[mikek200]

If you were going to order high quality cd's,where would you go first
Not amazon,OK?
I tried cd universe??
Barnes & Noble ,used to be good,but??
 
Tnx
Mike

 

[preproman]

Quote:

If you were going to order high quality cd's,where would you go first
Not amazon,OK?
I tried cd universe??
Barnes & Noble ,used to be good,but??
 
Tnx
Mike

 
 
What's wrong with Amazons cd's?   Well in that case download hi res from HD tracks.

 

[bbophead]

Quote:

 
 
What's wrong with Amazons cd's?   

Nothin' wrong with mine!

 

[mikek200]

Nothing,,most of the time-....I've been buying cd's from them for years.
 
Just every once in a while,when I'm looking for something specific...I end up with a lower quality cd,cause I buy in a hurry...not paying attention
 
Also,my ears are still getting adjusted to these HD 800's...they reveal a lot,sneezes,coughs,fingers sliding down a fret board....etc??
 
I'll take a look at HD Tracks
 
Tnx
Mike

 

[Nishy]

Hi,
 
I have the HE-6 and HD800. They are both great headphones and I'll try answer in layman's terms that I know.
 
I listen 60-70% to jazz (for 30+ years), balance classical.  The HE6 (done maybe 500 hours?) to me have great clarity, treble, good bass (maybe not LCD3 levels but pretty good for jazz) and a distinctive intimate soundstage and moderate warmth. Most jazz is up close and personal, as if in a clubroom.
 
The HD800 (not yet over the mandatory 250 break in hours) has - as everyone says - a great soundstage and acoustic feel: how great a soundstage seems a subjective description but clearly quite different to HE6's narrower but nice presentation; for me this HD800 soundstage is a key reason for owning as it affords me a different type of listen. Classical music sounds more natural here (HD800), and some jazz - especially if it is well recorded - sounds great. However I note that some jazz recordings (I'm hearing some old Art Farmer) sounds as if it is at the end of the corridor...whereas the same sounds intimate and close up with my HE6.  This far, I'd say I generally prefer my jazz on the HE6 ! I love the HD800 for its more natural and slightly less trebly sound (as per specs). I've read reviews that complain of the HD800's poor bass: I am no basshead but I find this headphone presents bass fairly well, and perfectly ok on select albums (Hilario Duran, "Motion"). It may not be fantastic bass but seems quite enjoyable.
 
Comfortwise, HD800 wins being lighter but kind of feels almost as if one is wearing some small speakers...but I don't have any problems with my HE6 which is heavier and more trad but I listen long hours on them without issue. 
 
I have balanced cables on my HE6 and am expecting the same for my HD800 so there may be a slight adjustment to above comments. I've tested both on the same portable SR71B amp, though I own EF-6 but at a different home - waiting to see their performances on that.
 
Hope this helps!
 
N.

 

[mikek200]

Quote:

Hi,
 
I have the HE-6 and HD800. They are both great headphones and I'll try answer in layman's terms that I know.
 
I listen 60-70% to jazz (for 30+ years), balance classical.  The HE6 (done maybe 500 hours?) to me have great clarity, treble, good bass (maybe not LCD3 levels but pretty good for jazz) and a distinctive intimate soundstage and moderate warmth. Most jazz is up close and personal, as if in a clubroom.
 
The HD800 (not yet over the mandatory 250 break in hours) has - as everyone says - a great soundstage and acoustic feel: how great a soundstage seems a subjective description but clearly quite different to HE6's narrower but nice presentation; for me this HD800 soundstage is a key reason for owning as it affords me a different type of listen. Classical music sounds more natural here (HD800), and some jazz - especially if it is well recorded - sounds great. However I note that some jazz recordings (I'm hearing some old Art Farmer) sounds as if it is at the end of the corridor...whereas the same sounds intimate and close up with my HE6.  This far, I'd say I generally prefer my jazz on the HE6 ! I love the HD800 for its more natural and slightly less trebly sound (as per specs). I've read reviews that complain of the HD800's poor bass: I am no basshead but I find this headphone presents bass fairly well, and perfectly ok on select albums (Hilario Duran, "Motion"). It may not be fantastic bass but seems quite enjoyable.
 
Comfortwise, HD800 wins being lighter but kind of feels almost as if one is wearing some small speakers...but I don't have any problems with my HE6 which is heavier and more trad but I listen long hours on them without issue. 
 
I have balanced cables on my HE6 and am expecting the same for my HD800 so there may be a slight adjustment to above comments. I've tested both on the same portable SR71B amp, though I own EF-6 but at a different home - waiting to see their performances on that.
 
Hope this helps!
 
N.

Nishy...great post
 
I'm using 2 amps,for the he-6,I use an emo speaker amp,and the schiit mjolnir/gungnir .
Our music genres are the same,but with me..a lot of acoustics {Jesse Cooke ..& others},also,some classical,& opera
 
I have been using a pair of borrowed 800's since last Friday ,and I have to say,I'm very impressed,in fact ,I bought a pair last night from another head-fier , used.
The SQ & the detail,clarity,is outstanding...also,the comfort is much better than the he-6's  there have been times this past week,where I had them on for 6-8 hours,with no discomfort,whatsoever.
This so called brightness issue,I have not experienced,,maybe on some types of music ,its there ,but my ears have not heard it-yet?
 
I will stay with this setup,& I think,owning the he-6's & Hd800's,make a good balance,for my type of music
 
Question:
Are you using the silver cable with the HE-6's??

 

[tread1963]

The best place online to order high definition CDs, aka SACD or DVD-Audio would be Music Direct.  I have ordered many discs from them over the years and their inventory or as good as you can find regarding these high definition formats.  Please note you will need a specific player for either format, or a Universal Player such as the Oppo BDP-83/83SE  etc.  My last order, waiting on it to be shipped was

YES - FRAGILE (GOLD CD)-YES - FRAGILE (GOLD CD)

1

$24.99

$24.99

JIMI HENDRIX - BLUES: DELUXE EDITION (CD+DVD)

1

$11.99

$11.99

KINKS - ONE FOR THE ROAD (HYBRID SACD

1

$14.99

$14.99

THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND - IDLEWILD SOUTH (GOLD CD)

1

$29.99

$29.99

JANE'S ADDICTION - NOTHING'S SHOCKING (GOLD CD)		1	$24.99	$24.99

MIKE AND THE MECHANICS - MIKE AND THE MECHANICS (GOLD CD)

1

$24.99

$24.99

 

[preproman]

Can't you rip DVD-Audio to Flac files?  I think I read on Computer Audio a way to do it... Where as in SACD you need a old PS3 or something?

 

[wuwhere]

A gold Mike & The Mechanics, have to get that.

 

[tread1963]

These are hybrids, two layer, discs.  They are both SACD for use in SACD players such as my Oppo BDP-83SE and CD layer that is down sampled to CD that can be ripped and is generally excellent quality, these are Mobile Fidelity Master Tape reissues.
 

 

[NZtechfreak]

Recently got some HD800's to borrow courtesy of hedphonz (thanks dude!), listening to those and my HE-6 on the Audio-GD Reference 10 and completely concur with these two comments (although I haven't heard either headphone on a lot of other gear, may not have heard both or even either of them at a level approaching their best).
 
 I think preference here probably depends a lot on the listening habits and genres/styles of the listener, from the OPs listening habits I would have thought the HD800 would suit him a bit better (in exactly the same way that the HE-6 seems to suit Nishy a bit better). For my listening habits I'll take the HE-6 overall, however my tastes run a lot to rock and metal, but equally I'd love to have my own set of HD800s if I thought I could justify it to myself. Interesting to see Nishy's comments on the bass of the HD800, because certainly they seem good enough in that regard on my rig. They're a fair way off my LCD-2 I'll grant you, but I've found nothing objectionable so far about their bass reproduction.
 
Quote:

 

Spoiler: Warning%3A%20Spoiler!

 
Tonally wise I felt that they both shared some similarities. Both are a bit on the brighter side of neutral (though not much). Both offer great deep bass and very liquid mids. 
 
Both are very hard to drive properly. The HD800s need quality power that is also synergistic and can be very hard to get them just "right". The HE-6s on the other hand need MOAR POWER and MOAR POWER. The Mjlonir would be the bare minimum I'd recommend for them. A good Class A speaker amp (like a vintage Pioneer or McIntosh would be ideal IMO).
 
Now into the nitty gritty, the HD-800s image quite a bit better and I feel that they extract the micro details a bit better from recordings and in turn offer a cleaner window into the music. That said, the HE-6s are no slouch themselves and are in the top 5-6 headphones I've ever heard. Can't really go wrong with either one, but that said, I did own both for about a year, but I still own the HD-800s. 
 

 

 
Quote:

 

Spoiler: Warning%3A%20Spoiler!

 
Hi,
 
I have the HE-6 and HD800. They are both great headphones and I'll try answer in layman's terms that I know.
 
I listen 60-70% to jazz (for 30+ years), balance classical.  The HE6 (done maybe 500 hours?) to me have great clarity, treble, good bass (maybe not LCD3 levels but pretty good for jazz) and a distinctive intimate soundstage and moderate warmth. Most jazz is up close and personal, as if in a clubroom.
 
The HD800 (not yet over the mandatory 250 break in hours) has - as everyone says - a great soundstage and acoustic feel: how great a soundstage seems a subjective description but clearly quite different to HE6's narrower but nice presentation; for me this HD800 soundstage is a key reason for owning as it affords me a different type of listen. Classical music sounds more natural here (HD800), and some jazz - especially if it is well recorded - sounds great. However I note that some jazz recordings (I'm hearing some old Art Farmer) sounds as if it is at the end of the corridor...whereas the same sounds intimate and close up with my HE6.  This far, I'd say I generally prefer my jazz on the HE6 ! I love the HD800 for its more natural and slightly less trebly sound (as per specs). I've read reviews that complain of the HD800's poor bass: I am no basshead but I find this headphone presents bass fairly well, and perfectly ok on select albums (Hilario Duran, "Motion"). It may not be fantastic bass but seems quite enjoyable.
 
Comfortwise, HD800 wins being lighter but kind of feels almost as if one is wearing some small speakers...but I don't have any problems with my HE6 which is heavier and more trad but I listen long hours on them without issue. 
 
I have balanced cables on my HE6 and am expecting the same for my HD800 so there may be a slight adjustment to above comments. I've tested both on the same portable SR71B amp, though I own EF-6 but at a different home - waiting to see their performances on that.
 
Hope this helps!
 
N.
 

 

 

[Nishy]

Hello Mikek200,
 
Thanks for your comments which I read with interest. Yes, me too I am using both the HE-6 and HD800 to cover my musical needs and they complement each other in several ways. My son (with younger hearing ) and I both do find some jazz albums seem a little clearer on the HE-6 but as you say the HD800 does a great natural job on textures, acoustics....
 
I bought the Balanced HD800 from headphone.com (as a customer, I do compliment their/Jorge's unstinting advice and related service policy, a great boon for those in many places where headphone meets or even 'good' headphone owners are scarce). It came with their XLR plugs and cable. However, yesterday I got Blue Dragon customised cables from Moon-Audio that terminate in the "RSO/ALO" square balanced plugs that my portable RS SR71b needs. (BTW These seem half price cp Cardas ones, but my ears are not yet pampered by such top quality cables...)
 
My HE-6 has the Moon Silver Dragon balanced cables to the SR71b. (My stock HE-6 cables are going green).
 
I use the excellent Hifiman HM-801 as my source (I travel alot) with their Balanced Card output which I like; makes vocals richer/fuller in sound though the soundstage gets, I think, slightly narrower but more enjoyable. For this reason, I got the balanced HD800. Some question the tech merits of the 'balanced' SR71b... I haven't tried other portables but I am happy. 
 
Between using the HD800 on balanced Blue Dragon v headphone.com's balanced XLR cables that ultimately have to be terminated into a 1/4" jack (unbalanced) (-for this, Grado XLR>1/4" converter from amazon.com does a decent job) that can be accommodated into the SR71b, the Blue Dragon sounds just a bit abit (5-8%?) fuller and more rounded. The 'last mile' unbalanced config sounds great too, slightly wider and clearer but fractionally thinner.
 
The one thing I can not pin down on the HE-6 for months is that for several solo piano intros on select jazz albums, I get a distorting reverb on the piano notes especially when notes (unaccompanied by other instruments) are played at the beginning of songs but this seems to fade out as the song blooms. I don't know what causes this (better cable<recording, headphone...) or whether is a fact of life in sensitive HE-6 phones. 
 
Kind regards,
 
N. 

 

[Nishy]

Re. tread1963's sources for SACDs... 
 
I have ordered select SACDs from www.cdjapan.co.jp (and selectively from amazon.com, though you have to be careful of exact format classifications as I have nearly got it wrong and amazon info is occasionally abit unspecific). I have an Oppo 95 (and Oppo 103).  cdjapan works fine into US (no taxes so far) and their SACDs are great and packaged with care. However, prices are not cheap (anywhere from $35-55 plus shipping say $10) though you get some discount points. But you do get gems like Carmen McRae's "American Songbook", Anita O'Day "Sings the Winners" SACDS... 

 

[mikek200]

Hi Nishy,
 
so,let me see if I understand;
 
You are running the he-6 with the silver cable,and have it connected to a portable amp??
The HD800's on a Moon Blue Dragon cable,also on a portable rig??
 
Unfortunatly,,I am not familiar with your portable sources,and I'm surprised,the HE-6 is giving you good results with this setup?
The he-6's,need a lot of power,this is why I bought the emotiva -X-100 mini amp.,and with the silver cable ,gives me outstanding sq.
 
ON my HD800,I do experience some distortation ,on some rock recordings,the recordings themselves are good quality,and new ,but,are extremely bright.
I have no issues with the He-6's.
The distorted reverb you are hearing ,is probably a result ,on they way the music ,& where on stage the mike's,,were places??
I am not a recording engineer,maybe one of the more senior members can chime in here,and give you a more definitive answer.
 
As far as  cables are concerned..many head-fiers,have told me that the cable will only give you about a 5-8% difference in sq.-ymmv...it is the last part of the chain 
However,with my Moonsilver dragon v3 cable,using my emo amp,I'd say it was a bit more..maybe..8-15%,depending on what recording I'm listening to.
Currently,I have decided to go with Q,and am having a new silk cable made for the HD800,with adapter  for the he-6 .a friend,another head-fier,just got delivery on this same cable,& he was astounded at the SQ,and build quality as well
Just giving you another option ,for cables..Steve at Q ,was the guy who started much of the tecniques that all other cable makes have ..copied.
 
 
Mike

 

[preproman]

Quote:

 
As far as  cables are concerned..many head-fiers,have told me that the cable will only give you about a 5-8% difference in sq.-ymmv...it is the last part of the chain 
However,with my Moonsilver dragon v3 cable,using my emo amp,I'd say it was a bit more..maybe..8-15%,depending on what recording I'm listening to.
Currently,I have decided to go with Q,and am having a new silk cable made for the HD800,with adapter  for the he-6 .a friend,another head-fier,just got delivery on this same cable,& he was astounded at the SQ,and build quality as well
Just giving you another option ,for cables..Steve at Q ,was the guy who started much of the tecniques that all other cable makes have ..copied.
 
 
Mike

 
 
Those are some hugh percentages...  Way more than one should expect IMO.   Just think of a 5% to 15% pay raise.  That's a lot.. In relative terms.  
 
Steve make really good cables..  But that might be a bit much..