[Taowolf51]

 
I'm listening to all of Flashbulb's most "popular" tracks on spotify right now just to get a feel of his music. Enjoying it immensely in the process of course. Anything else you think pairs well with the HD800?

 
The best music to pair with the HD800 is music you like! But if you want I can share a couple people that make music that impresses me with the HD800's.
 
Yosi Horikawa (which I may have mentioned earlier) makes some incredibly lifelike surreal music made with recordings of random noises. His music is excellent when you're looking for a nice sonic massage.
Bubbles and Letter are excellent songs of his. His songs are also excellent at portraying space.
 
Floex (Tomáš Dvořák) makes some very interesting music with a very different sound compared to many other artists. He's from the Czech Republic and was the composer for games like the Samrost series and Machinarium. His work is as unique sonically as those games are visually (and that's a hell of a complement). Zorya, Machinarium OST, and Samrost 3 Pre-Remixes are great albums on Spotify. Samrost 3 just came out recently, but the OST hasn't made it to Spotify yet. But, you can listen to it on Bandcamp, it's pretty damn awesome:
http://store.floex.cz/album/samorost-3-soundtrack
 
Moving to something a little less out there, The Punch Brothers are a Bluegrass band that sound excellent on the HD800's. I think their album "The Phosphorescent Blues" is their best sonically. But, I also recommend the songs "New York City", "Kid A" (a really awesome cover of Radiohead's Kid A, but with bluegrass instruments, really interesting to listen to, and sounds awesome on the HD800's), and "Another New World" (a song that tells a very sad story, probably my favorite of all of their songs).
 
If you really want to push that subbass, Submotion Orchestra is pretty awesome. They're kind of a mix of Jazz, soul, and electronic, and the ability to reproduce subbass is an absolute must when listening to these guys.
 
Savant makes music that's very inspired by old chiptune, but technically isn't chiptune. His music is very fast, tight, and snappy, which is obviously reproduced excellently by the HD800's. Each of his albums are fairly different and have a different musical theme, so sample around to get an idea of what his music is like. His latest stuff (everything in 2016) isn't that great IMO, but some people like it.
 
Going back into the territory of sonic experiments, Amon Tobin's album ISAM is pretty damn interesting sounding. Great detail and variety, and some nice texture. Turn off the lights, close your eyes, and listen to "Night Swim", it's creepy as all hell.
 
Mombasa by 2 Cellos is pretty sweet too.
 
And back to something more grounded, Ray LaMontagne's voice is like a nice rye whiskey. Smooth, but with a bit of spice to keep it interesting. I love this guy's voice.

 

[FlySweep]

Great recco's.. I'm a big fan of Floex, Phaeleh, Amon Tobin (love ISAM.. and his older stuff is classic Ninja Tune).. check out Flacco, too.

 

[JamieMcC]

  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?

 
Ok well the bones of it are running a stock Crack with a  5998 or any of premium tubes will make a very noticeable difference. The upgrades (all of which can be found well documented on the bottlehead forum)  will allow you to experience much better performance from the same tube.
 
The sound is going to be cleaner with a blacker back ground more dynamic and increased resolution. If you think the stock Crack is good after hearing a hot rodded one you will find it hard to go back listening with the stock version.  I added the mods to mine piecemeal over about a year. They cost a fraction of a fancy cable upgrade which can never deliver the same level of increased performance.

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

It's known for orchestral and operatic prowess, but it will give you good results with most well-recorded music. 

 

[Solarium]

   
Ok well the bones of it are running a stock Crack with a  5998 or any of premium tubes will make a very noticeable difference. The upgrades (all of which can be found well documented on the bottlehead forum)  will allow you to experience much better performance from the same tube.
 
The sound is going to be cleaner with a blacker back ground more dynamic and increased resolution. If you think the stock Crack is good after hearing a hot rodded one you will find it hard to go back listening with the stock version.  I added the mods to mine piecemeal over about a year. They cost a fraction of a fancy cable upgrade which can never deliver the same level of increased performance.

Would already having a speedball upgrade make the 5998 and these mods having a less of an impact?

 

[whirlwind]

 

   
Ok well the bones of it are running a stock Crack with a  5998 or any of premium tubes will make a very noticeable difference. The upgrades (all of which can be found well documented on the bottlehead forum)  will allow you to experience much better performance from the same tube.
 
The sound is going to be cleaner with a blacker back ground more dynamic and increased resolution. If you think the stock Crack is good after hearing a hot rodded one you will find it hard to go back listening with the stock version.  I added the mods to mine piecemeal over about a year. They cost a fraction of a fancy cable upgrade which can never deliver the same level of increased performance.

Would already having a speedball upgrade make the 5998 and these mods having a less of an impact?

If the upgrade is worth it.....I would go ahead and get get it , just for the reason that the 5998 tubes sound great with the HD800
 
I run a pair a lot with the HD800, and they show some real authority and a wonderful sound. 

 

[sysfail]

For those of you using Sonarworks with the HD800, do you use it in conjunction with mod(s) like the Anax mod? Or does it work best with a stock HD800?

I currently use it with the Anax mod which already sounds amazing, but I'm curious if it could be even better if I took out the Anax mod.

 

[JaZZ]

For those of you using Sonarworks with the HD800, do you use it in conjunction with mod(s) like the Anax mod? Or does it work best with a stock HD800?

I currently use it with the Anax mod which already sounds amazing, but I'm curious if it could be even better if I took out the Anax mod.

 
I certainly wouldn't renounce the damping (unless you like increased reflections and signal smearing), but you could try my black-velvet version – which sounds clearly better than foam to my ears. It's the original, BTW, and I wonder why it hasn't been tested by Tyll, beside the adapted «Anax» mod.
 
Equalizing can't replace damping! It's a different function. Equalizing works in the frequency domain (at least in the first place), whereas damping works in the time domain (in the first place). But you could try to adapt the SonarWorks curve to the damping.

 

[OctaviaeZ]

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

I dig the Lyr, tames the treble and saves my ears

 sounds great imo

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

Vali and Valhalla are both cheaper, and generally better regarded, if less flexible long term.

 

[GodsInHisHeaven]

   
I certainly wouldn't renounce the damping (unless you like increased reflections and signal smearing), but you could try my black-velvet version – which sounds clearly better than foam to my ears. It's the original, BTW, and I wonder why it hasn't been tested by Tyll, beside the adapted «Anax» mod.
 
Equalizing can't replace damping! It's a different function. Equalizing works in the frequency domain (at least in the first place), whereas damping works in the time domain (in the first place). But you could try to adapt the SonarWorks curve to the damping.

Have you tried the cork mod?

 

[JamieMcC]

  Would already having a speedball upgrade make the 5998 and these mods having a less of an impact?

 
No if anything the impact is greater the better performance of the premium tubes is not restricted allowing them to shine. Your T1  will get a kiss of life and come alive the HD800 will be less sibilant  both will have increased resolution better accuracy in sound staging and more soulful and engaging midrange. 
 
Try some image searches on  google "Bottlehead Crack film capacitors" Bottlehead Crack stepped attenuator" and check out some of the builds and feed back from the builders. The mods described are more generally known as the Crack upgrade path. Its a well worn path and there are lots of documented posts on these modifications on the Bottlehead Forum.
 
The thing is enjoy your Crack as it is and if you get the urge to try any mods you will find the info and BH forum members very helpful its a really cool community.

 

[JaZZ]

 

   
I certainly wouldn't renounce the damping (unless you like increased reflections and signal smearing), but you could try my black-velvet version – which sounds clearly better than foam to my ears. It's the original, BTW, and I wonder why it hasn't been tested by Tyll, beside the adapted «Anax» mod.
 
Equalizing can't replace damping! It's a different function. Equalizing works in the frequency domain (at least in the first place), whereas damping works in the time domain (in the first place). But you could try to adapt the SonarWorks curve to the damping.

Have you tried the cork mod?

 
No. But cork doesn't seem promising to me. I tried it during my speaker-builder area (for damping purposes), but it's effectively too hard a material and too closed to absorb enough high frequencies. In turn foam is too lightweight and open to have enough acoustic resistance for the required thinness (yes, thinness is an important criterion!) or too hard (= reflective) in the other case. Felt has too hard (= reflective) fibres and sounds bad in my experience. Velours is an acceptable alternative to velvet, but harder and in most cases thinner, thus still inferior. Velvet is the best material I know; it combines heavyweight (tightness) with an open structure and very soft fibres. The ideal material for a damping layer that shouldn't exceed a thickness of ~2 mm in the most critical area around the driver and ~4 mm at the stays (I tried 3 layers = 6 mm there, but that hasn't stood the test).

 

[DavidA]

@JaZZ, Do you think a micro fiber cloth would work since it soft like velvet and depending on what you buy can be quite thin?

 

[sysfail]

   
I certainly wouldn't renounce the damping (unless you like increased reflections and signal smearing), but you could try my black-velvet version – which sounds clearly better than foam to my ears. It's the original, BTW, and I wonder why it hasn't been tested by Tyll, beside the adapted «Anax» mod.
 
Equalizing can't replace damping! It's a different function. Equalizing works in the frequency domain (at least in the first place), whereas damping works in the time domain (in the first place). But you could try to adapt the SonarWorks curve to the damping.

 
Thanks, interesting mod, might try it out.
 
Anyone else have experience with Sonarworks + HD800 with and without mod(s)?