[lovethatsound]

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

The same thing will happen when u use the CH800S,just enjoy it,think how lucky u r 2 own such fine equipment.

 

[James-uk]

I've just read my post back. I must stop posting from my Phone! :/

 

[uffeolby]

My story with balanced cable goes like this:

- 7 years ago I purchased my headphones Sennheiser HD650 and a used headphone amp Musical Fidelity
- Life went on and I was happy with my headphone rig
- 6 Months ago I read about and saw some pictures of the Sennheiser HDVD800. Don't know what happened really but it stuck in my head as something I wanted to have
- 4 Months ago I purchased the HDVD800 (I paid 5 times more for it than my headphones )
- I was really happy with my purchase, but I happened to stroll into this forum and started to read about balanced headphone cables - this also got stuck in my head for some reason. I still used my HD650 with the original stock cable.
- 3 Months ago I decided to go "balanced" and in the same time get me a longer cable (6 meters) which I had been wanted for several years. I ordered a Q silk cable (for "only" twice the price of my headphones )) with adaptors to both my HD650 and HD800 (which i figure will be the next step)...
- Holy Moses - was I satisfied and happy with this cable - yes, understatement of the year... So much better than the original cable and I agree with most positive effects that has been listed in this thread. If this is up to the balanced mode, a better cable or both - I don't know, and frankly I don't care
- I am now so happy with my current setup, so I have (temporarily?) forgotten about getting a pair of HD800. I somehow feel that I already have a new pair of headphones with all upgrade around the existing cans.

An expensive but satisfying journey indeed.

 

[elwappo99]

- Holy Moses - was I satisfied and happy with this cable - yes, understatement of the year... So much better than the original cable and I agree with most positive effects that has been listed in this thread. If this is up to the balanced mode, a better cable or both - I don't know, and frankly I don't care
 

 
I think people should really understand the balanced cable doesn't sound better because they are using a higher quality wire, or crafstmanship or anything like that. It's going to sound better because  you are using twice the amplification. If you have the HDVD800 you can change the end of your cable to a 4 pin xlr, and get an identical result and not spend a ton of money on a cable. 

 

[jaddie]

   
I think people should really understand the balanced cable doesn't sound better because they are using a higher quality wire, or crafstmanship or anything like that. It's going to sound better because  you are using twice the amplification. If you have the HDVD800 you can change the end of your cable to a 4 pin xlr, and get an identical result and not spend a ton of money on a cable. 

There's no reason that doubling the number of identical components in an amplifier to do the exact same job would ever improve anything.  You also double the maximum peak voltage available (but you don't use it, so you don't hear that) and double the noise voltage and amplitude of any distortion products. Maximum current capability remains the same.
 
I don't see how that accomplishes anything useful.  
 

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

Balanced (anything) sounds better because the word "Balanced" has a strong positive connotation, vs "Unbalanced" which has a strong negative one.  The only actual positive effect of a balanced interconnect is the receiving devices' ability to reject common-mode noise.  Common mode noise pickup is a problem with longer, low level cables, and very long line-level cables, but never an issue with speakers or headphones.  
 
The negative side of a balanced circuit is it always performs worse than the unbalanced version, in all aspects except maximum voltage available because of it's differential driver.
 
It just feels good to know you are balanced, and much of audio perception is about the feel.

 

[palmfish]

Hey, i thought we arent allowed to talk about cables...

Can we get back to all the positive, flowery prose please? I want to read more about how the HDVD paints a colorful mosaic against the blackest of backgrounds. How airy and musical the presentation is articulated - gentle yet with speed and power. Delightfully euphonic yet dynamically controlled. Toe-tapping PRaT and precise 3D imaging that makes you forget your even wearing headphones and simply get lost in the music.

 

[TheManko]

Hey, i thought we arent allowed to talk about cables...

Can we get back to all the positive, flowery prose please? I want to read more about how the HDVD paints a colorful mosaic against the blackest of backgrounds. How airy and musical the presentation is articulated - gentle yet with speed and power. Delightfully euphonic yet dynamically controlled. Toe-tapping PRaT and precise 3D imaging that makes you forget your even wearing headphones and simply get lost in the music.

 
I don't see how this does anything but create a toxic atmosphere.
 
Anyway, I've had the Xonar Essence One Muses Edition for about a month now and I've done several comparisons with the HDVD 800 dac. The HDVD 800 dac is frankly not good enough as a showcase of what either the HDVD 800 amp or the HD 800 headphones are capable of. I mean the dac is fine, but if this is supposed to be THE way to experience the HD 800 as Sennheiser intended then it doesn't deliver. Like everything I guess the HDVD 800 was built to hit a certain price point with a certain margin and they couldn't do better than what we got.
 
The difference between the HDVD 800 dac and Essence One Muses Edition is that the HDVD 800 is more congested, and has a tone that seems a bit "digital" if you will. The more I listen to the HDVD 800 dac the more limited it seems in the range of sounds it's able to produce. The soundstage always seems to be about the same size, regardless of the recording, and the bass is a bit one-note. When I switch to the Muses Edition the soundstage immediately becomes wider, and recordings with vibrating bass strings have a more defined sound where it actually sounds like a vibrating string producing the noise, instead of the slightly boomy one-note style of the HDVD 800 dac. I recently upgraded the Muses Edition dac further by switching out the op-amps and the difference was immediately clear through the HDVD 800 amp + HD 800. So not only is the HDVD 800 dac not good enough for the HD 800, but even the Essence One Muses Edition was holding back the potential of the combo. 
 
As an all in one combo the HDVD 800 is pretty good, but those seeking true high end sound will be disappointed. For those who don't need to save space and can afford a separate dac of good quality then the HDVA 600 makes more sense. I'm very happy with how the amp sounds, even with the LCD-2. The amp walks all over the Violectric V200 and SPL Auditor I used to have. But the dac just isn't good enough.

 

[kazsud]

That's why I'll be keeping my Dac-100 or getting a Dac-80 for the HDVA600.

 

[palmfish]

I don't see how this does anything but create a toxic atmosphere.

Anyway, I've had the Xonar Essence One Muses Edition for about a month now and I've done several comparisons with the HDVD 800 dac. The HDVD 800 dac is frankly not good enough as a showcase of what either the HDVD 800 amp or the HD 800 headphones are capable of. I mean the dac is fine, but if this is supposed to be THE way to experience the HD 800 as Sennheiser intended then it doesn't deliver. Like everything I guess the HDVD 800 was built to hit a certain price point with a certain margin and they couldn't do better than what we got.

The difference between the HDVD 800 dac and Essence One Muses Edition is that the HDVD 800 is more congested, and has a tone that seems a bit "digital" if you will. The more I listen to the HDVD 800 dac the more limited it seems in the range of sounds it's able to produce. The soundstage always seems to be about the same size, regardless of the recording, and the bass is a bit one-note. When I switch to the Muses Edition the soundstage immediately becomes wider, and recordings with vibrating bass strings have a more defined sound where it actually sounds like a vibrating string producing the noise, instead of the slightly boomy one-note style of the HDVD 800 dac. I recently upgraded the Muses Edition dac further by switching out the op-amps and the difference was immediately clear through the HDVD 800 amp + HD 800. So not only is the HDVD 800 dac not good enough for the HD 800, but even the Essence One Muses Edition was holding back the potential of the combo.

Yes, you're right. My apologies.

Have you spend much time comparing the headphone outputs of the Asus vs. the HDVD? I would be interested in hearing your opinions.

 

[elwappo99]

Hey, i thought we arent allowed to talk about cables...

Can we get back to all the positive, flowery prose please? I want to read more about how the HDVD paints a colorful mosaic against the blackest of backgrounds. How airy and musical the presentation is articulated - gentle yet with speed and power. Delightfully euphonic yet dynamically controlled. Toe-tapping PRaT and precise 3D imaging that makes you forget your even wearing headphones and simply get lost in the music.

 
Wasn't trying to start a cable war 

 
Just hoping people understand if they own this unit and are only using the 1/4" TRS in front, they don't need to spend $300 to get a super special cable from Sennheiser to use the 4pin XLR.

 

[TheManko]

Have you spend much time comparing the headphone outputs of the Asus vs. the HDVD? I would be interested in hearing your opinions.

I haven't listened to the headphone out on the Asus even once, so I have no idea how it sounds. I only got it to use as a dac, so that's what I've been doing so far. Might as well do some comparisons at some point since I'm a bit curious as well about how it sounds.

 

[wisemanja]

If anyone is interested, the firmware fix for the ultrasonic noise problem (released 9/9/2013) has now been posted on Sennheiser's website. Unfortunately it is only the MacOS version of the application. The sight says that the PC version is coming. Go to:
 
http://en-us.sennheiser.com/service-support/services/software-downloads
 
You don't have to login to get it. Just select "To the software downloads (without login) >>>" button
the select the "HDVD800" radio button followed by the "Firmware-Updates" radio button.
 
This will expose the system type checkbox (right now there is only one -- Mac OS X). Check the system checkbox and then click on the search button. This should produce a window with various information on the firmware with instructions on how to use it.
 
I have not seen any announcements anywhere that this has been made available (including our sponsor area). Hopefully they are just waiting until all the different PC OS versions are available.
 
Hopefully.

 

[Luxembourger]

Hi,

I saw my HiFi-dealer of choice today to ask about the availability of the balanced cable, and he told me that the Sennheiser representative said that the CH800S would be discontinued and that 2 different models of cables would come out in october...which are or were presented at the IFA. This sounds a bit strange to me...has anyone heard a similar rumour?

 

[cszdcr]

So excited, just got my HDVD800 today. HDVD800 is the most beautuful amplifier I've never seen, even better than WooAudio7.
 
Cables are Lindy Professional power cable and USB cable, quality are quite nice.
 
Start listening!

 

[pervysage]

HDVD800 Amplifier now available on Colorware for anyone who wants to color match their Colorware HD800's.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4