[I3eyond]

-Picked up a Cambridge DACMagic 200M and a Rega IO amp to go with HD800S.

-The sound is unfavorable, in that the bass is light and the highs are somewhat too emphasized at times. This may just be the HD800S sound and they’re actually not my endgame. I hope not though; I love their soundstage.

-I’ve considered a tube amp to pair better. Thoughts? If this is a good idea, what do you recommend? $1k or less. Preferable $500 or less, but willing to stay under $1k if possible. The idea would be to keep the DACMagic 200M.

-Also considered a Chord Mojo 2 for my MacBook Pro as source. How would this perform?

Thanks for the input,
~I3

 

[msing539]

Maybe all you need is a Lokius or similar tone control.

 

[John Wimberley]

-Also considered a Chord Mojo 2 for my MacBook Pro as source. How would this perform?

My MacBook Pro sounds excellent with Mojo2 through HD800S. Also recommend any PrimaLuna amp.

 

[I3eyond]

How’s the volume? Plenty loud enough with the good quality you’re getting?

 

[John Wimberley]

How’s the volume? Plenty loud enough with the good quality you’re getting?

All the volume you’ll ever need and more

 

[WorksUnit]

-I’ve considered a tube amp to pair better. Thoughts? If this is a good idea, what do you recommend? $1k or less.

Have a look into the Icon Audio Hp8 Mk2.

 

[GenXer]

I was somewhat disappointed when I first got my HD800s, feeling that their soundstage was (as you say) amazing, but the listening pleasure was somewhat lacking - a common complaint to some extent across reference headphones. Any discussion of EQ can be (is) polarizing, but I've found personally that Behringer's DEQ2496 allowed me to create a sound profile that took my HD800s from "okay" to "transcendent", and I don't use the term lightly.

It's a relatively inexpensive piece of gear that provides an enormous amount of customization, along with several easy ways to instantly bypass all sound shaping so you can hear what you're doing. It wasn't just the gear, though - I followed a tutorial written a number of years ago by a Head-Fi'er in this post: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/how-to-equalize-your-headphones-a-tutorial.413900/

It's not a short process - I probably spent a couple of weeks on it, all told - few hours here and there. But the rewards have been well worth the investment once I created an EQ profile that fit my ears. In the process, I learned a lot about how I perceive sound, and what I like and dislike. When all was said and done, my HD800s have indeed become a delight to listen to - they nearly disappear - I sit down to "listen to the headphones" and an hour later, I find I've forgotten all about the headphones and am truly enjoying the music. I drive mine with a Marantz HD-DAC1 - but to be clear, while it is a GREAT amplifier, the HD-DAC1 wasn't enough by itself to shape the sound of the cans to my liking.

All that said - the amp that truly sold me on the HD800s to begin with was the McIntosh MHA150. I legitimately took the headphones off while I was auditioning them (silent listening room) to check to see if someone had connected a subwoofer somewhere in the room that was also running - that's how convincing the sub-bass was. It's not that the HD800s won't produce the sound, they absolutely will, it's just finding the way to shape the sound (amp, tubes, eq, etc) to your liking.

 

[DenverW]

As a former hd800 and hd800s owner, the pairing I enjoyed the most (at your under 1k budget) was the bifrost 2 as a dac and the bottlehead crack OTL for an amp.

 

[glinty766]

I am using an SMSL SU-8 DAC and THX 789 AAA amp. It's a great combo. The Topping DACs get a lot of love on this forum, but the reliability issues put me off. I haven't personally tried any of them.

I also bought an Atom. It sounded the same (to my ears) as the THX 789; I couldn't tell a difference. For the price (or even much more than the price), the Atom is incredible. And again for the price, it's a no-brainer starting point, if you're used to "computer out" sound.

 

[JellEBytes]

I was somewhat disappointed when I first got my HD800s, feeling that their soundstage was (as you say) amazing, but the listening pleasure was somewhat lacking - a common complaint to some extent across reference headphones. Any discussion of EQ can be (is) polarizing, but I've found personally that Behringer's DEQ2496 allowed me to create a sound profile that took my HD800s from "okay" to "transcendent", and I don't use the term lightly.

It's a relatively inexpensive piece of gear that provides an enormous amount of customization, along with several easy ways to instantly bypass all sound shaping so you can hear what you're doing. It wasn't just the gear, though - I followed a tutorial written a number of years ago by a Head-Fi'er in this post: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/how-to-equalize-your-headphones-a-tutorial.413900/

It's not a short process - I probably spent a couple of weeks on it, all told - few hours here and there. But the rewards have been well worth the investment once I created an EQ profile that fit my ears. In the process, I learned a lot about how I perceive sound, and what I like and dislike. When all was said and done, my HD800s have indeed become a delight to listen to - they nearly disappear - I sit down to "listen to the headphones" and an hour later, I find I've forgotten all about the headphones and am truly enjoying the music. I drive mine with a Marantz HD-DAC1 - but to be clear, while it is a GREAT amplifier, the HD-DAC1 wasn't enough by itself to shape the sound of the cans to my liking.

All that said - the amp that truly sold me on the HD800s to begin with was the McIntosh MHA150. I legitimately took the headphones off while I was auditioning them (silent listening room) to check to see if someone had connected a subwoofer somewhere in the room that was also running - that's how convincing the sub-bass was. It's not that the HD800s won't produce the sound, they absolutely will, it's just finding the way to shape the sound (amp, tubes, eq, etc) to your liking.

I second this. There's no harm in trying to EQ first; it's free (if you use software EQ) and you can always try tube amps afterwards if EQ'ing didn't work. I would also recommend starting with some EQ profiles that have already been posted online as a jumping off point.

 

[SpectralMornings]

I second this. There's no harm in trying to EQ first; it's free (if you use software EQ) and you can always try tube amps afterwards if EQ'ing didn't work. I would also recommend starting with some EQ profiles that have already been posted online as a jumping off point.

-Picked up a Cambridge DACMagic 200M and a Rega IO amp to go with HD800S.

-The sound is unfavorable, in that the bass is light and the highs are somewhat too emphasized at times. This may just be the HD800S sound and they’re actually not my endgame. I hope not though; I love their soundstage.

-I’ve considered a tube amp to pair better. Thoughts? If this is a good idea, what do you recommend? $1k or less. Preferable $500 or less, but willing to stay under $1k if possible. The idea would be to keep the DACMagic 200M.

-Also considered a Chord Mojo 2 for my MacBook Pro as source. How would this perform?

Thanks for the input,
~I3

 

[SpectralMornings]

-Picked up a Cambridge DACMagic 200M and a Rega IO amp to go with HD800S.

-The sound is unfavorable, in that the bass is light and the highs are somewhat too emphasized at times. This may just be the HD800S sound and they’re actually not my endgame. I hope not though; I love their soundstage.

-I’ve considered a tube amp to pair better. Thoughts? If this is a good idea, what do you recommend? $1k or less. Preferable $500 or less, but willing to stay under $1k if possible. The idea would be to keep the DACMagic 200M.

-Also considered a Chord Mojo 2 for my MacBook Pro as source. How would this perform?

Thanks for the input,
~I3

The Quicksilver Headphone Amp is amazing with Sennheiser 'phones. I love the sound with my HD-650 and HD-800 (non-S).

Mitch from Accurate Audio offers filters that take the Sennheisers (especially the HD-800) to another level.

I believe there's a Quicksilver available right now at The Music Room bases in Erie, Colorado.

Quicksilver has been in business since the 1980s and builds incredible amps using point-to-point wiring.