[Thenewguy007]

  Thinking of purchasing a HD800 pretty soon. Are they as sibilant as the HD700's?

 
NO!
They can be sibilant with bright upstream or pairings, but alone, they are just a bit bright.
Not to the extremes as T1/HD700 that need warm amps/dacs.
 

  I have a Schiit Modi 2/Magni 2 will that make the HD800's sibilant?

 
Probably not, but that setup won't drive the HD800 very well.
You are better off buying a Valhalla 2 to drive the HD800.

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

   
NO!
They can be sibilant with bright upstream or pairings, but alone, they are just a bit bright.
Not to the extremes as T1/HD700 that need warm amps/dacs.
 
 
Probably not, but that setup won't drive the HD800 very well.
You are better off buying a Valhalla 2 to drive the HD800.

So this is very comforting, I have one inbound and I've had the HD700 on my rig previously not sounding bright or anything. I was worried it may not match my chain but I think it will be fine now. Sweet

 

[448624]

   
NO!
They can be sibilant with bright upstream or pairings, but alone, they are just a bit bright.
Not to the extremes as T1/HD700 that need warm amps/dacs.
 
 
Probably not, but that setup won't drive the HD800 very well.
You are better off buying a Valhalla 2 to drive the HD800.

 
It says that the Magni 2 can power a 300 ohm headphone on Schiits website.

 

[CoLdAsSauLt]

It says that the Magni 2 can power a 300 ohm headphone on Schiits website.

Yeah but the 300 Ohm spec is quite optimistic. It's more aching to 400 Ohm, and on the primary resonance (about 110Hz) even well over 600 Ohm

Look at Tyll's impedance measurements:
http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/sennheiser-hd-800-s-tweaked-and-delightfuland-french-diy-response-measurements#opZ5GBS9v1RztVHw.97

 

[DavidA]

   
It says that the Magni 2 can power a 300 ohm headphone on Schiits website.

The Magni2 can power almost any headphone to ear bleeding levels but it can't properly drive most high impedance headphones since it was really designed for that.  And as @CoLdAsSauLt noted the HD-800 impedance changes over frequency so at some points its much higher than the 300 ohms that is stated.

 

[Thenewguy007]

   
It says that the Magni 2 can power a 300 ohm headphone on Schiits website.

 
It will drive the volume, but it can't power the bass, dynamics or the soundstage the HD800 is capable of.
At the very least, you need a amplifier around the $1,500 mark to power all that.

 

[Currawong]

 

   
It says that the Magni 2 can power a 300 ohm headphone on Schiits website.

 
It will drive the volume, but it can't power the bass, dynamics or the soundstage the HD800 is capable of.
At the very least, you need a amplifier around the $1,500 mark to power all that.

The Vali 2 does a surprisingly good job though, especially if you upgrade the stock tube. I'd argue $1500 is a bit high, given another run of the Liquid Carbon is coming out for half that. 

 

[448624]

  The Magni2 can power almost any headphone to ear bleeding levels but it can't properly drive most high impedance headphones since it was really designed for that.  And as @CoLdAsSauLt noted the HD-800 impedance changes over frequency so at some points its much higher than the 300 ohms that is stated.

Gotcha we'll I guess I'll be selling this stack. Any recommendations for a beginner tube for the HD800's?

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

  Gotcha we'll I guess I'll be selling this stack. Any recommendations for a beginner tube for the HD800's?

If you're a beginner tube roller there's the Project Ember 2 which is a hybrid class-D amp. Single tube with auto-bias makes it plug and play in tube rolling. I've heard the Bottlehead Crack amp and that is fantastic with the HD800, it actually sounds better with the HD800 without the speedball upgrade..

 

[Solarium]

  Got a Lyr2, try Bugle Boys, one of the warmer tubes that I have for the Lyr2.  I have all three headphones but use a BH Crack for the T-1 and HD-800, Lyr2 with Telefunken CCa's for the LCD-2

I just received my BH Crack w/ speedball. I'm using it now with the HD800 and T1, WOW what a change from SS amps and even my Lyr 2. But that's expected I suppose since it's OTL. It makes my HD800 almost HD650 sounding.
 
Which tubes do you pair with the HD800 and the T1? I think the stock tubes are a bit TOO sweet/thick/bottom heavy for me, are the TS5998's more "neutral" and open?

 

[JamieMcC]

  I just received my BH Crack w/ speedball. I'm using it now with the HD800 and T1, WOW what a change from SS amps and even my Lyr 2. But that's expected I suppose since it's OTL. It makes my HD800 almost HD650 sounding.
 
Which tubes do you pair with the HD800 and the T1? I think the stock tubes are a bit TOO sweet/thick/bottom heavy for me, are the TS5998's more "neutral" and open?

 
I would say swap out the 100uf electrolytic coupling caps for film ones ($60ish) change the stock volume pot for a Valab 23 stepped attenuator ($20) and add a Triad c-7x choke ($15)  and dip your toes into summit fi

 
For tubes see link (note test set up at the bottom)
 
http://the-key.enix.org/~krystal/review-tube-bottlehead.html

 

[Solarium]

   
I would say swap out the 100uf electrolytic coupling caps for film ones ($60ish) change the stock volume pot for a Valab 23 stepped attenuator ($20) and add a Triad c-7x choke ($15)  and dip your toes into summit fi

 
For tubes see link (note test set up at the bottom)
 
http://the-key.enix.org/~krystal/review-tube-bottlehead.html

Thanks for the suggestions, although I'm not all too familiar with how do I go about finding those upgrades.
 
Do those upgrades (combined actually the cost of around a 5998) make more difference than just upgrading the tube?

 

[murphythecat]

  That -2 dB correction for 6k and 15k is perfect IMO even when I'm not using any mods and a brighter DAC/amp. Does the +8 dB at 10hz make any difference at all? I tried adjusting different values on 10hz but have not noticed any difference, making me thing HD800 doesn't get past anywhere near 20hz. Also, I'm assuming that when we are adjusting certain frequencies, like the 6.5k, that -2 applies to a certain extent to the nearby frequencies as well? Like the range from 5-8k will also get a dip as well? Also, why do you have a -9 dB setting for pre-amp? It just make everything quieter.

 
I also suggest to maybe play with sonarworks. amazing what it does with the hd800. 

 

[448624]

   
I also suggest to maybe play with sonarworks. amazing what it does with the hd800. 

Which program do you use Sonarworks with since it's just a plugin?

 

[murphythecat]

  Which program do you use Sonarworks with since it's just a plugin?

In jriver. Foobar also accept vst plugins. I use it about 50% wet.