[shimmer n roar]

my experience was very different to yours. they sounded distinctly different with the hd800 sounding more open than the t1.

 

[Baxide]

I love my HD800. But bass needs a bit more drive in order to get the HD800 to bring it to life. I use MediaMonkey, and have adjusted the bass level in the MM equalizer upwards by about +6dB in order to solve the problem.

 

[milosz]

Somebody mentioned how comfortable the HD800s were.  I agree.  Great ergonomics. I really like the earpads.  And the overall form is good, good comfort.  And build quality, definitely well made and with luxury materials.  And- a cable with connectors, and pretty good connectors to boot- how nice is that?
 
Yes, Sennheiser did a fine job on the HD800's-  sonically and structurally.

 

[zardon]

Quote:

I love my HD800. But bass needs a bit more drive in order to get the HD800 to bring it to life. I use MediaMonkey, and have adjusted the bass level in the MM equalizer upwards by about +6dB in order to solve the problem.

This is a problem with the cable in the box. Good quality third party cables really sort this problem out. Sennheiser should really be ashamed of shipping that cable with such a premium pair of headphones. A good, relatively cheap upgrade option would be the Cardas cable.

 

[Dubstep Girl]

i noticed a slight improvement when i got my dhc molecule for it, but it was very subtle. the stock cable could be improved upon, but i think its very good considering the cables other headphones have (lcd-2 stock is just horrible imo)

 

[zardon]

Quote:

i noticed a slight improvement when i got my dhc molecule for it, but it was very subtle. the stock cable could be improved upon, but i think its very good considering the cables other headphones have (lcd-2 stock is just horrible imo)

Really? I thought it was absolutely terrible. I used a Cardas cable for the HD800 a week later and the differences to me were extremely noticeable. Moving to the piccilino totally transformed the headphone, however the cable costs more than the headphone, so its not practical for most people.
 
LCD2 cable is also dire, yes. Most of the 'in the box' cables are. HD800 reference cable is in my opinion, one of the worst however. I will never forget being hugely disappointed with the headphones when I first used them. I almost took them back to the dealer as I thought the drivers were damaged. (I was using about three other high end headphones at the same time). When we removed the standard cable from the equation the whole mid/low end delivered significantly more impact without losing any finesse and focus.

 

[Magick Man]

Cables will not make a dramatic audible difference, no one has ever been able to show any data that they do. If there are changes they will be so subtle as to be almost unrecognizable.

 

[zardon]

Cables will not make a dramatic audible difference, no one has ever been able to show any data that they do. If there are changes they will be so subtle as to be almost unrecognizable.

Yes, the age old debate, isnt it?

I did a blind test with a friend and an hd800. One cabled with piccilino and one with the stock cable. Same amplifier, same volume. Same track.

I could tell the difference every time.

I cant prove here i could hear the difference, but i did.

Maybe other people cant. But im glad i did, otherwise the hd800 would have been sold a long time ago.

 

[davidgotsa]

For your test to be valid, you would have to use the same headphones and only change the cable, since there clearly are differences between HD800s. 
Quote:

Yes, the age old debate, isnt it?
I did a blind test with a friend and an hd800. One cabled with piccilino and one with the stock cable. Same amplifier, same volume. Same track.
I could tell the difference every time.
I cant prove here i could hear the difference, but i did.
Maybe other people cant. But im glad i did, otherwise the hd800 would have been sold a long time ago.

 

[zardon]

Quote:

For your test to be valid, you would have to use the same headphones and only change the cable, since there clearly are differences between HD800s. 

Yes, I meant the cable was changed on the same headphone.
 
Anyway, this debate will go nowhere. just like it always does. Some people don't believe cables make any difference to SQ, thats cool. im fine with that. Some people believe that rolling tubes makes no difference either.

 

[Magick Man]

Yes, the age old debate, isnt it?
I did a blind test with a friend and an hd800. One cabled with piccilino and one with the stock cable. Same amplifier, same volume. Same track.
I could tell the difference every time.
I cant prove here i could hear the difference, but i did.
Maybe other people cant. But im glad i did, otherwise the hd800 would have been sold a long time ago.

It isn't a debate, until concrete proof is shown it isn't much more valid than magic stones. I've seen acres and acres of anecdotal evidence, "it's true, I can hear it", but it doesn't stand up to solid testing and peer review. Expectation bias is extremely powerful, so much so that it can and will override real world perceptions on a consistent basis.



Edit: Anyway, sorry to derail here guys, I just hate to see people spending hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars for third party cables when there are other places in their chain that can use the attention. After that, you want snazzy interconnects, I'm right there with ya. I love the look of them, but I don't buy or make them for sonic benefit.

 

[davidgotsa]

Quote:

Some people believe that rolling tubes makes no difference either.

 
About that, does anyone here know if anyone has measured a pair of headphones with different tubes and published his findings online? I would love to see that. 

 

[zardon]

Quote:

It isn't a debate, until concrete proof is shown it isn't much more valid than magic stones. I've seen acres and acres of anecdotal evidence, "it's true, I can hear it", but it doesn't stand up to solid testing and peer review. Expectation bias is extremely powerful, so much so that it can and will override real world perceptions on a consistent basis.
Edit: Anyway, sorry to derail here guys, I just hate to see people spending hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars for third party cables when there are other places in their chain that can use the attention. After that, you want snazzy interconnects, I'm right there with ya. I love the look of them, but I don't buy or make them for sonic benefit.

Well until they can wire my ears and brain and tell me what im hearing is actually wrong, I take those scientific claims (or denials) with a pinch of salt.
 
The Sony R10 for instance, technically has been surpassed by many new headphone designs and driver technology. Its still the best sounding headphone to me. If someone wants to tell me I can't prove that, its pretty pointless. It what I hear, not what can be 'proved' on a graph, or chart.
 
But as you say. derailing the thread is pointless. We can both have different views on it all, many people do

 

[zardon]

Quote:

 
About that, does anyone here know if anyone has measured a pair of headphones with different tubes and published his findings online? I would love to see that. 

There was a great debate on this on another forum if I can find the link. Some claimed that tube rolling was pointless as it couldn't be measured either past a certain point. Therefore spending xxx amount of money on vintage tubes, when new cheaper tubes copy the designs. was pointless. Yet other people swear that vintage tubes sound much better than modern designs, in many cases.

 

[davidgotsa]

Alright, thanks. I'll see if I can find something on the subject since I don't have enough knowledge about either tubes or cables to know for a fact if they can make a difference or not. 
Quote:

There was a great debate on this on another forum if I can find the link. Some claimed that tube rolling was pointless as it couldn't be measured either past a certain point. Therefore spending xxx amount of money on vintage tubes, when new cheaper tubes copy the designs. was pointless. Yet other people swear that vintage tubes sound much better than modern designs, in many cases.