[Sophonax]

I'm loving my 800S, they could be the best dynamic dynamic cans I've ever heard. Paired with my Balancing Act, they're a match made in audio Nirvana.
 

 
I agree, loving mine too. I don't think I've ever heard a headphone perform so universally well from top to bottom. Certain headphones may perform better in certain aspects (e.g. the Sony R10 may outperform in the mids, but in a warmer and perhaps less accurate way; the original HD800 has a larger soundstage), but as a whole package these headphones best everything else I've owned. Sennheiser has set the bar very high for their next dynamic flagship, and I think it will definitely be a challenge for them to improve upon these (but then again we were probably saying the same thing about the 600 series headphones a decade ago).
 
I was really enjoying listening to The Wailin' Jennys with these the other night -- good acoustic folk-ish music with three female vocalists. The vocals all sound natural and beautiful and are evenly presented from the soprano, mezzo, and alto singers. All the strings sound very natural too -- guitar, banjo, bass. I was especially thrilled with Jeremy Penner's violin on their live album -- clean and powerful on some tracks, sweet and delicate on others. To my ears, these headphones are just effortlessly realistic -- voices and instruments sound so much like they do in real life.
 
The HD800S has become my go-to headphone at home. Worth every penny!

 

[oatp1b1]

After a week with the S', I've come to the conclusion that I probably don't have to buy a new headphone until this one breaks. It sounds phenomenal, but on the downside it is highly dependent on the source. A CD played on my 851C sounds very good, but Spotify (320 kbps) through a MB Air 13" to the USB input in the 851C (using it as a DAC) does not sound as good. Hopefully a dedicated DAC and streamer will fix this issue.

 

[Dadracer]

How about an Auralic Aries mini and then you can stream Tidal Hifi and possibly MQA in the future and it has a built in DAC. I am saving up for one currently after spending all my savings on some HD800S............

 

[oatp1b1]

Yup, Auralic Aries (haven't looked at the Mini tbh) has been on my radar along with e.g. Cambridge 851N, Marantz NA8008, Moon 180 and YBA MP100.
I'd prefer to have dedicated units rather than combination units, so I'm looking at a standalone DAC as well. The DAC's I've been looking at is the NAD C510 and M51, Line Magnetic LM-502CA and Pro-Ject DAC-Box RS (difficult to find a dedicated DAC with AES in and balanced out that isn't too crazily prized, but I'm not too sure about having a mixed SS/Tube variant).

 

[Sophonax]

  Yup, Auralic Aries (haven't looked at the Mini tbh) has been on my radar along with e.g. Cambridge 851N, Marantz NA8008, Moon 180 and YBA MP100.
I'd prefer to have dedicated units rather than combination units, so I'm looking at a standalone DAC as well. The DAC's I've been looking at is the NAD C510 and M51, Line Magnetic LM-502CA and Pro-Ject DAC-Box RS (difficult to find a dedicated DAC with AES in and balanced out that isn't too crazily prized, but I'm not too sure about having a mixed SS/Tube variant).

 
I've been using the NAD M51 with the HD800S and like it very much. The M51 used to be the DAC in my speaker system, but a couple months ago I moved it into my headphone rig. I never really appreciated how good it was until I had a listen with the HD800 / 800S.
 
I haven't tried too many DACs, but for what it's worth I did get to compare an original Bifrost and a Bifrost Multibit to the SE outputs of the M51. I much preferred the M51 to the other two (I should hope so, given the price), and balanced it's even better. The original Bifrost and the M51 had a similar tonal balance, but the M51 offered much-improved detail, clarity, and dynamics. The Bifrost MB was closer to the M51 in terms of detail and clarity, but it came off as too bright to me (particularly in the upper mids / lower treble -- think the frequency range of small hand bells), which didn't go well with the already bright HD800 / 800S. The M51 also retained the edge in dynamics over the Bifrost MB.

 

[James-uk]

a low cost option for streaming is an apple airport express. I use one via optical to a benchmark dac1.

 

[vo_obgyn]

@oatp1b1
I recommend the Auralic Aries Wireless Streaming Bridge highly (see my signature). I'm not sure about the DAC's you cited, but the Chord Electronics 2Qute DAC sounds great in my chain. Have fun setting up your system!

 

[shawngt2]

Oh Lord....Super enjoying these Ss right now. Low volume at night still feels like you're at the club....Shyt

Boards of Canada, Twoism

 

[Pokemonn]

my HD800S arrive my home today.
wow HD800S sound so good...real end game headphone.
my upgratitis completely cured now...lol
Thank you Sennhiser!

 

[oatp1b1]

  @oatp1b1
I recommend the Auralic Aries Wireless Streaming Bridge highly (see my signature). I'm not sure about the DAC's you cited, but the Chord Electronics 2Qute DAC sounds great in my chain. Have fun setting up your system!

Thanks for the suggestion! After digging into the subject some more, I'm leaning towards the Auralic with the linear PSU since it seems that very few players have Tidal integrated into them (I don't want to stream it from my computer and I don't want tubes). The question is if I need the 'full' version or if the LE is enough if I'm also buying an external DAC (since I guess that the femto clock is to improve the DA-function?)? Seems like I'm going way out of topic now.. 

 

[WraithApe]

Oh Lord....Super enjoying these Ss right now. Low volume at night still feels like you're at the club....Shyt

Boards of Canada, Twoism

 
Nice choice of music - thumbs up for Twoism! Gotta say I'm also loving the S for electronica (which is probably 50% of what I listen to on any given day). With a sub-genre like IDM especially, there's a lot of micro detail which the S reveals, but it still has sufficient slam to bring out your bass face when switching it up to a bit of the old dubstep 

 A month or so down the line now and no other cans are getting a look in!

 

[Whazzzup]

Oh Lord....Super enjoying these Ss right now. Low volume at night still feels like you're at the club....Shyt

Boards of Canada, Twoism

Nice choice of music - thumbs up for Twoism! Gotta say I'm also loving the S for electronica (which is probably 50% of what I listen to on any given day). With a sub-genre like IDM especially, there's a lot of micro detail which the S reveals, but it still has sufficient slam to bring out your bass face when switching it up to a bit of the old dubstep :basshead:  A month or so down the line now and no other cans are getting a look in!

Yes it's the micro detail and slam speed that are keeping me in the S head space. For now.

 

[shabta]

  my HD800S arrive my home today.
wow HD800S sound so good...real end game headphone.
my upgratitis completely cured now...lol
Thank you Sennhiser!

 
Congrats! How do you you like it compared to your Staxen cans?

 

[vo_obgyn]

Thanks for the suggestion! After digging into the subject some more, I'm leaning towards the Auralic with the linear PSU since it seems that very few players have Tidal integrated into them (I don't want to stream it from my computer and I don't want tubes). The question is if I need the 'full' version or if the LE is enough if I'm also buying an external DAC (since I guess that the femto clock is to improve the DA-function?)? Seems like I'm going way out of topic now.. 

Here's a good thread on the topic:

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f6-dac-digital-analog-conversion/auralic-aries-vs-auralic-aries-le-23863/

 

[Pokemonn]

   
Congrats! How do you you like it compared to your Staxen cans?

Thank you shabta! your review and Tylls reviews and headfiers reviews did help me lot. Thanks!
I prefer HD800S over Staxes. but I only own very lesser Stax amps. so I am not qualified person to describe the differences.
I think SR-009 sound slightly less grainy IMO. but! HD800S sound more real/musical at the same time.
All I can say is HD800S with Luxman combo sounds SUPERB. I don't need an upgrade anymore.
 
Happy listening!