[Whazzzup]

You want both, as i have ( well la900) th900 is easy to drive hd800S needs scale. These are polar ends of the complimentary headphone types.

 

[Priaptor]

I really appreciate you explaining this to me because I'm fairly new to all this. You and other have helped me greatly, financially and listening wise

.... I noticed slight irritation listening to the Fostex after a couple hours, felt like the treble was starting to become too much and the sound felt too full or my head felt a little bloated.. volume wasn't high but loud enough to drown out outside noise.. I can't really describe it but that's how it felt.

Well the Fostex are a fairly colored headphone so it will appeal to those liking it's sound signature.  I really am not trying to denigrate the TH900 because as far as I am concerned life is too short and what I or anyone else likes is irrelevant if the Fostex pleases those who like/love them.  They just didn't work for me and the LCD-X was more in line with what I was looking for and the HD800S with the Liquid Carbon and then Liquid Gold just hit the spot for me, which I find pretty ironic, as I am a "tube person".  

 

[wldcohso]

You want both, as i have ( well la900) th900 is easy to drive hd800S needs scale. These are polar ends of the complimentary headphone types.

Lol, this hobby gets expensive pretty fast.. ugh! Lol

 

[wldcohso]

Well the Fostex are a fairly colored headphone so it will appeal to those liking it's sound signature.  I really am not trying to denigrate the TH900 because as far as I am concerned life is too short and what I or anyone else likes is irrelevant if the Fostex pleases those who like/love them.  They just didn't work for me and the LCD-X was more in line with what I was looking for and the HD800S with the Liquid Carbon and then Liquid Gold just hit the spot for me, which I find pretty ironic, as I am a "tube person".  

How would you compare the Cavalli Liquid Carbon to sennheiser HDVD 800?

 

[Priaptor]

How would you compare the Cavalli Liquid Carbon to sennheiser HDVD 800?

I have never listened to the HDVD 800.  I can say, the Liquid Carbon outperformed the Pro iCan, which I think is a fantastic amp.  While the Pro is extremely versatile and has lots of gimmicks to help one reach their audio-nirvana, I found basic settings in Tube+ mode to be best.  The Liquid Carbon is an amazing piece and I would never tell anyone what I spent for the Lau was worth it in comparison to the LC, BUT, as we know, there is a law of diminishing returns BUT a can like the HD800S truly makes use of extra the Lau has to offer.  Having said that, I could easily be EXTREMELY happy and very content "just" having to settle to my Mojo-->LC-->HD800S.  That system "basic" system I list would blow away most audiophiles for a fraction of what others spend. 

 

[swspiers]

How would you compare the Cavalli Liquid Carbon to sennheiser HDVD 800?

I have never listened to the HDVD 800.  I can say, the Liquid Carbon outperformed the Pro iCan, which I think is a fantastic amp.  While the Pro is extremely versatile and has lots of gimmicks to help one reach their audio-nirvana, I found basic settings in Tube+ mode to be best.  The Liquid Carbon is an amazing piece and I would never tell anyone what I spent for the Lau was worth it in comparison to the LC, BUT, as we know, there is a law of diminishing returns BUT a can like the HD800S truly makes use of extra the Lau has to offer.  Having said that, I could easily be EXTREMELY happy and very content "just" having to settle to my Mojo-->LC-->HD800S.  That system "basic" system I list would blow away most audiophiles for a fraction of what others spend. 

I feel the same about my (old) Benchmark--->LC---->800S. If I want a different flavor, I go with the Alpha Primes.

 

[swspiers]

Hey gang, just a quick update. Mostly because nobody else I know would care, and I just have to tell someone

Look, I'm not listening to anything special right now. I'm just watching "Luke Cage" on Netflix, just for fun I figured I would use the 800S's instead of my speakers, which are awesome in near field. Literally, it was an "Oh My God" moment. The resolution of these headphones, the detail, the soundstage along with the virtually pinpoint imaging. I guess it might get better than this with some incredibly more expensive headphones. But right now, I just don't care.

Okay, I got to let someone know how I feel. Now back to the show…

 

[Rob80b]

Hey gang, just a quick update. Mostly because nobody else I know would care, ....................................................The resolution of these headphones, the detail, the soundstage along with the virtually pinpoint imaging. I guess it might get better than this with some incredibly more expensive headphones. But right now, I just don't care.
…

Yep that's the 800Ss for you...I'm feeling the same way right now but I'm listening to John Surman's "Stranger than Fiction", excellent portrayal of delicate interplay of the cymbals, sax, piano and drums....I'll get to my last episode Luke Cage tomorrow night.

 

[Randy Myers]

Well I have a new Benchmark DAC2 HGC....  the HD800S sound amazing.... thought I would be disappointed without a balanced connector, but I guess not.  Benchmark states it is not needed and then will never do balanced headphone amplifier.  

 

[beowulf]

Hey gang, just a quick update. Mostly because nobody else I know would care, and I just have to tell someone

Look, I'm not listening to anything special right now. I'm just watching "Luke Cage" on Netflix, just for fun I figured I would use the 800S's instead of my speakers, which are awesome in near field. Literally, it was an "Oh My God" moment. The resolution of these headphones, the detail, the soundstage along with the virtually pinpoint imaging. I guess it might get better than this with some incredibly more expensive headphones. But right now, I just don't care.

Okay, I got to let someone know how I feel. Now back to the show…

 
This reminds me that I never used them for movies/TV. In fact, I never use headphones for that and am probably missing a lot. Gonna check it out!
 
Something else to mention is games. I do use the HD 800 S in gaming (in fact kept them mostly because of that) and many people don't take that seriously but they can excel with well engineered games. One exame is The Witcher 3, which has lots of cities/nature environments and the 800S give a sense of detail / space / positoning that makes the whole thing feel as if youre outside in the woods in a rainy day, hearing animals all around you. They're that good. Only weakness that it has in this use case is that you better have a fairly silent computer case, since fans down the low detail on these headphones. They're way too open.

 

[mcemce13]

   
This reminds me that I never used them for movies/TV. In fact, I never use headphones for that and am probably missing a lot. Gonna check it out!
 
Something else to mention is games. I do use the HD 800 S in gaming (in fact kept them mostly because of that) and many people don't take that seriously but they can excel with well engineered games. One exame is The Witcher 3, which has lots of cities/nature environments and the 800S give a sense of detail / space / positoning that makes the whole thing feel as if youre outside in the woods in a rainy day, hearing animals all around you. They're that good. Only weakness that it has in this use case is that you better have a fairly silent computer case, since fans down the low detail on these headphones. They're way too open.

​+1 I think is overkill to use them for gaming, but I enjoy them so much in good games )  Simply get a water cooled system for complete silence, and a good sound card

 

[reddog]

Your impressions temp me to get the hd 800s. I tried the original HD800 and really liked how it sounded.

 

[FLTWS]

I enjoy my 800 with stock SE cable out of my Oppo 105D for video viewing. One of the difficult parts of balancing out a surround system in any room I've had one in, is keeping the dialogue from getting buried in the films ambient sounds, special effects and soundtracks. And I find this can vary greatly from one film to the next. The 800 is so clean and detailed it increases the intelligibility of dialogue tremendously. Especially on the first or second viewings of a film, after which I find it not necessary to use them for some reason, on repeated viewings some sort of  memory of dialogue kicks in not requiring the phones. And of course, it's a natural for late nite viewing as well.

 

[wldcohso]

I purchased the HD 800 used like new and 800s (haven't open 800s yet) and the HD 800 sounds so amazing to me. I read about how there's not enough bass but it feels like there's plenty of bass (for me) using them balanced on HDVD800. Maybe it's the amp/balanced cable? Makes it hard to open my HD800s which I may resell since I got a great price for them.

 

[beowulf]

 
​+1 I think is overkill to use them for gaming, but I enjoy them so much in good games )  Simply get a water cooled system for complete silence, and a good sound card

 
People think it is silly to use 1500 EUR headphones to play games and I have to admit I agreed, but after a few sessions with the 800S, if you pick the right game (Witcher 3 was indeed an example) the extra sound quality/positioning/soundstage and the overall holographic sense are worth it. And if you play for hours (I don't, sadly, as annoying things like work get in the way) when it's not a bad use... you're enjoying the sound and having more fun for it, same as when you're listening to music.
 
I might be getting the Utopia soon, which means I'll have more headphones than my perfect target (one closed, one open) so the 800S might end up being sold. But they sure are great gaming cans... the thing that ruins it isn't just the price (since you can use them for music) but the need to spend in amplification. That's at least +20-30% of the price of the headphones.