A bright headphone with huge soundstage
: Big soundstage (soundstage may be too spread out)
Upper mid to lower treble (4-5Khz) is very prominent and detailed
Comfort is good
Looks unique and recognizable
: Almost no sub-bass
Mid is a bit thin and dry, not great for vocal-centric music
Sibilant: violon, cymbal and female voice may sound grating
Not great for rock and bass-reliant music
I think this headphone pairs better with an OTL tube amp (in my case, Xduuo TA-26) than a SS amp (Schiit Ragnarok 2). When plugged in Rag 2, it sounds thin, too bright and lacks bass. TA-26 makes it sound more lively and tames the prominent upper-mid spike (around 4-5Khz) a bit.
I think another problem with the HD800 is that there is also a bit of ringing in that frequency too, further accentuating that upper-mid spike, so it can become very tiring after listening to violin or cymbal after a while.
