[Jarmel]

Btw interested in getting an aftermarket balanced cable. Would the Equinox be the best fit for these judging by initial impressions?

 

[Donald North]

Quote:

Originally Posted by IPodPJ /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ok, more news!!! I think the issue is with my amp. Normally, all headphones go into the "low Z" jack which is a 0 ohm jack. When I plug it into the "high Z" jack, which is 120 ohm, the headphones sound much better. With the regular 0 ohm jack, the bass is horribly muddy with practically no detail. With the 120 ohm jack, I definitely hear a lot more detail and the mids are more lush. This headphone is going to be EXTREMELY hard to match with amps. It is going to require an amp that puts out very clean power and has tons of headroom. Your source isn't an issue... the better your source is, the better your music will sound, obviously. I plan on spending my time with many amps at CanJam now.

This is good news and doesn't surprise me. Many of the high end European brand headphones are designed and tuned around the IEC standard of 120 ohm output impedance. Earlier this week while listening to the HD650, I found they sounded much better with an 120 ohm source, opening up the midrange and breathing life into the music.

I can't wait to hear them

 

[IPodPJ]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Donald North /img/forum/go_quote.gif This is good news and doesn't surprise me. Many of the high end European brand headphones are designed and tuned around the IEC standard of 120 ohm output impedance. Earlier this week while listening to the HD650, I found they sounded much better with an 120 ohm source, opening up the midrange and breathing life into the music. I can't wait to hear them

That's great to know, Donald. And I'll have to try my new cans out on your amp at CanJam! I'm in the market for a new amp, and I've pretty much set my mind on the Audio-gd Phoenix, but hey, I'm open to anything.

 

[SleepyOne]

Simple, you take your HD800 and walk around and pick the amp with the best match, hopefully not the super expensive one.....

 

[Quadrangulum]

I didn't want to open the box since my Luxman P-1 is still a couple of weeks or so from arriving but I just couldn't resist a sneak preview (also to verify the condition) with what I have on hand (Grace Design M902, Primare DVD30 and computer sources).

The one attribute I'm wholly confident in ascribing to the HD800 is that it has a cavernous and, in my opinion, precise sound stage. I was quite taken aback by my ability to clearly discern the position of instruments in Canon in D major. It seems as if this piece is tough for headphones. With all the other ones I own, it feels as if my head has been crammed into every playing instrument simultaneously. Not so with the HD800.

I'm relatively new to serious headphone listening so my impressions of the HD800 relative to other headphones are worthless but compared to my Anthony Gallo Reference 3.1 and Bel Canto set up, which I am aiming to replace with my incoming head-fi set up, I can say that I lose little in perceived sound stage and projection which is quite a feat in my opinion. At least in one criterion, the HD800 may be a suitable challenger.

For now, my HD800 will go back into the box until the P-1 but I have to say I feel quite a bit more confident in my purchase.

 

[dallan]

Back in the box - ouch!

 

[The Monkey]

That P-1 is a nice amp.

 

[subtle]

So what is my impression after the first two hours? Pretty awesome!

What I am hearing is very much in line with what vai777 and dallan are hearing. When I first read IPodPJ's initial comments I immediately felt that he must have received a defective pair, because these are not muddy cans in the slightest. Then I read on and saw his updates about plugging them in to the higher impedance jack and thought there you go.

Very first thing I noticed was wow these are bright. In fact, they are so much brighter than what I'm used to that when I took them off after the first two hours I had that effect like I had been at a live concert for the first five minutes or so, only nowhere near as exaggerated. These are no HD650s at all. Thank *insert your favorite deity here* there is no veil to worry about with the HD800!! Second thing I noticed was their speed. No sweet sluggish syrupy veiled anything. Third thing I noticed was their stupid ridiculous incredible soundstage/headstage. Basically they are bright, airy, fast, and extremely detailed with an immense soundstage. Their sound output is very balanced and definitely somewhat speaker sounding without losing the intimacy that headphones typically offer.

It's too early to judge, as I really want to put a couple of days in to them to see how things come about, but my few initial criticisms would be that they are definitely lacking in the lower end for my tastes, and their tone just doesn't seem to have that sweet body that I've come to love so much from my L3000 and HP-1000. They don't produce that incredible reverberation from electric lead and bass guitar like the other two. They are definitely harder to drive as well compared to those. I just can't see them being impressive out of any DAP at all. So far I have only used them at the office with my STX Essence sound card and they sound fantastic from it. For the first few minutes I forgot that the sound card's amplifier has the option of low(0-64), medium(64-300), and high(300-600) impedances. Having those other two cans I've always had it on low since installing it. Once I remembered that I kicked it in to medium and the headphones came to life. When I get back to the house later tonight I will plug them in to my Melos and see what the hybrid factor with tubes does to them.

So far so good. From what I've heard they seem like they will be a dream headphone for those that primarily listen to classical and opera. For someone like myself, that listens to a wide variety of music from The Dead to House and Drum and Bass with very, very little classical and opera, they definitely leave something to be desired straight out of the box. Things could obviously change over the coming week, but at this time the L3000s have nothing to worry about with regards to being kicked out of bed as my favorite dynamic headphone.

 

[dallan]

The P-1....Ya that is the SS one i want to have side by side with the Zana.

 

[rangen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by subtle /img/forum/go_quote.gif It's too early to judge, as I really want to put a couple of days in to them to see how things come about, but my few initial criticisms would be that they are definitely lacking in the lower end for my tastes, and their tone just doesn't seem to have that sweet body that I've come to love so much from my L3000 and HP-1000.

FWIW, the two most prominent changes I noticed when my HD650s broke in was that the bass finally made an appearance, and the midrange turned sweet. So it may indeed be too early.

 

[robm321]

...

 

[The Monkey]

subtle, with respect to the bass, do you feel that the phone just isn't representing it or is it getting down there but just not pumping it out? I'm probably not articulating my question well. Basically, I'm wondering if despite your preference for the L3000 bass, do you feel that the HD800 is revealing everything down low?

 

[mbd2884]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jarmel /img/forum/go_quote.gif Btw interested in getting an aftermarket balanced cable. Would the Equinox be the best fit for these judging by initial impressions?

If you are able to figure out what cables be best by these impressions, picking the Equinox, then I think a different cable is right for you!

Only the SAA Voice will do for you. Equinox is not enough, you need the Voice!

 

[kelvinz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by IPodPJ /img/forum/go_quote.gif By the way, Mark Lawton seems to agree with my opinions of the HD800: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f38/in...ml#post5721164 Scenario 1) And what this tells me is that the variance between drivers in each pair of HD800 must be pretty severe for all of us to have such vastly different impressions. Our ears are not that different, and we don't hear things as different as little green men from outer space might. Scenario 2) As mentioned previously, they are extremely particular about what amp you pair them with. Unless HD800 owners are pairing them with a perfectly matched amp, there will be as many HD800 haters as their are lovers. This can is definitely not for everyone. I have a request: From now on I'd request if every owner of the HD800, in their next post, to mention what amp they are using. For every future owner who hasn't yet posted impressions, please mention what amp you are using in the same post as your impression. Thank you.

All I read there is that MarkL would like me to send him my HD800's and a large quantity of money to get my HD800's fitted with Jena cables.

 

[mbd2884]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kelvinz /img/forum/go_quote.gif All I read there is that MarkL would like me to send him my HD800's and a large quantity of money to get my HD800's fitted with Jena cables.

Yeah don't really want to be an ass, but I agree. MarkL's review to me pretty much says, HD800 sound is mediocre. Blatant and shameless impression boiled down to, send me your money for a Jena recable. Personally I still think http://apuresound.com/rtr.htmlJena is a ****** anyways.

Quote:

These phones tonally sound exactly like a typical silver cable-- brittle, thin, cold tone, hashy, insubstantial, white background. If you fancy typical silver cables, the tone of the HD800 will likely appeal more to you.

I guess I'm not surprised considering his marketing also claims his simple Denon mods make them better than R10s. Whatever. Another name to the ignore list, would have expected a little more tact from an MoT.