[Whataudiophile]

A mate of mine imported the new HD-800S direct from Germany. I've had whole afternoons with it. Now that is one truely special HP. Sounded fantastic on my Woo WA22.

So hold off until the new model is released. It is way better than the older version.

What would be the price? Any difference in the bass department?

 

[RCBinTN]

  Initially,I wanted to buy HD800,but later decided not to as there are lots of negative reviews saying it is not for music lovers.Is it so? So I bought LCDx.
Dude,what is your rig? I am still thinking of buying HD800 as some people say it is brutally honest.It would be nice to have one in collection.

My rig is Mac Pro - JRiver21 - toslink - Gumby - Wywires blue - Bryston BHA-1 - Wywires red - HD800 or LCD-X.  Most of my music is 16/44.1 ALAC, also some 24/96 ALAC and FLAC.  I don't use any equalization in the music path.  JRiver is set to upsample to 96 kHz.
 
I listen to all music genres except pop and rap.  Current pop music is mixed too brightly for my ears.  That's where the LCD-X (or probably the HD800S) would sound better.  However, for all other genres, including rock, blues, jazz, acoustic, metal and classical, I prefer the sound of the HD800.  I like the sound of neutral HP's.  The HD800 won't satisfy needs for bass slam, so when I'm in that mood I put on the LCD-X .
 
The biggest SQ improvement in my rig was the upgrade of the Gungnir from the DS to MB technology.  That removed the harshness from the HD800, added bass, and made the mids just sing like angels.  Also, the BHA-1 is a very smooth / powerful SS amp.  The GMB and BHA-1 work very well together.
 
Hope this helps -
RCB

 

[Whataudiophile]

  My rig is Mac Pro - JRiver21 - toslink - Gumby - Wywires blue - Bryston BHA-1 - Wywires red - HD800 or LCD-X.  Most of my music is 16/44.1 ALAC, also some 24/96 ALAC and FLAC.  I don't use any equalization in the music path.  JRiver is set to upsample to 96 kHz.
 
I listen to all music genres except pop and rap.  Current pop music is mixed too brightly for my ears.  That's where the LCD-X (or probably the HD800S) would sound better.  However, for all other genres, including rock, blues, jazz, acoustic, metal and classical, I prefer the sound of the HD800.  I like the sound of neutral HP's.  The HD800 won't satisfy needs for bass slam, so when I'm in that mood I put on the LCD-X .
 
The biggest SQ improvement in my rig was the upgrade of the Gungnir from the DS to MB technology.  That removed the harshness from the HD800, added bass, and made the mids just sing like angels.  Also, the BHA-1 is a very smooth / powerful SS amp.  The GMB and BHA-1 work very well together.
 
Hope this helps -
RCB

Dude,thanks for answering in a satisfactory manner.

 

[Badas]

What would be the price? Any difference in the bass department?

I don't know the price.

It has near LCD-X bass and they have fixed the treble.

 

[Articnoise]

I like the 800S much more than the 800. I found the 800S to be richer and more forgiving than the 800, which can sound to dry and analytic IMO. So the difference is not only about smoothen the treble spike. The X still have more bass.

 

[potkettleblack]

I don't know the price.

It has near LCD-X bass and they have fixed the treble.

I find the bass part of that statement extremely hard to believe.

 

[Badas]

I find the bass part of that statement extremely hard to believe.

I own and use the LCD-X everyday.
 
I have put on the HD800S and played my bass tracks. The HD800S is close. Not as good but close enough. I wasn't wanting more.

 

[potkettleblack]

I own and use the LCD-X everyday.

I have put on the HD800S and played my bass tracks. The HD800S is close. Not as good but close enough. I wasn't wanting more.

That's cool it's just the first I've heard anyone say anything like that since the release. I always found the impact, slam and fullness of the bass to be (for the most part) unmatched. After others have said the HD800S has subtle differences to the older model I'm just struggling to believe how it would be anything like the X.

This sounds like a very complicated way of saying that I think you're lying.

It's not. I'm just surprised.

 

[Badas]

That's cool it's just the first I've heard anyone say anything like that since the release. I always found the impact, slam and fullness of the bass to be (for the most part) unmatched. After others have said the HD800S has subtle differences to the older model I'm just struggling to believe how it would be anything like the X.

This sounds like a very complicated way of saying that I think you're lying.

It's not. I'm just surprised.

As you can see below we have a vast range of HP's to play with. We had a HD800 (silver) and HD800S (black) and LCD-X at the same time (other HP's are the HiFiMan HE-6 and EtherC). The HD800S is a very different beast to the HD800. Far better.
 
Gear used was Auralic Vega DAC into Vioelectric V281 and a custom 300B Glenn tube amp.
 
I compared HD800, HD800S and LCD-X on the same music. HD800S is amazing and gets extremely close on bass. The thing is the HD800S is beating the LCD-X in all other areas. Audeze have some work to do. As always just my opinion.
 

 

[potkettleblack]

As you can see below we have a vast range of HP's to play with. We had a HD800 (silver) and HD800S (black) and LCD-X at the same time (other HP's are the HiFiMan HE-6 and EtherC). The HD800S is a very different beast to the HD800. Far better.

Gear used was Auralic Vega DAC into Vioelectric V281 and a custom 300B Glenn tube amp.

I compared HD800, HD800S and LCD-X on the same music. HD800S is amazing and gets extremely close on bass. The thing is the HD800S is beating the LCD-X in all other areas. Audeze have some work to do. As always just my opinion.

The owner of the shop I visit insisted that I listen to them and he knows I have my heart set on Stax or the AB-1266. I'm obviously overlooking these.

Thanks for the pics and impressions.

 

[Badas]

The owner of the shop I visit insisted that I listen to them and he knows I have my heart set on Stax or the AB-1266. I'm obviously overlooking these.

Thanks for the pics and impressions.

I think it is the best dynamic driver HP made so far. With it's sound stage (massive) and comfort I really want to have a pair.

 

[westermac]

   

 
*GASP* 

 The LCD-X demoted from headphone stand status? Now I really need to hear the HD800S.
 
On a separate note, how do you find the X compared to the Ether C? I've unfortunately found having an open can at work to be more of a nuisance than I thought, so I currently have a Ether C coming to see if it will suit me better. Also I found my particular LCD-X a bit more mid-recessed than I would like...

 

[Badas]

   
*GASP* 

 The LCD-X demoted from headphone stand status? Now I really need to hear the HD800S.
 
On a separate note, how do you find the X compared to the Ether C? I've unfortunately found having an open can at work to be more of a nuisance than I thought, so I currently have a Ether C coming to see if it will suit me better. Also I found my particular LCD-X a bit more mid-recessed than I would like...

Ether C is a very different beast. It is nice but I'm not a huge fan. They are a little bright. However we don't have the modification yet.

 

[westermac]

 
Ether C is a very different beast. It is nice but I'm not a huge fan. They are a little bright. However we don't have the modification yet.

Thanks for the insight. I've already tried the XC and wasn't fond of the extra weight or peaky upper midrange, so the Ether C seemed like the logical next step. I can handle a bit of brightness, but we'll see how my ears like it when they get here.
 
Would also be a bonus if they end up being flatter/more neutral than the X (I do a bit of music production and audio for video); the X's thunderous bass and lush lower midrange are fun, but can be a bit much for my purposes.

 

[inventionlws]

   
*GASP* 

 The LCD-X demoted from headphone stand status? Now I really need to hear the HD800S.
 
On a separate note, how do you find the X compared to the Ether C? I've unfortunately found having an open can at work to be more of a nuisance than I thought, so I currently have a Ether C coming to see if it will suit me better. Also I found my particular LCD-X a bit more mid-recessed than I would like...

Yeah, that is right. It is not a particular thing, LCD X is upper mid recessed, making the bass and treble seems prominent. That is the main reason I departed with it.