[Windsor]

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I'm thinking about purchasing the HD 800s and pairing them with a Violectric V200 amp. Many of my recordings are older ones, mainly operas from the 50s, 60s and 70s by artists like Callas, Bjorling, Pavarotti, etc. Do you think this combo can bring out the beauty of these recordings without always reminding me that I'm listening to an inferior recording? Source would be a Densen B-410 cd player.

Best,
Joel

 
I haven't heard the V200, but I have seen it written that it is a warmer than neutral sounding amp, which with the HD 800 may smoothen and soften the details of the recording. A even smoother sound can also be achieved by a smoother-sounding headphone such as the HD 600.

Talking about recordings sounding inferior / of low quality with the HD 800 is mind fodder. I have a very transparent source that I use with the HD 800, and I could say this combo sounds too revealing and it will be if I think that way. To me it adds character to old recordings. I'm enjoying hearing some Frank Sinatra right now and it sounds delightful. The whole experience transcends just the recording. The HD 800 is a truly awesome headphone that sounds as marvellous as you allow it to be. 

I can't count how much I just enjoy music these days without criticizing equipment. Here's some of what I recently wrote along those lines, if you're interested: http://www.head-fi.org/t/626835/listening-to-headphones-and-hearing-the-music#post_8709949
 

 

[IEMCrazy]

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well according to experience i have seen that an amp creates more of a difference than the dac... so i am gonna do the amp first.... i am set to upgrade to hi-fi like hd800 or the audeze lcd2(maybe he-6).... i am thinking of getting the schiit lyr+bifrost which i think would give me great power+performance for most things.... after those upgrades i will check the sound difference with the he400 and the hd650.... maybe i would be satisfied right there... if not then i would be upgrading to hd800 and lcd2(plan to buy both) but it looks like it would take me a whole year to get that far... but only 3 months for the amp-dac upgrade(i hate to wait)... is the lyr+bifrost a mid grade upgrade or a high grade upgrade?? i won't ask if would get the best out of the hd800 and lcd2 but would it be good enough?? or mjolnir would be more suited as my avatar suggests?? i am sure no one in my whole country would be spending so much on headphone gear

 
The Lyr + Bifrost is an excellent pairing with HD650 and with LCD-2.  Contrary to what some folks say, I also think it sounds excellent with HD800, however IMO it does also still limit HD800's potential.  It's a good sounding pair, no question, but HD800 can still do much better (Mjolnir for example.)
 
HE-6...that's a whole different route. They require substantial power and while a Lyr can  drive them, they only drive them to the level of HE-500 or so.  Mjolnir is among the handful of amps that can properly drive them, and most HE-6 users are using speaker amplifiers instead since they can be had more cheaply for more appropriate power levels.  IMO, if going with Lyr specifically, HD800 and LCD-2 are excellent options still, but HE-6 is probably not a wise purchase with that combination.  It'll work, it'll sound good, but ultimately it won't make them much more special than HE-500 at half the price.
 
LCD-2 synergy with Lyr is famous.  And I feel it has amazing synergy with HD650 as well.  I do feel it sounds fantastic with HD800, but if topping out with Lyr, I think there's a lot less merit in getting HD800.  Mjolnir + HD800 is phenominal though.
 
On the other hand for HE-400 and HD650, Lyr could easily be end-game.
 
Since your question indicated you know that Lyr isn't "the best" for HD800 and LCD-2, but you wanted to know if it would be "good enough", I'd say, absolutely, yes, it sounds fantastic.  It's just that there's things that sound even better.

 

[h4mm3r 0f th0r]

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The Lyr + Bifrost is an excellent pairing with HD650 and with LCD-2.  Contrary to what some folks say, I also think it sounds excellent with HD800, however IMO it does also still limit HD800's potential.  It's a good sounding pair, no question, but HD800 can still do much better (Mjolnir for example.)
 
HE-6...that's a whole different route. They require substantial power and while a Lyr can  drive them, they only drive them to the level of HE-500 or so.  Mjolnir is among the handful of amps that can properly drive them, and most HE-6 users are using speaker amplifiers instead since they can be had more cheaply for more appropriate power levels.  IMO, if going with Lyr specifically, HD800 and LCD-2 are excellent options still, but HE-6 is probably not a wise purchase with that combination.  It'll work, it'll sound good, but ultimately it won't make them much more special than HE-500 at half the price.
 
LCD-2 synergy with Lyr is famous.  And I feel it has amazing synergy with HD650 as well.  I do feel it sounds fantastic with HD800, but if topping out with Lyr, I think there's a lot less merit in getting HD800.  Mjolnir + HD800 is phenominal though.
 
On the other hand for HE-400 and HD650, Lyr could easily be end-game.
 
Since your question indicated you know that Lyr isn't "the best" for HD800 and LCD-2, but you wanted to know if it would be "good enough", I'd say, absolutely, yes, it sounds fantastic.  It's just that there's things that sound even better.

 
i guess i can still go for a mjolnir.... but that can delay the dac... but i don't think it would be a problem until i have enough money for a high end headphone... i might be able to get a good dac before that....

 

[IEMCrazy]

Quote:

 
i guess i can still go for a mjolnir.... but that can delay the dac... but i don't think it would be a problem until i have enough money for a high end headphone... i might be able to get a good dac before that....

 
It's a tough choice.  Lyr + Bifrost is an excellent combination.  And DAC is very important.  On the other hand if you're going to spend the money and go through the agrivation of importing, and especially if you intend to go the HD800 route....I wouldn't overlook getting the Mjolnir now and the rest later.  The amp, especially for HD800, is a harder item to acquire than a competent DAC.  Not that DAC isn't very important, but there are more commonly available "decent quality" DACs than "amps that happen to have synergy with headphone X".
 
It just depends what you want out of it.  You would definitely not dislike the Lyr with any of these headphones (except HE-6) either.  It's a very capable amp.  MJ is just more capable.

 

[IEMCrazy]

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Talking about recordings sounding inferior / of low quality with the HD 800 is mind fodder. I have a very transparent source that I use with the HD 800, and I could say this combo sounds too revealing and it will be if I think that way. To me it adds character to old recordings. I'm enjoying hearing some Frank Sinatra right now and it sounds delightful. The whole experience transcends just the recording. The HD 800 is a truly awesome headphone that sounds as marvellous as you allow it to be. 

 
I think you're confusing low quality recordings with old recordings. I agree Frank Sinatra, including his very old Capitol recordings sound fantastic on HD800.  But the thing is Frank's recordings were indeed excellent recordings.  That man had the best available at the time.  While that might not compare to the best Chesky has available today, it was still through and through excellent...with some very nice tubes in those mics.  It wasn't until the 70's remasters that he had it "remastered for the modern ear" that the recordings started getting more smeared.  But even those, by contrast to truly bad recordings was still some really good masters.
 
The bad recordings come in mostly with modern pop, indie publishers (indie, not audiophile niche), some "unknown" rock/metal/whatever recordings, and some vintage jazz from artists who weren't quite famous yet but their old recordings were made public after they were famous, etc. (The recording on some of Thelonious Monks's earlier work is horrid.  But it's early work from Monk...so it's worth a listen.  Just not on HD800

 

[TwoEars]

Three words to describe the HD800: Precision, Neutrality, Soundstage.
 
Beauty can be there too - but only if it is on the recording.
 
For some this is too much honesty, others love it.

 

[grokit]

I have a good assortment of headphones and enjoy them all, but every time I come back to the HD800 I really appreciate them!

Just chiming in because they're on my head at the moment, listening to some Nitin Sawhney.

 

[TwoEars]

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I have a good assortment of headphones and enjoy them all, but every time I come back to the HD800 I really appreciate them!
Just chiming in because they're on my head at the moment, listening to some Nitin Sawhney.

I'm surprised you picked the HD800s for that music and not the LCD2 - care to ellaborate?

 
But I don't blame you - with a little bass boost I find the HD800 superb for electronica. The quality of the bass and the texture they're able to produce is mind boggling - and don't get me started on the soundstage.
 
You just need a very good DAC to bring out the best from them.

 

[grokit]

In my setup, I rotate headphones every few days. I'm not really into matching the genre to the headphone, although there is a definite argument in favor of that approach and I do it sometimes. My headphone rotation, in no particular order, is influenced mostly by whether or not I have the preamp mode engaged or not in my WA22. When it is engaged, I listen to my RA150 speaker amp-powered headphones, the K1000 and LCD-2, and my RA150 > WEE-powered headphones, the Lambda Pros. When I listen straight out of the WA22, it's the Hd800 and LCD2. This can be complicated by tube-rolling but I mostly stay put in that regard these days.

With the tubes I have in place now, bass boost is unnecessary for the HD800.

But in answer to your question (TMI), the main reason the HD800 is on my head first this time is that the LCD2 is upstairs ATM :rolleyes:

I was trying it in the new/old bedroom rig, as it has the power and the tonal balance for the LCD2, but it was a no-go. I'm guessing that it was an impedance issue, will have to find my stock HD800 cable and try those next. If there's an issue with that combo (BC DAC2 > XCAN/PSU) it will be tonal balance and not impedance. It sounds great with the HD600 but a bit sharp up top, would like to give the HD650 another shot in this rig at some point.

 

[fengwei007]

Have tried quite a few pair of headphones in the past half a year, I've been trying to get the best setup for the musics I like: jazz, classical, pops, soft rocks. Got a pair of HD800 quite a while ago, but only got a better setup (DAC and amp) to match them a few days ago, together w a pair of vintage RS1:

HD800 + RS1 are just perfect for the music I like

 

[sphinxvc]

Congratulations.  Great picture, and I like your woven head bands.

 

[preproman]

Those head bands are vary nice.  

 

[avrosse]

Quote:

Have tried quite a few pair of headphones in the past half a year, I've been trying to get the best setup for the musics I like: jazz, classical, pops, soft rocks. Got a pair of HD800 quite a while ago, but only got a better setup (DAC and amp) to match them a few days ago, together w a pair of vintage RS1:

HD800 + RS1 are just perfect for the music I like

 
Great looking system! How are you liking the HD 800s paired with the V200?

 

[fengwei007]

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Congratulations.  Great picture, and I like your woven head bands.

 
 
 

Those head bands are vary nice.  
 

 
Thanks. Got those from China, they do look very nice  
 
 
 

 
Great looking system! How are you liking the HD 800s paired with the V200?

 
I've been listening to these pair for a couple of months, really love the sound, very musical to me. I use these for all kinds of musics. To be honest, I haven't tried many desktop amps, only a Musical Fidelity X-CAN V8P and then this V200. The improvement w/ this V200 over the X-CAN is very obvious. I'm sure there are better amps out there for these HD800s, but I myself will end here  These are more than enough for me, look really nice too. 

 

[rgs9200m]

In my several years now of experience with the HD800s, I think the critical factor is recording quality. If a CD is bright, raspy, grainy, or piercing, I hear it loud and clear and usually switch to other phones
(Audezes or Fostexes or Hifimans). But if the recording is is well done, the HD800s can be king of the hill, with an eerily real texture and 3D imaging, as if you can see the components of the music.