[dharma]

  Well, looks like it's time to sell some stuff. Once these launch I'll have a good excuse to jump on board the HiFi train.

Hello, welcome...
start to sell ;--)), 'these' are already 'coming out'

 

[fpsoft1]

 
Wow, I think that's the closest I've ever seen to mine.
 
According to some, the 6kHz spike is still there as it's an inbuilt flaw in the HD800, all HD800's sound the same and these graphs are good for nothing......? Hmmm.......
 
Are you aware of any problems in the treble in yours? (I mean does it actually sound OK?!!)

I use HD800 (classic) with the HDVA600 amplifier (which tames highs), with Sennheiser balanced cable, I like headphones with many high frequencies. That said, the HD800 sounds really (very really) good to me, anyway i believe the 6k spike is there, though the graph doesn't show it. Only on some recordings i find the highs too disturbing. Anyway, i do not like much the singer voices in the HD800, i find them too cold and recessed, maybe it's an amplifier problem (I'm having some problem at high volume with the voice of the singer of the "Empire of the Sun", too sharp in some passages). I've managed to add some body to the bass and an hotter punch (i listen pop, discomusic, electronic) with a simple modification, involving two paper towels (scottex, kleenex, actually i used the "Tempo" paper towels) gummed with plastic tape on the external lower side of the headhpone:
 

 
Maybe in the next days I'll post some better photos.

 

[DukeOfYork]

  Maybe you guys already know but I just heard today that the upcoming upgraded HDVD800 will be called HDVD820 and it will have DSD, I honestly have no idea what that means but I'm sure some of you know. It will be priced at 2199 Euros and will be available in May-June 2016.

 
For a flagship DAC/AMP product nowadays DSD support is a must have. Good to know that Senn finally added it on. Don't know what else 820 brings?
 
The 2199 Euro seems to be some price lift. In comparison the MSRP for the current HDVD800 is around 2199 USD, I think.

 

[up late]

@zolkis - i was referring to an old rule of thumb that audiophiles and hi fi retailers have recommended to me. it seemed like sensible advice at the time and based on my experience with hi fi gear including headphones, it still does.

I'm actually one of those people who play files straight out of my laptop to DAC and you're right; many people do these days. The effect of jitter though, and other digital domain gremlins is (and has been, many times before) the subject for another discussion, elsewhere, I think. :wink_face:  Not to say jitter doesn't exist, just that I don't believe it to be an issue in terms of audible signal degradation, for a number of reasons. No doubt you take the opposite view!

x2

 

[DukeOfYork]

Not sure if Senn has improved the DAC part inside HDVD820 over HDVD800?
 
It is commonly known that the DAC inside HDVD800 is not very good.

 

[dharma]

  Not sure if Senn has improved the DAC part inside HDVD820 over HDVD800?
 
It is commonly known that the DAC inside HDVD800 is not very good.

 
not much information out there:
translated from Japanese source
...DSD 5.6MHz audio specifications, achieve DSD native playback file formats. Original expressed particular: the DAC digital to analog converter wafers, respectively, compare ESS and Burr-Brown (TI) two suppliers, the latter produced the final DAC chip, and improve PLL (Phase Loop Lock) locks to the circuit to further improve sound quality...
- -that's all the information yet (no public info from Sennheiser too)

 

[DukeOfYork]

   
not much information out there:
translated from Japanese source
...DSD 5.6MHz audio specifications, achieve DSD native playback file formats. Original expressed particular: the DAC digital to analog converter wafers, respectively, compare ESS and Burr-Brown (TI) two suppliers, the latter produced the final DAC chip, and improve PLL (Phase Loop Lock) locks to the circuit to further improve sound quality...
- -that's all the information yet (no public info from Sennheiser too)

 
Cool, thanks a lot for the update.
 
Hope Senn could also bring some upgrade to the DAC part inside HDVD8xx alongside the DSD add-on.  If not in the 820, then in the models that follow.

 

[up late]

Not sure if Senn has improved the DAC part inside HDVD820 over HDVD800?

It is commonly known that the DAC inside HDVD800 is not very good.

what's wrong with it?

 

[dharma]

  I hate when people rub their fingers against napkins - does that not bother anyone else?
It truly bothers me - like they cannot hear it or something.

off-topic comment: found scientific research about how sharp high-pitch sound connected to low frequencies can be unpleasant for some
Psychoacoustics of a chilling sound
could it be related to 'perceived unpleasant' sound of some hp's ?

 

[DukeOfYork]

what's wrong with it?

 
Nothing wrong, just not so good that some people have to shop for a DAC somewhere else.

 

[DukeOfYork]

Say, if the Amp part inside HDVD800 is up to the 1st class, then the Dac part is 2nd or 3rd class.

 

[up late]

in what way is the dac lacking compared to the competition? i'm genuinely interested as i've not seen any reviews of it andi haven't been following the thread.

 

[dharma]

in what way is the dac lacking compared to the competition? i'm genuinely interested as i've not seen any reviews of it andi haven't been following the thread.

Maybe starting from there? http://www.head-fi.org/t/605444/sennheiser-hdvd800-headphone-amplifier

 

[up late]

like i said, i haven't been following that thread and i don't intend to trawl through it from the beginning now. i'm interested but i'm not that interested. i was hoping for some specific examples of the dac's shortcomings that are supposedly common knowledge.

 

[BLacklWf]

I followed that thread, and I also heard hdvd800. But too tired for the day to give u a specific example, which I think u can search yourself if you put in 15 min or so. Anyway, the dac inside it was just ok. Nothing remarkable. I think it's rather commonly acknowledged within head-fi community that its dac is unremarkable.