Qualia 010 vs. HD800 is a pretty good fight.
Appearance-wise, you might think from looking at photos that these two headphones share similar designs and maybe materials. But when you hold them, you'll see that they are very different.
The HD800 may be silver-coated plastic, but it seems to be a high quality plastic. There's a sense of solidity to it. In contrast, the Q010 can seem too lightweight and even plasticky. The light weight contributes to comfort, but it can seem fragile, as if some part could snap and break anytime. I suspect that it is indeed quite fragile, especially the headband parts, but haven't been inclined to test the theory. I handle it very carefully.
The Q010 is also very finicky about fit. There's no allowing for variability in user anatomy, it either fits right or it doesn't. The driver housings can slide up or down a little bit, but once you adjust them to a setting and the screws on either side are fixed, that's it, no more adjustments. Well, the driver housings flex in and out a little bit to allow you to put them on or take them off.
Its earpads are also thin leather with no padding. They may look sexy in photos, but without any padding there's not much buffer between the hardness of the driver housing and the skin around your ears. It's not uncomfortable for me, but it's not very comfortable either and I would prefer at least some earpad padding. For example, the thick and cushiony R10 or O2 earpads are nice thick buffers and very comfortable.
The HD800 earpads are also quite thin, with a little more padding than the Q010's but still not a lot. They're reasonably comfortable, but I would also prefer some more padding.
I think the Q010 and HD800 share some similarities in sound. Driven by a Zana Deux, they are both neutralish-sounding and not colored. Both have large soundstages, though the Qualia's is particularly large, huge even.
Both have excellent details and clarity. No Sennheiser veil here.
I think the Qualia has a bit better details, but when I listen to the HD800, I think it is very detailed too. It's hard to say which is more detailed, I think. Both have excellent imaging. The Qualia seems to do notes separation a bit better while the HD800 does sense of 3D layering a bit better. But this is kind of being nit-picky, both are very good here. They're both not very full-bodied, but this is a good thing. Bass is accurate, tight and fast, no flabbiness here.
Overall I think the Qualia is a little bit better than the HD800, but it's a small gap and I'm very happy with the HD800 too. Given the Qualia's other issues, fragility, finicky fit, less comfortable, can't wear them with glasses, less-than-ideal earpads, high cost of replacement of said less-than-ideal earpads, and I'll reach for the HD800 more often than the Qualia. Pricewise, the HD800 may be expensive, but I think it's a relatively good value. And in current production.
I think that these are two of the best dynamic headphones I've heard, there aren't very many others competitive at this level. A well-driven K1000 perhaps. The R10. Hmm... well, that's about it.
(I haven't heard the Beyer T1 or Edition 8/9, some others). The HP2 is also very good, and has a similarly good neutralish type of tonality, but I don't think it can compete in other areas such as details, soundstage, imaging, etc.
I said I think they're two of the best
dynamic headphones...
