Mad Lust Envy's Headphone Gaming Guide: (8/18/2022: iFi GO Blu Review Added)
Mar 30, 2021 at 10:33 PM Post #46,621 of 48,560
Ahh certainly, for music, they blow my X2HRs and K712s out of the water. Well-mastered tracks with a high dynamic range, I can't listen to if not with the HD800S.

Though testing them with Modern Warfare, I was very surprised at how well the HD598s stack up. The difference was more subtle.

I will likely get the HDV820 at some point. I just really hope Sony update the PS5 to support UAC2, so I could at least use it directly.
Currently using the 800s with SXFI dongle, the volume output of which seems to really bug out.

I don't know if the UAC2 support is something that they can update (that would be nice) but I'm using G6 optical out to HDV820 at the moment with my PS5. It works pretty good and the volume knob is usually around 9 o'clock.
 
Mar 31, 2021 at 4:41 AM Post #46,622 of 48,560
Is there any place for the Sennheiser HD700 in the list? Shouldn't that be the little brother of the HD800? 2nd hand they go for 300 or so, is that a good contender for the B bracket? Or is that headphone simply outdated?

@UrsusMajor I find it unlikely Sony is going to update to UAC2, if they didn't do it with this console generation. Sad but true. On the other hand, dac manufacturers are solving the problem for them (shiit hel2, atom dacs).

Another option is to buy a relatively cheap UAC1 dac and an amp with 2 inputs, so you use your (expensive) UAC2 dac for music and the (cheap) UAC1 dac for gaming, with the same (expensive) amp. I don't think you need a fancy dac for gaming honestly. In your use case, with a HDV820, you could just buy a JDS labs dac for 100-300 bucks and feed it into the line in, or a G6 and use optical out if you really want the HDV820 to do the digital to analogue conversion. Seems like a relatively small investment next to your HDV820.
 
Last edited:
Apr 1, 2021 at 4:00 PM Post #46,626 of 48,560
'A' bracket would be the Beyer Tygr R (without the desk mic) for me - I've tried the PC37x/PC38x and the Beyer wins for me on audio and comfort. (Admittedly, adding a mic is an extra expense though).
Okay, so you're say "what" about the audio that gives it a win against the 37x/38x? I'm really interested.
 
Apr 1, 2021 at 8:04 PM Post #46,627 of 48,560
Okay, so you're say "what" about the audio that gives it a win against the 37x/38x? I'm really interested.
Probably “More treble!”
Everyone has their own taste 😂
1617321868206.gif


Can I add that a part of me loves that the $180 PC38X was earlier being compared against a $1000 T1?
 
Last edited:
Apr 1, 2021 at 8:35 PM Post #46,628 of 48,560
Ahh certainly, for music, they blow my X2HRs and K712s out of the water. Well-mastered tracks with a high dynamic range, I can't listen to if not with the HD800S.

Though testing them with Modern Warfare, I was very surprised at how well the HD598s stack up. The difference was more subtle.

I will likely get the HDV820 at some point. I just really hope Sony update the PS5 to support UAC2, so I could at least use it directly.
Currently using the 800s with SXFI dongle, the volume output of which seems to really bug out.
UAC2 support would require a pretty big software update and policy change, but AFAIK it’s not a hardware change in the PS5. That said, an HDMI extractor with optical out, or a TV with optical out can get your PS5 indirectly connected to an HDV 820. You could also do something funny (like I’ve done in the past) and connect the SX-Fi to the HDV820’s amp section 😂

The HDV 820 does add a bit of meat and solidity to the proceedings. I use my HD 800 and HDV 820 together, truly it is a good pairing.

To balance between what Mad was saying and @BIG POPPA, each change upstream of a headphone makes a little bit of difference in the sound. It really makes sense to first get a headphone with the tone you like. “Endgame” is a state of mind, where you accept the gear you have as-is, and just focus on the media (music/games/etc). However, when you add up all the little changes in a truly dialed-in system, the final effect is quite impressive (but so too is your credit debt, so it’s best to be sure and to add these pieces a bit at a time).


It’s kind of like the first time you fight a boss in a Soulsborne game: you hit them once, and it only chips away a tiny bit of health, while one hit from a boss takes away most or all of your health. You think, wow, how could I ever take all that health bar. But you can keep chipping away at it and being patient, you can achieve a new level. And risk having your soul trapped in the “game” of upgrades forever (muah haha)


would be really interesting if Drop would send the 8xx out for reviews and at the same time send out a normal set of HD800 to actually compare the 8xx to.... Drop could have easily just changed the color of the ear cup ring to blue and said they tuned it and the reviewers would not notice a difference... kinda like looking a a LG TV vs a Sony TV without having them side by side.... they both look great, its just that you have to get them side by side to actually tell the difference... same with ALL HD800 variants...
Drop is sending out the HD 8xx to me soon, should arrive by the Thursday after Easter. I’ll have a whole slew of Sennheisers to compare it to.

We should do this exercise where we identify the little brother of the HD800S in terms of competitive gaming in lower price brackets.

Who is the HD800S's little brother between:

A. $150-$300 ?
B. $300-$500 ?
C. $500-$1000 ?
D. $1000-$1500 ?
A. HD 560S
B. HD 700 (Discontinued)
C. Mmmmmmeh, I’ve heard some suggestions, but none in this price carry the impact and soundstage DNA of the HD 800S 🧬
D. HD 8xx / HD 800S
 
Last edited:
Apr 1, 2021 at 10:04 PM Post #46,629 of 48,560
UAC2 support would require a pretty big software update and policy change, but AFAIK it’s not a hardware change in the PS5. That said, an HDMI extractor with optical out, or a TV with optical out can get your PS5 indirectly connected to an HDV 820. You could also do something funny (like I’ve done in the past) and connect the SX-Fi to the HDV820’s amp section 😂

Certainly, if Sony decide to allow 3D audio via optical in the future, then I assume I could quite easily go SPDIF from LG CX to the HDV820
 
Apr 2, 2021 at 3:19 AM Post #46,633 of 48,560
Okay, so you're say "what" about the audio that gives it a win against the 37x/38x? I'm really interested.

For me they just sound that little bit more 'open' and 'spacious'. I genuinely find them more accurate for spacial awareness on fps games and just prefer the overall balance of the sound (they are not as 'treble-hot' as most Beyer's due to some extra material in the ear cups. Have kept my PC37x but they do sound a little lifeless and less exciting in comparison (to my ears at least).

Comfort wise the Beyers are better for me also - less clamp and bigger, better shaped pads which suits me. The Senns put pressure around my ear which I find uncomfortable in comparison - just personal preference though on that tbh.
 
Apr 2, 2021 at 11:43 AM Post #46,635 of 48,560
Certainly, if Sony decide to allow 3D audio via optical in the future, then I assume I could quite easily go SPDIF from LG CX to the HDV820
I don’t have a PS5, but if the headphone surround could be sent through HDMI as 2-channel LPCM, then it should be no problem for an LG TV to send it along over optical. I do have an LG BX, and the optical out to my stereo amp (for speakers and headphones) sounds fine with the PS4 and other media sources feeding it (NVIDIA Shield, Apple TV, Super Nintendo Classic, etc).
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top