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Sennheiser HD820
Aug 6, 2020 at 8:59 PM Post #3,226 of 4,370
ruinedx said:
No way to know w/o trying

I have found very noticable differences in the various solid state amp / dacs i have tried

Going to be near impossible to find someone with both an MX HPA / MX DAC and SMSL stuff. MX HPA / MX DAC is specialty high end and not well known in USA (more Euro brand), while SMSL is commonly known and a step above entry level.
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Interesting, I will see what happens with my current gear soon. It is shipped but delayed due to pandemic, hopefully it gets to me tomorrow!

flailure said:
congrats, and +1 on keeping the stock pads, yes they have leather, but it does not touch your skin, HD820 has a hybrid design, it has a layer of velour like material that actually touches your skin, works pretty well.
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Oh I had no idea, the fact that it is hybrid is nice actually- that was why I was thinking of Hybrid series from Dekoni.

ruinedx said:
https://diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com/headphones/measurements/brands-s-se/hd820/

Wow look at the massive difference this site measured between optimal and non optimal pad seal . It does give credence to the theory that seal might be causing the wide observational discrepancies with this headphone especially with people who wear glasses
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Crap I guess I have to go blind or use the money on my amp/dac or the money I would put towards HD800 for laser eye surgery.
 
Aug 9, 2020 at 6:15 PM Post #3,231 of 4,370
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So I received this on Friday and have been using it over the weekend. Been roughly 12hours in without burn-in.

Initial impressions are that it definitely sounds great.

I am trying to get over the open back vs closed back “feel”, is it the resonance? Sound definitely flows different and I’m not 100% sold on these due to that.

The treble was a bit harsh on my M200/SP200. After some EQ, I got the drum slam and kick the way I like it and the mods for melodies.

I tried these on my M15, totally different story. No EQ needed, sounds stellar out of the gate.

Seal is good, these are MASSIVE though. Slight shift in my head due to pillows or my headrest, alters my seal and therefore sound.

I will have to try a pair of HD800 or 800s to compare what I like, overall these are fantastic and much needed vs my 6xx.

I’m not sure if I’m ever gonna get over the open back feeling but I know the sound is gonna change.

I think I’m gonna use my m15 for my music listening and my spend the money I would use for a dac/amp now for a 800/800s.

I definitely think I want both. Overall very impressed with the headphones.
 
Aug 9, 2020 at 6:41 PM Post #3,232 of 4,370
There are only a few solid state amps I know of that handle the treble ok, such as:
Bryston BHA1
Musical Fidelity MX HPA
Violectric V280/V281

The bryston and MF will give you a pretty neutral presentation, while the violectric is a bit warmer

Btw the hd800s is even a bit brighter than the hd820, and the hd800 way brighter than both

The feel difference is likely that you are now experiencing bass with the hd820 (low freq sound pressure). If you are using an over-warmed amp with the HD820, you might get bloated bass as a result.
 
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Aug 9, 2020 at 10:16 PM Post #3,233 of 4,370
ruinedx said:
There are only a few solid state amps I know of that handle the treble ok, such as:
Bryston BHA1
Musical Fidelity MX HPA
Violectric V281

The bryston and MF will give you a pretty neutral presentation, while the violectric is a bit warmer

Btw the hd800s is even a bit brighter than the hd820, and the hd800 way brighter than both

The feel difference is likely that you are now experiencing bass with the hd820 (low freq sound pressure). If you are using an over-warmed amp with the HD820, you might get bloated bass as a result.
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Yeah the desktop amp/dac causes the harshness. Will eventually replace.

The cord I find extremely long and pretty difficult to use based on my setup.

I got a pure silver 4.4mm for my 6xx and didn’t hear a difference between balanced and SE other than power.

You think I can just grab a copper aftermarket wire or go pure silver? I just need a shorter cable
 
Aug 9, 2020 at 10:17 PM Post #3,234 of 4,370
Nooborghini said:
Yeah the desktop amp/dac causes the harshness. Will eventually replace.

The cord I find extremely long and pretty difficult to use based on my setup.

I got a pure silver 4.4mm for my 6xx and didn’t hear a difference between balanced and SE other than power.

You think I can just grab a copper aftermarket wire or go pure silver? I just need a shorter cable
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Same crap IMO get whichever is cheaper
 
Aug 10, 2020 at 10:30 AM Post #3,236 of 4,370
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Aug 10, 2020 at 12:25 PM Post #3,237 of 4,370
PointyFox said:
I got a custom made cable off ebay to have a shorter cable.
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Did you have a link? I was gonna ask Lunashops via AliExpress

ruinedx said:
Violectric v280 just arrived on drop.com you may want to snag while still available. It is notably better than MX HPA (though also double the price): https://drop.com/buy/violectric-v280-headphone-amp

I would take the MX DAC over the v850 DAC tho
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Yeah I was going to go for your original recommendation, just need to see if I can get a decent deal on it before going head first into it.
 
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Aug 10, 2020 at 12:32 PM Post #3,238 of 4,370
Nooborghini said:
Yeah I was going to go for your original recommendation, just need to see if I can get a decent deal on it before going head first into it.
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If you got the cash do MF MX DAC ($749-$829) + V280 ($1199). The V280 has more power to drive the hd820 and take full advantage of LF response.
 
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Aug 10, 2020 at 12:45 PM Post #3,239 of 4,370
Nooborghini said:
Did you have a link? I was gonna ask Lunashops via AliExpress
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Hold up when I said go for whatever is cheaper I meant copper vs silver. Some of the AliExpress vendors use crap shielding and assembly

Corpsecable.com has decent prices on custom cables
 
Aug 10, 2020 at 1:27 PM Post #3,240 of 4,370
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