[slowpickr]

Absolute steal at that price, seriously grab them!

Already sold out. Must not have had very many.

 

[nraymond]

Absolute steal at that price, seriously grab them!

I did grab them, and you're right - they are very good, especially for the price! The seller skimped on packing material, just sticking the headphone box in one of those plastic shipping bags (I would have preferred double-boxing or at least some additional bubble wrap around the box before it was put in the bag). Is there normally a manual included with the headphones at all? I didn't see a manual of any sort in the box, which kind of surprised me (not that I need one, just kind of odd not to have one). The box was sealed with a circular clear plastic sticker.

While sound quality is excellent and build quality is very good, as already mentioned it is surprising there is no carry case/drawstring travel bag, additional headphone cable, 1/4" adapter, etc. At the sale price I don't mind, but if I paid full retail, would strike me as out of character for this class of headphone. Also do the pads come off at all, or are they permanently attached? I think this is a headphone I could see myself keeping for it's lifetime, and I imagine the pads will wear out before anything else...

 

[Asahi Templar]

I did grab them, and you're right - they are very good, especially for the price! The seller skimped on packing material, just sticking the headphone box in one of those plastic shipping bags (I would have preferred double-boxing or at least some additional bubble wrap around the box before it was put in the bag). Is there normally a manual included with the headphones at all? I didn't see a manual of any sort in the box, which kind of surprised me (not that I need one, just kind of odd not to have one). The box was sealed with a circular clear plastic sticker.

While sound quality is excellent and build quality is very good, as already mentioned it is surprising there is no carry case/drawstring travel bag, additional headphone cable, 1/4" adapter, etc. At the sale price I don't mind, but if I paid full retail, would strike me as out of character for this class of headphone. Also do the pads come off at all, or are they permanently attached? I think this is a headphone I could see myself keeping for it's lifetime, and I imagine the pads will wear out before anything else...

I managed to get one at that price, thanks for posting the deal! Havent got it delivered yet, but looking forward to it!

I also ordered the a800 as I am in Japan and its actually available here. I tried it at Yodobashi Camera and it was amazing in the short time I had to demo it. Very impressed! Subbass was very powerful for a open headphone, sounded like better version of the Fidelio X2 (better meaning little less midbass and clearer highs)

Need more time with it to be sure but that was my initial impressions.

 

[Asahi Templar]

I wonder if someone has compared A800 to AKG K712 Pro?

I have the 712 and just ordered the a800 will try to do some comparisons after I get them. The a800 has a lot more subbass than the 712 though. That much I can confirm from my 10 minute demo of the a800 at the store.

 

[lyrean]

I have the 712 and just ordered the a800 will try to do some comparisons after I get them. The a800 has a lot more subbass than the 712 though. That much I can confirm from my 10 minute demo of the a800 at the store.

Thanks, I would appreciate that. I just tested K712 at store and it sounded quite muddy and the highs sounded somewhat unnatural compared to A800. K712 had a larger soundstage though. It can be that the amp was not suitable for K712 as I have heard that those are very picky headphones.

K712 was much more comfortable than A800. You can just forget that you are wearing them.

 

[Sonic Defender]

Nice to see more people are getting to try these headphones.

 

[Sonic Defender]

@nraymond, the pads are supposed to be replaceable. I remember asking my contact at Gibson about that and he did say they can be replaced and Onkyo parts would be where you contact. Glad you enjoy the H900M and no, they don't include accessories, but on the bright side, at least all the cost seems to have gone into the headphone not a box. I found my 1/4" adapter from the ATH M40x fit perfectly.

 

[Asahi Templar]

Thanks, I would appreciate that. I just tested K712 at store and it sounded quite muddy and the highs sounded somewhat unnatural compared to A800. K712 had a larger soundstage though. It can be that the amp was not suitable for K712 as I have heard that those are very picky headphones.

K712 was much more comfortable than A800. You can just forget that you are wearing them.

They can be a bit picky. AKG headphones are some of the most difficult to drive in my experience. They have fairly low impedance but are not very sensitive making them more challenging than people expect to power.

They have pretty warm sounding bass so if they were connected to a warm amp it might be too much. They were great with the Objective 2 amp.

They have a peak at 2k some people don't like which is where the slight unnatural aspect might come in but man aren't they great fun for rock and metal. Iron Maiden sounds fantastic on them.

I use them with the Pioneer U-05 amp dac and they are sublime. The U-05 is a bit midrange forward sounding which helps with the clarity.

The subbass is not very impressive though which is why the a800 appeals to me. I will be using one of these two as my main headphone so I am looking forward to the shootout!

 

[Asahi Templar]

Thanks, I would appreciate that. I just tested K712 at store and it sounded quite muddy and the highs sounded somewhat unnatural compared to A800. K712 had a larger soundstage though. It can be that the amp was not suitable for K712 as I have heard that those are very picky headphones.

K712 was much more comfortable than A800. You can just forget that you are wearing them.

I can now officially declare the a800 the winner, it is just such a wonderful headphone.

The K712 is a warmer headphone, male vocals and midbass have a very nice warm bassy sound., given most peoples apparent preference for this, its not surprising its recommended a lot. The problem I have with it is that part of the upper midrange is a bit recessed which makes female vocals sound a bit lackluster. Most the time female vocals get pushed behind the music and dont sound as impressive as they should. Its even more noticeable when there are male and female vocals, as you get the lovely warm bassy voice next to the somewhat muted voice. They have that interesting peak at 2k which does make the bite of electric guitars quite fun, which makes them excellent for male fronted rock. They fall short when it comes to female fronted bands though.

K712 is also lacking in subbass, its there but its weak, dont get the rumble you should get on some tracks. In the treble its got some odd peaks and valleys which make some music sound great, but it can get fatiguing with some genres. I cannot listen to Skrillex with it (not that I want to but makes a good test for annoying highs!) It is however super lightweight and comfortable, you can wear it all day and forget about it! It even has a bit of isolation on it which his surprising for an open headphone.

THe a800 basically solves all of my complaints with the K712, Its a remarkably natural sounding headphone. The midrange is almost perfectly flat as far as I can tell which is exactly how I like it. Female vocals and male vocals alike sound strong and natural, though it does not have those nice warm male vocals that the K712 does. I would say male vocals sound "better" on the k712 due to the warming, but the a800 is more natural sounding. THe A800 has the best presentation of bass I have ever heard in a headphone. THe midbass is weighty, punchy and pretty tight but is not inflated to the point of overwhelming the other frequencies. It also amazingly does not seem to influence the male vocals. I have never heard a headphone with this much bass manage to produce this natural of male vocals, they nearly always sound extra bassy or warm, but this manages to pull off an impressive balance. Subbass is outstanding for an open headphone, it reaches super deep to the point its not heard but felt. Why so Serious? off the Dark Knight soundtrack has that super deep subbass and oh boy could I feel it with these.

The treble is the most surprising thing to me, because according to the FR graph this is a pretty bright headphone, but it does not sound overly bright to me. It tuned in such a way that the highs are present and very clear but kept in check enough not to blow your eardrums out. I was actually able to listen to Skrillex's Purple Lamborghini with these without smashing something. Which is saying a lot as that song usually triggers a primal fight or flight response that makes me want to smash the thing emitting that god-awful noise! On some tracks the ethereal synthesizer sort of sound is quite strong (not sure which frequency that is!) but I didnt find it annoying just more present than on the AKG 712.

The AKG 712 has a much wider soundstage than the A800. Not surprising as this is AKG's trademark. The AKG Q701 has the widest/largest soundstage I ever head. K712 is a little less, but still very impressive. Soundstage is probably the "weakest" aspect of the a800 as it is only average for a open headphone. Imaging and detail retrieval are excellent on both headphones, the a800 might seem to come out ahead due to having a better presented treble and being less warm.

I have got to say the A800 is the best headphone I have ever heard, it ticks all the boxes I was looking for, and all of my complaints are small. It is a bit heavy, and the earpads are shallow for a headphone of this size, they fit my ears perfectly but someone with slightly larger ears might have comfort issues.

Thank you Sonic Defender for bringing this to everyones attention, you are right when you say this thing is criminally underrated. To me it actually is what people said the Fidelio X2 was, a natural sounding headphone with weighty bass without any of the slight grain and recessed midrange of the x2.

I strongly recommend anyone who can demo these to do so.

 

[Asahi Templar]

Forgot to mention, I compared these two using my Pioneer-U05 dac/amp, another criminally underrated product!

I used the Direct Mode of it which removes the DSP effects, to try to get the truest sound I could from the headphones.

With the DSP they sound even better!

 

[bronxers]

Just want to add to the chorus of praise for the Onkyo A800 headphones. These outshine the Fidelio X2 in every way and it really isn't even close, which is why I now have my X2 up for sale in the for sale section. Criminally underrated is an understatement. I was A/B'ing these against my Beyerdynamic T1 2nd gen. last night, and the music just sounded more engaging (and certainly less fatiguing) on the A800. I love my T1's, but I am seriously thinking about unloading those too after listening to the A800. I know these aren't necessarily easy to find, but I do hope that more people get an opportunity to listen to them.

 

[Sonic Defender]

Just want to add to the chorus of praise for the Onkyo A800 headphones. These outshine the Fidelio X2 in every way and it really isn't even close, which is why I now have my X2 up for sale in the for sale section. Criminally underrated is an understatement. I was A/B'ing these against my Beyerdynamic T1 2nd gen. last night, and the music just sounded more engaging (and certainly less fatiguing) on the A800. I love my T1's, but I am seriously thinking about unloading those too after listening to the A800. I know these aren't necessarily easy to find, but I do hope that more people get an opportunity to listen to them.

Awesome, glad to hear that you like them. So my review would match your impressions I assume? I also love the Onkyo H900M for a very affordable closed headphone. I am actually now using the $1000US Pioneer Monitor 5 and trying to decide if I will buy it from a friend, but I have to admit, the humble H900M seems to be pretty much on par, like 95%, for a third of the price so Onkyo does fly under the radar here too much. The same company makes the Onkyo and Fidelio drivers, but the Onkyo drivers are a different design if I'm not mistaken.

 

[peter123]

Finally:

 

[peter123]

After a couple of days with the A800 I'm enjoying them a lot. This is a really good pair of headphones and I can't help thinking that Onkyo/Gibson made a huge mistake not giving these a more conventional design. Had they do so I'm sure that they'd have been a lot more popular.

I think these are like a love child from the X2's and HD650 or like a HD650 on steroids or a X2 on Valium

To me they easily outperform both of the above though and are easily on par with the HE400i and HD700. I do believe that I may end up liking them more than both but it's still early days.

For me these are the perfect headphones for a more relaxed listening than the HD800S and HE560 offers without loosing out much in overall quality. I was lucky enough to find a pair for $175 brand new and so far I feel as if they're the best bargain I've found this far in my Head-fi life.

 

[Sonic Defender]

After a couple of days with the A800 I'm enjoying them a lot. This is a really good pair of headphones and I can't help thinking that Onkyo/Gibson made a huge mistake not giving these a more conventional design. Had they do so I'm sure that they'd have been a lot more popular.

I think these are like a love child from the X2's and HD650 or like a HD650 on steroids or a X2 on Valium

To me they easily outperform both of the above though and are easily on par with the HE400i and HD700. I do believe that I may end up liking them more than both but it's still early days.

For me these are the perfect headphones for a more relaxed listening than the HD800S and HE560 offers without loosing out much in overall quality. I was lucky enough to find a pair for $175 brand new and so far I feel as if they're the best bargain I've found this far in my Head-fi life.

That is a great price for sure. I'm glad you are enjoying them. I personally like the style, but I know what you mean, it isn't likely to have mass appeal. Shame as the sound quality, build and overall value are excellent but few people know about them. I equally like the H900M as a closed back. Thanks for the update, cheers.