[dakanao]

Oh. You're asking too much for me to rate it's quality. I'm not comfortable numbering quality.

Quantity?

X1 bass/mids/treble

8.5/7/7.5

The mids are just ever so slightly recessed when compared to the bass. The treble is smooth overall, with a slight peak at 10khz which can rarely be zingy, but it's not really an issue, and it's well in line with the mids overall. If the X1 had less bass, I'd say it's be in the realm of being neutral sounding.

The X1 is a damn good headphone, with it's weakest aspect being that the bass can sometimes be overwhelming. SOMETIMES.

I find it unfortanite that while the treble is smooth, the midrange isn't lush or full. 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

have you sold your old ones

No, but I have a potential buyer here in the states.

Selling to Aus requires I make an initial trip to the post office to find out how much more shipping will be internationally. .. its such a hassle, and then its uninsured, so youre screwed if anything ever happens

 

[Fegefeuer]

   
 
I love the HD800s soundstage, but I keep wondering if the signature would be too bright/lean as my sole headphone - because I would have to sell off every other headphone I have before I could consider affording that.  I wonder how good the HD800s genre bandwidth can be.  I see a lot of people saying they're mainly geared towards classical.
 
So I'm not sure if it's better to go with multiple mid-fi cans or a single flagship can like the HD800. 

 
People are stating wrong things. Sure, there also those over at the summit-fi that exaggerate everything about the HD 800 but it's not as lean as people often make it out to be. It takes more time to warm up than a HE-500, because you need to adjust to the huge soundstage and its imaging, they way it lays out all the details of the music. It certainly requires more listening dedication. It's not a instant-fun headphone like the HE-500 but in the long run (session) it beats it to a pulp. I heard the LCD-3 as well and sure the bass is excellent but technically it holds no candle against the Sennheiser. The extreme detail makes bad recordings sound as they are and many genres suffer from bad recording habits, especially something like Metal. That's why people often mention classical music because habits are different there. From my experience it's all about the recordings, not the genre, though I still would recommend others for genres like EDM, metal and/or instant-fun.
 
The HD 800 bass reaches very low and at the same time it offers great detail. It doesn't lack anything for gaming, though it sucks for games like Sleeping Dogs and its telephone quality recordings but other headphones won't be able to rescue the sound part of that game either. The reason I didn't mention it often was due to CMSS-3D's treble boost which made some games really troublesome to play (HE-400 didn't work out either though) and until a few weeks ago I only played with CMSS-3D and Signature DJs.

 

[chicolom]

People are stating wrong things. Sure, there also those over at the summit-fi that exaggerate everything about the HD 800 but it's not as lean as people often make it out to be. It takes more time to warm up than a HE-500, because you need to adjust to the huge soundstage and its imaging, they way it lays out all the details of the music. It certainly requires more listening dedication. It's not a instant-fun headphone like the HE-500 but in the long run (session) it beats it to a pulp. I heard the LCD-3 as well and sure the bass is excellent but technically it holds no candle against the Sennheiser. The extreme detail makes bad recordings sound as they are and many genres suffer from bad recording habits, especially something like Metal. That's why people often mention classical music because habits are different there. From my experience it's all about the recordings, not the genre, though I still would recommend others for genres like EDM, metal and/or instant-fun.
The HD 800 bass reaches very low and at the same time it offers great detail. It doesn't lack anything for gaming, though it sucks for games like Sleeping Dogs and its telephone quality recordings but other headphones won't be able to rescue the sound part of that game either. The reason I didn't mention it often was due to CMSS-3D's treble boost which made some games really troublesome to play (HE-400 didn't work out either though) and until a few weeks ago I only played with CMSS-3D and Signature DJs.

 
 
When I briefly tried the HD800s I thought they were warmer than the Q701s but not quite as warm as the Anniversaries.  They have tons of air and treble extension though. 
 
You don't think the HD800s are too detailed for console gaming?  The audio is usually compressed in games, so it seems like the HD800 wouldn't do that any favors.
 
I also keep hearing that you need to invest a lot in an amp and DAC with the HD800s.  Not sure how much of that is legit and how much of it is classic Head-fi exaggeration.  I have an ODAC and an M-Stage/iCan, which is at most a $400 setup.

 

[Mitchb2020]

You could use the internet

No, but I have a potential buyer here in the states.

Selling to Aus requires I make an initial trip to the post office to find out how much more shipping will be internationally. .. its such a hassle, and then its uninsured, so youre screwed if anything ever happens

 

[Fegefeuer]

   
 
When I briefly tried the HD800s I thought they were warmer than the Q701s but not quite as warm as the Anniversaries.  They have tons of air and treble extension though. 
 
You don't think the HD800s are too detailed for console gaming?  The audio is usually compressed in games, so it seems like the HD800 wouldn't do that any favors.
 
I also keep hearing that you need to invest a lot in an amp and DAC with the HD800s.  Not sure how much of that is legit and how much of it is classic Head-fi exaggeration.  I have an ODAC and an M-Stage/iCan, which is at most a $400 setup.

 
I actually only recently tested it with the Mixamp (mentioned it a couple of days ago) and it worked good for Killzone 2. There are plenty of games with less compressed audio files (mostly on PS3 though) but the problem with our setups is also Dolby Digital and the SQ of the mixamp. It's quite different to a good PC (where I game mostly) soundcard, and a lot to a good dac/amp combo. Anyway, if the source material fails then even a decent headphone will show it. For a console/mixamp only setup the HD 800 would be overkill yes, but you still reap some of its benefits and with the PS4 incoming gaming audio will take a boost as well and there's also DTS Headphone X and a Creative external SBX device coming along.
 
Don't buy the extreme amping (2,5k power plants 

) myth. There are people that love the HD 800 for what it is, acknowleding its strengths and "weaknesses", those who just don't and those who want to love the HD 800 so much (because it gets so much praise and they want to be part of that excitement) that in their pursuit they forget that all they do is looking for coloration. You could also say that some people delude themselves or are in denial about the nature or character of the HD 800 and try to color it right.
 
The M-Stage combo is well regarded. You can upgrade sometime down the road (plenty of excellent stuff released both by Matrix and Yulong) but don't think too much about it. 

 

[ethan7000]

Don't want to go too off-topic, but since classical was mentioned, what do people like as their favorite headphone specifically for classical?  I mostly listen to violin featured chamber music in that genre.

 

[PurpleAngel]

  Don't want to go too off-topic, but since classical was mentioned, what do people like as their favorite headphone specifically for classical?  I mostly listen to violin featured chamber music in that genre.

I've seen a few posts where the Sennheiser HD600/HD650 owners really seemed to like using the HD600/HD650 for classical music.
 
But whatever headphone you pick might be decided by what type of headphone amplifier your using,

 

[pietcux]

You need to be careful that the treble are smooth and not over pronounced. Else the violins get annoying. And here is where a HD 650 is a very good selection, also the Ultrasone Signature Pro. Both have a treble roll off beginning around 1000 Hz.

 

[davidsh]

  Don't want to go too off-topic, but since classical was mentioned, what do people like as their favorite headphone specifically for classical?  I mostly listen to violin featured chamber music in that genre.

 
For that genres listed, I'd say the vintage lambda's are pretty darn good. Think lambda signature to be specific, they are pretty much made for medium/small sized venues/recordings like chamber music often is!

 

[ShooK]

I was thinking about getting the 558s and the vmoda boom mic which is around same price as the pc 360s.
 
What is the difference between the pc 360 and the 558s? 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

I find the PC360 to be more linear, but a bit too safe. It's not really musical. Boring at times even. It makes for an amazing headset because everything is presented well, but it lacks... magic. The 558 is also very well balanced, with a little more musicality. I haven't had extensive time listening to them, but they are rather enjoyable, though for the price, you can pretty much get an MA900 which is even better.

 

[NamelessPFG]

What does "musicality" even mean, anyway?

I'm guessing part of it has to do with the distinction of "neutral" versus "natural", the latter being more "musical", obviously.

Another thing that comes to mind is the Wikiphonia page on the SR-Lambda. "Later models improved on extension and overall detail retrieval, but few have the musicality of the original Lambda." Something tells me I'll need to sample more models than the SR-202 to truly grasp that statement.

 

[Mackem]

What super comfortable closed cans can I get for gaming and music (Mainly EDM and pop)

 

[kman1211]

What does "musicality" even mean, anyway?

I'm guessing part of it has to do with the distinction of "neutral" versus "natural", the latter being more "musical", obviously.

Another thing that comes to mind is the Wikiphonia page on the SR-Lambda. "Later models improved on extension and overall detail retrieval, but few have the musicality of the original Lambda." Something tells me I'll need to sample more models than the SR-202 to truly grasp that statement.

 
It's hard to explain, to me it's just a certain connection you get with the music, gets you absorbed and involved with the music and is addicting, you just refuse to take the headphones off. Yes, part of it is natural vs neutral. It's part of the reason I like the K240 so much, it's just so musical and addicting, it has a certain 'magic' to it's sound that the higher end AKGs simply didn't have. It's easily the most musical headphone I have, it can bring tears to my eyes and give goosebumps much more easily than any other headphone I have owned. When it comes to musicality, the R10 is king.