Dear fellow head-fiers, during this weekend I had an experience which I thought was quite typical of the (never ending) audiophile journey to our personal sonic nirvana, and I have decided to share it.
This post is going to be
VERY long (I hope I am not breaking any forum rules or etiquette here, otherwise our precious Administrator feel free to move it or delete it) so you need to be patient to go through it all ...
I am posting here as an owner of the HD800S and because I am going to compare it to another headphone.
Premise
I would be in principle a loudspeaker guy, since what I like the most from a hi-fi system, is the magic that sparkles from those moments where you get an illusion to be actually at the venue where the music is being played, and, if you close your eyes, you could swear that there are musicians in your room playing for you, and you can identify them one by one.
This kind of mesmerizing effect is based on spatial cues that, to my knowledge, are impossible to reproduce with a headphone (I am waiting for the Smyth Realizer A16, perhaps that will change my idea).
However, home space and wife / neighbors SPL acceptance constraints don’t allow me to set up and enjoy a high-end 2-channel system properly, so I decided to begin my journey into head-fi.
Being me (hence this premise) I have been looking for characteristics such as instrument separation, soundstage, transparency etc., and, based on many reviews and forum opinions (you guys have been extremely helpful, thanks!) I decided to buy the Sennheiser HD800S.
My Music and My System
I listen to approximately:
- 40% classical (mostly piano, baroque music, violin and cello solos, some concert music)
- 30% modern acoustic music (jazz with vocals, blues, guitar)
- 20% progressive rock (e.g. Pink Floyd, Radiohead)
- 5% pop, hip-hop
- 5% heavy metal
100% of my music is computer audio (mostly CD quality or high res flac, wav, dsf files).
My system is in my signature. What I have learned by setting it up is that, with computer audio, the source and signal path to the DAC (e.g. USB signal conditioning) are by far more important than I thought.
Anybody who is concerned, like I was initially, with the excessive energy in the highs and the less than ideal bass depth the HD800S provides, should seriously consider an upgrade to his upstream chain focusing on the player / streamer, not only getting a warm-ish DAC/Amp (which is the typical approach, and also the one I have adopted initially).
To me, switching from a Windows 10 PC to a Windows 2016 Server in core mode (no desktop, no GUI) with various software for optimization (Audiophile Optimizer, Fidelizer Pro, Process Lasso) and playback (JPLAY / JPLAYStreamer, with Upplay), and cleaning up the USB signal has definitely transformed how my HD800S sound.
I have a much reduced sibilance and glare and a fuller and deeper bass response, with no need for equalization, and with further improvement of its strengths (again, imaging, transparency etc..). By the way I still use HQPlayer with equalization when I want to boost the sub-bass, like for the rare occasions when I play rap or organ.
What I Like on My System
I believe that HD800S are a wonderful piece of engineering, and I am really happy with my decision to get them.
They keep giving me the addictive “I am there” goosebumps I am crazy about, not by recreating the full experience (alas!) but through a number of micro-experiences such as how a singer breaths, the pluck of a guitar or a cello, the general feeling of air between the instruments, a cough from an attendee to a concert in the background etc.
These unexpected, non-musical details, of course added on top of a general very good overall music presentation (timbre, tonal accuracy, dynamics, etc..) are those things that put a smile on my face and make me happy about spending so much money and time on this hobby.
OK, now I want more
A normal person would just stay happy and satisfied with this (we call that Chimera the endgame set up isn’t it?), but many of us, including myself, have an urge, like an irresistible forward momentum coming from deep inside our brains that always pushes to what’s next.
So, to justify this illusory quest for perfection, we need to start from supposedly weak areas of our current setup.
In my case the improvement points were mainly three:
- Lower bass response (say <80Hz). For some music, including symphonies, jazz, blues and of course rock / EDM, the HD800S does not satisfy my need for oomph and warmth (my dear subwoofer, I miss you so much...)
- Treble refinement. As I wrote above, by optimizing my source I have got rid of most of the sibilance and graininess, but still in some cases I feel that the treble of the HD800S is making some instruments and vocals passages sound not very realistic
- Soundstage. Yes, you are reading me right. HD800S are known for top notch soundstage, and I can confirm they produce a huge soundstage with exceptional instrument separation. The problem with me (see my Premise) is that this soundstage in some cases is totally unrelated to the sensorial experience of attending a live performance. This is because of an extreme expansiveness to the sides, like if the drummer had 3 meters long arms, or when you hear the upper register of the piano coming from the left and the lower register coming from the right.
I would say the HD800S produce a very engaging and immersive soundstage, like if you were on stage with the musicians or inside the piano when the pianist plays. What I believe I would like more would be, instead, a scaled down version of the real perception of space from a live performance, where of course there is music around me due to reverberation etc., but it is also clear that all the musicians are placed
in front of me.
Audeze LCD-4 vs Sennheiser HD800S
Based on reviews and forum discussions, the headphones I could try for improving my set-up weaknesses significantly (without changing the amp for now, hence no electrostatic HP) are AFAIK Audeze LCD-4, Abyss AB1266 phi, Focal Utopia and HiFiMan Susvara.
In my area it is extremely difficult to audition TOTL headphones, but a dealer has been kind enough to give me a pair of LCD-4, with their balanced cable, to try at home for a few days.
Based on the reviews, and given the price, my expectations were high.
I spent several hours doing AB comparison with my HD800S with a music selection I have made for this benchmark which covers the entire range of what I listen to. Initially I was taking notes at each comparison, but a trend materialized very soon, so I could keep going with the listening without the need for interruption and excessive rationalization.
LCD-4 and HD800S are VERY different headphones, so different they could almost be considered complementary.
LCD-4 are, to my ears and in my system, the quintessence of smoothness. They have an overall warm, highly seductive, grain free, fatigue free presentation.
To me, it is (sound-wise, not comfort-wise) a great headphone for long listening sessions, where you don’t want to bother too much with technicalities (critical listening) but just enjoy the music, potentially also while doing something else, like light work or internet surfing.
On the other hand, the major complaint I have over them (possibly related to my system, other than my subjective opinion) is about transparency, which is extremely important for me because it affects the overall relationship between me and the music. With LCD-4 I felt like there was a veil (in some cases more like a curtain) and the performance was being done behind it.
This filter made me lose a lot of those magic details I was referring at the beginning of this (outrageously long) post.
The other major (of course, in relative terms) disappointment was about pace and timing, like if the general smoothness carried away some energy and excitement. Tracks that I feel as irresistibly foot tapping with the HD800S, resulted almost boring with LCD-4.
Breaking it down, here is where I liked the LCDs over the HD800S:
- fantastic bass. the extra octave I was looking for in the lower range is there, and it brings an increased sense of fullness and involvement to all music where the deep bass is present.
- completely immune from any glare / sibilance issue in the highs.
- the vocals with the LCD-4 are at the same time sweet and full bodied, warm and realistic.
- Piano music. Among all comparisons, this is where I found LCD-4 significantly superior to HD800S, if that was the major part of my listening it would have been a no brainer to sell the HD800S and get the LCD-4.
- timbre and tonality, which I found more accurate for vocals and most instruments (especially piano and woods), even if still a bit darker than the real thing.
On the other hand, I have been underwhelmed by:
- much less transparency (the term “muffled” kept coming to my mind when listening)
- dynamics and transients (drums solos especially, impulsive piano attacks, bass punch, ..)
- general sense of presence (especially vocals), probably as a result of not ideal transparency
- soundstage and imaging. While providing less artificially expanded and perhaps more three dimensional soundstage, the presentation improvement was not as I was hoping and the imaging was fuzzier than the HD800S. Also, the sonic image was like a ghost floating in vacuum, due to lack of physical ambience air and more defined contours
- low level details were sometimes lost (that cough in the background, that faint squeak of the chair of the cellist...)
As a result of my audition, I decided not to buy the LCD-4.
They are exceptionally good headphones, better than HD800S on several parameters, and I easily realize why people rave about them, but to my taste they would be a (very expensive) side-grade to the HD800S, and for sure not the kind of upgrade I am after both quantitatively speaking and sound-signature speaking.
Perhaps a different amplifier, more neutral and analytical than my NOS 11 (e.g. Simaudio HAD430, Headamp GS-X mk2) would have provided to the LCD-4 a more favorable synergy, who knows?
Takeaway, for now
This experience made even more obvious for me that, when you already own a very good equipment (or at least one you like very much), it is mandatory to make a serious audition before upgrading, and the price tag comparison does not guarantee the improvement.
This holds true even taking the diminishing returns law in consideration. For instance, I am not sure I would consider the LCD-4 as an upgrade to the HD800S in my setup, since the strengths of the HD800S count so much for me.
The other takeaway is that I am not ready to trade smoothness to transparency and punchiness, so my next step will be to try to audition a Focal Utopia, being unable to get my hands on an Abyss.
Being an audiophile geek it’s a hard work, but somebody has to do it
I have to confess ,always thought HD800S doesn't easy drive ,but in my test very easy drive .
