[gimmeheadroom]

For example. 20 hours of usage per 4 days. How long you think it will last?

How much time is actually adjusting the volume? That is something you almost never do, right?

 

[thecrow]

How much time is actually adjusting the volume? That is something you almost never do, right?

Maybe I don’t understand the potential issue that can be caused by using the volume knob and i am completely naive but me being concerned about that…….i simply don’t know what to say to this raised concern.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Maybe I don’t understand the potential issue that can be caused by using the volume knob and i am completely naive but me being concerned about that…….i simply don’t know what to say to this raised concern.

Everybody has different things they worry about. Bottom line, I am sure Lake People would be able to deal with replacing whatever if needed.

 

[thecrow]

Everybody has different things they worry about. Bottom line, I am sure Lake People would be able to deal with replacing whatever if needed.

agreed

 

[Fegefeuer]

FOMA, fear of missing Alps?

Lake People got you covered.

 

[Arniesb]

How much time is actually adjusting the volume? That is something you almost never do, right?

I do a lot. Why? Cause im not only Listening to music, but also spend time on youtube and gaming.
Imagine great song comming up when you gaming, You wanna blast it right? After that you go back to normal.
I abuse it a lot so that is the question.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

I do a lot. Why? Cause im not only Listening to music, but also spend time on youtube and gaming.
Imagine great song comming up when you gaming, You wanna blast it right? After that you go back to normal.
I abuse it a lot so that is the question.

There aren't a whole lot of choices in hardware volume control. But if you spend a lot of time youtube and gaming where you don't get bit-perfect, you could use software volume control for those cases.

Even with relay volume control at the end of the day there is always one or more physical device involved.

 

[bluenight]

How is the synergy with HD800S and niimbus 5. I haven't liked it much with Ferrum Oor alone haven't tried with there power supply Hypsos yet though i doubt that would change things drastically . One possibility would be sending back Oor+hypsos and buy niimbus. Or would that be a mistake again considering HD800S as my main HP. Oor on its own have been to dry and bright with bass and sub bass lacking. It Seems to focus much more on the mids and treble.

 

[thecrow]

How is the synergy with HD800S and niimbus 5. I haven't liked it much with Ferrum Oor alone haven't tried with there power supply Hypsos yet though i doubt that would change things drastically . One possibility would be sending back Oor+hypsos and buy niimbus. Or would that be a mistake again considering HD800S as my main HP. Oor on its own have been to dry and bright with bass and sub bass lacking. It Seems to focus much more on the mids and treble.

When I bought the hd800 about 8 or so years ago, my audio store dealer was adamant that the hd800 needs tubes. He was pretty straight up about it. At the time almost off putting to me, the novice.
My experience soon after, and still to this day, showed that he was absolutely correct.

The advice he gave me back then, as he is a Woo audio dealer, is if you want an amp for just the hd800 (and other high impedance hps) go the wa2 an OTL amp.
If you want the amp to work with other hps as well in the future then look at the wa22.

The wa2 is silky smooth in its style.
The wa22 not so laid back.

And after that there is the joys and work involved in looking into, learning about, spending money and enjoying tubes.
I was happy to do that the first time round but could noit be bothered doing it again.
Most of my upgrades for about 12 months was pretty much tube rolling - note: quality over quantity/variety.

My main setup is now the us4 with susvara. I still own and use the hd800 exclusively with the wa2 as one of my alternative set ups.

That’s all from my own experience.

All the best

 

[acguitar84]

How is the synergy with HD800S and niimbus 5. I haven't liked it much with Ferrum Oor alone haven't tried with there power supply Hypsos yet though i doubt that would change things drastically . One possibility would be sending back Oor+hypsos and buy niimbus. Or would that be a mistake again considering HD800S as my main HP. Oor on its own have been to dry and bright with bass and sub bass lacking. It Seems to focus much more on the mids and treble.

How is the synergy with HD800S and niimbus 5. I haven't liked it much with Ferrum Oor alone haven't tried with there power supply Hypsos yet though i doubt that would change things drastically . One possibility would be sending back Oor+hypsos and buy niimbus. Or would that be a mistake again considering HD800S as my main HP. Oor on its own have been to dry and bright with bass and sub bass lacking. It Seems to focus much more on the mids and treble.

This post talks about using the HD800s with Niimbus.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/rev...-end-amp-roundup.886668/page-10#post-16462286

 

[bluenight]

When I bought the hd800 about 8 or so years ago, my audio store dealer was adamant that the hd800 needs tubes. He was pretty straight up about it. At the time almost off putting to me, the novice.
My experience soon after, and still to this day, showed that he was absolutely correct.

The advice he gave me back then, as he is a Woo audio dealer, is if you want an amp for just the hd800 (and other high impedance hps) go the wa2 an OTL amp.
If you want the amp to work with other hps as well in the future then look at the wa22.

The wa2 is silky smooth in its style.
The wa22 not so laid back.

And after that there is the joys and work involved in looking into, learning about, spending money and enjoying tubes.
I was happy to do that the first time round but could noit be bothered doing it again.
Most of my upgrades for about 12 months was pretty much tube rolling - note: quality over quantity/variety.

My main setup is now the us4 with susvara. I still own and use the hd800 exclusively with the wa2 as one of my alternative set ups.

That’s all from my own experience.

All the best

Thanks thats good advice. But you have at least tried the HD800S with Niimbus but still preferred Wa2?

Otl tube amps is the most noisy tube amps with most harmonic distortion? That's why they work with HD800S?

 

[thecrow]

Thanks thats good advice. But you have at least tried the HD800S with Niimbus but still preferred Wa2?

Otl tube amps is the most noisy tube amps with most harmonic distortion? That's why they work with HD800S?

I have not tried the hd800s. Just the hd800 that I own.
I prefer the wa2 (ugraded tubes) over the niimbus, and everything else I have previously owned - recently auralic taurus, and v280.

I have not owned any other tube amps

the hd800 was my first "serious" headphone in this hobby and I built my system around it - that's how I approached

A few years later i ventured into other headphones, like the elear and lcd2 and the wa2 was limiting due to needing higher impedance hps.
Instead of selling the wa2 I tried a few solid state amps, like the burson soloist/conductor and later the cayin iha6.

Before I had more funds available (through work bonuses - why would I do something crazy like save) and i poured a whole lot more into this hobby and now have my susvara as my main setup with the niimbus that seems like end game right now.

I did have for a while the burson soloist 2 and the arcam irdac. That worked well. I found the irdac as good value and pretty inexpensive and I believe dacs have improved since, but that match up worked well as the irdac was on the warm side.

So if you do not want to play with tube amps, maybe a decent amp and a good dac with a warmer tilt.

The niimbus is great with my susvaras and very good with my utopias but it may be overkill for headphones that are NOT hard to drive and "top end". Perhaps you will get more value and a touch of warmth and versatility with some of the latest offerings from the other art of the company - the violectric amps.

I believe they have less warmth than the v280/v281 but more than the niimbus.
I've lost track of their latest models but I am thinking of the v550 (I believe that's the one that started these new releases).
Maybe look into those if you haven't

Hope that helps a bit

 

[curvz]

The niimbus is great with my susvaras and very good with my utopias but it may be overkill for headphones that are NOT hard to drive and "top end". Perhaps you will get more value and a touch of warmth and versatility with some of the latest offerings from the other art of the company - the violectric amps.

I believe they have less warmth than the v280/v281 but more than the niimbus.
I've lost track of their latest models but I am thinking of the v550 (I believe that's the one that started these new releases).
Maybe look into those if you haven't

Hope that helps a bit

I agree with that, it very much depends on what you are looking to achieve too. If you like how the HD800S sounds, and you just want a top class amp that can drive them cleanly, and that ensures they don't sound thin and edgy - the Niimbus will do a very good job and probably brings out the best that these have to offer for you.

If you are like me and you find the HD800S too bright or clinical and you want to warm them up, add bass or change their sound, I think you'll have to look at tubes or warmer solid states (though I had the impression the Oor was a bit warmer than the Niimbus). The Niimbus amps aren't really going to warm up the HD800S, though they won't brighten them up either.

I just sold my HD800S last week so can't go back and give them another listen, but to my recollection it drove them very well. But - and this is crucial - the Niimbus amps will not change their character, just make the best out of the stock tuning to my mind. I was also able to compare the HD800S on the V280 versus the US4+, and the V280 did just add a touch of warmth, but not a game changer for me, while the added resolution and clarity from the US4+ was.

 

[bluenight]

and the V280 did just add a touch of warmth, but not a game changer for me, while the added resolution and clarity from the US4+ was.

As long as it would sound fullbodied and not to bright and harsh i would be happy with it and give it the best bass it can produce. While at the same time having great resolution and clarity.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

The Phonitor 2 is a good choice for the HD 800s (and that means "pair" rather than HD 800 S)

It seems to me to be warmer than the V280, which I consider very neutral. Phonitor doesn't have Nimbus/Violectric build quality but it doesn't have the Nimbus price either. I agree tubes are the way to go but if you want a solid state amp and you listen to HD 800s or HD 800 S a lot, you could consider the Phonitor 2 and friends.

Updated: I should say the other reasonz the HD 800/S is a very good pairing with the Phonitor 2 is that the Phonitor's power curve seems optimized for high impedance dynamics. And, since the HD 800/S is so resolving, you can hear all the Matrix adjustments, which I did not find was the case with some other cans I tried out of it.