[msz87]

His whole life lead up to this review, epic.

 

[MilesDavis2]

Thank you, David for your time and passion. This is classic!

 

[satanigatan]

This only makes me want to try the HD-800 again.

I had to sell them off because the treble/highs were too harsh for me. Well, I shouldn't say harsh. I just mean, my ears were really sensitive to them. They gave me really bad ear aches. I wouldn't even be listening to them at loud levels, and would get a wicked ear ache that would last days.

I just loved the comfort and sound of the HD-800's so much though. They were easily IMO the best sounding headphones I've ever heard. I went back to the LCD-2's recently, because the dark sound means less treble/highs which = happy ears (for me, again).

The thing that makes me want to try the HD-800's again is that at the time, I wasn't amping them properly at all. If it's really true that amp/dac pairing can make them sound beautiful or even harsh, then maybe mine is an example of this (on the harsh side). I'm currently rocking the Lyr> Bifrost, anyone ever tried out the HD-800 with that?

 

[purrin]

This only makes me want to try the HD-800 again.

 


Dave is 100% correct on the HD800 being picky. The HD800 is going to sound very different from a Manley Neo Classic 300B than from a say a HeadRoom amp or Asus soundcard. The HD800 does well on Lyr + Beefroast. Not as good as from the Manley though.

 

[Hubert481]

David, thank you for this excellent 50+review
The new encyclopedia for headphones on this planet!

I did only hear a few headphones below 2000,- --- my personal list is:
TH-900 >  K1000(serial below 3000)  > T1 > GS1000 > HE6 > LCD3 > LCD2 > HD800 > Ultrasone Signature Pro > K701

I did not like the very dark sound of LCD2/3 (there might be variations between different serial numbers)
HE6 and HD800 were rather new, which might be a big difference.
For me, the HD800 was like a excellent monitor headphone - excellent hifi-feeling, but no musik/emotion-feeling, and sometimes harsh treble.
The bass of the TH-900 was more awesome compared to LCD3
My personal dream would be a mixture of TH-900(bass) and K1000 (midrange/treble)

 

[satanigatan]

Dave is 100% correct on the HD800 being picky. The HD800 is going to sound very different from a Manley Neo Classic 300B than from a say a HeadRoom amp or Asus soundcard. The HD800 does well on Lyr + Beefroast. Not as good as from the Manley though.

Interesting.

I'm definitely going to look back into the HD-800's later down the road. Like I said, for me they were the best sounding/ designed headhones I ever tried. At the time, I didn't have the proper equipment to juice them, and I found them to be harsh. I've always regretted giving up on them.

 

[Tbone59]

Thanks so much for this most awesome review.even though some of these cans and dacs/amp are out of my price range, they all set the bar for me..one day!

 

[Velocity]

Really Epic review. Much fun to read.
But it would be fun to know which headphone actually get the most time on Davids head. 

 

[DavidMahler]

Quote:

Really Epic review. Much fun to read.
But it would be fun to know which headphone actually get the most time on Davids head. 

 
It depends on what I'm doing.  I sometimes will reacquaint myself with a headphone and stick with it for a while.  I  had to avoid things like that while writing the review.
 
Right now, I spend a lot of my on-the-go time with the ES5 and a lot of my stationary time with the HD800.  By next week, it may be a different story.  There have been times where I was all HE90 all the time or R10s or LCD-3 or HE6 etc
 
I don't personally find that my listening preferences lean toward bright (as has been suggested).  In fact, I consider the HD800 to be a neutral headphone, but I enjoy pairing it with WARM, not bright amps ....  a hint of warmth always gives way to emotions (for me anyway).  But there are course times where I do enjoy bright.

 

[deaffob]

It was a great great review. Also it's fun to see many people trying to defend their headphones.
 
Your headphones are not your children people. Don't take it personally when someone says yours isn't good!

 

[olor1n]

I'm currently rocking the Lyr> Bifrost, anyone ever tried out the HD-800 with that?

I have and it wasn't too bad. 60's Herleen factory Amperex Bugle Boys are a must in that chain though. Forget Stuttgarts. The HD800 will reveal them as slightly veiled and less dynamic next to the BB's.

 

[Shahrose]

I don't think people realize that the HD800s don't sound harsh, or cold from good setups. Sources matter so much. A lot of digital is glarey and rough until you get to a certain point. Look at David's setup. I think he is past that point...

 

[sonance]

Quote:

Interesting.
I'm definitely going to look back into the HD-800's later down the road. Like I said, for me they were the best sounding/ designed headhones I ever tried. At the time, I didn't have the proper equipment to juice them, and I found them to be harsh. I've always regretted giving up on them.

My opinion of the HD800 has changed over time, and with different amps. I did consider selling it at one point, but I'm glad I held on to it. One aspect of what I like about it is something that also comes out in David's review - it's a great tool for evaluating your entire chain leading up to the headphones - i.e. trying to listen for differences in DACs, different versions of a song, etc. This is not to say that it's just a tool, or that it's not good for pleasurable listening - quite the opposite, it's also great for listening to a lot of different types of music, it can just be brutal with badly recoded lo-fi / pop stuff.

 

[conquerator2]

Quote:

My opinion of the HD800 has changed over time, and with different amps. I did consider selling it at one point, but I'm glad I held on to it. One aspect of what I like about it is something that also comes out in David's review - it's a great tool for evaluating your entire chain leading up to the headphones - i.e. trying to listen for differences in DACs, different versions of a song, etc. This is not to say that it's just a tool, or that it's not good for pleasurable listening - quite the opposite, it's also great for listening to a lot of different types of music, it can just be brutal with badly recoded lo-fi / pop stuff.

 
Too bad I like pop...
 
Well those phones aint for me I guess...
 
HE-500 should tell me the story

 

[DaBomb77766]

...hm, I wonder how the V-Moda M-100 would do on this list.