[Baxide]

  This is the Sound Science section. Just making sure we're on the same page here.
A $150 O2 amp is more than enough to power HD800s whether you like it or not, because electrical engineering.

Been there, done it, and I am still ashamed of the fact that I got taken in by that same suggestion from someone else. The headphone amplifier science doesn't back up the end results when it comes to the HD800, as numerous unhappy HD800 can testify too.

 

[Dark_wizzie]

Electrical engineering vs some audiophiles sharing a common delusion... The human brain is so fallible is pretty comical.
 
We're going to have to agree to disagree on this one. And you know how many people here feel about your opinions. Popping back in and randomly suggesting that better amps are important won't change anybody's minds. There are many people you can talk to who share your ideas in other subsections.

 

[bigshot]

  The headphone amplifier science doesn't back up the end results when it comes to the HD800, as numerous unhappy HD800 can testify too.

 
That tells you something about the mindset and perception of audiophiles, doesn't it? I wouldn't want to be an innocent man in a police lineup with an audiophile out there in the dark trying to ID the guy they saw rob the bank. They might swear up and down that I did it, even if I didn't. And they're probably believe it with all their heart too. I'd be convicted unjustly for sure!
 
Personally, I think amps and DACs are a first class PITA. If I am on the road, I want the minimum to haul around with me. I see the need for a player, and I see the need for headphones. But all the rest is ballast. I'd just buy an iPod and headphones that don't require amping. There are first class cans that don't. I own a set of them myself.

 

[Baxide]

  Electrical engineering vs some audiophiles sharing a common delusion... The human brain is so fallible is pretty comical.
 
We're going to have to agree to disagree on this one. And you know how many people here feel about your opinions. Popping back in and randomly suggesting that better amps are important won't change anybody's minds. There are many people you can talk to who share your ideas in other subsections.

We are all individuals on this forum. Stating such things as " how many people here feel about your opinions" is assuming responsibility for what others think and feel. That's a slippery slope to climb, and not in keeping with the friendly exchange of banter and personal opinions. I am personally more than an audiophile. I happen to also be a qualified scientist and engineer in audio related matters. 

 

[Dark_wizzie]

Your qualified scientist and engineering titles don't count if you're not going to employ a scientific mindset. (Well, actually it's all irrelevant, we don't convince other people by titles and authority.) For better or for worse, if I were to go to a Summit-Fi thread and start talking about how amps don't matter, I would get a negative response. Do you think it's for better or for worse?

 

[Baxide]

I am not here to ram science down the throat of my fellow audiophile. My participation is purely based on my hobby and musical interest. It is no use getting yourself in a spin if you feel challenged by my comments. Instead of taking it out personally on me, what about offering your own views on the actual subject matter? I am sure that is what others want to read, not what you think of individual members like myself. That's not in keeping with the spirit of what the thread and forum is about.  See forum rules as a reminder.

 

[Dark_wizzie]

I don't feel challenged by you at all. When you say you're not here to 'ram science' down our throat, I basically saw it as 'ram truth down our throats'. This is the sound science section, that's the entire point of this place, to ram science down each other's throats.

 

[KamijoIsMyHero]

Not really

 

[Grave]

The O2 can in fact power the HD 800's easily. If you do not like the sound of the HD 800's out of the O2 then you do not like the sound of the HD 800's because the O2 is beyond transparent.

 

[bigshot]

  I am not here to ram science down the throat of my fellow audiophile.

 
You do realize that you are posting in the sound science forum. We do that here every day!

 

[KamijoIsMyHero]

The regulars dictate the attitude of this place which unfortunately drives people that have a sincere curiosity or those that are already knowledgeable away. If this place really had engineers and scientists participating, it would be a whole lot more chill and knowledge would be shared without a clenched fist or absolutist attitude. 

 

[Baxide]

   
You do realize that you are posting in the sound science forum. We do that here every day!

I grasped that, but music and the equipment to play it with is a lot more than science. It has been a way of life since man invented the first musical instrument. Science describes measurements made on one or more epieces of equipment. But those measuring equipment cannot measure emotion, expression, and satisfaction. They can only measure voltage and current.

 

[Grave]

Music reproduction is pretty straightforward and very different from music production itself. We can determine accuracy with measurements and then color the sound however we want after a transparent DAC/amp. e.g. I love the smooth sound signature of the HD 650's to death. Many people like to pretend that the equipment to measure past the threshold of audibility does not exist but this is simply not true. It is blatant denial of reality.

 

[Rajikaru]

 
I grasped that, but music and the equipment to play it with is a lot more than science. It has been a way of life since man invented the first musical instrument. Science describes measurements made on one or more epieces of equipment. But those measuring equipment cannot measure emotion, expression, and satisfaction. They can only measure voltage and current.

 
The emotion and expression should be in the music.
 
All the equipment should be doing is to reproduce it accurately, preserving as much of the detail and nuance in the original performance as possible.
 
That accuracy can be measured. 

 

[Rajikaru]

  Been there, done it, and I am still ashamed of the fact that I got taken in by that same suggestion from someone else. The headphone amplifier science doesn't back up the end results when it comes to the HD800, as numerous unhappy HD800 can testify too.

 
Oh, I see. You're using an HD800. I didn't read that far back. In that case, forget science!
 
Here's the HD800 seven step program;

1) You have a highly resolving headphone with a treble peak which further enhances the sense of detail. Problem is, it now sounds thin, too bright, and 'not driven to it's full potential' by the O2. 

2) Purchase a tube amp with a high output impedance (around 120 Ohm), which lowers the damping factor resulting in a loosening of the bass and 'thickening' of the mids. 

3) Said amp would preferably have some treble roll-off to tame the HD800s enhanced treble. 

4) Buy a DAC that has frequency response characteristics that have synergy with the above tube amplifier.

5) Perform mod on HD800 to further reduce treble. 

6) Buy exotic silver cable. Balanced preferably - but only if amp is balanced. Try to hear SQ change. 

7) Be happy. Post on Summit-Fi how HD800 is the best.