[markmaxx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pompon /img/forum/go_quote.gif I guess it's subtles if they tell nothing.

Stock cable / Blue Dragon, Cable:... I can't answer that, I think to give a fair review my stock cable should be balanced too. I am going to order a adapter from drew soon to convert my balanced cable to single end termination.

The HD 800 are still burning in but I agree with the majority here that there is a dryness about the 800 that has me turning up the volume to get the mid bass just right, but then the cymbal crashes (the best I have ever heard, attack and decay super!!) and female voices are to prominent.

I am trying to get used to the new presentation of the HD 800.

Comparing the HD 650s to the HD 800 my first immediate thought was wow what an improvement in the quality of the details. I am constantly amazed, for example that there are instruments in the recordings I never noticed before, like soft,cymbals,wood blocks,etc.

Anyway my thought??? I am not blown over by the HD 800 yet.

If you can think for a min. you are looking at a painting and you are wearing your old reading glasses, being slightly scratched and smudged you want to see the painting better, So you put on your sparkling new clean glasses. Now of course this lets you see the details of the painting better. But now there is more glare on the painting because everything is so Nice and clear. I guess I just need to get used to my new glasses (HD 800)

 

[johnwmclean]

Quote:

Originally Posted by markmaxx /img/forum/go_quote.gif If you can think for a min. you are looking at a painting and you are wearing your old reading glasses, being slightly scratched and smudged you want to see the painting better, So you put on your sparkling new clean glasses. Now of course this lets you see the details of the painting better. But now there is more glare on the painting because everything is so Nice and clear. I guess I just need to get used to my new glasses (HD 800)

Mark you need to visit your friendly HD800 optometrist, there’s no glare when the jobs done right.

 

[markmaxx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnwmclean /img/forum/go_quote.gif Mark you need to visit your friendly HD800 optometrist, there’s no glare when the jobs done right.

LOL!!! My HD 800s are brighter than my HD 650 for sure

I have not used my HD 650 since I recived the HD 800

I am not saying the 800s are bad just alot diffrent than what I am used to.

I herd the 800s at CanJam in LA. And liked them alot, I'm just saying after 5 days (not enough time to form a real opiion) I side with most here that their is some mid bass missing compaired to the 650s.

 

[Bones13]

The HD800 is certainly "brighter" than the HD650, but it is more detailed, and the balanced HD800 with my Apache is not missing any bass. But then I am comparing that to the HD650 single ended from the Raptor, which was much warmer due to the tubes over the SS of the Apache.

I know I hear sounds that were not present with my previous UltraMicroDAC/Raptor/HD650 or single ended HD800. Singers taking a breath between lines, hands on instruments.

Some of the HD stuff from HDTracks is truely stupendous via the new system. No Regrets.

One of my big surprises is a balanced W5000 on the new system. The woodies are truely energized, and the thin-ness is gone.

 

[markmaxx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bones13 /img/forum/go_quote.gif The HD800 is certainly "brighter" than the HD650, but it is more detailed, and the balanced HD800 with my Apache is not missing any bass. .

I thought that the RSA, Meridian G O8 Apache and the HD 800 were one of my favorite combos at CanJam!!!! You have a nice rig!

Edit: I am home now and switched the NOS Sylvania's 6SN7 GT gain tubes for some Sylvania 2C51s and the mid bass is much better now with the HD 800s.

However now there is a bit more of the (plagiarized Towert7) "mildly sibilant quality emphasizing sh’s and ss’s" than with the 650s./and or the 6SN7 tubes!

 

[ctemkin]

Saturday AmanGeorge set up a meet in Arlington, VA where I had the pleasure of meeting, among other Head-Fiers, 4N6 and markmaxx. This presented us with the opportunity to compare HD 800s with Silver Dragon cables (mine), Stefan Audio cables (4N6), and Blue Dragon cables (markmaxx). Take what I am about to say with a grain of salt, particularly since the hearing in one ear is a little off (2 plane flights plus the flu), but I heard NO difference in the Silver Dragon and Blue Dragon cables. This was using markmaxx's rig, with a Singlepower amp which had two balanced outputs, so it was just a question of taking one HD 800 off my head and putting the other one on. I was listening to a Beethoven piano sonata, an Art Pepper cd, and Santana's Black Magic Woman.

I also compared 4N6's HD 800 with mine using my system. Had to plug and unplug, used the same test music. Surprisingly, they sounded pretty much the same,too; I certainly did not hear any noticeable difference in the bass, for example. 4N6 tried both phones on his system, but I will let him post his own impressions.

 

[4N6]

I also compared my SAA Voice recabled headphones to ctemkin's Silver Dragon. Both were balanced and roughly the same length. Yes, the differences were minor, but I heard just a little more detail out of the SAA Voice. On plucked guitar (both bass and standard), it was easier to hear the physical nature of the plucking of the strings via the Voice. There was just a subtle bit more body and 3-dimensionality to the strings also.

Now the differences were quite small and that dreaded "Law of Diminishing Returns" was in full force. Although I found the Voice to be "better," the Silver Dragon is terrific, less expensive, and does represent a better value. Perhaps SAA's less expensive offerings would also be a better value than the Voice. But as "value" is in the eye of the beholder and some just NEED to have the best, the Voice is one heck of a good cable.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Yeah, I feel like once you hit a certain quality level on a cable that the differences become minor, vs with varying quality stock cables of differing levels of crappiness.

I find the Jenna Labs, APS V3 and Silver Dragon perform on a similar level, which are above the Headphile BlackMax or APS v2 in clarity and detail; and those are an improvement over stock but just not as big of an improvement.

 

[markmaxx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4N6 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I also compared my SAA Voice recabled headphones to ctemkin's Silver Dragon. Both were balanced and roughly the same length. Yes, the differences were minor, but I heard just a little more detail out of the SAA Voice. On plucked guitar (both bass and standard), it was easier to hear the physical nature of the plucking of the strings via the Voice. There was just a subtle bit more body and 3-dimensionality to the strings also. Now the differences were quite small and that dreaded "Law of Diminishing Returns" was in full force. Although I found the Voice to be "better," the Silver Dragon is terrific, less expensive, and does represent a better value. Perhaps SAA's less expensive offerings would also be a better value than the Voice. But as "value" is in the eye of the beholder and some just NEED to have the best, the Voice is one heck of a good cable.

I can see you might hear a bit of a difference in your test, compared to ctemkin's test, because your source is SO good, maybe my Meridian doesn't have the ability to... show the physical nature of the plucking of the strings via the Voice. There was just a subtle bit more body and 3-dimensionality to the strings also.

I don't know how anyone can just say "I don't like the HD 800" Sennheiser did one heck of a job, in my opinion. My original complaints with the lack of mid bass and the SSStt, went away with burn in, a change in tubes, and a set of Black Dragon XLR interconnects!

 

[billyearle]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevinR70 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Received my hardwired Voice cable this weekend and couldn't be happier with the purchase. The stock cable is a joke compared to this cable. This cable fixed what I perceived as the two weaknesses of the 800, a low end that didn't go low enough for my taste and a high end that was a little bright on certain tracks. The 800's are now perfect to my hears. I couldn't be happier with the purchase, and I was certainly a little skeptical dropping that kind of money on a cable. I've spent a lot of money in the last month to bring out the best in the 800's. I upgraded to a Marantz SA-7S1 SACD ($7k CDP), added SAA endorphin power cables to the CDP and my Zana Deux, added an SAA umbilical cord to the ZD power supply, SAA ribbon RCA cables, added 3" thick solid maple boards with vibration control under the boards and under my components, ran 2 20amp dedicated circuits with audiophile outlets, added an ISO fuse to the ZD power supply, and finally treated my connections and tube pins with Deoxit gold and SilClear. The Voice cable may be my best addition to date. The other additions were obvious improvements, but I would not be completely happy with my system without the Voice cable upgrade. BTW, my cable is not balanced since I'm running into a Zana Deux amp. So I can definately call BS on the talk I've heard about balancing being the primary reason for any improvement in an 800 cable upgrade.

Anyone think this or any othter cable could correct what I am percieving as sibilance? I have a EAR/Yoshino headphone amp which uses balanced inputs but has SE headphone jacks.

 

[johnwmclean]

Quote:

Originally Posted by billyearle /img/forum/go_quote.gif Anyone think this or any othter cable could correct what I am percieving as sibilance? I have a EAR/Yoshino headphone amp which uses balanced inputs but has SE headphone jacks.

No.

You’d be chasing your tail, cables do not add sibilance, tip: look elsewhere for the problem, a cable will not band-aid problems further up the track.

 

[Snake Eyes]

"Well of course, $1700 is just friggin insane, $1400 is perfectly reasonable."
$1,700 insane??? If you think that's insane some guy offered to make me a pair of balanced cables for my HD800 for $4,000

!
Well I just looked into that and I was actually going to get 2 sets of cables for $4,000 not just 1 pair for my headphones. The ones I was going to get are made by some company called "Double Helix" or something. These cables are Spore interconnects (@ 2 metres) and another pair of the same cables (@ 1 metre, both pairs with Bocchino R6 XLRs). The headphone cables will connect my HD800 to my Rudistor RP1000 MkII (obviously

) and the other cables will connect an Ayre C-5xe MP to the RP1000. Oh well they're not much more expensive than the $1,700 ones after all

(there's 2 sets of cables remember). Then there are the Odin cables by Nordost

.

 

[vcoheda]

my current setup for my HD800, which is what i have used for some time now, is the cardas cable with my headroom balanced home.

 

[rgs9200m]

DHC is amazing and transformative on the 800s. You don't need the expensive Boccinos XLRs (at least I don't) though. The Furutechs are fine. With a really good tube amp, good interconnects and power cable (warmish on both) & the balanced DHCs the 800s are in R10 league (in some ways better).
No brightness, even with an ordinary digital source, and off the charts with a top digital source.
The DHCs are more modestly priced in standard configuration.
 
The 800s are not plug&play. They are pretty hard to take for me plugged into a receiver or ipod (earbleed-time).

 

[coppi]

This thread is old, but in case anyone is looking, I've finally gotten myself a pair of HD800s and now have to get a good balanced cable. Anybody have opinions on the various options, say ALO vs DHC or Cardas? How "bad" is a re-terminated stock cable?
 
Many thanks in advance for any tips,
 Paolo