[koiloco]

  I have NO problem whatsoever with expressing one's OPINIONS on this forum. It's when people start making remarks that are sweeping generalizations ("facts") that make me sometimes want to hold them to defending/justifying their remarks.  Clarity and conservative caution, not hype, are what make HeadFi a useful resource for all.
 
cheers

That's exactly what I am concerned about.

 

[MacedonianHero]

Are you liking the HE1000 more than HD800?

I do, yes. But it still does not diminish my enjoyment or respect for these wonderful headphones.

 

[AlanU]

  Nice one AlanU  
 
Speaking of Buffer amps. I’ve got a Nelson Pass designed DIY F4 amp - its a power buffer and is great when driven with a tube preamp - this could possibly be a nice match for the HD800. 
 
I’ve heard about some mods of the HD800 but not researched properly yet.
 
I did see the Tyll innerfidelity post about the Anaxilus Mod. Have you any up to date info on the mods?
 
Thanks a lot

I've only performed my "hack" version of the Anaxilus mod rev.2 modification. I don't know of any "newer" modifications since I'm extremely pleased with my current setup.
 
I was leary of touching my new HD800's but I do experiment with audio often.  I just do small tweaks to make me happy. My heart is still in the 2 channel stereo more than headphones. 
 
Removing the dust covers really opened up the clarity department. The modification totally compliments the entire sound signature. Seems like it adds some meat to the music which somewhat surprised me in how it engaged me with my music.  Still to my ears the HP is still not even par with a hifi 2 channel but very enjoyable nonetheless.

 

[ubikutz]

Hi mates,
 
Been trying to decide on wether to get the HD800s or not, it's a bit of a torture
I've had two auditions but there is only so much you can listen and compare within an hour and i'm still a bit undecided.
 
I was wondering if you could give me some info related to how these things perform with more mainstream music which i also listen to about 50% of the time. 
Let's say Nicki Minaj, Taylor Swift, and in general R&B, Pop, Chillout, etc. where bass impact is tied to the enjoyment of the music. I know this is sort of "junk food" but it's pretty fun
 
Other 50% for me is a lot around male and female vocals. Not so much classical, very little Jazz.
 
Does it even make sense to think of the HD800 for such a use? Are these really bass light?
How are they for low volume listening?
 
As I'm looking for extremely open headphones (i have tinnitus and i need cans that do not block external sound at all), on my short list are only HD800, HD700, LCD-2 and HE-560. These are measured on inner fidelity to have less than 10db attenuation on high frequencies. This also coincides with my experience trying them as they do not make the tinnitus get worse.
For example, the HD650, because it has higher passive attenuation on high frequencies (around 15db) it makes the ringing get louder.
 
Thanks!

 

[Taowolf51]

The HD800's really shouldn't be placed into the same corner as standard dynamic drivers. IMO the HD800's ring radiator driver shares as much in common (with regards to sonic technicalities) with standard dynamic drivers as a planar or stat does. The HD800's are up there with the best, despite being based on a dynamic driver, and the measurements agree.
 
Honestly, thinking of the HD800 as just a dynamic driver headphone is nescient.

 

[CanadianMaestro]

  Hi mates,
 
Been trying to decide on wether to get the HD800s or not, it's a bit of a torture
I've had two auditions but there is only so much you can listen and compare within an hour and i'm still a bit undecided.
 
I was wondering if you could give me some info related to how these things perform with more mainstream music which i also listen to about 50% of the time. 
Let's say Nicki Minaj, Taylor Swift, and in general R&B, Pop, Chillout, etc. where bass impact is tied to the enjoyment of the music. I know this is sort of "junk food" but it's pretty fun
 
Other 50% for me is a lot around male and female vocals. Not so much classical, very little Jazz.
 
Does it even make sense to think of the HD800 for such a use? Are these really bass light?
How are they for low volume listening?
 
As I'm looking for extremely open headphones (i have tinnitus and i need cans that do not block external sound at all), on my short list are only HD800, HD700, LCD-2 and HE-560. These are measured on inner fidelity to have less than 10db attenuation on high frequencies. This also coincides with my experience trying them as they do not make the tinnitus get worse.
For example, the HD650, because it has higher passive attenuation on high frequencies (around 15db) it makes the ringing get louder.
 
Thanks!

 
You should spend more time, if possible, with an HD800 that's well worn, and listen to your own test tracks. Trust your own ears. This thread is the wrong place for objective unbiased recommendations. A bit like asking Apple users whether they recommend their iDevices....or reading pro reviews.
imho. 

 

[icebear]

  Hi mates,
 
... I was wondering if you could give me some info related to how these things perform with more mainstream music which i also listen to about 50% of the time. 
Let's say Nicki Minaj, Taylor Swift, and in general R&B, Pop, Chillout, etc. where bass impact is tied to the enjoyment of the music. I know this is sort of "junk food" but it's pretty fun
 
Other 50% for me is a lot around male and female vocals. Not so much classical, very little Jazz.
...

 
Given your music preferences, I'd say stay away from the HD800.
These are phones that reveal everything, the good the bad and the ugly.
Usually Jazz and classic recordings have a better sound quality than than the "junk food" fun stuff.
And the Hd800 will tell you the ingredient list of the junk food and most likely you don't wanna know

 

 

[CanadianMaestro]

   
Given your music preferences, I'd say stay away from the HD800.
These are phones that reveal everything, the good the bad and the ugly.

 

I like that. Clint Eastwood of HPs. 

 

[JamieMcC]

  Hi mates,
 
Been trying to decide on wether to get the HD800s or not, it's a bit of a torture
I've had two auditions but there is only so much you can listen and compare within an hour and i'm still a bit undecided.
 
I was wondering if you could give me some info related to how these things perform with more mainstream music which i also listen to about 50% of the time. 
Let's say Nicki Minaj, Taylor Swift, and in general R&B, Pop, Chillout, etc. where bass impact is tied to the enjoyment of the music. I know this is sort of "junk food" but it's pretty fun
 
Other 50% for me is a lot around male and female vocals. Not so much classical, very little Jazz.
 
Does it even make sense to think of the HD800 for such a use? Are these really bass light?
How are they for low volume listening?
 
As I'm looking for extremely open headphones (i have tinnitus and i need cans that do not block external sound at all), on my short list are only HD800, HD700, LCD-2 and HE-560. These are measured on inner fidelity to have less than 10db attenuation on high frequencies. This also coincides with my experience trying them as they do not make the tinnitus get worse.
For example, the HD650, because it has higher passive attenuation on high frequencies (around 15db) it makes the ringing get louder.
 
Thanks!

 
Have you considered the Beyerdynamic  T1? They certainly are a incredible all rounder and offer perhaps the best performance to price ratio available at the moment while they don't quiet offer HD800 levels of performance they are only a whisker away. I had them for several years (I have HD800-HE-6 at the mo). Think Massdrop did a recent offer around $750ish recently.  While the T1 are open backed they are not as open as some not sure how they measure for this. I also suffer from intermittent tinnitus and never felt they contributed to setting it off or making it any worse myself, but we are all different.

 

[ubikutz]

@CanadianMaestro - thank you for the advice i am trying to get a loaner for the weekend for further evaluation; the two short trips to the store were very inadequate in trying to appreciate such a complex can
however seeing such a huge appreciation thread gets you wondering for sure i know that my ears are not experienced enough to really appreciate them but i'm hoping i'll learn in time
 
 
@icebear - this is what i'm afraid of... so today when i went to the store i did the unthinkable... instead of going to tidal lossless, i opened a few rnb/rap music video in youtube and let it rip (well at least i set it in 1080p ^_^)
this was running of a full balanced amp + dac setup, so all the bad and the ugly was coming from the source material
... i was expecting for my ears to bleed and fall off but it was not that bad... it was still musical with plenty of bass although i could feel the low quality of the compression
the bass was very interesting in the sense that it felt enough (not too much not too little even for this genre) but also incredibly detailed - where once there was just boom, with the hd800 there were several distinct notes
so i'm guessing it's up to what u're expecting... if you're expecting for it to be bad and ugly and it is just average, it pleasantly surprises you and ends up being enjoyable after all : )))
for comparison i've tried the LCD2 also and that and it seemed a bit less technical but with more bass impact and a bit more forgiving.... but it did not feel comfortable at all - heavy and clamping and little ear space - the leather was pressing against my ears
 
i will certainly try to further evaluate in the weekend
 
what i did not like was that all that detail was a bit tiring on my ear... my ear hurt a bit after listening although i was running only at 55-60dbs SPLa
i'm hoping that is something temporary... certainly did not get that from listening to the HD700
 
 
@JamieMcC  - i was also consdering the T1 when i had the issue with HD650 bothering my tinnitus…
i had no idea why until i found the graphs from innerfidelity that show ambient noise attenuation per frequency per headphone… even thou they are open, nothing is really open except no headphone and there are some frequencies that are more susceptible to attenuation that others because of how they propagate
in my experience with tinnitus it’s very important not to block the years because that causes the brain to increase perception of the tinnitus in the lack of other signal, it’s always important to have some environment noise (that is the core principle of the tinnitus retraining therapy); closed headphones are now a big nono for me although in the past i was able to use them
i looked on innerfidelity and found out that the HD700 (that does not bother my tinnitus) has very low attenuation that tops at 10db on the high frequencies where my tinnitus is at - http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/SennheiserHD700.pdf
HD650 has more attentuation, around 15db at the troublesome frequencies - http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/SennheiserHD650.pdf so i’m guessing this has to do with it bothering the tinnitus
T1 is a “mess” from this point of view - lots of attenuation - close to 20db - http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/BeyerdynamicT1.pdf ; that would make my ears go riiiiiiiiiiiiing
by looking at all the innerfidelity charts the hd700, hd800, he-560 and lcd-2/3/x are the most “open” so at least i have some criteria to make the choice easier..

 

[CanadianMaestro]

@ubikutz 
All the bass and treble analysis.....The key attributes for me, with HP auditioning -- does it make me tap my foot and sway my head? Does it disappear from my head? If it does, then it's a good match for me!

 

[ubikutz]

Hehe, you make an incredibly good point I'm not even sure I can properly define what treble is, but everybody seems to be saying it to describe sound, accompanied by attributes such as smooth, bright, detailed, analytical, etc. so i'm doing my best to talk the talk
The one headphone that got me grinning so far was the HD650 - it's just so easy to like.
I was very bummed to find it incompatible with my ears because of my tinnitus
 
Since them, I've been looking trough more expensive headphones (tricked at first by more expensive is better / does more genres better), and the more expensive a headphone is the bigger the pressure to "evaluate it right" because once the decision is done and cash is out the door, i need to live with it for some time.
What's making things even more tricky is that there don't seem to be good or bad headphones, just different
I tell you, it's a nightmare and the more this search lasts the less fun it is
 
My background is with IEMs - Sennheiser IE80 (bass head) and Shure 535 (analytical). I liked them both, in different ways.
IE80 made me grin, 535 made me freeze in awe of all the detail and technicality I was perceiving.
What do i want in my next HP? Make me grin and make me freeze with awe in the same time And let me watch a movies. And play a game.
Not sure they invented that yet... or by reading what the reviews say seems it might be the HD800.
I had only 2 hours so far with the HD800... and in those two hours I was too busy trying to "evaluate it" instead of seeing if enjoy it.
 
Uff

 

[johnjen]

You should spend more time, if possible, with an HD800 that's well worn, and listen to your own test tracks. Trust your own ears. This thread is the wrong place for objective unbiased recommendations. A bit like asking Apple users whether they recommend their iDevices....or reading pro reviews.
imho.  h34r:

Another option would be to rent them from the 'headphone store'.

This will give you 2 weeks of at home use.
And the rental can apply to any purchase...

Listening at home, on your system, will let you know their suitability to your needs given your existing setup.

Lastly HD's reward those who are willing to 'fuss' with them.
Some folks don't want nor need to 'fuss', and for them they work just fine.
Others are not satisfied with the results of 800's in their system.

But for those who want to see just how far 800's scale, I don't know of a better HP to use.

JJ

 

[CanadianMaestro]

HeadphoneStore is closed.
http://www.headphonestore.com/

 

[johnjen]

HeadphoneStore is closed.
http://www.headphonestore.com/

Damn, my bad...
Well that shoots that option in the foot...

JJ