[ruhian]

@Saberpunch thanks for sharing and amazingly well thought impressions. Posts like that are what keeps this community growing!

...If OP concurs should his DP not change ?

Completely agree with your thoughts on electric guitar and drums (while I may not have the same thoughts on un-amped instruments), these cans just draw you into the music and get the toe tapping. I've been rediscovering music from my teens......amazing.

Pad rolling seems interesting, think I'd rather go for leather so these guys retain their visceral character vs becoming more polite.

 

[theangelboy]

@Saberpunch thanks for sharing and amazingly well thought impressions. Posts like that are what keeps this community growing!

...If OP concurs should his DP not change ?

Completely agree with your thoughts on electric guitar and drums (while I may not have the same thoughts on un-amped instruments), these cans just draw you into the music and get the toe tapping. I've been rediscovering music from my teens......amazing.

Pad rolling seems interesting, think I'd rather go for leather so these guys retain their visceral character vs becoming more polite.

A word of advice for pad rolling the A800. Most pads on this headphone will bloat the bass to the moon. Even standard, run-of-the-mill velour pads with pleather backing will raise the bass by like ~5db. Solid genuine leather pads are even worse and boost the bass by an insane 10db. I tried those perforated pads that have the mesh mentioned a few posts back and they do cut the bass by about 4-5db. For me, those took all the fun out of the headphone.

So, with that being said, if you do want to pad roll, stay away from sealed pads like pleather/sheepskin unless the stock tuning seems anemic to you... Velour pads are a safer bet, although they can still boost the bass too much. Personally, I think the amount of bass they have stock is the ideal amount given the rest of the frequency response. Still on the hunt for a 3rd party pad that could be considered a "replacement" of the stock earpads so I don't wear mine out.

 

[Saberpunch]

A word of advice for pad rolling the A800. Most pads on this headphone will bloat the bass to the moon. Even standard, run-of-the-mill velour pads with pleather backing will raise the bass by like ~5db. Solid genuine leather pads are even worse and boost the bass by an insane 10db. I tried those perforated pads that have the mesh mentioned a few posts back and they do cut the bass by about 4-5db. For me, those took all the fun out of the headphone.

So, with that being said, if you do want to pad roll, stay away from sealed pads like pleather/sheepskin unless the stock tuning seems anemic to you... Velour pads are a safer bet, although they can still boost the bass too much. Personally, I think the amount of bass they have stock is the ideal amount given the rest of the frequency response. Still on the hunt for a 3rd party pad that could be considered a "replacement" of the stock earpads so I don't wear mine out.

Have you tried that pad company Vesper Audio Xerath mention in a few posts back? They have a Velour material option for their pads. I order like 3 pads from them a couple of weeks back, but it's like a 20+ business day wait. I order Alcantara material pads just to try it out.

https://vesperaudio.com/earpads?brand=203

Their option for materials:
Alcantara - black, dark-blue, sandy brown - $8 extra
Perforated microsuede(dark brown) - no extra,
Black, brown, grey, blue, beige, red, burgundy, dark-green, pale lilac microsuede, - no extra
Real black suede (chamois) - $7 extra, brown - $20 extra
Velour - black, brown, grey, pastel green - no extra
Through perforation on fleecy materials (any quoted color) - $16 extra

 

[theangelboy]

Have you tried that pad company Vesper Audio Xerath mention in a few posts back? They have a Velour material option for their pads. I order like 3 pads from them a couple of weeks back, but it's like a 20+ business day wait. I order Alcantara material pads just to try it out.

https://vesperaudio.com/earpads?brand=203

Their option for materials:
Alcantara - black, dark-blue, sandy brown - $8 extra
Perforated microsuede(dark brown) - no extra,
Black, brown, grey, blue, beige, red, burgundy, dark-green, pale lilac microsuede, - no extra
Real black suede (chamois) - $7 extra, brown - $20 extra
Velour - black, brown, grey, pastel green - no extra
Through perforation on fleecy materials (any quoted color) - $16 extra

I have not tried them. I know Vesper pads are one of the best aftermarket options for the ESP/95X, but I never bought a pair because of the price. I didn't know they made pads for the A800 (I've haven't been caught up on this thread for a while so I missed that post from Xerath). I got burned buying a pair of ZMF pads that I hated the sound of and pretty mush swore off pricy pads. If you don't mind me asking, how much did you pay per pair for the pads you ordered?

 

[Saberpunch]

I have not tried them. I know Vesper pads are one of the best aftermarket options for the ESP/95X, but I never bought a pair because of the price. I didn't know they made pads for the A800 (I've haven't been caught up on this thread for a while so I missed that post from Xerath). I got burned buying a pair of ZMF pads that I hated the sound of and pretty mush swore off pricy pads. If you don't mind me asking, how much did you pay per pair for the pads you ordered?

Yeah, they are pretty pricey, but the customization is really nice. I can't say they are good as I have not received mine yet, but you can view some impressions on this thread: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/vesper-audio-custom-earpads-impressions-thread.864077/


I pasted the below email pricing that they inform me.

Email Vesper Audio gave on their options:

Onkyo A800 pads = $68 USD

The pads for Onkyo will also include plastic bases with double-sided adhesive rings. (the stock pads are also equipped with plastic bases, but they are snap-twist mounted, but the result is the same)

Detailed pricing(in usd) is as follows:

Basic set of handcrafted custom earpads - all leather, all fleecy materials(vegan), or hybrid, not angled, black, regular foam - is $59/$68pair.

You can order standard or any custom thickness, angle, opening. You can choose any quoted material for any part of the pads.

Options we offer:

1. Real whole grain leather:
Black, emerald ink, grey, blue, dark blue, navy blue, red, coral, dark brown, beige, ivory - no extra
Any other color for whole grain real leather available as an extra $20 option
Real whole grain leather with not through perforation (black color only) - $3 extra
Through perforation on whole grain real leather (any quoted color) - $19 extra

2. Fleecy materials:
Alcantara - black, dark-blue, sandy brown - $8 extra
Perforated microsuede(dark brown) - no extra,
Black, brown, grey, blue, beige, red, burgundy, dark-green, pale lilac microsuede, - no extra
Real black suede (chamois) - $7 extra, brown - $20 extra
Velour - black, brown, grey, pastel green - no extra
Through perforation on fleecy materials (any quoted color) - $16 extra


3. Filling and shape options:
Memory foam - $4 extra
Natural latex(20 mm. thick only) - $18 extra
Additional gel cooling - $9 extra (compatible with real leather on face contacting surface only, fleecy materials may be elsewhere)
Angled pads - $6 extra
Glasses grove - $15 extra
Horn like shape - $12 extra

4. Shipping
Air tracked mail - $14
EMS - $61

Please note, all prices are quoted for paypal payment. You may pay 7% less with USDT.
Production time is currently ~26 b. days. Please let us know if you are ready to proceed with payment (along with options and payment type of your choice) or if you have more questions.

 

[theangelboy]

Yeah, they are pretty pricey, but the customization is really nice. I can't say they are good as I have not received mine yet, but you can view some impressions on this thread: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/vesper-audio-custom-earpads-impressions-thread.864077/


I pasted the below email pricing that they inform me.

Email Vesper Audio gave on their options:

Onkyo A800 pads = $68 USD

The pads for Onkyo will also include plastic bases with double-sided adhesive rings. (the stock pads are also equipped with plastic bases, but they are snap-twist mounted, but the result is the same)

Detailed pricing(in usd) is as follows:

Basic set of handcrafted custom earpads - all leather, all fleecy materials(vegan), or hybrid, not angled, black, regular foam - is $59/$68pair.

You can order standard or any custom thickness, angle, opening. You can choose any quoted material for any part of the pads.

Options we offer:

1. Real whole grain leather:
Black, emerald ink, grey, blue, dark blue, navy blue, red, coral, dark brown, beige, ivory - no extra
Any other color for whole grain real leather available as an extra $20 option
Real whole grain leather with not through perforation (black color only) - $3 extra
Through perforation on whole grain real leather (any quoted color) - $19 extra

2. Fleecy materials:
Alcantara - black, dark-blue, sandy brown - $8 extra
Perforated microsuede(dark brown) - no extra,
Black, brown, grey, blue, beige, red, burgundy, dark-green, pale lilac microsuede, - no extra
Real black suede (chamois) - $7 extra, brown - $20 extra
Velour - black, brown, grey, pastel green - no extra
Through perforation on fleecy materials (any quoted color) - $16 extra


3. Filling and shape options:
Memory foam - $4 extra
Natural latex(20 mm. thick only) - $18 extra
Additional gel cooling - $9 extra (compatible with real leather on face contacting surface only, fleecy materials may be elsewhere)
Angled pads - $6 extra
Glasses grove - $15 extra
Horn like shape - $12 extra

4. Shipping
Air tracked mail - $14
EMS - $61

Please note, all prices are quoted for paypal payment. You may pay 7% less with USDT.
Production time is currently ~26 b. days. Please let us know if you are ready to proceed with payment (along with options and payment type of your choice) or if you have more questions.

Thanks for the info! I'll be interested to read your impressions once you receive them.

 

[Saberpunch]

Thanks for the info! I'll be interested to read your impressions once you receive them.

I actually wasn't planning to post my impression here lol. I was only going to post it in the Versper Audio thread, but I can cross-post it here too. I should have got the Velour pads, but it's only on the inside. I also never thought about Velour pads. Maybe they can make the entire pads Velour, but I never asked. I went with the recommended Alcantara since that was advertised on their site for the Onkyo A800 page.

Onkyo Pad 1 - Black, inner cavity with (through) perforated Alcantara, All other surfaces are intact (whole gain real leather), angled pad, regular acoustic foam
Onkyo Pad 2 - Basic black pad, real whole leather, Natural latex
ATH-L3000 Pad - Basic black pad, protein leather, regular Natural latex

I was just experimenting with these to chase after my first post in the Onkyo A800 back in November 2022. The Onkyo A800 gave me my 2nd bass shock. It's like culture shock, but replace the culture with bass. I never really dealt bass with that shook me to my core like that besides 1 headphone I shall never named because that is my guilty pleasure headphone. The pads I had when I first try the Onkyo A800 was the Ineedkit pads using the Lotoo Paw Gold Touch DAP using the headphone EQ I think. I want to try to capture that sound just 1 more time again.

 

[boodi]

Angled + velvet + 5-10mm extra thickness feels the most valuable to me.


I also got sheepskin fenestrated for a800 ( among others ) and I concurr as it's been already said : bass overbloat or beef up too much easily , with them too.

Velvet/hybrid soft p.u. seems to offer a very good balance and the best of 5 pads rolling for my exp ;
the extra thickness/extra distance from eardrums with them makes for a slightly more tight image , both bass and highs get a good benefit from it. Also impact improves. No bloat added : more tightness.

Pads rolling on a800 is definitely a thing... . Quite consuming, worth in the end.


When you scale up in the chain , pads rolling becomes less and less benefical.

 

[boodi]

I actually wasn't planning to post my impression here lol. I was only going to post it in the Versper Audio thread, but I can cross-post it here too. I should have got the Velour pads, but it's only on the inside. I also never thought about Velour pads. Maybe they can make the entire pads Velour, but I never asked. I went with the recommended Alcantara since that was advertised on their site for the Onkyo A800 page.

Onkyo Pad 1 - Black, inner cavity with (through) perforated Alcantara, All other surfaces are intact (whole gain real leather), angled pad, regular acoustic foam
Onkyo Pad 2 - Basic black pad, real whole leather, Natural latex
ATH-L3000 Pad - Basic black pad, protein leather, regular Natural latex

I was just experimenting with these to chase after my first post in the Onkyo A800 back in November 2022. The Onkyo A800 gave me my 2nd bass shock. It's like culture shock, but replace the culture with bass. I never really dealt bass with that shook me to my core like that besides 1 headphone I shall never named because that is my guilty pleasure headphone. The pads I had when I first try the Onkyo A800 was the Ineedkit pads using the Lotoo Paw Gold Touch DAP using the headphone EQ I think. I want to try to capture that sound just 1 more time again.

Best source for a800 seems to be clearest possible , neutral if not slightly cold and on the analitical side, amp can add drive and smoothness ( tubes I still need to hear pairing a800 with a tube amp , i opted for dry-as-possible still at moment )

control in dynamics will help them but A800 are not short in dynamics for range and swings , besides favoring decay to attack , they really deliver in dynamics. As they do not save on dynamics , I use DSD source or upsampling file conversion when possible and ideal too , it helps separation and precision on a800. Bass still tight, super analogue and timbrically-perfect with upsampling, in World In My Eyes /Violator album by Depeche Mode/ besides easily hearing the bass is synt-made, its reverbs can be felt in the upper chest , lower then throat ..of course I don't use hear-deafining volume levels ..just saying.

There's that sweet spot of distance of drivers from ears/eardrums that i wrote already about, that makes for right spot for stage clarity: I won't say it's night-and-day thing ..but..very noticeable.

Tightness on their deep viscerally resonant organic bass.., and a slightly better stage clarity.. ; what can be asked more to Onkyo a800?

 

[boodi]

Forgot to say , they definitely are not ashame at all competing with much higher $$$ headset. Not sure about Susvara ..but 100% sure about he1000se and he1000v2 (not on detail retrieval but i don ' t wear them to search the last bit of detail..) and i tend to prefer them over fostex 900mk2 for they are open and have more natural voices and mids

 

[Saberpunch]

Best source for a800 seems to be clearest possible , neutral if not slightly cold and on the analitical side, amp can add drive and smoothness ( tubes I still need to hear pairing a800 with a tube amp , i opted for dry-as-possible still at moment )

control in dynamics will help them but A800 are not short in dynamics for range and swings , besides favoring decay to attack , they really deliver in dynamics. As they do not save on dynamics , I use DSD source or upsampling file conversion when possible and ideal too , it helps separation and precision on a800. Bass still tight, super analogue and timbrically-perfect with upsampling, in World In My Eyes /Violator album by Depeche Mode/ besides easily hearing the bass is synt-made, its reverbs can be felt in the upper chest , lower then throat ..of course I don't use hear-deafining volume levels ..just saying.

There's that sweet spot of distance of drivers from ears/eardrums that i wrote already about, that makes for right spot for stage clarity: I won't say it's night-and-day thing ..but..very noticeable.

Tightness on their deep viscerally resonant organic bass.., and a slightly better stage clarity.. ; what can be asked more to Onkyo a800?

Interesting you mention DSD source or upsampling file is ideal. I currently have the Cayin N7, but mostly use it with my closed backs and Sony MA900. For DSD files, it feels right using it with Sony equipment, maybe it is just part of still having respect for Sony even though a lot of their new gears are crap. Have not tried the MV1, but it's more focused on studio uses rather than musical enjoyment with it's spatial audio software application. I agree with your statement of DSD files sounding analog like and the timbre is on point. But, I haven't tried it with my tubes setup yet, so no further comment from me on that topic. To me, 45 tubes are amazing and just take "realism" to the next level. But also is very hard to find and incorporate into a headphone setup, but they are famous for a lot of speaker setups for a reason.

A tube amp can be dry as well, sometimes dryer than a SS amp. It's just the more expensive tube amps are typically like that like the WA33 I saw people were talking about and my Allnic HPA-5000XL. I link a video from when I did my 5 months Onkyo A800 review on more information on the Allnic tube amps, the Allnic guys are amazing with their main goal of having the least amount of distortion with the most pure listening session. The Allnic sound is F'ing raw with my Gordon Ramsay impression.

Ironic we switch the conversation to DAC, I upgraded my DAC and should be receiving the upgrade at the beginning of June. I went from a Mystique Evo Basic to a Mystique Evo B4B with upgrades on my S/PDIF and AES inputs, Staccato class A discrete op amp modules, upgraded power supplies, and shielding upgrade. Can't wait to hear it . I am currently sticking with the Mystique Evo because the creator main goal for his amp lines up with what I am looking for in a DAC for the Onkyo A800, "It is our ultra-purist approach which gives our DACs their flawless harmonic structure and incredibly natural sonic signature. Tone and timbre that rivals the best of analog. Effortless micro-dynamics and incredible micro-details revealing previously unheard subtlety and nuance. An incredible sense of breath and flesh that bring your music to life."

Of course, I am open-minded and not a brand loyalist. I will look into other DACs before implementing the final upgrade on the Mystique Evo, that is why I stop at the Mystique Evo B4B 21 instead of going for the final upgrade of Mystique Evo Pro. The other DACs I might try to get a home demo or try at audio shows are Weiss 502, EMM Labs DA2 v2 (or the newest EMM Labs DAC if they make another one), and Allnic D-10000 OTL/OCL DAC (this one is interesting because I think this one upsamples everything to DSD). I probably won't make those upgrades until maybe 2 years because of budget reasons. The final DAC upgrade for me will also be more in tune for my final speaker setup so it will just be a bonus for my headphone setup.

 

[boodi]

Very interesting
Look forward to your dac upgrade of course...

In the Sony wm-1zm2 DSD remastering and highs are done right. Bass is not as tight as in my desktop setup but not bad at all, Violectric v281 coming this week in the chain; DAC is a Gustard A18

 

[Saberpunch]

Very interesting
Look forward to your dac upgrade of course...

In the Sony wm-1zm2 DSD remastering and highs are done right. Bass is not as tight as in my desktop setup but not bad at all, Violectric v281 coming this week in the chain; DAC is a Gustard A18

Nice pickup on the Violectric v281, congrats! I heard a lot of positive comments on that amp. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think people said that the amp is warm and sound tube-like. Let me know how it sounds with the Onkyo A800, that will be exciting to read. Also, pretty jealous you got a Sony wm-1zm2, that was one of the DAP I wanted to get after selling my Lotoo Paw Gold Touch, but I settle with a cheaper option on the Cayin N7 to focus the budget more on speakers.

 

[boodi]

The wm 1zm2 offers fine switches that mime both a class A analogue amp and a Vynil or analogue resonance ( through processing filters of course) along the DSD remastering feature and an ultra detailed faithful sound presentation. Quite impressive work by Sony audio engeneers.
The Fio M17 and ibasso 320 have a somewhat better bass but a little less refined on the rest. to my ears.

The Mystique evo ..what to say. I hope I will have a chance to hear it. Not easy.

I will let you know about the v281.

 

[protoss]

The best pads are the stock ones.

All you need to do is bend the headband and make it loose. A nice curve arc on the headband.
All the Hotspot disappears for me.