Bought this to use on the go and couldn't be happier. I've compared it to both the Dragonfly and Hegel Super and I can say that it comfortably trumps both those. The Dragonfly is good but music from the Explorer seems a bit more easy going and natural in comparison. And the Hegel Super is sadly disqualified for having a very high noise floor, on high impedance headphones you can't hear it but on everything else a very audible hiss is present.   I've also compared the Explorer to my Anedio D1 stationary DAC, and for a $300 portable device it does...

I've owned the HD800's for the better part of two years, by now I have hundreds and hundreds of hours of listening time behind me. It is never easy to review a flagship product but the HD800 is harder still, it is not a random thing that I've held off doing this review for so long.   The first time I demoed the HD800 I was of course incredibly exited to try Sennheiser latest and greatest headphone, who wouldn't be? I was impressed by the build quality, the "all-day-long-disappear-on-your-head" comfort, the attention to detail, the very German...

In one word: Stunning. Not for those looking for a colored and romantic tube sound but for everyone else it's hard to see how you could go wrong.   The D2 has balanced outputs and a slightly better headphone amp but if that doesn't interested you a second hand D1 is excellent if you can find one.

I've listenend to all the top offerings from Denon, Beyer, Audeze, AKG, Hifiman, Ultrasone & Sennheiser and this is one of my personal favourites. It is a true reference headphone that is very natural sounding, albeit leaning ever so slightly towards a darker tone. The sound is detailed, smooth and richly textured, especially drums and vocals come alive amazingly well. It has no problem spanning all the way from the deepest bass to the highest highs with supreme control and plenty of muscles to spare.   For the money I think this is a real...