The (new) HD800 Impressions Thread

[ColtMrFire]

A little Coltrane before bed...
 

 
Sounds divine.
 
Goodnight everyone.

 

[sanjeewasam]

HD800 vs Focal Elear​

I am not a recording engineer or anything. However I use my headphones for kind of concentration/meditation. I listen at night when everyone else is sleeping and no outside noise. I love to hear every bit of details- including recording errors, singers breathing if it is captured. I like my music without any coloration- tight base but nothing boomy to overpower mids. In short dead flat across the spectrum.

I have had LCD-2 w/f, AKG K712 pro, AKG K3003i and own Sennhiser HD800, AKG K812 and now selling Focal Elear. As gear Burson Conductor with Saber Dac (Dac/Amp), Chord Mojo (Dac/Amp), Luxman P-2500 (Amp), Violectric V281 (Amp) and Violectric V850 Dac.

I would say off all HD800 is the most neural and my go to headphones- sound stage, clarify and neutral. However, if you do not amp it properly it is thin, distant and harsh. Very difficult to understand if the problem is with recording or with the pairing. For instance till I got Violectric V281 (Amp) and Violectric V850 Dac (which has world record in headphone gear for voltage at 600o) the HD800 did not have body (thin and far-> Illusion of sound stage, weak base and highs sometimes run wild). So yes HD800 better than elear but not not with portable gear.

Elear is just like listening to floor standing speakers but in you ears. Mids are tad less, tad less clarity, lad less mid-high treble, smaller sound stage (but believable) all compared to HD800. But it is the most real thing if you say speakers are the real thing. HD800 is bit artificial. However I listen to my music just before go to bed and for relaxation and I cannot wind down when listening to floor standing speakers- can I? That is why Elear is not for me.

Elear is very easy to power-- it did very well with chord Mojo direct and did not miss much compared to dedicated desktop setup​

 

[jmac1516]

A little Coltrane before bed...

Very nice. I'm a big fan. I need this one.

I have Love Supreme, Giant Steps, My Favorite Things, and Africa Brass.

 

[daltonlanny]

I have a question about Sonarworks for HD800.
I still listen to digital discs such as cd's, dvd audio, and sacd, through a Beta 22 amp, as well as a Sennheiser HDVD 800 headphone amp.
I hardly listen at all to downloaded music, unless its with my smartphone.
In the above scenario, is there anyway at all that I could use Sonarworks equalization for my HD800 headphones?
If not, is there anyway that I could run my Marantz CD6006 cd player and/or Oppo BDP-95 through a computer, and then to my amp (s), etc., to take advantage of the Sonarworks equalization for the HD800?
If it cannot be done, do you all have any other suggestions on equalizing the frequency response on HD800 without modding it, such as some outboard parametric equalizer, or similar?
Thanks for your help.

 

[fjrabon]

I have a question about Sonarworks for HD800.
I still listen to digital discs such as cd's, dvd audio, and sacd, through a Beta 22 amp, as well as a Sennheiser HDVD 800 headphone amp.
I hardly listen at all to downloaded music, unless its with my smartphone.
In the above scenario, is there anyway at all that I could use Sonarworks equalization for my HD800 headphones?
If not, is there anyway that I could run my Marantz CD6006 cd player and/or Oppo BDP-95 through a computer, and then to my amp (s), etc., to take advantage of the Sonarworks equalization for the HD800?
If it cannot be done, do you all have any other suggestions on equalizing the frequency response on HD800 without modding it, such as some outboard parametric equalizer, or similar?
Thanks for your help.

the easiest method would be to simply play your CD through your computer's media player.  However, if you want to use your CD player, it may be theoretically possible to convert the CD player's coaxial digital output into USB, run this into your computer as an audio input, then process this through sonarworks, then output it to your DAC.  However, that sounds like a lot of places the sound could go poorly.  
 
If you just want the basic idea, you could buy any quality studio rack EQ and just copy the adjustment curve that Sonarworks uses for the HD800 that has been posted here several times.  Copying it exactly would be a very painstaking process, but as long as you use a good rack unit and are careful, you should get great results.
 

 
for graphic I've used and liked this unit in live music settings.
 
parametric would be trickier as far as creating a near replica of that curve, but if you could pull it off, would probably sound a bit better.  You'd need a lot of bands (at least 6 to reasonably approximate the above curve).  I don't have any recs on a good hardware parametric EQ, as most of the units I've use were digital plug ins.

 

[JaZZ]

fjrabon...
 
...the dbx 2232 looks like a fully analogue equalizer – which I would avoid in the interest of signal purity, i.e. sound quality. The ideal solution for daltonlanny would be a digital hardware equalizer, but I have no experience with this kind of devices, so can't offer a recommendation.
 
 
daltonlanny...
 
...another logical variant would be to rip all disks to the HDD of your computer and use a SonarWorks-compatible audio player there. This solution would mean a lot of hassle at the start, but finally offer you even higher comfort – e.g. much easier search for a specific track or album and the possibility to shuffle among your whole music collection.

 

[ColtMrFire]

Ella and Louis' 'Porgy and Bess' is one of my favorite recordings.  Hearing it for the first time through the 800s is a revelation!
 

 

[fjrabon]

fjrabon...

...the dbx 2232 looks like a fully analogue equalizer – which I would avoid in the interest of signal purity, i.e. sound quality. The ideal solution for daltonlanny would be a digital hardware equalizer, but I have no experience with this kind of devices, so can't offer a recommendation.


daltonlanny...

...another logical variant would be to rip all disks to the HDD of your computer and use a SonarWorks-compatible audio player there. This solution would mean a lot of hassle at the start, but finally offer you even higher comfort – e.g. much easier search for a specific track or album and the possibility to shuffle among your whole music collection.

Yeah, I agree, but this was in a world we we are using his marantz CD player. Though that DBT unit is pretty pure and clean.

Ripping to hard drive as redbook is probably the easiest solution, but he seemed opposed to it.

 

[13713]

  Ella and Louis' 'Porgy and Bess' is one of my favorite recordings.  Hearing it for the first time through the 800s is a revelation!
 

This post is pure truth. 
 
Glad you love your headphones. I have been reading your posts since you put them on. It is like watching a kid open packages. One of the great parts of this hobby is seeing others appreciate and love it. 

 

[ColtMrFire]

  This post is pure truth. 
 
Glad you love your headphones. I have been reading your posts since you put them on. It is like watching a kid open packages. One of the great parts of this hobby is seeing others appreciate and love it. 

 
Haha, I bet.  Truth is the 800s are the most significant audio purchase I've ever made.  And I'm talking all the way back to my teenage days, a long time ago.  It's still mind blowing what Sennheiser has achieved with these cans.  And at such a low price point... they're probably worth twice the retail price based on their tremendous ability to scale.  

 

[ColtMrFire]

Switching things up a bit with the score from 'The Counselor'.  
 

 
 
Hated the movie, though it does have some great cinematography and absolutely brutal and inventive death scenes (worth the price of admission)....
 
Nice atmospheric score, with alot of guitar, accompanied by orchestral stuff.  Has a bit of the Hans Zimmer vibe.

 

[fjrabon]

Don't want to be rude or anything, love the enthusiasm for the HD800, but this thread has essentially turned into one person's real time tweeting of their personal playlist.

 

[daltonlanny]

Yeah, I agree, but this was in a world we we are using his marantz CD player. Though that DBT unit is pretty pure and clean.

Ripping to hard drive as redbook is probably the easiest solution, but he seemed opposed to it.

Thanks for your help, advice, and the link.
Much appreciated.
Will consider all options for equalization.

 

[Thenewguy007]

HD800 vs Focal Elear​

I am not a recording engineer or anything. However I use my headphones for kind of concentration/meditation. I listen at night when everyone else is sleeping and no outside noise. I love to hear every bit of details- including recording errors, singers breathing if it is captured. I like my music without any coloration- tight base but nothing boomy to overpower mids. In short dead flat across the spectrum.


I have had LCD-2 w/f, AKG K712 pro, AKG K3003i and own Sennhiser HD800, AKG K812 and now selling Focal Elear. As gear Burson Conductor with Saber Dac (Dac/Amp), Chord Mojo (Dac/Amp), Luxman P-2500 (Amp), Violectric V281 (Amp) and Violectric V850 Dac.


I would say off all HD800 is the most neural and my go to headphones- sound stage, clarify and neutral. However, if you do not amp it properly it is thin, distant and harsh. Very difficult to understand if the problem is with recording or with the pairing. For instance till I got Violectric V281 (Amp) and Violectric V850 Dac (which has world record in headphone gear for voltage at 600o) the HD800 did not have body (thin and far-> Illusion of sound stage, weak base and highs sometimes run wild). So yes HD800 better than elear but not not with portable gear.


Elear is just like listening to floor standing speakers but in you ears. Mids are tad less, tad less clarity, lad less mid-high treble, smaller sound stage (but believable) all compared to HD800. But it is the most real thing if you say speakers are the real thing. HD800 is bit artificial. However I listen to my music just before go to bed and for relaxation and I cannot wind down when listening to floor standing speakers- can I? That is why Elear is not for me.


Elear is very easy to power-- it did very well with chord Mojo direct and did not miss much compared to dedicated desktop setup​

How is the AKG 812 vs the HD800? & Elear?

 

[ColtMrFire]

Don't want to be rude or anything, love the enthusiasm for the HD800, but this thread has essentially turned into one person's real time tweeting of their personal playlist.

 
Sorry.