dadab12
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2011
- Posts
- 370
- Likes
- 23
Hey, just wanted to share my thoughts with you guys,
I'm using the HD800 with saffire focusrite 24DSP( soon to be replaced with a much better dac since I finaly figured out that that's a pretty big bottleneck in my system..) J river media center 16 as a source
and the SPL Auditor as an amp, I adored the HD800 presentation and sound signature from the get go, ( my serial number is 11560) but there was some flaws that bothered me abit, I figured it was the dac that was not delivering, so I started tweaking the settings, I've got Izotope Ozone 4 and SPL Analog code to start mastering and tweaking the sound, my setup is as neutral as it gets I felt like the midrange was lacking abit of detail, the sound was alittle fatiguing and harsh on high frequencies in certain recordings.
I started off on Ozone 4 Multiband Harmonic Exicter settings, changed the settings to "tube" like sound presentation that added alittle bit of lushness and smoothened the rough treble edges that was unpleasant to me.
the second thing I did was to add alittle bit of harmonic excitation on band 1 going from 20HZ to 105HZ, on band 2 going from 105HZ to 2.04KHZ and on band 3 going from 2.04KHZ to 7.95KHZ, it added alittle bit of excitation and mid range detail that I felt was dull for my tastes.
My second step was the Stereo Imaging, for me atleast the sound was alittle bit thin, I added alittle bit of band widening on band 2 3 and 4 which gave the sound more fullness...
It's all just minor tweaks, the HD800 is one of the most balanced headphones available but I felt that more things could be added to make it "perfect" atleast for now
my second step was to go to my passive EQ's plugins and other great SPL stuff available in my arsenal, The great SPL Twintube which from my knowledge and SPL explanation, tried to emulate the sound of their physical tube processors.
I have no idea how their processors sound but the TwinTube certainly adds a nice touch of warmth and darkness by upping the Saturation option by a few steps, there's also the Harmonics option which adds a nice sparkle on the top end without sound harsh at all..
The best decision I made was to try and tweaking the SPL Passeq Passive VST, that's just amazing, that's the best sounding VST I've tried. it lacks tweaking options but I couldn't care less here's how it looks after alittle tweaking.
I felt like I could add alittle bit of presence to the bass but not overdoing it in passeq while still maintaining a good balance and detail.
I felt like it was refining the sound without adding a sound signature of it's own, I was really impressed with that plugin.
I feel like I could really get the HD800 to shine with a little bit of help from a software, the HD800 respond really well to these sort of adjustments, the only thing that I feel is missing is a good dac replacement and that would be perfect for now.
I just wanted to share my feeling since I was really impressed and excited by my previous listening session as everything really come into place.
and I encourage you people, purists to try these helpful plugins since they could help ALOT.
Thank you for your time and I hope you enjoy the HD800 as much as I do or more!
I'm using the HD800 with saffire focusrite 24DSP( soon to be replaced with a much better dac since I finaly figured out that that's a pretty big bottleneck in my system..) J river media center 16 as a source
and the SPL Auditor as an amp, I adored the HD800 presentation and sound signature from the get go, ( my serial number is 11560) but there was some flaws that bothered me abit, I figured it was the dac that was not delivering, so I started tweaking the settings, I've got Izotope Ozone 4 and SPL Analog code to start mastering and tweaking the sound, my setup is as neutral as it gets I felt like the midrange was lacking abit of detail, the sound was alittle fatiguing and harsh on high frequencies in certain recordings.
I started off on Ozone 4 Multiband Harmonic Exicter settings, changed the settings to "tube" like sound presentation that added alittle bit of lushness and smoothened the rough treble edges that was unpleasant to me.
the second thing I did was to add alittle bit of harmonic excitation on band 1 going from 20HZ to 105HZ, on band 2 going from 105HZ to 2.04KHZ and on band 3 going from 2.04KHZ to 7.95KHZ, it added alittle bit of excitation and mid range detail that I felt was dull for my tastes.
My second step was the Stereo Imaging, for me atleast the sound was alittle bit thin, I added alittle bit of band widening on band 2 3 and 4 which gave the sound more fullness...
It's all just minor tweaks, the HD800 is one of the most balanced headphones available but I felt that more things could be added to make it "perfect" atleast for now
my second step was to go to my passive EQ's plugins and other great SPL stuff available in my arsenal, The great SPL Twintube which from my knowledge and SPL explanation, tried to emulate the sound of their physical tube processors.
I have no idea how their processors sound but the TwinTube certainly adds a nice touch of warmth and darkness by upping the Saturation option by a few steps, there's also the Harmonics option which adds a nice sparkle on the top end without sound harsh at all..
The best decision I made was to try and tweaking the SPL Passeq Passive VST, that's just amazing, that's the best sounding VST I've tried. it lacks tweaking options but I couldn't care less here's how it looks after alittle tweaking.
I felt like I could add alittle bit of presence to the bass but not overdoing it in passeq while still maintaining a good balance and detail.
I felt like it was refining the sound without adding a sound signature of it's own, I was really impressed with that plugin.
I feel like I could really get the HD800 to shine with a little bit of help from a software, the HD800 respond really well to these sort of adjustments, the only thing that I feel is missing is a good dac replacement and that would be perfect for now.
I just wanted to share my feeling since I was really impressed and excited by my previous listening session as everything really come into place.
and I encourage you people, purists to try these helpful plugins since they could help ALOT.
Thank you for your time and I hope you enjoy the HD800 as much as I do or more!
