How would the HD800 sound without an amp?

[Canadian411]

  HD800 sounds great with only the headphone out of a simple macbook pro + audirvana + good flac or mp3 320kbps.

Don't follow the marketing. A good headphone will sound GOOD on any correct headphone out. Try to concentrate on the source (flac, high res mp3...)
 
Lot of headphones sounds bad on usual jack output because they had been built to force the consumer to buy an dedicated amp. This is ********.

 
Yes, agree, HD800 sound great out of my Samsung S3 using 1/4 to 1/8 headphone adapter.
 
Buying $$$ DAC and AMP will certainly improve but the improvement is not a day and night difference, people exaggerate too much here IMO.
 
And cables are another story, I bought many cables, 4N all the way to 7N, with litz, cardas, occ, pure silver, silver plated, copper, silver + gold, etc etc, and I made few interconnects and headphones cables using pretty good connectors.  And I can hardly pass the blind test.  
 
I don't think people can even tell the difference between 4N and 7N grade cables. That is my Opinion.
 
Your priority should be in the headphones first, dac, amp then cables in that order.

 

[maxipad]

Without an amp they're very quiet like others have said.  If you're using an iPod how are you using FLAC and would you be trying to use them on the go?  I definitely do NOT recommend taking them outside on a jog/to class or wherever you'd be going.  It's a bad experience.  Plus on my campus I got some unwanted attention from certain individuals.  I can't really say they'd be worth the full 1,500 without the amplifier to bring out the lush sound.  I'll try listening to them out of my iPod for a day and get back to you though (AIFF lossless & a nano)

I use a Gamma2 Dac and LittleDot Mkiii and this really makes them worth the extra money over some lower end headphones.  They really sound phenomenal out of a dedicated amp.


Kyle 491  did a good job of summing it up.  As long as you get the amp at some point, I'd definitely go for it.  Canadian411 hit the nail on the head as far as interconnects/cabling.  The only reason I have the upgraded cables is because my pair came with them.

 

[MarcadoStalker7]

   
Yes, agree, HD800 sound great out of my Samsung S3 using 1/4 to 1/8 headphone adapter.
 
Buying $$$ DAC and AMP will certainly improve but the improvement is not a day and night difference, people exaggerate too much here IMO.
 
And cables are another story, I bought many cables, 4N all the way to 7N, with litz, cardas, occ, pure silver, silver plated, copper, silver + gold, etc etc, and I made few interconnects and headphones cables using pretty good connectors.  And I can hardly pass the blind test.  
 
I don't think people can even tell the difference between 4N and 7N grade cables. That is my Opinion.
 
Your priority should be in the headphones first, dac, amp then cables in that order.

Welcome to Head-Fi, where if you don't buy 1000$ Qables your HD800 will sound worse than a Apple Earbuds in a random laptop.
 
Anyway, i don't think a MacBook Pro is a simple source. It has a very nice built-in Cirrus Logic amp+dac, which is known for being very clean and detailed, and linear FLAT.
 
An HD 800 in a MacBook Pro is a very good choice. An hyper-powerful dedicated amplifier will improve, but not so much.
 
But, 5000$ in a perfect HD-800 setup is a waste of money. a $3000 setup of a STAX electrostatic owns the HD800 night and day, without vaseline.

 

[Canadian411]

  Welcome to Head-Fi, where if you don't buy 1000$ Qables your HD800 will sound worse than a Apple Earbuds in a random laptop.
 
Anyway, i don't think a MacBook Pro is a simple source. It has a very nice built-in Cirrus Logic amp+dac, which is known for being very clean and detailed, and linear FLAT.
 
An HD 800 in a MacBook Pro is a very good choice. An hyper-powerful dedicated amplifier will improve, but not so much.
 
But, 5000$ in a perfect HD-800 setup is a waste of money. a $3000 setup of a STAX electrostatic owns the HD800 night and day, without vaseline.

lol. i hope you are joking., seriously. lol.

 

[MarcadoStalker7]

  lol. i hope you are joking., seriously. lol.

In which felt? lol.

 

[customcoco]

  lol. i hope you are joking., seriously. lol.

 

[Modwright01]

I can say, if you don't have  a lot of money  a second hand Shiit Vali can drive the hd800 amazingly for a very low price.. Just plug this little amp on you laptop out and start an amazing travel into the sound.
 
I can't describe how much I enjoy this little amp with the HD800. Far better than A LOT of higher price amps with the HD800. The result is astonishing.