Sennheiser HDVD800 Headphone Amplifier
May 17, 2013 at 9:54 PM Post #691 of 3,016
Quote:
So it really does take brief electrical pulses and translate them to music played really loudly through a set of headphones? With a bona fide breakthrough like this Sennheiser is sure to corner the market!

I guess you have to buy one to find out
biggrin.gif

 
May 17, 2013 at 11:42 PM Post #692 of 3,016
I like the plug on the new XLR cable. Gimme one of those connectors in black with a cord that isn't a mess!
 
May 18, 2013 at 12:45 AM Post #694 of 3,016
Dave Brubeck's Take Five, try getting a high res of it. Very good to test staging and air
 
Audio-Technica Stay updated on Audio-Technica at their sponsor profile on Head-Fi.
 
https://www.audio-technica.com/
May 18, 2013 at 3:25 AM Post #695 of 3,016
Well I've been listening to selections from my music collection and each track is like a revelation all over again using the HD800 / HDVD800. Everything I've flung at it from Classical to Dance plays with aplomb. Hype wise- I don't know any companies these days that don't use bull**** marketing speak however, it's an excellent combo.
 
May 18, 2013 at 6:26 AM Post #696 of 3,016
Maybe a dumb question, is there a way to put a speaker system on the HDVD800 somewhere? Else, I'll have to stick to my V800 dac because that one has xlr outputs and rca outputs for both type of systems.
 
Anyone with a unit can tell?
 
May 18, 2013 at 8:41 AM Post #697 of 3,016
Quote:
A question about Sennheiser's HD 800 cable, how can it even make a difference?
The connector itself is unbalanced (and low durability): http://smg.photobucket.com/user/picodeloro/media/HD800_C1.jpg.html
And balanced to unbalanced just means "leave out the reverse audio signal": http://www.roadogz.com/images/stories/unbalanced3.jpg
It feels like it's a regular HD 800 cable with a special connector, it's also just as thick.
I don't know man, feels like a bad cul

 
You only need two conductors to make it balanced. A audio transducer (driver) only has two in general. The balanced comes from the fact that your return signal isn't tied together so you can have two separate amplifiers driving two separate channels like monoblocks. The XLR main connector is needed because XLR connectors can have up to 4 conductors where as a singled ended has only 3. You need 4 conductors, 2 for each channel to get balanced. The cable itself is not the improvement. The cable enables the use of a different designed amplifier.
 
In terms of the cable in general, this cable costs less than almost all custom balanced cables out there though it is still expensive. I will never doubt the quality and durability of it. I'm not a believer in cables but I respect that a good cable should be extremely durable. Theres no doubt they're gonna ding you on it since they know you need it. It's like replacement parts.
 
May 18, 2013 at 9:27 AM Post #699 of 3,016
Quote:
 
Now I have project for you, take an amp with low output impedance and add resistors to the output and see if you get a similar sound.  Going from roughly 0ohm to 43ohm changes the character of the HD800 quite a bit. 

If I had the skills to do that I may try to do it but unfortunately this is a review unit so I cant experiment with it as I do not own this unit.  I have no other solid state amps here to do that type of modification. This is the only solid state amp I have in the house.
 
May 18, 2013 at 10:43 AM Post #700 of 3,016
Quote:
Quote:
 
Now I have project for you, take an amp with low output impedance and add resistors to the output and see if you get a similar sound.  Going from roughly 0ohm to 43ohm changes the character of the HD800 quite a bit. 

If I had the skills to do that I may try to do it but unfortunately this is a review unit so I cant experiment with it as I do not own this unit.  I have no other solid state amps here to do that type of modification. This is the only solid state amp I have in the house.

 
I assume, at least as a start, you can add the (variable) resistor between the amplifier headphone output and the headphone plug. You may implement it in/as a short extension cable or a cable + a box.
 
May 18, 2013 at 10:45 AM Post #701 of 3,016
Quote:Frankly I
If I had the skills to do that I may try to do it but unfortunately this is a review unit so I cant experiment with it as I do not own this unit.  I have no other solid state amps here to do that type of modification. This is the only solid state amp I have in the house.

Not hard to do. All you need is a jack to plug into the amp and a socket for the headphone to plug into.
You just add the resistor into one of the wires to each driver.
 
If you really wanted to be fancy, you could get a box and mount the connectors for the amp and headphones to it. Get a 2 pole multiple position switch, and connect different value resistors to each position.
 
Dead simple....
 
May 18, 2013 at 10:55 AM Post #702 of 3,016
Quote:
Not hard to do. All you need is a jack to plug into the amp and a socket for the headphone to plug into.
You just add the resistor into one of the wires to each driver.
 
If you really wanted to be fancy, you could get a box and mount the connectors for the amp and headphones to it. Get a 2 pole multiple position switch, and connect different value resistors to each position.
 
Dead simple....

I am not in the habit of modding gear that is on loan. 
 
May 18, 2013 at 11:15 AM Post #703 of 3,016
There is no modding of the gear needed.
There is a jack, 2 resistors & plug as a unit.
The jack goes into the amp just like the headphones do.
The headphones plug into the socket.
 
Amp > Unit with resistors installed > Headphones.
 
I could make one for you.
 
May 18, 2013 at 1:43 PM Post #705 of 3,016
Quote:
Lol. BTW Spritzers asking of you to try on an amp other than the HDVD I believe.

I have no other amps to try this with.   The only other amps I have are my Taboo MK111 a tube amp and the hdvd800 is already 43 ohms but that still has not been confirmed by sennheiser. My review to be completed on this product pertains to the sound of the Sennheiser hdvd800. I could have Wink do what he wants to do, but then comparing a tube amp to a solid state amp is like an apple to an orange. I have no other solid state amps to do this comparison.   The V200 I had was sold and no longer here. I have no other solid state amps coming in for a review at present. if at some point i do have another amp I may take Wink up on the offer. The only other amp I have coming in is a DNA Stratus 2a3 tube amp next month.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top