[62ohm]

@Sorrodje
 
I'm ordering a Metrum Octave Mk.1 right now, I believe you had one in the past. May I ask why did you sell it?

 

[Sorrodje]

I

@Sorrodje


I'm ordering a Metrum Octave Mk.1 right now, I believe you had one in the past. May I ask why did you sell it?

I sold it for two main reasons.

First of all, despite the fact i really loved the octave, the feeling that something were missing in the sound never left me. This DAC offers marvelous textured and bodied sound. Particularly in the mids and bass but some excitement, bite was not here. I realized this when I compared the octave to the Beresford caiman. The Beresford is close in term of bodied/analog sound but offers a bit more resolution IMO. Kind of trade: bit less body vs a bit more resolution. Then I understood the octave will leave after a year of good services.

Moreover a friend of mine proposed. E his DACCORD and I'm a long time fan of Jan Meier. I could not refuse.

But I've found a totalDAC at a somewhat affordable price (if I sell a lot of my current gear) ... so I currently ask the friend I sold the metrum to if I could borrow it in order I can compare the two R2R DACs... my desk is currently a mess full of DACs.

 

[Mach3]

Take a side-by-side listen... HD 800 to ANY on-ear or over-ear Grado, even their least-expensive ($79) SR60.  Grado will clearly be more transparent.

(And that is using the Sennheiser HDVD 800 DAC / amp, designed FOR the HD 800, to drive the HD 800).

Amusement from this assertion = Jedi (LOL)

Please don't take this the wrong way, as everyone is entitled to their opinions. But I can't stop laughing.

 

[Dragonsan]

I need a budget amp to drive the HD800s. Would the Little Dot I+ work? What about the Schiit Vali?

 

[subtle]

 
Take a side-by-side listen... HD 800 to ANY on-ear or over-ear Grado, even their least-expensive ($79) SR60.  Grado will clearly be more transparent.
 
(And that is using the Sennheiser HDVD 800 DAC / amp, designed FOR the HD 800, to drive the HD 800).

 
I honestly haven't laughed this hard in a long, long time.

 

[cocolinho]

I need a budget amp to drive the HD800s. Would the Little Dot I+ work? What about the Schiit Vali?

Vali ! It does work well with my dacmagic. Waiting for Valhalla 2 though.

 

[ruthieandjohn]

Concerning my comment above that even the Grado SR60 at $79 is more transparent than the HD 800 that drew several remarks (too many to quote here with my limited ability to use "multiple quote"

 )
 
I feared perhaps I typed that without thinking, working from faulty memory, so this morning I went back and did my transparency comparison on the HD 800, powered by the HDVD 800, and the Grado SR60, powered by the Grado RA1 amp.  Though I listened to several short pieces of various music, I concentrated on the first few seconds of "You're Going To Miss Me When I'm Gone," by Band of  Heathens on their album One Foot In The Ether and concentrating on the initial snare drum, bass drum, and guitar that starts the song (This is the test I use for any of my transparency comparisons and is the most familiar).
 
I still think that the Grado is more transparent.  Perhaps we are using that word differently.  I ask which has the greater feeling of having a cloth in front of the speaker... that one is the less transparent.  But high transparency can lead to sibilance (and does, for the Grado SR60), and the huge soundstage of the HD 800 can distract and wow you with overall quality if you are not focusing on transparency alone.
 
I will say that it is a small difference, and for the brief time I tried to be lazy and just run the Grados off the second output of the HDVD 800 for quick comparison, the difference was even less (if any), but when I put the Grado amp on the Grado headphones, there was a difference to me.  I think the difference in amps arises from the relatively high (43 ohm) output impedance of the HDVD 800, perfect for the ~300 ohm HD 800 but too high for the 32 ohm Grados.
 
(By the way, I don't expect to convince anyone of anything except perhaps persuading them to listen to the two side by side, but I did need to check my own thoughts, since I was relying on memory when I said that.  And I can't comment on the HF1 - don't have it and haven't heard it).

 

[wink]

I had a pair of Grado SR60's and I gave them away.
 
There was no way the SR60 compared in any department or came even close to the HD800.

 

[BleaK]

  Vali ! It does work well with my dacmagic. Waiting for Valhalla 2 though.

+1
 
Vali is exeptional value with the HD800. However the Valhalla 2 takes everything the Vali does up two notches, especially soundstage. I have around 50 hours on my V2 and it keeps getting better.
Both amps punch way above their weightclass costwise in my opinion.
 
I am actually wondering why Valhalla 2 isn't talked about more in this thread, it is a killer combo with HD800 and should be in pricerange for most who are looking for a great sounding tube amp for HD800. 

 

[Sorrodje]

Transparency IMO is the ability to not have any sound of its own. Then every different recording can sound very differently. The hd800 is the headphone that match best with this definition IMO. I'm always stunned when I hear how differently ecordings can sound through my hd800.

Grados offer a more direct kind of sound. But far more and coloured IMO. Much less transparent than the Senn.

 

[knowhatimean]

I don't know, but unless you're very new to all this (& even then I'd be very wary of any advice offered;Except mine of course

) this thread should be taken "lightly" simply because it's nothing more than... that's right impressions.!
 
That being said, if you read something that just seems to make no sense at all from what you're experience has been , it may be that the poster is trying to "stir-up" some type of senseless debate as there may not be enough valid thought processing going on to occupy his mind for reasonable amounts of time. There's a difference between people who are talking "with" you & those who talk "at" you ! I normally give people the benefit of the doubt the first time I detect this, but I'm basically 'done' with that person the second time it happens !
 
I think the HD 800s (it 's making some people happy to see it written this way) 'can' be an exceptional listening experience, how do I think they "stack up" against other headphones, "I like 'em better", There are any number of other "Comparitive" headphone threads you can find this info .
 
Alright , I guess you can get back to the normal 'banter' that goes on here. Just don't be overly impressed by what someone with a posting count of several "K" might have said !

 

[Sorrodje]

Didn't understand your point sorry.

 

[citraian]

Transparency for headphones translates into into lack of distortions and coloration (at least for me). If you just look at the THD graphs for HD 800 and PS 1000 you'd see that there is no contest by far
 
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/SennheiserHD800.pdf
 
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/GradoPS1000.pdf

 

[knowhatimean]

Didn't understand your point sorry.

I forget that this is an International web site so as they say some things are "lost in translation"
 
I guess , I was just saying that seeing as how there are people posting on this thread at all different levels of listening experience & that some of what you read in this thread may be useful to you & some may not . While someone may know more about something than you do & it only means "they know more" (but they may only think they know more). This hobby really isn't that hard to figure out how things "actually" work it just takes time.
 
Hope that was a bit clearer, if not ask me "specifically" what it was that you didn't understand !
 
(If memory serves me correct I think I may have said something you didn't get in another thread; maybe a "Metrum" thread as
I had an Octave, now a Hex)

 

[62ohm]

 

 
Keep in mind the HDVA 600 / HDVD 800 is not a particularly transparent amp (I also own one). It sounds pleasing, yes, but also IMO colored. The BHA-1 for one, is a much more transparent amp.