Anyone using separate external dac to pair with HDV820? Heard some good things with Chord Hugo2 / Qutest pairing.

I’m happy with V281 signature and shall not be ‘upgrading’ to V550 / 590.

Agree with you completely. HDVD800 is prettier. My gripe with HDV820 is that Sennheiser made it aesthetically less pleasing than HDVD800, e.g. the source input selector and volume knob are nicer on HDVD800; the blue lighting on the HDVD800 is nicer that the white lighting on the HDV820; the...

The big surprise for me on HDV820 was the that the RCA input sounded better than the XLR input when using balanced XLR / 4.4mm output on any headphone I tried. Using AQ Sky RCA and AQ Carbon XLR interconnects from same DAC. Sound is a bit softer and slightly less impactful on XLR (BAL), but...

This is just beautiful. Handcrafted. Love the dovetail joints on the wood.

Octave V16 SE

IMO, TOTL is when you find the combination of what you can afford and what you enjoy. Sometimes, you don’t enjoy what you can afford, or enjoy what you can’t afford. If you’re enjoying your current setup, forget FOMO, and just enjoy.

Any recommendation for KT120 or KT150, ECC 82 & EF 800 tubes?

True that. On tube amp, I run SE from DAC to amp to Eikon / auteur. Even though I could run balanced all the way to headphone, SE is best with this amp.

Campfire Cascade.

One constant about any headphone, is that different people will have differing opinions of it, irrespective of price or actual/perceived ability or value. That is what makes this hobby so much fun and informative. I enjoy my HD820. I acknowledge your differing view of the HD820, but that does...

The 4.4 is useful for HDV820 or Sony TA-ZH1ES or their Walkmans with a balanced output, e.g. WM1A/Z. Some DAPs have 4.4 modules that can be swapped in.

Same experience. Love the HD820; it’s my most used headphone at home.

Also got 3 cables with HD820. My suspicion of the 2 cable + voucher approach is that people who buy the HD820 most likely have HD800/S, together with the XLR cable that came with HD800S. Some people might have bought a XLR cable for their HD800. If someone has XLR cables for both HD800 and...

Well, I’m part of that minority too. I thoroughly enjoy HD820, whether on HDV820 or other powerful desktop amps. My go to headphone at home, before ZMF Eikon, Focal Elegia and Campfire Cascade.

Absolutely correct. I use HD820 on Sony WM1A, using Alo Audio SXC8 cable with 4.4mm balanced connection.

One thing I observed is that Cascade cable is easy to insert on HD800/S/820 and easy to remove, while standard HD800/S/820 cable are a bit stiff to remove from headphones.

I find the stock Cascade cable to be sufficient for on-the-go. At home I use HD800/S cables. Also have SXC8 cable (same length as standard cable), which is brilliant sonically, but has the worst y-splitter placement of all headphone cables I have. It’s placed much lower than Sennheiser, ZMF...

Elegia pairs well with Mojo. Although I don’t use the combo often, whenever I use it, I have a smile on my face.

I haven't auditioned Kann yet. Read positive reviews though. Currently listening to Elegia on WM1A. Coldplay in HD (192 kHz/ 24 bit) is just sublime......

Using same cable, with XLR termination. Also using silver plated cable, with Pentaconn termination. Satisfied with both cables. I only use the standard cable with Mojo, which is not often.

Agree, 100%. Octave V16 SE is expensive, but worth every cent. Just ensure your other components (DAC, interconnects, etc.) are top notch. Best headphone amp I’ve ever listened to. It doesn’t matter what headphones you throw at it (except electrostats), it drives them effortlessly, with such...

Agree; with performance to match. On top of that, you need a good dac........

The best headphone amp I’ve ever listened to is Octave V16 Single Ended. Superb in every way. Easily drives bookshelf speakers as well.

I would like to demo the Stellia and VC, but can’t because of my location, which is a bummer. No demo units here.