[robm321]

I've been very accurate at getting an idea about what a headphone sounds like based on impressions. In fact, Every time I've tried a headphone for the first time after Reading impressions - it usually is very close to what I thought it would sound like.

The only exception is the HD650 balanced. I want to feel your enthusiasm Jude, but I have to be honest and say that anyone with the HD650 as a reference has different taste than I do. It's great but not my taste at all. It frankly was boring to me no matter what amp or cable was used. It's just my taste though, nothing negative on the HD650. I think it is a great phone for those that connect with it. I was expecting a monumental change going balanced and it was rather subtle.

I was hoping the HD800 could be the one that would cause me to minimize... but after reading impressions, I don't think it will be.

I'm not sure how you get more resolving than the HP-2 or PS-1, the rest of the Grados - sure. The highs on the HP-2 don't extend forever, but they are about as smooth and resolving as it gets with a lot of juice applied. I'm guessing the speed of the HD800 gives it that stat like sound which can surpass all dynamics in that regard, BUT I'm worried it will have a stat sound which to me is not palpable enough to enjoy... sorry I'm a dynamic and impact kind of guy

I really really hope I'm wrong, and that is possible. So, I still hold a sliver of hope that it can be the headphone I hoped it to be. Can't wait to hear it to know for sure. I know it will be an incredible phone - and at the price I know Sennheisser wouldn't release anything less... so we'll see.

Is this a somewhat clinical or analytical phone?... I'm getting that vibe. And I'm also getting the vibe that the impact is not close to the K-1000 or HP-2. BUMMER for me if that's the case

- help me to be optimistic

Sorry to dump my useless to others, personal drama, but I had to vent that out, thanks for listening

would like nothing more than to be wrong about this.

 

[vcoheda]

i find that people who love grados don't feel as enthusiatic about senns, and vice versa. i'm more of a senn guy, so i expect the HD800 if it improves at all upon the HD650 will be just to my liking.

 

[thread]

robm321: I've mentioned this in the HD800 thread, but let me add it here.

I am not really a senn guy either. I've had the HD600's, but they didn't have the impact in the bass that I enjoy so much from my closed phones. I sold them and later picked up the HD650. They certainly had a bit more bass, but something about the openness causes me not to get the bass impact I want. I still have them because my girlfriend loves them, but I don't really ever use them -- just not my cup of tea either.

The HD800's, however, while they are also open, I found the bass to be much nicer somehow. It extends very deep and is fast & textured. I no longer had the feeling that the bass was weak where it just flows right out of the enclosure without kicking me in the eardrums like the HD6xx's gave me.

I would say there's hope for you & the 800's yet, robm321.

 

[Aimless1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vcoheda /img/forum/go_quote.gif i find that people who love grados don't feel as enthusiatic about senns, and vice versa. i'm more of a senn guy, so i expect the HD800 if it improves at all upon the HD650 will be just to my liking.

That's a pretty accurate statement. Robm states my view pretty well, and let's just say I'm not optimistic about the 800s. That's not to say I'm closed minded. I'll have an opportunity to listen to them and I'll be able to decide for myself. So I'm rooting for the 800s, but I'm not expecting them to be my cup of tea.

 

[jude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Morph201 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Although it was a brief listen, approximately 1 hour, with the HD800s, I still stand by my statement... They remind me of K702's with cajones!! ...

I don't think I've heard the K702 yet--just the K701. And, to me, it sounds absolutely nothing like a K701.

Quote:

Originally Posted by robm321 /img/forum/go_quote.gif ....The only exception is the HD650 balanced. I want to feel your enthusiasm Jude, but I have to be honest and say that anyone with the HD650 as a reference has different taste than I do. It's great but not my taste at all. It frankly was boring to me no matter what amp or cable was used. It's just my taste though, nothing negative on the HD650. I think it is a great phone for those that connect with it. I was expecting a monumental change going balanced and it was rather subtle....

Actually, it's funny you should mention that. As I told my Detroit Mini-Meet friends, the HD800's neutrality has been changing my sonic mood and preferences lately. So, for example, I've been listening more to the HD600 than the HD650 lately. I've been listening more to the UE-10 Pro than the UE-11. I've moved away from an older, softer-edged DAC to ones of higher definition and neutrality.

Remember also that I'm not a one-headphone kind of guy. For a few of the years that I was listening to the HD650 as one of my primary headphones, the other was the Grado GS-1000.

Regarding balanced drive: I'm very curious to see how the HD800 responds to being driven balanced.

Quote:

Originally Posted by robm321 /img/forum/go_quote.gif ....I was hoping the HD800 could be the one that would cause me to minimize... but after reading impressions, I don't think it will be....

I won't try to convince anyone that the HD800 is going to be it for him. It definitely is for me, though, especially given that I haven't the budget for the HE90 and the amps necessary to drive it. I say amps (plural) because I see a future with two HD800's, one for the home rig, one for the office rig--I really don't want to carry it back and forth every day forever.

Quote:

Originally Posted by robm321 /img/forum/go_quote.gif ....I'm not sure how you get more resolving than the HP-2 or PS-1, the rest of the Grados - sure. The highs on the HP-2 don't extend forever, but they are about as smooth and resolving as it gets with a lot of juice applied. I'm guessing the speed of the HD800 gives it that stat like sound which can surpass all dynamics in that regard, BUT I'm worried it will have a stat sound which to me is not palpable enough to enjoy... sorry I'm a dynamic and impact kind of guy ....

You answered the "how you get more resolving" part yourself: Speed. The ability of the HD800 in terms of microdynamics is, to these ears, quite unique relative to its dynamic peers (old and new).

That ring driver isn't a gimmick.

Quote:

Originally Posted by robm321 /img/forum/go_quote.gif ....I really really hope I'm wrong, and that is possible. So, I still hold a sliver of hope that it can be the headphone I hoped it to be. Can't wait to hear it to know for sure. I know it will be an incredible phone - and at the price I know Sennheisser wouldn't release anything less... so we'll see....

Yeah, I can't tell you what it will be for you, but I don't think you'll disagree that it's unique and very resolving.

Quote:

Originally Posted by robm321 /img/forum/go_quote.gif ....Is this a somewhat clinical or analytical phone?... I'm getting that vibe. And I'm also getting the vibe that the impact is not close to the K-1000 or HP-2. BUMMER for me if that's the case - help me to be optimistic ....

It is what you feed it, maybe more than any other headphone I've tried. In that sense, it's analytical. If you're asking if it imparts an unnaturally etched sound on its own, my answer is no. I'm not sure what you mean by impact--give it a good march (or a healthy dose of Mahler) and tell me if you think it's low on the ability to convey impact.

The HD800 has been a very interesting headphone. Its neutrality (and its revealing nature) makes changing things upstream of it more fun for me. It has made me think of my systems the way an engineer might think of a car's suspension. That is, generally speaking, one ideally seeks high chassis torsional rigidity, so that chassis flex doesn't ruin the precision of the suspension. In other words, it can be much more difficult to optimize and tune suspension performance for a specific purpose or feel when the chassis it's attached to is flexing, and, thus, less predictable. In this analogy, the HD800 is like a rock solid, predictable chassis, which makes the effects of everything else more obvious. If the transducer is imparting a good amount of its own flavor, it can sometimes mask certain changes upstream. (You know, upon re-reading this paragraph, I think I came up with a not-too-good analogy here, but I'm leaving it in the hopes that maybe it makes some sense to someone else other than me.

)

Here's the thing, Rob: You said this....

Quote:

Originally Posted by robm321 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've been very accurate at getting an idea about what a headphone sounds like based on impressions. In fact, Every time I've tried a headphone for the first time after Reading impressions - it usually is very close to what I thought it would sound like....

....then you said this....

Quote:

Originally Posted by robm321 /img/forum/go_quote.gif ....I was hoping the HD800 could be the one that would cause me to minimize... but after reading impressions, I don't think it will be....

....which tells me that maybe you should keep the $1400.00 in the piggy bank until you hear it. Some will think it a very safe bet based on what collective assessments can be gathered (however limited currently), and others will not. You seem like the latter, and there's nothing wrong with that. We're not talking $29.99 here.

Again, I'm not going to try to convince anyone to buy it. I'm just going to tell you what I think of it, because that's all I can do. And, for me, as is probably quite obvious by now, the HD800 is my new reference headphone.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vcoheda /img/forum/go_quote.gif i find that people who love grados don't feel as enthusiatic about senns, and vice versa. i'm more of a senn guy, so i expect the HD800 if it improves at all upon the HD650 will be just to my liking.

Yeah, that seems to be a general truth, historically, with some exceptions (I'm one of them, listening mostly to the HD600/650 and the Grado GS-100 and HF-1). I've said it before, and I'm sure this won't be the last time I'll say it: Listening to the HD800 doesn't give me the impression in the least that the HD600/650 (or any previous dynamic sennheiser I've heard) was in any way a template for what the HD800 would be. From what I've gathered, by both listening to it, and also in discussions with the folks at Sennheiser, it seems that the HD800 emerged from a blank slate, new in every way from the ground up. So, to me, that general truth doesn't really apply to this one.

 

[robm321]

Thanks for the reply Jude!

It was very helpful. I did have a pre-order then canceled it. Without a doubt, I will try these and decide. My personal situation is that I don't want another phone. I want one that might replace all my phones. That's a tall order, and maybe I'm in a unique situation. I still want to try and own some less expensive phones for fun, but I do want a reference rather than 3 of them and only 2 being amped properly.

Your thought about it being neutral and causing you to move toward neutral phones is encouraging. Without meaning to, I ended up with the most neutral phones K-1000, HD800 and even the Audeo PFE. I wasn't trying to find a neutral phone, those just gave the most honest and accurate impression of the music and made the colored phones uninteresting at least as far as reference phones. The GS-1000 has hung tough though because it's so musical.

We'll see, but again, thanks for the reply. This discussion and thread has been what I think we all were waiting for... aside from actually hearing them.

It's a great time to be a headfier - love the pic BTW

 

[-=Germania=-]

I only comment that I think it was power related because everything sounded very Echo-y. The DAC did or the Wadia...but the soundstage was very odd to say the least. Couldn't get it to sound "right" the whole day. The Wadia and the Lavry are suppose dto sound excelent, but there has to be something that was making everything sound like an echo (the crossfeed was not activated) and even using the headphone out on the Lavry. Only thing I could think of is that it could be power related.

 

[SleepyOne]

If DACs are low on power, would that mean the amps are also under powered?

 

[recstar24]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SleepyOne /img/forum/go_quote.gif If DACs are low on power, would that mean the amps are also under powered?

I think Jude's post is pretty conclusive that it is highly unlikely there were power issues, or that the gear was pulling so much power that they were running starved and malfunctioning, IMHO. I think Jude also mentions that he has a 20 amp circuit on one of those outlets, and like Jude said at most a mere fraction of that power is being pulled by whatever was hooked up to it.

 

[boomana]

Well, I, for one, am very excited to hear the HD800s at CanJam. Since I'm pretty familiar with the tastes of a few who were lucky enough to hear them at CES, and I trust their opinions, I'm waiting to be suitably impressed. I'm on a no new purchases in 2009 kick, so part of me is hoping I won't like them, but this thread isn't helping me out any

-=Germainia=-, sometimes things just don't sound right, and there's no reasonable accounting for it: same gear, familiar music, etc., but things just sound a bit off and you can't put your finger on why. I don't know anyone who hasn't experienced this at least a couple times. You go back to listening to the same rig the next day, and it's all back to good. I remember this happening to me at a mini-meet once, and though I knew it was me and not the gear, I very much enjoyed telling everyone how much their gear sucked, then settled in on a sofa to listen to a baseball game on a crappy mp3 player radio with unamped L3000s. Chances are, with the experienced ears in the room not hearing any problems, it was you and not a gear or power problem.

 

[Morph201]

.

 

[-=Germania=-]

If that were the case, I feel like a real PIA.

But it would't explain why my DAC wouldn't work at the meet - then fired up at home...albeit combusted later.

I will shut up on this for the time being. Right now, I am living in Mid-fi anyway and appreciating the more budget audio for what it is. "Budget" being a relative term.

 

[SleepyOne]

Quote:

Originally Posted by recstar24 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I think Jude's post is pretty conclusive that it is highly unlikely there were power issues, or that the gear was pulling so much power that they were running starved and malfunctioning, IMHO. I think Jude also mentions that he has a 20 amp circuit on one of those outlets, and like Jude said at most a mere fraction of that power is being pulled by whatever was hooked up to it.

No, I don't mean total power down (lol!), but slightly under. Where I live my amp sounds better at late night.

 

[dharma]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SleepyOne /img/forum/go_quote.gif No, I don't mean total power down (lol!), but slightly under. Where I live my amp sounds better at late night.

Maybe in this case it's best to try something like SmartUPS RT (sure there are similar other units too). ...'It uses Double Conversion Online, which means it is basically always converting power through the batteries from AC --> DC -->AC. This is good because it's completely recreating the power sine wave, which should lead to very steady clean power output regardless of the input characteristics.'...

other power related suggestions to prevent damaging of equipment are there:
APC Discussion Forums : Determining UPS requirements ...

 

[SleepyOne]

Thank you for the excellent idea dharma! I can get APC over here.