[Blasyrkh]

 
It depends what you are looking for to achieve in your set up. If a live feeling of the performance, the illusion of being there and the musicians playing in your room, rather the obvious just reproduction of preserved sound from what ever source, then a there might be just a small step that makes all the difference. Obviously if you are looking for a rating increase in percentages, then go buy one of these advertising hifi magazines and you'll get the difference in black and white numbers

.

 
the step from "reproduction-like" to "in-your-room-like" is HUGE, not simply a small step, and i think it cannot be achieved by hardwiring alone.
actually, hardwiring is the last thing to do after you have chosen the right DAC,AMP and cables...those can truly let you make that step, hardwire is just refinement. whats the point of hardwiring if you have a 200$ dac/amp for your hd800
 
still, nobody told me what's improved...detail?clarity?dynamics? what?

 

[preproman]

Like you said "refinement"  What more do you want - the same old cliches?  OK here she goes..  Soundstage opens up, I'm hearing things I've never heard before.  

 

[magiccabbage]

  Like you said "refinement"  What more do you want - the same old cliches?  OK here she goes..  Soundstage opens up, I'm hearing things I've never heard before.  

hahahaha

 

[62ohm]

So I've just pulled the trigger on the Beyerdynamic T1 to complement my HD800. I've heard it before, but it was 5 months ago, so I have a blurry memory of how it really sounds. I hope I made the right decision and it would make for a decent companion to the HD800.

 

[TwoEars]

For me, and to my ears, changing out the stock cable on the HD800 yielded a bigger improvement than changing the amp.
 
More relaxed and natural presentation, less of an artificial feeling, less sibilance, a fuller "foundation" in the music, a little bit more rounded edges (actually a good thing on the HD800 since it's a bit too aggressive in stock form).
 
Also - it makes the sound quality go to 11.

 

[Canadian411]

For me, and to my ears, changing out the stock cable on the HD800 yielded a bigger improvement than changing the amp.

More relaxed and natural presentation, less of an artificial feeling, less sibilance, a fuller "foundation" in the music, a little bit more rounded edges (actually a good thing on the HD800 since it's a bit too aggressive in stock form).

Also - it makes the sound quality go to 11. :rolleyes:

Which cable was it? Thanks!

 

[icebear]

  For me, and to my ears, changing out the stock cable on the HD800 yielded a bigger improvement than changing the amp.
 
More relaxed and natural presentation, less of an artificial feeling, less sibilance, a fuller "foundation" in the music, a little bit more rounded edges (actually a good thing on the HD800 since it's a bit too aggressive in stock form).
 
Also - it makes the sound quality go to 11.

 

 

[ALRAINBOW]

So cables made a bigger change than a different amp ? Are your new cables balanced ?
Al

 

[icebear]

 ...looks positively balanced :
 
From TwoEars original post about his re-cableing job
http://www.head-fi.org/t/650510/the-new-hd800-appreciation-thread/9255#post_10369234
 
 

 

[Chodi]

So cables made a bigger change than a different amp ? Are your new cables balanced ?
Al

TwoEars owns two balanced amps. It's not really surprising that they would sound better with any headphone in fully balanced mode. I don't think he was suggesting that there would be such a big improvement just changing cables on a se amp. I also had the experience of changing my HD800 to balanced cables and found that they were significantly improved but I also am using a fully balanced amp and dac so no big surprise there. Has more to do with matching equipment synergy.

 

[TwoEars]

Actually only one of my amps is balanced, the DNA Sonett. The V200 is single ended, as is the integrated amp in the Anedio D1 (Which is not to be underestimated!!!!)
 
I made one last adapted this evening as well:

 
Now I have full compability! The default on my HD800 is 4-pin XLR, but I now have adapters for both dual 3-pin XLR and 6.3mm plug.
 
I choose to do it like this since it seems the industry is moving towards 4-pin XLR as the standard for balanced, and if I were to buy another amp in the future I would most likely get one that has 4-pin XLR.
 
But right now I'm actually very happy with my system overall and don't really need to upgrade. It's quite fun to have both the DNA sonett and the V200 to compare, they are similar but also pretty different. I haven't really made up my mind as to which I like the best yet. Maybe there is no "best", maybe they're just different. This might very well be the case.
 
@Alrainbow: About cables making bigger change than amps. This was for me and I can't guarantee that you'll have the same result. But i was looking to get rid of some of the harsness and siblance that the HD800 can have. And I've now found that the biggest contributing factor to this was neither dac nor amp but the stock cable which is copper/silver. With a thick pure copper cable I got the result I was looking for.
 
Also - did you deactivate your account by request? How are you still able to post? What's going on here?

 

 

[koiloco]

  For me, and to my ears, changing out the stock cable on the HD800 yielded a bigger improvement than changing the amp.
 
More relaxed and natural presentation, less of an artificial feeling, less sibilance, a fuller "foundation" in the music, a little bit more rounded edges (actually a good thing on the HD800 since it's a bit too aggressive in stock form).
 
Also - it makes the sound quality go to 11.

 
Oh Lord, please help us.  

 

 

[Mortalcoil]

Nice work TwoEars

 

[frix]

he did a good job with the hardwiring, no doubt.
 
What I don't get:
people pay so much attention to the wiring of their headhpones.
But what about all the cheap wires and connectors in the amps and DACs?
 
Not to mention what happens on the recording side of things
 
Also from another standpoint, I consider the connectors of the HD800
to be well thought out.
Once I stepped on the cable of my HD800 while I tried to stand up.
The connectors disconnected on their own without damaging the cable nor the HP itself.

 

[LugBug1]

   
Once I stepped on the cable of my HD800 while I tried to stand up.
The connectors disconnected on their own without damaging the cable nor the HP itself.

Suppose thats one way to get the buggers out.. Mine won't budge!