[Whazzzup]

Rock is classic busy mids. same with speed metal etc.. Now more current rock is more into loudness pop sound so this fits well with hd800s say "little dragons" but yes its not a warm can like susvara, or a recessed mid can like th900 that may help with rock. I dunno cause its not my genre.

 

[csglinux]

The Focal Clear are supposed to be neutral and their bass is fine. Think the same applies to the LCD-X. Is there any other drawback besides bass for certain genres? I've read this headphone sucks for rock. That true?

I'm not sure there's any definitive answer to this. It depends on your genre, preference, how loud you're listening, etc. For example:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal-loudness_contour

If you're going to take short-cuts to performing your own listening tests and instead ask others, then don't be surprised if you get opinions that might differ from your own. I've heard most high-end cans and plenty of them have more bass than the HD800S. I wouldn't swap any of them for my HD800S, but that's just me.

 

[Rob80b]

The Focal Clear are supposed to be neutral and their bass is fine. Think the same applies to the LCD-X. Is there any other drawback besides bass for certain genres? I've read this headphone sucks for rock. That true?

Rock I feel works best with a wall of sound...not really the 800s forte...IMHO Audeze does a better job in that department but then one almost loses the top octave.... : ( which might not be a bad thing. : )

 

[ZappaMan]

I’m listening to the most amazing subtle but hypnotic bass playing - king of limbs - I’ve never heard bass like this before - granted I’ve limited experience - but this is something really special. Then there is the drum kits, I can’t tell you how good they sounds, snares, kicks, it’s really special.
Then there’s Thom Yorkes high pitched singing, it’s all there, a nice balance.
The bass experience, the all round experience, is so much better with move from mojo to Hugo 2, so much more immersive.

 

[vlach]

I considered buying it at a Sennheiser pop up store in San Francisco which is where I originally heard it. But they sell everything at full retail. (They're still selling the HD650 for $499.95.) Amazon had the HD 800s for $125 less than retail which is the only reason I bought it from them. Anyway, all's well that ends well. And you're right! It's a sweet, sweet sounding HP! I listened to it last night plugged into a Woo WA2. I also have a WA7 to use with it. Life's good!

I've always been interested in the WA2 to drive my HD800. Would you say the difference between the WA2 and WA7 is significant?

 

[111MilesToGo]

While you can certainly enjoy HD800S with a SS amp they scale better with tubes and you are rewarded with a better soundstage. The only SS amp I have heard I could use long term with the HD800S is the Eddie Current Black Widow (discontinued now.) The usual recommendation for a budget amp for HD800S is Vali 2 and save your money for a great tube amp. Have not heard Lyr 3 yet though. Vali 2 with an Amperex 6DJ8 is great value for under $300 but you have to replace that stock tube.

Not to argue but why would that be...nothing against tubed based amps but they give that "perception" as a result of a lot more harmonic distortion...thank god it's second order, which is musical sounding creating a possible and usually a richer tone (warmth).... and maybe more "perceived" but false detail.....but a sound-stage is not made up with more musically sounding harmonics but actual reproduced audio cues and fine detail that define the perimeters of the recording space be it depth, layering and width. This IMHO experience is better served by a properly designed solid state amp with extremely low distortion numbers so that it has an impartial finger print on the overall reproduced sound waves.

Talking SS amps, any experience out there when driving the HD 800S from a Violectric HPA V281? I haven‘t auditioned any serious headphone amp yet. The Black Widow is discontinued; both the BW and the V281 are described as having just a touch of warmth, and having ultra-low distortion (whatever that means). The V281 is more easily obtainable here in Germany.

I have the Hugo 2, and I reckon the HD 800S - ever so lovely by itself in this combo - might benefit from being driven in balanced mode from a headphone amp, plus I hope for a tiny bit of more bass extension and energy. I mostly listen to classical (orchestra, piano, solo strings), jazz (acoustic, electric, small and large bands, vocal), rock (classic and onwards), pop, but no heavy metal or EDM.

 

[FaezFarhan]

I definitely need a bit more bass impact for the genre I listen to. So getting the Loki asap!

 

[Thenewguy007]

The Focal Clear are supposed to be neutral and their bass is fine. Think the same applies to the LCD-X. Is there any other drawback besides bass for certain genres? I've read this headphone sucks for rock. That true?

It is all dependent on the amp & DAC you pair it with, but for me, I haven't heard a better headphone for rock or rap. Way better than the LCD-2, TH900, HE1000, HE-6.

 

[Dukebb13]

Talking SS amps, any experience out there when driving the HD 800S from a Violectric HPA V281? I haven‘t auditioned any serious headphone amp yet. The Black Widow is discontinued; both the BW and the V281 are described as having just a touch of warmth, and having ultra-low distortion (whatever that means). The V281 is more easily obtainable here in Germany.

I have the Hugo 2, and I reckon the HD 800S - ever so lovely by itself in this combo - might benefit from being driven in balanced mode from a headphone amp, plus I hope for a tiny bit of more bass extension and energy. I mostly listen to classical (orchestra, piano, solo strings), jazz (acoustic, electric, small and large bands, vocal), rock (classic and onwards), pop, but no heavy metal or EDM.

I have the V280 which is said to sound just like the V281. The sound with the HD800S is awesome. I can’t ask for more from an amp. It drives those phones effortlessly. It does have just a touch of warmth to me which is preferred. Listen if you can. A new amp is coming out soon from lake people, it is called niimbus. It is above the V281. The best part is you can still use your H2. Good luck!

 

[S Crowther]

I have the V280 which is said to sound just like the V281. The sound with the HD800S is awesome. I can’t ask for more from an amp. It drives those phones effortlessly. It does have just a touch of warmth to me which is preferred. Listen if you can. A new amp is coming out soon from lake people, it is called niimbus. It is above the V281. The best part is you can still use your H2. Good luck!

I have the V281 fed from a TT and yes the HD800s balanced sound great in that combo, much better for me than when connected directly to the TT.
However even better to my ears is using Pro-Ject Head Box RS instead of the Violectric. The sound is cleaner, purer, more focussed whereas the Violectric is bigger, darker, bolder but not as natural to me ears. The Pro-Ject is a hybrid design and also has 3 way user switchable impedance and the HD800 is a relatively high impedance phone. I guess the combination of better impedance matching and the tube input stage makes the difference.

 

[111MilesToGo]

I have the V280 which is said to sound just like the V281. The sound with the HD800S is awesome. I can’t ask for more from an amp. It drives those phones effortlessly. It does have just a touch of warmth to me which is preferred. Listen if you can. A new amp is coming out soon from lake people, it is called niimbus. It is above the V281. The best part is you can still use your H2. Good luck!

I have the V281 fed from a TT and yes the HD800s balanced sound great in that combo, much better for me than when connected directly to the TT.
However even better to my ears is using Pro-Ject Head Box RS instead of the Violectric. The sound is cleaner, purer, more focussed whereas the Violectric is bigger, darker, bolder but not as natural to me ears. The Pro-Ject is a hybrid design and also has 3 way user switchable impedance and the HD800 is a relatively high impedance phone. I guess the combination of better impedance matching and the tube input stage makes the difference.

Thanks for these feedbacks! Happy to receive more from the community.

I am even more assured that it is worthwhile to talk my dealer into getting a V281 and other headphone amps like the a.m. Pro-Ject for an audition. Thanks for pointing that one out, only that it lacks a balanced HP out. What others to do the Hugo 2 and HD 800S justice? Nice project for me, worth pursuing.

Thanks also for pointing out the Lake People nimbus, it‘s here https://www.head-fi.org/threads/nii...us4-us4-headphone-amps-by-lake-people.876018/, although the price tag suggests it might be in a class above the Hugo 2.

As I said, happy to see more recommendations. For the time being, I prefer to look for TOTL solid-sate amps matching H2 and HD 800S. That is since I feel tube amps to be too wide a field, although they will offer more synergy with the 800S.

 

[Swiftfalcon]

Thanks for these feedbacks! Happy to receive more from the community.

I am even more assured that it is worthwhile to talk my dealer into getting a V281 and other headphone amps like the a.m. Pro-Ject for an audition. Thanks for pointing that one out, only that it lacks a balanced HP out. What others to do the Hugo 2 and HD 800S justice? Nice project for me, worth pursuing.

Thanks also for pointing out the Lake People nimbus, it‘s here https://www.head-fi.org/threads/nii...us4-us4-headphone-amps-by-lake-people.876018/, although the price tag suggests it might be in a class above the Hugo 2.

As I said, happy to see more recommendations. For the time being, I prefer to look for TOTL solid-sate amps matching H2 and HD 800S. That is since I feel tube amps to be too wide a field, although they will offer more synergy with the 800S.

Hugo 2 is stellar at driving 800S. My experience is you lose a tiny bit microdetail when you interpose an amp. Of course you gain additional qualities with an amp. I use Bryston BHA 1, it is a touch cool but gives nice slam to the bass and the treble while extended is tightly controlled!

 

[Contrails]

Just got the Hd800S. These sound bright out of the box. Had to use the equalizer to bring the low end up by 3db. Sounds more balanced now. Amp is a Wa22 with Holo Spring DAC LvL3. Guitars sound sublime though.

Edit: without the Eq, the bass is more tight. Maybe, I am after more slam. These might not be for me then.

 

[Slim1970]

Just got the Hd800S. These sound bright out of the box. Had to use the equalizer to bring the low end up by 3db. Sounds more balanced now. Amp is a Wa22 with Holo Spring DAC LvL3. Guitars sound sublime though.

Edit: without the Eq, the bass is more tight. Maybe, I am after more slam. These might not be for me then.

If you're looking for slam then the HD800S's may not be for you. The bass does go deeper with EQ giving the HD800S's more body and sub bass but they still don't slam like most planars do. You might want to check out the ZMF or Audeze line of headphones if you want bass that hits hard.

 

[Swiftfalcon]

Just got the Hd800S. These sound bright out of the box. Had to use the equalizer to bring the low end up by 3db. Sounds more balanced now. Amp is a Wa22 with Holo Spring DAC LvL3. Guitars sound sublime though.

Edit: without the Eq, the bass is more tight. Maybe, I am after more slam. These might not be for me then.

800S is a slight bit on the brightish side of neutral. That is its signature. With your dac and amp, 800S must be a real treat esp for their forte genres - classical, orchestra, moviescores.
My favorite instruments on 800S are brass instruments like tuba etc, and bowed strings like violin, cello etc.