Say Lachlan I have been wondering how the HD800 review of yours that was in the pipeline is coming along?
I noticed you had tagged a little on the end of the Mainline review on your website Passion for Sound (by he way the new site is looking good).
http://passionforsound.lachlanfennen.com/
I had been thinking about trying some planar's with the Sex but The HD 800 price has taken a bit of a tumble due to the weaker Euro and with the Mainline due to arrive soonish (good things come to those who wait) my interest in the HD800 has been rekindled.
Hi Jamie,
Sorry it took me so long to respond - things are nuts for me so far this year - started on a huge high getting married and now am in my busiest work period plus getting hit with some nasty financial challenges so my time on here is limited at the moment
I am loving the HD800s with the Mainline and the X-Sabre. I had cooled a bit on the idea of writing an HD800 review because there are so many of them out there, but I'll provide a mini review of my setup here for the reference of all the wonderful Bottlehead fans out there.
Everything in my system has been tuned for musicality - my DAC is on the musical side of neutral (Matrix X-Sabre), my USB cable is slightly mid-centric (Chord Company SilverPlus USB), my interconnects are pretty neutral (Tara Labs Prisms), and my Mainline has some pretty neutral, but still musical 'output' caps (Auricaps). The end result is a very detailed, but always enjoyable rig that just sings with the HD800s.
I kept the T1s for a few weeks after getting the HD800s, but in the end there was just no denying that the HD800s (on my rig) were technically better and more enjoyable too. The Mainline is such a great amp choice for the HD800s because of its musicality (without losing detail and transparency). I've tried the HD800s now with a variety of setups:
Using the Mainline as an amp and these DACs:
- iFi Nano iDSD
- iFi Micro iDAC
- iFi Micro iDSD
- Various mid-level DAPs
Different amps I've tried:
- Mainline
- S.E.X. (my modded one with Mundorf Supreme Silver / Gold / Oil caps)
- iFi Micro iCAN
- Schiit Vali
- JDS Labs O2
- Various other amps at Melbourne Head-Fi meets
Without doubt, the Mainline is still the most enjoyable amp pairing I've found with the HD800s. To be completely open, the Mainline is also the most expensive amp I've tried with the HD800s (not including a Lynx Hilo DAC with amp built-in), but the comparisons aren't really close. Interestingly, the iFi Micro iCAN is probably the nearest competitor to the Mainline when it comes to transparency, musicality and pure enjoyment, but the Mainline is still significantly better thanks to the sense of space and note weight it produces (as discussed in my original review in this thread).
With all those different DACs, the Mainline has consistently shone. It's performance is limited by the quality of the output when paired with lower level DACs (as Doc discussed above), but it always sounds good - it's just able to give you even more quality and detail with higher quality sources.
In my setup I've found no need for the Anax mod which is surprising as a treble-shy listener, but the Mainline just hits the sweet spot for me because the treble is all there, but smooth and effortless. It might also have something to do with my choice of caps, but I don't have any way to A/B with a stock Mainline to confirm that.
I've tried a balanced cable, but interestingly there is very little difference between balanced and unbalanced operation when pairing the Mainline and HD800s. There was a noticeable improvement to the image clarity with the T1s in balanced mode on the Mainline, but not so much with the HD800s. I still choose to run the HD800s in balanced, but the unbalanced output is just as good to my ears.
In short, the Mainline / HD800 combo has successfully cured any itch I might have had to upgrade my amp / headphones (I know this is said often around here, but I haven't bought a desktop amp since getting my Mainline and it's been ages). My S.E.X. and LCD-2 setup still gets used for cruisy rock listening (The Yardbirds sound great through that rig!!) but the Mainline + HD800s are king!
I had hoped to be an early purchaser of a Bottlehead DAC to compare with the X-Sabre, but that plan has been shelved for a while due to finances and much to my dismay. That said, if I have to live with the X-Sabre --> Mainline --> HD800s for the rest of my years I'll be just fine with that!
P.S. thanks for the compliment on the new website! I'm trying to find some time for a few new reviews soon and maybe I'll review the HD800s after all if there's interest.