[MattTCG]

This thread has been so bizarre lately. Yesterday I read mrcoltfire's post about Radiohead right as I'm listening to Kid A. Today I read Matt's post about Folk Singer right as I'm listening to it. Great album to point out details with the HD800. Hearing muddy's metal slide grind against the strings independent of the actual note being played is fun. And get that kick pedal some WD40, lol. You can also hear muddy's fingertips snap off the string when he played in that album. There's a couple of places where the ribbon mic distorts, but luckily ribbon mic distortion is euphonic most of the time.

 
Enjoying music like this with great gear is what the hobby is all about for me. 

 

[Sorrodje]

 
Enjoying music like this with great gear is what the hobby is all about for me. 

Amen.

 

[johnjen]

Quote:

  Man, poor recordings sound absolutely abysmal...
 
Even stuff I thought was well mastered using my T90s (which are very revealing), turn out to have flaws I previously could not hear.  Such as Duke Ellington's 'Blues in Orbit'... always thought it sounded amazing, and it does, but it is not perfectly mic'd and you can hear it now.  It makes enjoying it a little harder now.
 
The gap between listenable and unlistenable shrinks even further...

 
 
The upside is well mastered stuff I thought sounded great on the T90s sound exponentially better, like Frank Sinatra's 2 Disc 'Best Of'.  I am still rediscovering my music collection and it is full of surprises.  
 
The HD800 is totally unforgiving, really puts a microscope on the entire mastering process.  And anything less than perfect will be shoved in your face.  I may have to start doing some serious detective work to track down the best masters of recordings now...

If you continue to pursue the scalability of the 800's, even poorly recorded music can come to life.
 
And it's not just a matter of being unforgiving but they are quite precise in presenting the signal fed them.
Folks tend to blame the 800's for the faults they hear, which really means they were hearing the limitations of their front ends and the few 800 quirks added on top.
 
Many have spent the time and made the effort to dial their system in to 'properly' feed them, and the results are most gratifying.
 
Lastly, give your setup more time for it and you to settle down.
 
It may take a few weeks…
 
JJ

 

[fjrabon]

Quote:
If you continue to pursue the scalability of the 800's, even poorly recorded music can come to life.

And it's not just a matter of being unforgiving but they are quite precise in presenting the signal fed them.
Folks tend to blame the 800's for the faults they hear, which really means they were hearing the limitations of their front ends and the few 800 quirks added on top.

Many have spent the time and made the effort to dial their system in to 'properly' feed them, and the results are most gratifying.

Lastly, give your setup more time for it and you to settle down.

It may take a few weeks…

JJ

Agree. Once I really dialed my system in, the HD800 sounded great on something mastered as poorly as Oasis Be Here Now. You can obviously hear that it was brick walled but it isn't grating either.

 

[Sorrodje]

Same here. I reached a point where bad recorded music is still enjoyable... fortunately for me and all electronic music I love.

 

[ColtMrFire]

There's brickwalled stuff (which still sounds great) and older material/bad tape masters etc. This especially applies to some older classical where the master tapes are clearly deteriorated and simply need restoring.

 

[mysticstryk]

I think sonarworks has finally done that for me in addition to the right gear, made most of my collection sound great. Still, atrocious recordings of old black metal bands will always sound terrible, no matter what kind of headphone one uses.

 

[fjrabon]

There's brickwalled stuff (which still sounds great) and older material/bad tape masters etc. This especially applies to some older classical where the master tapes are clearly deteriorated and simply need restoring.

Ah ok, I was thinking you meant the old refrain of "the HD800 isn't good for pop, rock and metal."

 

[ColtMrFire]

No, brickwalled pop sounds better than ever!  The 800 has an amazing ability to peel away layers to give you a deeper presentation, the soul of the recording.  Which is why I think people who call this a "soulless" headphone are crazy.
 
Starting the morning off with Carreras, Domingo, Pavarotti 'the three tenors in concert' and it is just like being there.

 

[bigfatpaulie]

  No, brickwalled pop sounds better than ever!  The 800 has an amazing ability to peel away layers to give you a deeper presentation, the soul of the recording.  Which is why I think people who call this a "soulless" headphone are crazy.
 
Starting the morning off with Carreras, Domingo, Pavarotti 'the three tenors in concert' and it is just like being there.

 
If you can get your hands on a copy of the 1997 DVD of them in LA, it is an experience that will not disappoint!

 

[thefitz]

Tried my Jotunheim with an SD800 and CH800S cable - it's much brighter than the Lyr was (with LISST). Need to spend some more time with it.

 

[ColtMrFire]

Jotunheim doesn't really have a character of its own, so the DAC will be very important.  Stoddard said it's Schiit's most characterless amp and he's right.  It's very much a "wire with gain:"  Thank God I've got the Mimby with it, which pairs beautifully with the HD800.  I Found Jot even more transparent than Ragnarok when I compared the two (with Yggy as the DAC).

 

[ColtMrFire]

How can such realistic amazing sounds come from plastic???
 
PJ Harvey never sounded so good.
 
Now listening...
 

 

[thefitz]

  Jotunheim doesn't really have a character of its own, so the DAC will be very important.  Stoddard said it's Schiit's most characterless amp and he's right.  It's very much a "wire with gain:"  Thank God I've got the Mimby with it, which pairs beautifully with the HD800.  I Found Jot even more transparent than Ragnarok when I compared the two (with Yggy as the DAC).

Yeah, I'm using the same Bifrost I was with my Lyr. Kicking the tires on a multibit upgrade.

 

[RCBinTN]

  Yes I hear Gumby is warm, with Bimby being warmer still.  Mimby is the most neutral of the Schiit multibit DACs.  I got to demo Yggy through my Jotunheim and it was definitely warmer than my Mimby by a good amount.  Warmer and more dramatic/flamboyant, more resolution, slam, depth, etc... differences were subtle though which is amazing considering the $2K price difference between the two.  Mimby is a game changer.  
 
Still, if I had the money I would spring for Yggy no question and be done with DACs.  But Gumby is more affordable.  I would love to demo it.

 
When I upgraded my Gungnir to the Gumby (best $500 that I've spent) it brought the HD800 alive.  No other changes to the rig.  Made the HD800 work even with rock music - suddenly, the bass was there and deep and resolving.  Highly recommended!