[Xerosnake90]

The soundstage of HD 800 S is big, yeah, but the images are not so; actually they quite small compared to the whole sound space. I suppose Arya (v2) wins here in the department of stage/images size (as well as HE1000se).

I like that comparison. With the Arya v2 all sounds were large and powerful with space between them giving it that large soundstage.

However, the 800s has a certain dynamic to its stage that the Arya doesn't. Sounds close to you are louder and larger, while background noises can be smaller and farther away. It creates that sense of depth that even the Arya v2 doesn't have.

I also find the 800s to be more detailed and having better instrument seperation. Even the V2 can feel a bit congested at times in comparison

 

[chargedcapacitor]

I like that comparison. With the Arya v2 all sounds were large and powerful with space between them giving it that large soundstage.

However, the 800s has a certain dynamic to its stage that the Arya doesn't. Sounds close to you are louder and larger, while background noises can be smaller and farther away. It creates that sense of depth that even the Arya v2 doesn't have.

I also find the 800s to be more detailed and having better instrument seperation. Even the V2 can feel a bit congested at times in comparison

I agree.

 

[Xerosnake90]

So I've got two sets of tubes I'm playing with. The stock 6n1p of the fa echo and a pair of Amperex 7308 usn-cep. Some quick impressions

6n1p: Stock tubes and seem to be popular as such. I find them nice and warm, they have a full feeling with punchy and textured bass but aren't muddy. They feel musical, mids are detailed and the upper end is still great without ever feeling fatiguing. Has a large stage, even the closest of details are far away.

7308: Highly sought after and quite expensive. Has a more intimate feeling than the 6n1p and is dry/neutral sounding. Bass is a bit flatter. Closest sounds are nice, up in your face which works well but never gets as deep. I'm honestly surprised because I find these so boring and they cost 2-3x more per tube

Not bad for my first dip into tubes. I've ordered the JJ 6922 which are said to be similar to the stock 6n1p but better. They're also quite inexpensive

 

[Roybenz]

Anyone using auralic Vega g1? What does it sound like?

 

[Xerosnake90]

I've written a bit more in depth review and comparison the Arya v2 that some of you may find interesting

I received my HD 800s with the Feliks Audio Echo recently and have had some time to form some impressions. I paired it with my Bifrost 2 and can directly compare it to the Hifiman Arya v2 which I ran through the Jotunheim 2 SS amp. IMO it's not a fair comparison, the HD 800s is so versatile with a tube amp. I'm currently using a new set of JJ E88CC driver tubes but have also heard the stock 6n1p and Amperex 7308 drivers. Both were EQd using Oratory settings in Peace. Let's jump into some impressions and comparisons

Comfort and build: Hifiman tends to have quite the reputation when it comes to their build quality. While they make superb sounding headphones the quality behind their assembly is not up to par for the costs. Having taken the headphones apart and finding squished wires and parts that don't fit together properly is concerning as most of you already know. I found the Arya v2 to be highly uncomfortable. The clamp force is absolutely insane and secures the headphones to your head like a vice grip. Being sensitive to clamp force I found the Arya to cause immediate pain. I can handle some discomfort but not aching that lasted for a while after removing the headphone. I even stretched them out to the point that the cups barely fit on my head and was still unable to deal with how they sat on my face. The 800s is lighter being made primarily of a plastic as opposed to metal. The center is made of a metal headband that is easily manipulated and can be loosened up to change the clamp force. Out of the box the clamp force for me personally was too much. It wasn't anywhere as bad as the Arya but I needed to seat them on a box for a few days to get to the point where they don't actively irritate me. They're now to the point that I can wear them with a tiny bit of discomfort but not pain, and I'm sure it'll loosen up more over time. I find the headband uncomfortable and bought a headband cover to fix that issue. My biggest complaint of the 800s build is that the earcups adjust too easily, and will frequently change adjustment on their own just when lifting them. This was also fixed by using a headband cover since it held everything in place.

Staging and Imaging: The Arya v2 and HD 800s are quite often praised for their party trick which is their large soundstage. The Arya has what I perceive as a wide oval shape. You get great width, decent depth and decent height. The image is placed more close to you before it starts pushing out into open space, so plenty of music can have an intimate sound while other recordings fill the space in several areas. The arya sounds really tall which is something I enjoy, sounds are large and that's something you can only understand if you've experienced it. Imaging is solid and if used for gaming you'll do a decent job at locating objects just off of their sound. The HD 800s is commonly referred to as the king of staging and that shows. Many will say the stage is too unnatural or far away sounding, however IMO it allows for deeper more entrancing music. The 800s places its closest sounds a tad farther than the Arya while having more of a circular stage. Width, height and depth is all even. This creates a more natural experience for me personally as I feel like I'm in the center of several instruments and in front of a vocalist and everything is placed at different spots. The 800s has a big up on the Arya in that it makes badly recorded/staged music sound fantastic regardless. where the Arya turns from a 3D headphone into a flat, intimate sounding headphone with such music the 800s is able to diffuse everything and make it sound large and open. Because the stage is circular and not oval the imaging is able to track more accurately. The 800s also has one other up on the Arya that makes it the soundstage king

Dynamics: The 800s uses a great range of dynamics which I've never encountered in any of my Planar Magnetics. It tends to make people believe sounds are too far away. Simply, the 800s is able to make sounds larger or smaller giving them distance in the stage. While the Arya v2 has everything sounding large, rarely are sounds at different volume levels from each other. This creates a stage that while open, can sound cluttered in comparison to the 800s. What this creates in combination with that circular stage of the 800s is a grand mix that creates an experience of really being in a room with music played around you.
Timbre/Detail: Common complaint of the Arya timbre is that it sounds plasticky. The 800s in comparison to me is much more accurate and sounds lovely with all sorts of instruments, while the Arya tends to sound soft and hollow with some instruments. Vocals on the Arya can be a bit too unnatural sounding with certain types of vocalists. Combined with the large but cluttered stage of the Arya you're left with a headphone that isn't able to accurately reproduce sounds and then smashing them all together. In comparison the 800s combines its Dynamics, Staging, and Timbre to produce clear resolving sounds that you can actively choose to listen to or just experience it all together for a beautifully blended mix.

Bass: If you're still reading you might think at this point that I'm very biased towards the 800s. I won't say that as I loved everything about the Arya sound but had to get rid of it due to comfort. I'll give it props where due and that is in the Bass. While the 800s is able to produce a full amount of bass, it lacks in punch. While the Arya is no punch master itself it is able to rumble and tumble quite adequately with a bit of slam. Without EQ I'd likely say the bass on the 800s is simply not enough, while EQd it hits the perfect mark of just enough. The Arya is good out of the box and can turn into a fun experience when EQd properly.

Tubes and the 800s: Being my first tube amp I figured I'd give some impressions here. I've read that the 800s with tubes is godly and I was very quick to sell my Jotunheim 2 as I ordered the FA Echo mk1 right along with my 800s. I have 3 driver tubes that I have heard and will seperate impressions with all of them.

Stock 6n1p: These are the tubes that come with the unit and several other tube amps in the price range. They are the warmest out of the bunch and kind of coat the music in some thick tube warmth. Bass and treble are still adequate but you're not looking at the most instrument seperation here or detail. It's all a bit smoother but beautiful, and really makes the biggest difference in how I'm used to listening to music. The warmth from a tube amp is unlike a warm headphone or SS amp. It just feels and sounds right coming from tubes, where warmth from other means just sounds like a loss to me elsewhere. The tubes retain bass texture and detail to a much higher degree.

Amperex 7308: These are highly praised tubes and cost a decent chunk more than the stock tubes or replacement E88CC I bought. Quite honestly I'd expect to be blown away by these but I don't enjoy them at all. They have a very neutral and dry sound which to me is a slightly better sounding version of a neutral SS amp. They drain warmth from the entire set up and just don't feel musical. They're more detailed and analytical than stock for sure but take the fun out of music for me.

JJ E88CC: These are the first pair I bought new having heard they're a bit cleaner version of the stock tubes. IMO they are amazing. They're not as warm as the stock tubes but have this beautiful fill to the sound that brings out that musical feeling behind it all. It's also very spacious and insanely detailed. When I heard the instrument seperation and clarity on these I knew I'd taken my music listening to a new level.

As said earlier it's really not a fair comparison. The Arya v2 are absolutely phenomenal and a great headphone for just about everyone out there. The term laid back is usually used and that's a great thing because it makes it easier for most people to hear.
However, the 800s is perfect for what I want out of music and it cannot be beat. Staging, Dynamics, ability to conform to its source gear. So versatile

 

[Peti]

Great write-up, thanks. Make sure to give the original HD800 a fair chance if you own a nice tube rig. In that scenario they will outshine the S model, in my experience, big time.

 

[trigeger]

Thanks for the extensive comparison of these two headphones that are known for their large soundstage!

The arya sounds really tall which is something I enjoy, sounds are large and that's something you can only understand if you've experienced it.

I completely agree, having in mind the HE1000se, however (I don't have the Arya and have listened to it only once) and suppose that the Arya is quite similar in that regard. On the other hand, sound images on the HD 800 S are comparatively smaller, located inside an always large soundstage.

The 800s has a big up on the Arya in that it makes badly recorded/staged music sound fantastic regardless. where the Arya turns from a 3D headphone into a flat, intimate sounding headphone with such music the 800s is able to diffuse everything and make it sound large and open.

The HD 800 S has like a permanent 3D staging effect (wide angle camera), with some unnaturalness, almost on every music, whether it fits the recording or not; it can become tiresome after some days/weeks of listening... depends on the listener sound preference of course.

Without EQ I'd likely say the bass on the 800s is simply not enough, while EQd it hits the perfect mark of just enough.

The bass is still not enough for me even after EQ, and the HD 800 S lacking the overall body to the sound, especially compared to the HE1000se (and probably planar magnetics with big membranes in general, including the Arya).

Anyway, the HD 800 S are still impressive dynamic driver headphones (especially given that their first version appeared in 2009...).

 

[Xerosnake90]

I'd really love to see Sennhieser's next totl offering. Not counting the He1 lol

I'm impressed by the 58x despite the cheap price. 800s is amazing. What's next?

 

[trigeger]

I'd really love to see Sennhieser's next totl offering. Not counting the He1 lol

I'm impressed by the 58x despite the cheap price. 800s is amazing. What's next?

Don't know, considering https://en-us.sennheiser.com/newsroom/sonova-acquires-sennheiser-consumer-business-wpc768

 

[phthora]

I've written a bit more in depth review and comparison the Arya v2 that some of you may find interesting

I received my HD 800s with the Feliks Audio Echo recently and have had some time to form some impressions. I paired it with my Bifrost 2 and can directly compare it to the Hifiman Arya v2 which I ran through the Jotunheim 2 SS amp. IMO it's not a fair comparison, the HD 800s is so versatile with a tube amp. I'm currently using a new set of JJ E88CC driver tubes but have also heard the stock 6n1p and Amperex 7308 drivers. Both were EQd using Oratory settings in Peace. Let's jump into some impressions and comparisons

Comfort and build: Hifiman tends to have quite the reputation when it comes to their build quality. While they make superb sounding headphones the quality behind their assembly is not up to par for the costs. Having taken the headphones apart and finding squished wires and parts that don't fit together properly is concerning as most of you already know. I found the Arya v2 to be highly uncomfortable. The clamp force is absolutely insane and secures the headphones to your head like a vice grip. Being sensitive to clamp force I found the Arya to cause immediate pain. I can handle some discomfort but not aching that lasted for a while after removing the headphone. I even stretched them out to the point that the cups barely fit on my head and was still unable to deal with how they sat on my face. The 800s is lighter being made primarily of a plastic as opposed to metal. The center is made of a metal headband that is easily manipulated and can be loosened up to change the clamp force. Out of the box the clamp force for me personally was too much. It wasn't anywhere as bad as the Arya but I needed to seat them on a box for a few days to get to the point where they don't actively irritate me. They're now to the point that I can wear them with a tiny bit of discomfort but not pain, and I'm sure it'll loosen up more over time. I find the headband uncomfortable and bought a headband cover to fix that issue. My biggest complaint of the 800s build is that the earcups adjust too easily, and will frequently change adjustment on their own just when lifting them. This was also fixed by using a headband cover since it held everything in place.

Staging and Imaging: The Arya v2 and HD 800s are quite often praised for their party trick which is their large soundstage. The Arya has what I perceive as a wide oval shape. You get great width, decent depth and decent height. The image is placed more close to you before it starts pushing out into open space, so plenty of music can have an intimate sound while other recordings fill the space in several areas. The arya sounds really tall which is something I enjoy, sounds are large and that's something you can only understand if you've experienced it. Imaging is solid and if used for gaming you'll do a decent job at locating objects just off of their sound. The HD 800s is commonly referred to as the king of staging and that shows. Many will say the stage is too unnatural or far away sounding, however IMO it allows for deeper more entrancing music. The 800s places its closest sounds a tad farther than the Arya while having more of a circular stage. Width, height and depth is all even. This creates a more natural experience for me personally as I feel like I'm in the center of several instruments and in front of a vocalist and everything is placed at different spots. The 800s has a big up on the Arya in that it makes badly recorded/staged music sound fantastic regardless. where the Arya turns from a 3D headphone into a flat, intimate sounding headphone with such music the 800s is able to diffuse everything and make it sound large and open. Because the stage is circular and not oval the imaging is able to track more accurately. The 800s also has one other up on the Arya that makes it the soundstage king

Dynamics: The 800s uses a great range of dynamics which I've never encountered in any of my Planar Magnetics. It tends to make people believe sounds are too far away. Simply, the 800s is able to make sounds larger or smaller giving them distance in the stage. While the Arya v2 has everything sounding large, rarely are sounds at different volume levels from each other. This creates a stage that while open, can sound cluttered in comparison to the 800s. What this creates in combination with that circular stage of the 800s is a grand mix that creates an experience of really being in a room with music played around you.
Timbre/Detail: Common complaint of the Arya timbre is that it sounds plasticky. The 800s in comparison to me is much more accurate and sounds lovely with all sorts of instruments, while the Arya tends to sound soft and hollow with some instruments. Vocals on the Arya can be a bit too unnatural sounding with certain types of vocalists. Combined with the large but cluttered stage of the Arya you're left with a headphone that isn't able to accurately reproduce sounds and then smashing them all together. In comparison the 800s combines its Dynamics, Staging, and Timbre to produce clear resolving sounds that you can actively choose to listen to or just experience it all together for a beautifully blended mix.

Bass: If you're still reading you might think at this point that I'm very biased towards the 800s. I won't say that as I loved everything about the Arya sound but had to get rid of it due to comfort. I'll give it props where due and that is in the Bass. While the 800s is able to produce a full amount of bass, it lacks in punch. While the Arya is no punch master itself it is able to rumble and tumble quite adequately with a bit of slam. Without EQ I'd likely say the bass on the 800s is simply not enough, while EQd it hits the perfect mark of just enough. The Arya is good out of the box and can turn into a fun experience when EQd properly.

Tubes and the 800s: Being my first tube amp I figured I'd give some impressions here. I've read that the 800s with tubes is godly and I was very quick to sell my Jotunheim 2 as I ordered the FA Echo mk1 right along with my 800s. I have 3 driver tubes that I have heard and will seperate impressions with all of them.

Stock 6n1p: These are the tubes that come with the unit and several other tube amps in the price range. They are the warmest out of the bunch and kind of coat the music in some thick tube warmth. Bass and treble are still adequate but you're not looking at the most instrument seperation here or detail. It's all a bit smoother but beautiful, and really makes the biggest difference in how I'm used to listening to music. The warmth from a tube amp is unlike a warm headphone or SS amp. It just feels and sounds right coming from tubes, where warmth from other means just sounds like a loss to me elsewhere. The tubes retain bass texture and detail to a much higher degree.

Amperex 7308: These are highly praised tubes and cost a decent chunk more than the stock tubes or replacement E88CC I bought. Quite honestly I'd expect to be blown away by these but I don't enjoy them at all. They have a very neutral and dry sound which to me is a slightly better sounding version of a neutral SS amp. They drain warmth from the entire set up and just don't feel musical. They're more detailed and analytical than stock for sure but take the fun out of music for me.

JJ E88CC: These are the first pair I bought new having heard they're a bit cleaner version of the stock tubes. IMO they are amazing. They're not as warm as the stock tubes but have this beautiful fill to the sound that brings out that musical feeling behind it all. It's also very spacious and insanely detailed. When I heard the instrument seperation and clarity on these I knew I'd taken my music listening to a new level.

As said earlier it's really not a fair comparison. The Arya v2 are absolutely phenomenal and a great headphone for just about everyone out there. The term laid back is usually used and that's a great thing because it makes it easier for most people to hear.
However, the 800s is perfect for what I want out of music and it cannot be beat. Staging, Dynamics, ability to conform to its source gear. So versatile

The Arya and 800S are two headphones that I listen to all the time, and I think this comparisons review is spot on. Nicely done!

Between the two, the headphones I prefer tends to depend upon the music. But, the 800S fairs much better with my DAP and my AiO work rig, in addition to sounding fantastic on my Benchmark stack, so they end up getting more on-ear time overall.

 

[Maxx134]

Here is an update to my HD800 thread.

 

[cactus_farmer]

My HD800s sit on a table about half a metre from where I drum on that table (I'm a drummer and it's a bad habit). I have checked, and some small vibrations from the drumming travel through the table to the spot where the headphones sit. I've been doing this for about a year now.

Would the small vibrations from the drumming over time gradually loosen the driver housing of the HD800s and therefore reduce the soundstage?

However, isn't the very job of a driver, essentially, to vibrate, so shouldn't they be resistant to this sort of damage?

 

[Xerosnake90]

My HD800s sit on a table about half a metre from where I drum on that table (I'm a drummer and it's a bad habit). I have checked, and some small vibrations from the drumming travel through the table to the spot where the headphones sit. I've been doing this for about a year now.

Would the small vibrations from the drumming over time gradually loosen the driver housing of the HD800s and therefore reduce the soundstage?

However, isn't the very job of a driver, essentially, to vibrate, so shouldn't they be resistant to this sort of damage?

It's possible the vibrations loosened some of the screws and such for sure. They torque the screws either until tight or to specification for normal use but vibrating on a drum kit is different. Worst case scenario tighten all screws and you're good to go. I don't see it causing any type of actual damage

 

[Maxx134]

Would the small vibrations from the drumming over time gradually loosen the driver housing of the HD800s and therefore reduce the soundstage?

IMO, Nope. Nothing in the housing can get loose. Even the driver is sitting in a sorbothane like material.
The screws go in a pressured plastic ring on other side, and always stiff to turn even when not all way in.
Only the earpads. They flatten over time and reduce soundstage, and are the main cause of any differences between same model units.

 

[cactus_farmer]

It's possible the vibrations loosened some of the screws and such for sure. They torque the screws either until tight or to specification for normal use but vibrating on a drum kit is different. Worst case scenario tighten all screws and you're good to go. I don't see it causing any type of actual damage

It's not an actual drum kit, just me literally tapping on a desk