[lukeap69]

These little things are amazing!!!!




They have literally breathed new life into my HD800's.  I can't sing their praise enough.  Every HD800 owner out owes it to themselves to get a pair.  

I have been saying that all along.

My HD-800SD paired with Glenn's OTL amp and Holo Spring DAC Level 3 is a glorious combo.

 

[MattTCG]

Question: does anyone know if you can safely bend the headband to increase the clamp a bit? 

 

[bigfatpaulie]

  Question: does anyone know if you can safely bend the headband to increase the clamp a bit? 

 
The soft foam part on the headband (that actually touches your head) can be pulled right off.  It just snaps into place.  Once you do that, you'll see that the headband is just one strip of metal and one strip of plastic so it can be bent pretty well.

 

[thefitz]

I have been saying that all along.

My HD-800SD paired with Glenn's OTL amp and Holo Spring DAC Level 3 is a glorious combo.

Agreed - are there any downsides to this mod?
 
Hi-fi has to be one of the most contrarian hobbies there is - but does anyone prefer the original HD800 to the SD800?

 

[Sorrodje]

  These little things are amazing!!!!
 
 
They have literally breathed new life into my HD800's.  I can't sing their praise enough.  Every HD800 owner out owes it to themselves to get a pair.  

 
Thks. Much appreciated comment . Especially coming from you 

 . 
 

  but does anyone prefer the original HD800 to the SD800?

 
Amongst the few hundred people who bought me a pair, only 2 or 3 people came back to stock from what I know. many people sold their HD800 after applying the mod though. As I always told everybody, the mod helps to like the HD800 more . it does not change the headphone into something else and people who dislikes the HD800 won't like much more the modded one.  

 

[fjrabon]

 
Agreed - are there any downsides to this mod?
 
Hi-fi has to be one of the most contrarian hobbies there is - but does anyone prefer the original HD800 to the SD800?

I do.  But for a non-normal reason.  I prefer the standard because it's what SonarWorks readings are made on, so if you do the SD mod, and then apply SonarWorks, it sounds worse, since it's applying an EQ curve to a headphone with a different FR than what the measurements were based on.  

I rate them as: 1) HD800 with SonarWorks 2) SD800 3) SD800 with SonarWorks 4) completely stock, non-EQd HD800

 

[Sorrodje]

Interesting, there's no way to customize a bit your sonarwork settings ? 

 

[MattTCG]

  Interesting, there's no way to customize a bit your sonarwork settings ? 

 
Yes, there are tweaks that you can make. Primarily I run on the "flat" setting. But there are also settings for the Harmon curve and then a more custom setting that allows the control of bass and tilt. 

 

[Sorrodje]

Ok .thks . 

 

[fjrabon]

  Interesting, there's no way to customize a bit your sonarwork settings ? 

yes, but they're all based on the base measurement of the headphone's frequency response.  You could, theoretically, do the SD mod, and then send it in to SonarWorks to be re-measured, but to me that seemed counterproductive, to do a mod that mostly changes FR, just to EQ it back to neutral.  

As Matt mentioned, you can adjust SonarWorks, but those adjustments are still made based on it using the HD800's stock FR as the point of reference.  If you do the SD mod and then turn on SonarWorks, it will actually sound sucked out at 6kHz, as both the software and the mod do double duty in pulling those frequencies out.  You'd then have the mirror image problem from where you started.

 

[Sorrodje]

@fjrabon : oh yea. it would be counterproductive. no doubt. i was just asking for my own curiosity.  

 

[thefitz]

 
I do.  But for a non-normal reason.  I prefer the standard because it's what SonarWorks readings are made on, so if you do the SD mod, and then apply SonarWorks, it sounds worse, since it's applying an EQ curve to a headphone with a different FR than what the measurements were based on.  

I rate them as: 1) HD800 with SonarWorks 2) SD800 3) SD800 with SonarWorks 4) completely stock, non-EQd HD800

Fair. But whatever claim you make on the sonic properties of a headphone, someone, somewhere will claim the opposite.
 
i.e. the fact that there's someone on this planet that currently owns an HD700

 

[MWSVette]

 
Fair. But whatever claim you make on the sonic properties of a headphone, someone, somewhere will claim the opposite.
 
i.e. the fact that there's someone on this planet that currently owns an HD700

Actually there is someone who owns both the HD700 and HD800 here now...

 

[twiceboss]

i m having problem with sonarworks, it produces ticking sound right after i connect to output. Any problems?

 

[DavidA]

  Actually there is someone who owns both the HD700 and HD800 here now...

make that 2 who own both HD-700 and HD-800

.  FWIW I also know 3 others who have both