Abstraction
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2009
- Posts
- 107
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- 14
I have read a big percentage on the posts of the HD800. I wish I had kept count, but it seems to me in retrospect that it is mostly jazz-classical listeners who like the HD800, and pop-rock-metal-electronic listeners who are lukewarm or negative.
Does that seem like a fair estimate?
A possible reason for this difference is that most music other than jazz and classical is so poorly recorded that the HD800's capacity as a transducer doesn't come into play. Or coure, a lot of jazz and classical is horribly recorded too, but is it possible that these cans only really shine with complex musical information and recordings that push the limits in all directions? Perhaps highly compressed sound from electronic instruments, without the complex timbres of acoustical instruments are relatively easy to reproduce. This has nothing to do with musical value; I am interested only in the signal that the cans are being asked to convert.
I was listening to a lot of Japanese noise bands for a while. I have no idea whether my rather high-end speakers were doing well with it or not. I am not even sure how it could be measured.
I am not just trying to cause trouble. There must be a reason that the HD800 gathers such varying responses. It is very odd that one of the most respected companies brings out a new product--more than twice as expensive as its previous flagship product--and there seems to be a fairly even split between those who think it is a bargain at the price and those who think it is inferior to cans that cost half as much or less. The argument over the HD800 is different without other cans, it seems to me. Of most higher-end cans people will say that it is not their cup of tea, but the HD800 things have caused a kind of unpleasant argument that seems relatively more uncommon on this board than on other other audiophile boards.
I should say, by the way, I have never heard the HD800, and I have no significant experience with cans of any of kind. I have minimal interest in audio gear. I read and post audio forums because I can't go to the jazz clubs every night, and audio gear is a necessary evil. You have to really work at learning about it, or you'll end up with a lot of expensive useless crap.
I can't afford state of the art. I have been doing relatively high-end audio with speakers for a long time, and I know that the last 5% of the state of the art costs a ton. I want to buy 95% state of the art amp and cans and forget about them for five years (or until they call unpleasant attention to themselves). I think audio gear sound be heard and not seen (or thought about).
I am thinking about buying HD800.
Does that seem like a fair estimate?
A possible reason for this difference is that most music other than jazz and classical is so poorly recorded that the HD800's capacity as a transducer doesn't come into play. Or coure, a lot of jazz and classical is horribly recorded too, but is it possible that these cans only really shine with complex musical information and recordings that push the limits in all directions? Perhaps highly compressed sound from electronic instruments, without the complex timbres of acoustical instruments are relatively easy to reproduce. This has nothing to do with musical value; I am interested only in the signal that the cans are being asked to convert.
I was listening to a lot of Japanese noise bands for a while. I have no idea whether my rather high-end speakers were doing well with it or not. I am not even sure how it could be measured.
I am not just trying to cause trouble. There must be a reason that the HD800 gathers such varying responses. It is very odd that one of the most respected companies brings out a new product--more than twice as expensive as its previous flagship product--and there seems to be a fairly even split between those who think it is a bargain at the price and those who think it is inferior to cans that cost half as much or less. The argument over the HD800 is different without other cans, it seems to me. Of most higher-end cans people will say that it is not their cup of tea, but the HD800 things have caused a kind of unpleasant argument that seems relatively more uncommon on this board than on other other audiophile boards.
I should say, by the way, I have never heard the HD800, and I have no significant experience with cans of any of kind. I have minimal interest in audio gear. I read and post audio forums because I can't go to the jazz clubs every night, and audio gear is a necessary evil. You have to really work at learning about it, or you'll end up with a lot of expensive useless crap.
I can't afford state of the art. I have been doing relatively high-end audio with speakers for a long time, and I know that the last 5% of the state of the art costs a ton. I want to buy 95% state of the art amp and cans and forget about them for five years (or until they call unpleasant attention to themselves). I think audio gear sound be heard and not seen (or thought about).
I am thinking about buying HD800.
