[MacedonianHero]

Quote:

 
 
Quote:

But the HD800's bass is MUCH better than the HD6x0s. Don't confuse impact for quality.

 
How can it be better, when I can´t even hear it?
 
 
 
Quote:

So why not upgrade the source and amp to the 650s to help their detail since you are sold on their bass?

 
They have just ok bass, could be more and tighter. Like I said, close but not cigar. And the sound could be even wider and clearer, like the HD800. But I might just do what you suggested and get a headphone amp with the HD600/650.
 
 
 
Quote:

One more time, You just don't have the right up-stream components that a High End Reference Headphone can and WILL produce..If you could sit in my chair and listen to my system with the HD-800's or the same system with my HD-650's I'm pretty sure you'd be singing a different tune......I'm Done! Good Luck with yrs of Buyin', Tryin' and Cryin' about your purchases.....

 
Many have said in this thread that no matter how good amp I would get, there wouldn´t be anymore bass and the HD600/650 would have still more bass. That isn´t acceptable to me.
 
So if I would be sitting in your chair, I would be probably saying to you "so where´s the bass"?

The bass is right there (unless you're hearing impaired) just as the sound engineer and artist intended it to be. The fact that you want more is YOUR issue.
 
This graph says it all:
 
http://graphs.headphone.com/graphCompare.php?graphType=0&graphID[]=863&graphID[]=853&graphID[]=123
 
Now the AT W5000s, yes, their bass is non-existent, but not the HD800s. It goes deeper than the HD650s, is better defined, controlled and well, JUST BETTER!

 

[GreatoGrado]

Stop complaining about your your HD800 lacking bass. it is killing me. Seriously don't complain about sound when you are listening to <$1000 headphones on a piece of crap sound card that is probably >$100. A sound card is not good enough to even make my $150 Grados shine. Do yourself a favor and spend decent money on a good amp before getting rid of the 800s. You seem to have that kind of money. GRRR this thread is making me angry. lol.
 
edit: and I havent posted in a half a year and yet this compelled me to. Grr again.

 

[Arctia]

It's not that the HD800 doesn't have bass, it's purely because you are too used to the signature of HD650. HD800 has a treble bump. When you turn both the HD650 and the HD800 to have similar amount of treble, HD650 will have higher bass quantity.
 
Either give it two weeks for your brain to adjust, or simply get another headphone. If you really like bass, HD800 is not for you.

 

[dallan]

I think if I plugged my HD800s straight into the headphone out of my computer I would be confused and hear almost no bass and just horrible sound quality overall.  They need a hefty amp, there is a reason why people spend upwards of two grand on headphone amps for these, mine was well over two and I had to wait for months(4-5) for it to be built.  It is a waste to even attempt to plug them straight into a computer or even a low end amp.  

 

[MetalElvis]

 
 
Quote:

Stop complaining about your your HD800 lacking bass. it is killing me. Seriously don't complain about sound when you are listening to <$1000 headphones on a piece of crap sound card that is probably >$100.

 
I´m shocked how many people here are absolutely clueless about DAWs and audio interfaces. :O
 
http://www.rme-audio.de/en_products_fireface_800.php
 
It´s a <1000$ audio interface, not a crappy >100$.
 
And the Crane Song Avocet is probably the best high end monitor controller out there with a integrated headphone amp. And many professionals say that you don´t necessarily need a dedicated headphone amp if you have the Avocet!
 
http://www.cranesong.com/AVOCET.html
 
 
 
Quote:

I think if I plugged my HD800s straight into the headphone out of my computer I would be confused and hear almost no bass and just horrible sound quality overall. 

 
Yeah, that´s exactly what I´m doing, plugging the HD800 "straight into the headphone out of my computer". (Sarcasm of course!)
 
Man the cluelessness of some people in this thread is starting to anger me too.

 

[dallan]

Maybe not for many headphones but you are talking about probably the most amp dependent headphone possible.  And no i am not familiar with it so my apologies for that, looks cool but still headphone section would have to be beefy as heck for the 800s, my $800. dedicated headphone amp  never gets used with them, they only go into the Zana Deux which is the one I was referring to above.  

 

[MetalElvis]

 
 
 
Quote:

Maybe not for many headphones but you are talking about probably the most amp dependent headphone possible.  And no i am not familiar with it so my apologies for that, looks cool but still headphone section would have to be beefy as heck for the 800s, my $800. dedicated headphone amp  never gets used with them, they only go into the Zana Deux which is the one I was referring to above. 

 
Sorry for calling you clueless, started to get little angry there. I know I should hear headphone amps more to have better opinion about them. I´ve heared some though and wasn´t that impressed. So I kinda since then have had the opinion that the dedicated headphone amps are just a bit overhyped.
 
But I´ve never heard amps like your Zana Deux, looks interesting and cool!

 

[GreatoGrado]

I am also sorry for not knowing about your sound card; however, it is just that, a sound card (I think, see questions below.) HD800s are picky and need large expensive amps and sources to pull their true abilities out of them. I firmly disagree with whoever said headphone amps don't do anything (i don't know if that was this thread) but on my SR125is, it made a world of difference, and that is just on some 150 dollar budget phones. You went all out with money, so I can't even imagine how huge a difference a dedicated source and amp could make. Speaking of source, Is that big fireface thing a soundcard? does it plug into a sound card? what are you listening to? mp3? what bitrate? all important questions.

 

[MetalElvis]

 
 
Quote:

I am also sorry for not knowing about your sound card; however, it is just that, a sound card (I think, see questions below.) HD800s are picky and need large expensive amps and sources to pull their true abilities out of them. I firmly disagree with whoever said headphone amps don't do anything (i don't know if that was this thread) but on my SR125is, it made a world of difference, and that is just on some 150 dollar budget phones. You went all out with money, so I can't even imagine how huge a difference a dedicated source and amp could make. Speaking of source, Is that big fireface thing a soundcard? does it plug into a sound card? what are you listening to? mp3? what bitrate? all important questions.

 
Sorry for calling you clueless also.
 
I´ve heard from many that the Fireface 800 audio interface´s headphone out is just as good or even better as the low end (100-300$) dedicated headphone amps out there. I´ve personally tested some of these low end headphone amps with my HD600/650 (I remember one amp was even in the 500-600$ price range) and I didn´t notice any huge improvements.
 
Also some audio professionals tell me that the Avocet´s integrated headphone amp is much better than the Fireface 800´s and perfectly OK powering headphones like the HD800. Granted they have also said, if you go with <1000$ headphone amps, you might start to notice the difference.
 
Anyway that´s why I have not thought about buying a dedicated headphone amp. (Although it´s always been in the back of my mind).

 

[Arctia]

At this point, we shouldn't be discussing amp for HD800. Even with a $2k amp, HD800 will never have more bass quantity than HD650 after you volume match. You should just get a different headphone.
 
Or force yourself to listen to HD800 for two weeks, your brain will adjust accordingly.

 

[jasonb]

actually the Crossfeed circuit in HeadRoom's amps add quite a bit of warmth and bass. that may make them more enjoyable and fun. different amps can make a difference.
 
Quote:

At this point, we shouldn't be discussing amp for HD800. Even with a $2k amp, HD800 will never have more bass quantity than HD650 after you volume match. You should just get a different headphone.
 
Or force yourself to listen to HD800 for two weeks, your brain will adjust accordingly.

 

[dallan]

I actually was not a big fan of the headroom amps with the 800's when i heard them at Canjam 09.  Maybe work okay with 650s though, i didn't try those on them.

 

[jasonb]

what didn't sound right about it?
 
Quote:

I actually was not a big fan of the headroom amps with the 800's when i heard them at Canjam 09.  Maybe work okay with 650s though, i didn't try those on them.

 

[dallan]

I listened to the 800s on a lot of amps and I specifically remembered that the ones in the headroom room didn't work well with them, i also didn't like the TTVJ top amp, i think it was the 307A or something.  I have heard them with Beta22 amps balanced and they worked well, and with the AudioGD Phoenix  balanced amp was pretty good.  The Woo amps do pretty well with them(at least the higher end ones), and the Eddie Current amps of course, but Craig is a headphone amp guru from way back.
 
I think they were just not detailed enough and slurred over sounding to me.  Just me of course there are some who like them.  Also as i said before, i only heard them on the 800s which are very revealing and picky about their amping.  Nothing against your set up i see you use them with the 650's which works out for you I am sure, they are a very different phone.

 

[Bilavideo]

Quote:

I've been down this avenue earlier this year and trust me....the HD800s are never going to have bass like other headphones, not matter how expensive of an amp you get.  Different amps might power them a little better, but basically you are spending money on a piece of equipment that EQs your headphones by adding bass and removing some trebble.  From my experience the bass goes deep on the headphones, but will never be overly present in the mix.  If your not a huge fan of the sound signature of the headphones to start off with, don't invest a fortune in them...you'd be better off just finding headphones that suit you better.

I had the HD800 and ran it through a $500 M^3 with variable bass boost.  At three-quarters bass boost, it spanked the monkey.