money4me247
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2013
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interesting. i personally thought the hd800 was too bright to be really that realistic. have you ever heard the he-560?
What I want first and foremost is the most accurate, realistic sound possible. Your thoughts are valuable to me. I'd rather see a critique of a headphone than praise alone. One of my best friends is an HD 800 freak and consistently recommends them to me. (He also likes the SR-009 more.) On the other hand, I know someone who likes the STAX SR-207 more than the HD 800, Abyss, SR-009, etc., and that headphone is far more affordable. If I were to go with the HD 800 instead of the much more expensive headphones, I could get both it and the entry-level STAX without too much trouble. But even then, I would still be curious about the other summit-fi models. XD
i personally thought the hd800 was too bright to be really that realistic.
I have yet to hear a pair of headphones that can produce more "realism" than the HD800. I've either owned or demoed the LCD-2, LCD-3, LCD-XC, TH900, T1, and the HD800.
The HD800s lack euphony, you'll be hard pressed to have a huge grin on your face due to that special "something" with the HD800 but IMO the raw sound quality is just unparalleled to anything else I've heard.
I mean, I owned the TH900 for awhile, they had too much bass and the mids were too recessed, but I still had that gaga face every once in awhile do to that "something" that I have never gotten with the HD800.
This is because the HD800s strength is its weakeness. It is like a perfectly flat equalizer. Supreme neutrality and sound and yet, because of that, it really lacks its own personality.
interesting. i personally thought the hd800 was too bright to be really that realistic. have you ever heard the he-560?
It used to be that when I bought a headphone and thought it was too bright, I got rid of it...but now, I know better and at least intend on equalizing them properly before jumping to conclusions about a headphone's capabilities. I'm not accusing you of that, of course; just saying that's the way I want to do things. Despite the fact that my new Sony MDR-7506 has some nasty peaks in the mids and treble, it sounds surprisingly natural and effortless otherwise and will probably sound like that in all the frequencies once I can EQ it.
I've never really had an issue with brightness on the HD800. It also depends on what you use to drive it. With the right amp the HD800s can actually have some good bass as well.
I have not heard the 560, I'm pretty sure I heard people bashing it at the meet though in comparisons.
I've never really had an issue with brightness on the HD800. It also depends on what you use to drive it. With the right amp the HD800s can actually have some good bass as well.
i agree that the hd800 are a very capable pair of headphones. i simply just prefer the he-560's presentation and tonality & i personally thought that the he-560 had better bass quality & overall, it sounded more realistic to me. the hd800 seems to be pickier with amplifiers too & i did not want to have to upgrade my current equipment. ymmv of course.
I recently had an idea that as far as I know has never been attempted: a review thread for a collection of headphones after they have all been equalized to have a frequency response as close to neutral as possible! That would be epic.
it would be hilarious if they all ended up sounding exactly the same. i know there are a lot of people over at the science forums that claim things like that.
for me, i dunno. it end up being the case. hahah
Which reminds me, what's your setup?
I'm using the Little Dot MKVI+which is technically on par with or better than the WA22 but at a $800 price tag (actually less but I forget exactly how much), which is possible due to the lower profit margins in china where it is built.
It also is actually from my understanding more "balanced" than the WA22 since the circuitry in the WA22 is not truly balanced.
I am still only using stock tubes but I was like holy crap there's bass when I plugged my HD800 into the unbalanced end. I'm still using an O2+odac combo for a dac (meaning I'm plugging my MVKI+ into an inferior amp connected to an inferior dac which sounds terrible, I can even hear my cpu doing calculations) which I am vastly upgrading soon and I must make myself some balanced cables.
At this point though even though my inferior source and all the distortion it's causing, that it may be bring the "euphony" I'm looking for.
I recently had an idea that as far as I know has never been attempted: a review thread for a collection of headphones after they have all been equalized to have a frequency response as close to neutral as possible! That would be epic.
Hmm. Before tube amps of the euphonic variety, I want to just use a sufficiently powerful solid-state amp with the HD 800, then further tweak everything with EQ.
But since I really respect the opinion of my friend who likes the much more affordable SR-207 more, I may not get the HD 800 until later.
(I already purchased the JVC HA-SZ2000 for heavy bass, anyway.)