[reynman]

I received mine today! Pretty neat carry all box. I like the build quality. It has some weight to it, but the all metal casing of the 1000 would have been cool in a small unit. I placed the 800 on top of my XBox and the 800 was dwarfed by it. It is a bit bigger than a paperback book. BTW the 800 came with a voltage transformer. Hook-up to my XBox was a breeze. I use the Monster component cable which has an adapter for toslink connection. After about the first 2 hours the unit was running a bit hot. Now at about 8 hours its settled into a warm operating temp.

The earcups of the headphones are reminiscent of the Sony D66 Eggos in shape, but are made of thicker material. I wish they clamped a bit better, but I will try to bend the metal rods for a custom fit.

I'm going to use this mainly for my late night game console sessions. I popped in MVP 2004 in the XBox and wasn't expecting much without burn-in but I heard something that I did not hear with the Sennheiser DSP Pro/Beyer 880 combo. Jim Edmonds was at the plate and I heard a fan shout out, "Hey Edmonds, you stink!" My purchase was worth it for me to hear that level of detail and positioning. With another batter the heckler came from the right side. Cool!

I just played the 1st scene of Gladiator. The detail and positioning is impressive. From the rustling of the wheat, the flicker of the flames, the horses stampeding from left to right, the clash of the swords. It all there in a sphere of intimate sound. I switched to the DSP Pro/DT880 combo. The sound, though fuller (especially the bass) seemed lumped together. The positioning was pretty much non-existent with the DSP Pro. Instead of a sphere of sound it was a circle.

The technology was utilized well and it fits the bill for those of us on a budget, with space limitations or those those of us with late night gaming/movie sessions. I highly recommend the purchase of the Pioneer 800. If you can't wait til May to get the US version, pony up the extra cash and go with AudioCubes. I ordered the 800 last Thursday, received them Tuesday (Tokyo - Chicago). Great service from Kohn and the crew. Answered all my questions in a timely manner.

Thanks again to John for his great reviews of the 800 and 1000.

Regards - reynman

 

[sfxjames]

Your words our blessing for my ears, good description.

 

[stustustu]

I've never been able to get a good seal from eggos: is that likely to be a problem with the 800's?

 

[xand]

To people asking about the DIR800C, DIR1000C, you should probably read the thread linked below:


Original review of the DIR1000C:
http://www5.head-fi.org/forums/showt...hlight=pioneer sedir1000c&pagenumber=1

Review of DIR800C:
http://www5.head-fi.org/forums/showt...00+Comparisons


Related to that, several people have said there that they prefer the included headphones (on the DIR1000C) to Sony CD3K's: Is this true for all sorts of listening or merely for movie watching? Finally, are the other pioneer headphones of that quality?

e.g. Pioneer HDJ-1000, Pioneer SE-A1000 AV or even Pioneer SE-MONITOR10R / Pioneer SE-MONITOR8

They are very reasonably priced, especially if they equal or better the Sony 3DK's.

 

[Franchot]

Reynman,

Glad your order came through without a hitch and that you're pleased with the DIR800C. (Mine is on the way from Audio Cubes so I'll also be joining in on the fun pretty soon.)

I found another site on the web that is offering the US version of the DIR800C:

http://www.earthcommerce.com/SV006920000492.html

They seem legit and have an on-line inventory which looks like it actually reflects what they have in stock. (It doesn't say how much they're going to be selling the unit for, however.)

This might be a good alternative for people who are"disappointed" with the way Datavision is selling the unit.

Update on pricing:

Their price on a pair of Sony CD3000s:

http://www.earthcommerce.com/cgi-win...~i067000004686

(You can do better at Audio Cubes and some other merchants so you'll have to do the math when it come to the Pioneer unit. Unless, of course, they price match

.)

 

[sfxjames]

Do you think I could trust them with my visa check card number so I can order those, franchot?

How did you order the dir800s

 

[Franchot]

Quote:

Originally posted by sfxjames Do you think I could trust them with my visa check card number so I can order those, franchot? How did you order the dir800s

SfxJames,

If you're talking about Earth Commerce, I have NO idea. (I've never dealt with them. You might want to call or e-mail them first to get a vibe about their sevice. Here's a link with some contact info: http://www.earthcommerce.com/contactus.html .)

I bought my DIR800s through Audio Cubes using my credit card. I e-mailed Kohn the owner before ordering and he responded quickly and was very helpful. I've never read of any negative feedback about Audio Cubes so I'd assume you wouldn't have any problems ordering from them. As a sponsor of this forum, Audio Cubes is highly respected around here.

 

[sfxjames]

I did a little check with datavis, I asked them to look up my order, pretending as if it was still was still there,

"--oh looks like it's been canceled,"

LOL, LOL!

Anyway, I'm still waiting for AC to email me to see if I can use my check visa card I have. Haven't got a reponse yet, though.

I'm just going to go with the flow and use it.

 

[sfxjames]

Okay Franchot I am waiting on the order pending line with you.

Let's see,


long wait, what shall we talk about? lol

Hey before you know it, we might be able to look up and see the flying pigs any moment.

Can you see any yet?

 

[sfxjames]

Can anyone tell me if it is absolutely necessary to have a voltage converter with it?

 

[stustustu]

It's not necessary, but it voids your warranty.

If you can't find anything to add to your audiocubes order to make $400 (and the free transformer), then just add a $25 gift certificate.

 

[Franchot]

Hello, James. Hang in there. Once your order gets past processing and is shipped it should only take about two days to reach you. My unit arrived this morning by Express Mail and I've been only briefly playing around with it. (I'll post some thoughts on it after I've broken it a little.)

According to Audio Cubes web site, it states: "Is a voltage convertor needed for my Japanese unit?
A lot of users have successfully used/recharged their Japanese audio gear (ie. CD Player) without the usage of a transformer. However, we will not give any guarantee for any problem resulted in such use. Our recommendation is to use a universal power adapter or a transformer. If you would like to save money, you can use your unit without a transformer without any guarantee."

I'd try it out, but I don't want to risk damaging my new toy. U.S. voltage is 110 volts, whereas the Japanese voltage is 100 volts. If I'm understanding this correctly, the transformer that I bought for my unit is stepping down or limiting the amount of current the Japanese unit is getting from my U.S. power source. (I don't know. Does 10 volts of power make that much of a difference or will an extra 10 volts damage the equipment?) If it were the other way around (100 volts current going into a 110 volt unit), I wouldn't be so hesitant to try it out.

(By the way, I'm charging the NiHm batteries that came with the unit in my U.S charger. I tried out a pair of U.S. NiHM batteries I have in the headphones and the unit functioned fine.)

From your post it sounds like you didn't order a voltage transformer

. It also sounds like everyone who ordered their Pioneer from Audio Cubes received one for free. Before I ordered my Pioneer I sent an e-mail to Kohn asking if the free transformer was included. He kind of (sort of) indicated that you needed to spend 400 bucks to get it. Reading Reynman's recent post in this thread, he sounds like he received a free one without hitting the 400 dollar limit. I guess I'll find out if mine was free, also, when I get my credit card bill.

Good luck.

 

[Franchot]

To compliment JohnM's excellent review and pictures of the Pioneer DIR800C, here's a link to some pictures from different viewpoints of the unit (and some Japanese text):

http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/do...114/dev047.htm

(The link will allow you to link to pictures of the Sony MDR-DS3000 so you can get a better look at the Sony from different viewpoints.)

 

[reynman]

sfxjames,

The voltage converter came with my 800 and I use it. Been out of town and away from all me gear. Whew! Good to be home.

Franchot,

Thanks for posting that link. I came across it one early morning but forgot the put it in a post.

Regards - reynman

 

[Franchot]

Decided to throw a DVD-Audio disc into my DVD player to see how the DIR800C would handle it. I was surprised to find out that the Pioneer can decode it into Dolby Headphone 5.1 through the digital cable. (For some reason I was under the impression that analog cables were needed to output 5.1 sound and that it wouldn't work with digital cables. At least that's the way it works with my receiver and my speaker system...)

Anyway, the sound of the DVD-A was fine and I can switch between the three different Dolby Headphone modes. I can't say the sound really excited me since I'm used to listening to my DVD Audio discs through my speaker system which affords the music a tremendous soundfield and depth to the music. Still, the music in Dolby Headphone mode was much more open as compared to the straight stereo mix.