[Rozenberg]

Anyone here has HD800 paired with Audio GD stuffs?
I've actually been interested in Audio GD for a long time since the internal looks really neat and while design is just so-so, they look badass.
I'm just afraid they might sound... neutral or transparent perhaps? Since I want a bit of coloration (and maybe beautiful design as well which is why tube amps)
Going to events has made me appreciate my HD800 more that's why I began willing to spend more on amps, although when I first owned it, I thought expensive amps were stupid.

 

[Sorrodje]

The only A-GD I tried seriously was the HE-9 and it was a beast of an amp . Excellent pairing with my HD800 . On the warm side, fantastic staging with superb depth and layering , terrific impactful bass. Great sense of power AND smoothness. Not the last word in clarity, resolution and finesse though. That's what tube is for  
 
The Master 9 is maybe in the same league or close ? 

 

[franzdom]

TL/DR, in fact I even had a bear of a time finding this thread when looking for 800S threads...here is my question:
 
What is the connection to the cans at the cans? I mean if I am planning on a custom cable before I get them, what would the HP ends need to be?
 
It feels inevitable that I will own this at some point soon based on how it's so very prevalent in the threads I frequent.

 

[Rozenberg]

  The only A-GD I tried seriously was the HE-9 and it was a beast of an amp . Excellent pairing with my HD800 . On the warm side, fantastic staging with superb depth and layering , terrific impactful bass. Great sense of power AND smoothness. Not the last word in clarity, resolution and finesse though. That's what tube is for  
 
The Master 9 is maybe in the same league or close ? 

Thanks for the brief impression. I like smooooth though
If it's really that good, AGD might be in for consideration as well.
 

  TL/DR, in fact I even had a bear of a time finding this thread when looking for 800S threads...here is my question:
 
What is the connection to the cans at the cans? I mean if I am planning on a custom cable before I get them, what would the HP ends need to be?
 
It feels inevitable that I will own this at some point soon based on how it's so very prevalent in the threads I frequent.

The HP ends? Normally cable maker just call it HD800 connectors in their options if you order one.
Except if you want to buy the connector, its name is LEMO connector, just have to find the right 2 pins one though and kinda hard.

 

[franzdom]

Ok I get it, proprietary connectors. 

 

[Rozenberg]

Yup, it's one of the annoying connectors since the proper HD800 connectors cost much, even the chinese ones aren't really cheap either.
I once thought about building a bigger cable for my HD800 with dual XLR but the connector entrance is just too small.

 

[lenroot77]

If your looking for smooth you may try the AGD Dac-19 (or other AGD r2r dac) and a liquid carbon. Lots of talk about this combo here on headfi. After reading much about it myself I went this route. I believe it's a lot of bang for the buck for an HD800 setup.

 

[Rozenberg]

If your looking for smooth you may try the AGD Dac-19 (or other AGD r2r dac) and a liquid carbon. Lots of talk about this combo here on headfi. After reading much about it myself I went this route. I believe it's a lot of bang for the buck for an HD800 setup.

My luck always ran out on good stuffs. November last year, I saw a DAC-19 on ebay.de for like 350€.
When I wanted to click buy the next morning, it was gone already...
While I'm not really interested in Liquid Carbon, I'm still interested in DAC-19 though. Will try to find it after I sort my amp first.

 

[MikePio]

   
I experience it in the same spots with a number of recordings and different headphones, but the HD800 lays it out with a clarity the others don't. Is that because the HD800 is a more accurate transducer than any of my other phones or because something in the HD800 in interacting in a way that makes the issue come off worse than the others. Not sure yet, but eventually I'll run through these same recordings and others with various sound anomalies with the 800S (and Utopia) when I'm up in the rotation to audition them. As of now, I'm going with the "its the recording (and/or) coupled with the scoring which combines tones in a way that are overloading something in the recording chain, not the playback chain.
 
While we spend a lot of time dissecting the minutiae of the technical prowess in our hardware, I think today's (and even yesterdays) hardware is a lot more capable of accurately reproducing the software than we realize. Maybe it's it's time for a revolution in how this music gets recorded before it enters our playback equipment.
 
And as has been said many times,  the source is what it is and we can't really make adjustments to the original source material. Equalization is a post source adjustment. Or, "No matter how much lipstick you put on a pig, ...."  

 
Seems like we have similar findings and observations. I was also thinking that perhaps the HD800 has such immense detail retrieval that certain flaws or sounds are accentuated and more apparent... that leads to the point of recording quality you briefly mention, I find myself disappointed when a certain album is not as well produced as others, it is less apparent with my other headphones. I also find it very hard to sit back and relax with the HD800 at normal listening levels (not from sibilance or excessive brightness) but from how the music is presented, I guess the headphone just demands your full attention more than others!

 This might sound strange but for some reason I am emotionally exhausted with some forms of music... Perhaps I am getting too old...  

 

[FLTWS]

   
Seems like we have similar findings and observations. I was also thinking that perhaps the HD800 has such immense detail retrieval that certain flaws or sounds are accentuated and more apparent... that leads to the point of recording quality you briefly mention, I find myself disappointed when a certain album is not as well produced as others, it is less apparent with my other headphones. I also find it very hard to sit back and relax with the HD800 at normal listening levels (not from sibilance or excessive brightness) but from how the music is presented, I guess the headphone just demands your full attention more than others!

 This might sound strange but for some reason I am emotionally exhausted with some forms of music... Perhaps I am getting too old...  

 
I feel people who prefer a  more "forgiving" headphone instead of an "unforgiving" headphone have a perfectly valid point. It's about enjoying what you listen to and is why I intend to have several options available, to accommodate the variability in the recordings.
 
For twelve years I was perfectly satisfied with my vintage Sony Walkman CD and either Bose QC15's or the little in-ear Bose model for my walks. But then I fell off the wagon after I purchased an Oppo 105D to replace a 9 year old DVD player (which broke) and 9 year old BRD player (that was pretty bare bones) and heard what the 105D's headphone amp was capable of, and it was all downhill from there. "Just when I thought I was out..."
 
As for emotional exhaustion and musical form, I get that at times with my classical music (90% of my listening). At times when I focus too long on my favorite period, (the Late Romantic composers), I'll experience burnout. I fix it with Bach for his clarity, Mozart for his purity, Beethoven for his humanity. If I'm feeling decadent bring on Debussy and Ravel. So many great options; Stravinsky, Vaughn-Williams, Copeland, Schoenberg, Medieval Period stuff, and on and on. Eventually I'll land back with Wagner, Puccini, Bruckner, Strauss and Mahler and start my cycle over.
 
My classical recordings span a time frame starting in the late 30's to the present day so recorded quality is all over the place and yet unpredictable as to quality by date, so I'm used to variability of recorded quality.
 
My rock, jazz, and film score music is a different story. I don't listen with a critical ear, it's purely for enjoyment and is always fun, energizing, or relaxing. Most of this year I've been like a 'dog on point' working too hard at listening to all my new gear and that will bring on burn out. But, I also know based on my past experience, in time I'll be over that "new toy" aspect and everything will snap into place for me. I keep notes as I listen to new gear initially, and it's always the case that subtle differences that are difficult to discern the first month or two suddenly become more obvious as I move into a more relaxed mode of listening.
 
We're all getting too old, it's inevitable. Don't give up and give yourself a break now and then.

 

[lukeap69]

Anyone here has HD800 paired with Audio GD stuffs?
I've actually been interested in Audio GD for a long time since the internal looks really neat and while design is just so-so, they look badass.
I'm just afraid they might sound... neutral or transparent perhaps? Since I want a bit of coloration (and maybe beautiful design as well which is why tube amps)
Going to events has made me appreciate my HD800 more that's why I began willing to spend more on amps, although when I first owned it, I thought expensive amps were stupid.

I had a chance to hear different amps with my own HD800 before. Audio-gd Master 9 was one of them and I came away very impressed. It was dynamic and transparent and smooth up top although some commented thr Ragnarok is smoother in the highs, I felt the other way around. I wouldn't mind owning a Master 9 one day.

Regarding DAC-19, this is my current DAC and as I have posted somewhere in the past, this made a very good difference in my system. I didn't like the Lyr-2 pairing with HD800, however when I have changed my previous DAC (NFB-1DAC) to DAC-19, the Lyr 2 /HD800 became enjoyable pairing for me. Go figure.

Having said all the above, if you are looking for both DAC and amp, check Master 11.

 

[ezekiel77]

  Anyone here has HD800 paired with Audio GD stuffs?
I've actually been interested in Audio GD for a long time since the internal looks really neat and while design is just so-so, they look badass.
I'm just afraid they might sound... neutral or transparent perhaps? Since I want a bit of coloration (and maybe beautiful design as well which is why tube amps)
Going to events has made me appreciate my HD800 more that's why I began willing to spend more on amps, although when I first owned it, I thought expensive amps were stupid.

 
I've heard it in a summit fi Audiogd setup: Master 7 to HE-9. Very authoritative and punchy, slightly warm, big stage, extremely enjoyable. I nearly bit on the Master 11 DAC/amp as well, but the size of their stuff are too big for my AV rack.

 

[pervysage]

I have the Master 11 and HD800. I feel like the HD800 could use a touch more warmth to be honest. Master 11 is a very neutral and transparent DAC/amp combo with a slight hint of warmth I would say. I find it quite enjoyable but for the HD800 specifically I would like something with more warmth. For more warmth, a NOS version of the product might be more suitable? I have yet to hear the NOS-11 myself so don't take my word for it that it would give a smoother/warmer sound. But most impressions that I have been reading about Audio Gd NOS products seems to point that way.

 

[citraian]

Master 9 with HD800 here. For the money you can't get better than this, at least from my experience

 

[kelly200269]

I feel people who prefer a  more "forgiving" headphone instead of an "unforgiving" headphone have a perfectly valid point. It's about enjoying what you listen to and is why I intend to have several options available, to accommodate the variability in the recordings.

For twelve years I was perfectly satisfied with my vintage Sony Walkman CD and either Bose QC15's or the little in-ear Bose model for my walks. But then I fell off the wagon after I purchased an Oppo 105D to replace a 9 year old DVD player (which broke) and 9 year old BRD player (that was pretty bare bones) and heard what the 105D's headphone amp was capable of, and it was all downhill from there. "Just when I thought I was out..."

As for emotional exhaustion and musical form, I get that at times with my classical music (90% of my listening). At times when I focus too long on my favorite period, (the Late Romantic composers), I'll experience burnout. I fix it with Bach for his clarity, Mozart for his purity, Beethoven for his humanity. If I'm feeling decadent bring on Debussy and Ravel. So many great options; Stravinsky, Vaughn-Williams, Copeland, Schoenberg, Medieval Period stuff, and on and on. Eventually I'll land back with Wagner, Puccini, Bruckner, Strauss and Mahler and start my cycle over.

My classical recordings span a time frame starting in the late 30's to the present day so recorded quality is all over the place and yet unpredictable as to quality by date, so I'm used to variability of recorded quality.

My rock, jazz, and film score music is a different story. I don't listen with a critical ear, it's purely for enjoyment and is always fun, energizing, or relaxing. Most of this year I've been like a 'dog on point' working too hard at listening to all my new gear and that will bring on burn out. But, I also know based on my past experience, in time I'll be over that "new toy" aspect and everything will snap into place for me. I keep notes as I listen to new gear initially, and it's always the case that subtle differences that are difficult to discern the first month or two suddenly become more obvious as I move into a more relaxed mode of listening.

We're all getting too old, it's inevitable. Don't give up and give yourself a break now and then.

Listening to the HD800's is exhilarating and intense, as it really draws you into the music. You feel like you're on stage with the orchestra. I think this set of headphones demands and expects your full attention when listening, unlike other sets where you can 'dip in and out' of the music. I love listening to the HD800's when I want to really concentrate on the music.
The trouble is sometimes you don't want to be that involved with the music, and just want to be entertained. I find my Beyerdynamic T1's a useful tonic for willing ears but a tired brain!