[Luxembourger]

Hey,

I don't know if the topic has already been treated in this thread, so sorry in advance if I oversaw it!

Which position do you turn the volume knob to on your HDVD 800 for a casual listening session? I'm having mine at a +\- 11 o'clock position with the stock unbalanced cable and my wife tends to ask me if I was deaf when she sees me listening

Am I deaf? For my taste it gets mostly too loud when I go past the 12 o'clock position...

 

[James-uk]

I tend to listen at about 10-11 o'clock but 12 is very loud for me. I find volume the biggest factor on listening quality so I tend to leave the amp set to 12 and use dithered volume control in pure music for mac to get a more exact repeatable volume control . This way I don't lose any quality (64bit dithered volume control) but I can see an exact figure on screen of the set volume I'm listening at which is the same on every listen (as long as I don't adjust the amp volume) .

 

[James-uk]

To clarify if I don't use dithered volume control my amp is set to about 10 o'clock for the majority of listening and I find that satisfyingly loud .

 

[TheManko]

Depends entirely on the music. Loudly mixed music is plenty loud at 9, some sounds great at 10, and a few albums and especially movies can  have enough dynamic range that 11-12 might be appropriate. The HD 800 are some of the most open headphones available, so it might appear from the outside that you're playing the headphones really loud compared to what headphones usually sound like to people around you.

 

[lovethatsound]

using the balance cable I'd say anywhere from 8 o'clock till 9 o'clock. using the unbalanced cable I'd say anywhere from 9 o'clock till 10 o'clock.

 

[Mikey99]

I currently have it at 11-12 o'clock.

 

[TheManko]

Without knowing the genre of music the position of the knob is meaningless. There's a huge difference in volume if you're listening to some classical recording from 2L or something by Killswitch Engage for example.

 

[PhilW]

Just FYI anyone with HD650 or HD700 looking for balanced cables....Sennheiser have made these available today!

 

[palmfish]

Without knowing the genre of music the position of the knob is meaningless. There's a huge difference in volume if you're listening to some classical recording from 2L or something by Killswitch Engage for example.

Ive never heard of 2L. What is it?

 

[PhilW]

Ive never heard of 2L. What is it?

 
http://www.2l.no/

 

[wisemanja]

For my T1 headphones, typically 10-11. I am using bitperfect so the digital volume of the recordings are coming through as recorded. Some of my re-mastered Deutsche Grammophon recordings have lower levels so I occasionally go to 12 but don't remember going past it (except once or twice when my digital volume control on my source accidentally got turned on)
 
For one or two albums that I like but have some excessive sibilance, I might run it at 9
 
Using a Radio Shack sound meter on my T1, these levels typically produce outputs SPL around 80-83dB (I plan on being able to enjoy this stuff when I'm 90).

 

[slc01]

Cables:
 
As I posted earlier, I've been listening to an HDVA 600 amp + HD 800 phones for about a week. The phones are connected using a Cardas Clear cable (balanced connection). I've been using that cable exclusively, but the dealer gave me his Sennheiser balanced cable to listen to at the same time as the amp and I decided to give it a try last night.
 
The difference was obvious (I listened to a Boz Scaggs rock track first, and also acoustic jazz). My strongest impression is that the stock cable is brighter and more forward. In the bass the Cardas cable has more 'bloom' - not always a good thing - but over the whole frequency range is more neutral. The brightness of the stock cable tends to accentuate fine detail, but I quickly found it wearing (it seemed coarser) and was glad to go back to the Cardas. I think the Cardas also gave a better sense of space and soundstage. I suppose I should be happy about that, given the cost of the Cardas!
 
It's a bit alarming that an aftermarket cable can make such a difference. I'd be interested to know about other people's experiences.

 

[Currawong]

I've deleted two whole pages of off-topic discussion in this thread. If you wish to discuss cables, please start another thread about it.

 

[James-uk]

So I received the CH 650 S balanced cable from custom cable on Saturday (thanks customer cable great service) I've. It had as much chance to listen as I would like but early impressions suggest that the the HdVD800 sounds better balanced to my ears. My early subjective thoughts are better imaging , soundstage and definition without loosing the impact . Again it's very subjective but I am really enjoying the 650s at the moment they are sounding superb! The objective part of me is trying to tell me it's all in my head but the more I analyse the sound the more I think it's improved over the single ended output. Will eventually do some more objective A/B try's but for now I am a happy man! Can't wait for CH800S now

 

[jaddie]

The objective part of me is trying to tell me it's all in my head but the more I analyse the sound the more I think it's improved over the single ended output. 

Don't listen to the objective part of you, even thought it's probably right.  Enjoy the subjective part of you!

Will eventually do some more objective A/B try's but for now I am a happy man! 

Except you can't do an objective A/B/X test, so don't bother trying.  Just stay a happy man!