[RCBinTN]

  Just got my HDVD800 recently from a local dealer, my HD800s come in the mail tomorrow aswell. Can't wait to try the two together, I will post my thoughts after a few days of use.

Welcome to Head-Fi.  Nice rig to start out.  Enjoy!!
 
RCBinTN

 

[RCBinTN]

I just want to thank all the contributors to this thread, for your insightful help about whether to choose the Sennheiser amp for my rig.  I appreciate your first-hand knowledge and comments.
 
My plan soon = Schiit Audio Gungnir DAC -> Sennheiser HDVA 600 -> Sennheiser HD800 for the "ultimate" HP experience.  All new equipment for me.
 
I expect that rig will also work well with my current HP's - LCD-X and LCD-XC.
 
I will come back and let y'all know how this comes out !  

 
All the Best -
RCBinTN

 

[Dionysus]

I too am really happy to see this thread grow, awhile back this thread was dead. A lot of headfiers have discovered this head amp and found it to be a really a top notch headphone amplifier. I have been enjoying the HDVD800 along side my PerfectWave DAC and it's been an excellent combination to experience.

Its taken me a long time to get to this point but throughly enjoying it, and yeah my wallets felt it but the journey has been worth it enjoy all.

 

[ALRAINBOW]

I own the hdvd800 for almost 1 1/2 years now. As a combo it's a start . As aN amp only it's fantastic . I own many top tier amps and it's right there with the best and much cheaper . My observation is with the lcd3 and the hd800. But of the many diacs I have tried there are a couple that did do well with it. One was the hugo. As it could be looked at as improving it also seemed to dull it a bit. And lastly the ifi dsd micro. It did very bad with it. Very warm as in too warm. Not sure why.
But about 7 other dacs played fantastic with it. .
Al

 

[62ohm]

I love how this amp is capable of powering 4 cans at once, very useful to watch movies with some (well, three) friends.

 

[fpsoft1]

But about 7 other dacs played fantastic with it. .

I have HD800 and HDVA600 with XLR Sennheiser phone cable, very (very very) happy with them. My dac is Arcam rDac, I'm evaluating a dac upgrade. Do you have a dac suggestion? I was looking for Benchmark DAC2, do you think it will play good with HD800+HDVA600? Thank you.

 

[ALRAINBOW]

It's no hard to get a better DAC than what's inside the hdvd800. Bench mark is nice Sonia the MyTek
I would try used or borough to fine one you like the sound of. Also get one that's balanced output for the input of fe senn unit.
Also keep in mind this is a very neutral setup so good source material is important as well. It's a no holes barred system
So good source is great and no so good source is bad fast.
Al

 

[GeirTj]

I have HD800 and HDVA600 with XLR Sennheiser phone cable, very (very very) happy with them. My dac is Arcam rDac, I'm evaluating a dac upgrade. Do you have a dac suggestion? I was looking for Benchmark DAC2, do you think it will play good with HD800+HDVA600? Thank you.

I love the combination of an Ayre QB9 in front of the Senn amp. Connected with a pair of balanced cables (XLR). The Ayre has some punch and gravitas that suits well. The Ayre is a fussfree DAC that has OK second hand prices.

 

[remilio]

I love the combination of an Ayre QB9 in front of the Senn amp. Connected with a pair of balanced cables (XLR). The Ayre has some punch and gravitas that suits well. The Ayre is a fussfree DAC that has OK second hand prices.

Do you have "normal" QB9 or DSD upgraded one?
 
 
I got my HDVD800 along with HD800 and Sennheiser's balanced headphone cable, sounds pretty good even through internal DAC.
 
I have pretty good external DAC, but it's single ended, is RCA input of HDVD800 that much worse than XLR?

 

[Priidik]

It has to split SE input with servo (i have read), so its not 100% as good as bal in can be.
Better try out and see if you like it.

 

[King of Pangaea]

I have found the DAC chips in both my CD players to be superior to the DAC in the HDVD800.  Senn uses Burr Brown PCM1792 based chip.  My Denon player uses Burr Brown PCM1796  and my Oppo 95 a Sabre 32 chip.  The HDVD DAC is OK but chips in better players are probably superior to it.

 

[GeirTj]

Do you have "normal" QB9 or DSD upgraded one?


I got my HDVD800 along with HD800 and Sennheiser's balanced headphone cable, sounds pretty good even through internal DAC.

I have pretty good external DAC, but it's single ended, is RCA input of HDVD800 that much worse than XLR?

Hi, my Ayre QB9 is likely of the first generation that I bought cheaply second-hand. Still it sounds so much better than the internal DAC in the HDVD800 according to imy ears. Have not tried the single ended connection yet but will report back when having tried that. I know that the Ayre sounds pretty good SE connected to my regular pre-and power amps so then the remaining largest variable is probable the Senn input circuitry.

 

[ALRAINBOW]

Your qb9 is a gate array or fpga as some say. Very good in the day. Regarding SE and balanced there is no improvement as one over the other . Although there is plenty of banter on both sides of the fence on it. It really comes down to synergy and not just good Imp matching. The SEnn amp is fine either way to my ears and you should be the judge in this not a method. Lastly as the qb9 is thicker and maybe cleaner it's more about the sound you hear that's an improvement overall. When I use my caps it gets the sound very clean and detailed but overall a bit thin and u resolving anyway. I owned a qb9 for while its a fine dac .

Al

 

[remilio]

I know that the Ayre sounds pretty good SE connected to my regular pre-and power amps so then the remaining largest variable is probable the Senn input circuitry.

 
Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. Anyway, I should try my DAC and compare. TBH, I don't want to use external DAC if the improvement is subtle, because HDVD800 looks so sexy and my DAC is purely industrial, pragmatic design lol.

 

[JF85]

Does this am/dac only work with high impedance headphones? I hope to one day get this and the hd800, but at these prices it would probably be as far as I'm could willingly go for a dac and amp, so I wonder if many headphones work well with it. I mean stuff with wide range of impedance. Bear in mind I'm new at this. I also wish to get the LCD-2 or 3 some day, so I'd like to know if they pair well with the hdvd800. Would also like to know if the srh1840 does too.
 
I should say that of course I mean to buy a cheaper amp/dac set first and the m50x for now. Then I'll start saving for better stuff.