduced the openness of the sound. None of them were worth it for me, especially since component and cable upgrades yielded improvements without such drawbacks.

 
+1 on that.
 
I got a pair on the way from ColorWare (my second pair).  Does anyone know if they use newer HD800s?

 

[Sko0byDoo]

Quote:

 
This is what the state of the mod is so far. There is a side effect of the mod taking away too much of the openness of the headphone (confirmed via listening tests.) There is a promising solution which is thought to have a high probability of fixing this, but it has been fully vetted yet.
 
STOCK

 
 
3.0 (still under development)

 
It's still an HD800 with some brightness, but that treble "hardness" is gone. I would love to comment more, but I can only comment on what I personally know and cannot act as a proxy for those who have been banished.

 
Will look forward to see mods to an already great 'phones!

 

[Sko0byDoo]

Quote:

BTW, pertaining to the OP. I've measured five pairs of HD800 with s/n's from the hundreds to ~15000. (I can't say for units s/n ~20+), but all of the HD800 basically sounded the same and measured the same, at least on my rig (despite provided Senn graphs.) Maybe, maybe one pair, Maxvla's s/n ~15k seems slightly warmer with less of a peak in direct comparison with two other pairs (Jason and Analmort's) we happened to have had on hand for that session. Even then, the measurements on Maxvla's pair did not indicate any significant differences which would explain this. The subjective differences between so called early pairs and late pairs can probably be accounted for as follows: 1) individual pair characteristics; 2) music being played at the time; 3) equipment being used at the time; 4) mood and/or developing tastes.
 
It's possible the later production pairs do sound different, but I haven't encountered this specifically with early s/n and late s/n pairs in direct controlled tests using the same measurement equipment, and same sets of ears, test tracks, and gear. Besides, if you've ever talked to a Senn rep, they will say the HD800 is neutral and perfect. One tends not correct neutral and perfect.

 
Cool, thanks for the insight.  It's great to have empirical measurements to backup a hypothesis. 

 

[Radio_head]

Quote:

All mods I tried that involved adding material reduced the openness of the sound. None of them were worth it for me, especially since component and cable upgrades yielded improvements without such drawbacks.

It is very easy to mess up the earlier Anax mods and cause a lack of openness, as has been well admitted by its creator(s).  That is one reason the current version is delayed- the new template (hopefully) will be more idiot-proof and have more uniform results.
 
I think the Anax mod does more to change the sound in a way that I prefer than any cable change I've tried, the same way I think taking proper care to room treatment in a speaker rig is an order of magnitude more important than cabling changes (yes, I've spent thousands on a few brands through the cableco's program, not speaking as someone who hasn't tried both ways.) 
 
I know people who actually really like the sound of live rooms with more reflections than a house of mirrors though, so I guess this is all up to preference.

 

[Kenion]

Quote:

 
OK I've pulled the trigger. Mine S/N is 2**88 .. ... I can't judge about the bass (I've heard it before in a store, long time ago).. I just unboxing it and no proper amp at the moment. I am in Japan at the moment and will be here for the next few months. Sorry to hijack the thread but is there anybody live in Japan in this high end subforum? What is suggested amp for this baby other than HP-A8 which is available here (and cheaper of course just like the HD 800 I got just now ) . I don't know if I can get nice tube amp here. Will send you guys later that kind of Frequency Graph from Senn.
 

 
Hmm... that's strange.
As a comparison: Yours above being a 2X,XXX model ; and here is mine being a 12,XXX model:
 

 
 
If you enlarge the image you can clearly see that the 6k peak on mine is noticeably lower and evolving more smoothly then your newer model - I thought it's the other way around as the newer ones supossedly improved in that matter. The lower frequencys are a bit louder too on mine, just hitting the 5db mark.
 
Interesting!