[OldSkool]

JC, did you watch Mike's video? It may help you.

Hey Bro, how are ya?

Yes, watched that video a while back, still struggling. The pads sorta snap in but won't stay attached inside the cups.

I do have the Anax2 mod with the shelfliner. Think maybe that's the prob?

 

[paradoxper]

Good. Nice to see you kicking around, man.

Did you use force? The stock pads are a little difficult compared to Dekoni's but should completely snap into place.

 

[leng jai]

They are incredibly easy to put on, it's practically plug and play.

 

[JamieMcC]

Anyone else's stock cable start fraying after 2 years? Both sides of mine did right under the connectors and of course it was a few months after the warranty expired.

Strangely enough yes I notice one side of mine had gone a couple of days ago to be honest I thought I must have caught it and damaged it but today I noticed the other side had gone as well the rubber covered section after the Y splitter seems to have perished and become very fragile. Mine are roughly two years old as well. I will be looking for a new cable and will probably the damaged cable just below the Y splitter and make a extension cable out of it.

 

[Makiah S]

Figured I'd share this with you guys hopefully you'll get a kick out of it

So I had a 16oz beer tonight, just PBR [my wife loves it so I gave up micro brews to share... PBR with her, now I got to her to start eating Medium Rare steak in exchange so it was a fair trade]

Non the less, I've got a GORGEOUS and I mean an absolutely pristine new 1940's Sylvania 12SLGT in my recently modded SET amp... which I totally forgot to share with you guys



I went with AuriCap XOs and implimented a bypass cap as well as upgrading. I also swapped in some Audio Note K's

Non the less re capping aside, what I love about the HD 800 from the amp after the mods was the increased clarity and tactility! An to further that I bought a new 100/100% matched 1940's Sylvania Octal, now the 1940 Octal Family of Sylvania's are my favorite for the spacious clear presentation and there notirous lack of bass [as I'm really sensitive to humpiness] so texture, clarity and precision with a touch of tube warmth are how they sound. Now upon first listening to my new tube... the staging wasn't impressive so I asked my vendor were he got it from and he recounted he found them literally NIB in a warehouse. He sold all the 6sn7s and forgot he had 12 sn7s, so again this thing is PRISTINE the silk screening is immaculate and there's no deposit on the top and there's even the little Anchor on the JAN-CHS model, so again it measured 100/100% and might very well be truly new old stock as opposed to "gently used" old stock

Non the less, the lack of staging got me curious that maybe I need to burn it in, so I gently cleaned it with a LITTLE deoxit and then conditioned it with a LITTLE deoxit gold, then left it for like 10 hours to burn in [I'm also burning in the Cascade so 2 birds one stone] non the less my night is almost over and I figured I'd give it a new listen, an even 16 oz of beer in [and I'm a real light weight] I noticed it staged a little better... likely form having the contacts cleaned and conditioned than from the burn in, non the less everything was great but there was NO TACTILITY... so picture me listening to dozens of songs, Hotel California, Miles Davis so What, Sweet Georgia Brown and others just TRYING TO FEEL SOMETHING... now pushing up to like 95 dB peaks I can actually feel the BASS in Sweet Geogra brown gently shake the ePads/headband but still no mid range tactility... I'm still missing the percussiveness of piano's and the texture of strings... and after an hour of listening... I remember I'm slightly tipsy! SO here I am freaking out thinking somethings gone TERRIBLY WRONG, blaring musical stupidly loud only to forget... I'm tipsy

now thankfully, I didn't listen at 95 peaks to long, I did bring it back down, but all in all it's been a fun night of experimenting lol hopefully you guys can enjoy your music more with a little alcohol, but I have learned that I cannot! Sadly even a little 4% ABV beer is enough to ruin my night of listening lol

 

[joespride]

Nice looking build on the amp.............Insomnia gets me almost nightly my hd800's sound great My new red wine bellina has me wondering, I think its time to rotate the modded havanna back in and relegate the Bellina to speaker duty..............The Hd800 reveal every failure which is aggravating at times,

 

[yates7592]

JC, did you watch Mike's video? It may help you.

Thanks for the link. Looking at my new Dekoni Elite Sheepskin pads (which I am going to fit later), and on these here is a fine mesh material all around the inside of the pad. But on the original HD800 pads there is not, it is just hollow, as far as I can tell. Is this fine mesh material on the Dekoni pads supposed to be in lieu of the dust cover, or as well as? (I did intend just to leave the original dust cover in to be honest).

 

[leng jai]

Thanks for the link. Looking at my new Dekoni Elite Sheepskin pads (which I am going to fit later), and on these here is a fine mesh material all around the inside of the pad. But on the original HD800 pads there is not, it is just hollow, as far as I can tell. Is this fine mesh material on the Dekoni pads supposed to be in lieu of the dust cover, or as well as? (I did intend just to leave the original dust cover in to be honest).

Definitely don't think you're meant to leave the stock cover on, would probably muffle the sound.

 

[paradoxper]

Thanks for the link. Looking at my new Dekoni Elite Sheepskin pads (which I am going to fit later), and on these here is a fine mesh material all around the inside of the pad. But on the original HD800 pads there is not, it is just hollow, as far as I can tell. Is this fine mesh material on the Dekoni pads supposed to be in lieu of the dust cover, or as well as? (I did intend just to leave the original dust cover in to be honest).

That's how I rock 'em -- without the Sennheiser dust cover.

 

[Makiah S]

friendly reminder guys to remember to keep your ears clean. I started listening again tonight and notice'd it wasn't as tactile as what I like/used to. So I did my weekly ear cleaning got rid of a bunch of gunk and low and behold the tactility returned!

Now with a set of clean ears time for some relevant conversations

Focal Clear VS HD 800 SDR

For this review/comparison I'm not using either stock cable! As luck would have it my beautiful Custom OCC Copper Cable I use with my ATH ESW10 [my reference portable closed back] actually works with the Clear! YAY, that's a nice cable mind you

An of course on my HD 800 it's full silver baby

Non the less, I volume matched and adjust the fit/seal of each with David Chesky's 4 Surround Voices, then gave this track a listen



In short the;

HD 800:

• Had a more open and cohesive presentation
• Cleaner more defined bass
• Has a slight emphasis on decay/release/sustain so it resolved longer & more vividly
  • better detail on the vibrato/sustain & release of both horns and paino
• A more percussive presentation to the piano
• Kind of Open/spacious

Focal Clear:

• Bass still isn't linear enough for me but what ever
• Had a slight focus on attack
• with a slight emphasis/sweetness on the mid range
  • Better detail on the leading edge of the horns
  • more discernible on lips/mouth/switch action
  • Not as spacious but just as airy
• Harder less resolved piano and some how not as percussive?
  • Presence is still not on par with HD 800
• more intimate & energetic & a little less cohesive
  • the high hats that shift around above you aren't as cohesive, they jump around a little more

Now both were equally dynamic, and both had excellent micro resolve/transient, yea I will admit the Focal Clear has that... uniquely Focal Mid-Range it's some how thicker/sweeter than the HD 800 with slightly better clarity or discernment between the two horns, so while it's noticeably more intimate it's just as airy, but what it gains in transient relating to the attack or leading edge of each note... it loses on transients relating to the release/sustain/decay of those notes

So where I think the Focal Clear will really beat the HD 800 is on Metal... it's ALMOST there for me but... sometimes it's just not enough... I think the slightly more intimate/animated and just uniquely Focal mid range will be the dynamic presentation of metal to compete with the LCD 2...

And I stand corrected... it sounds congested and really SHRILL up top, yea it's a LOT heavier on the bottom end but... it's so intimate and still not quite as black as the LCD 2... either... it's not as precise as the HD 800 either :/

Switching over to Harvester of Sarrow from Metallica's best [and sadly worse mastered] album ...And Justice for All, the intro guitar sits ever so slightly to the left of center... but on the Clear it's dead center...

And some how the HD 800 is once again more tactile... so yea... I'm going to dig around some more to figure the Clear out...

 

[joespride]

Received my Audiophilleo ap1 with PP today so my rig is complete (untill something dies that is) PC > J-River > Audiophilleo > Modded MHDT Havana with NOS WE396a tube > Ampsandsound Kenzie upgraded caps version with NOS siemens and Hytron tubes > Sennheiser HD800 Brand new / stock.

Crazy detail, Resolution, Bass impact, Clarity, Decay......................Outstanding, Now when to sleep

 

[JamieMcC]

Received my Audiophilleo ap1 with PP today so my rig is complete (untill something dies that is) PC > J-River > Audiophilleo > Modded MHDT Havana with NOS WE396a tube > Ampsandsound Kenzie upgraded caps version with NOS siemens and Hytron tubes > Sennheiser HD800 Brand new / stock.

Crazy detail, Resolution, Bass impact, Clarity, Decay......................Outstanding, Now when to sleep

Hi what mods have you done to your MHDT Havana I really could not get on with the one I owned a few years back.

 

[joespride]

There was a thread on here several years back discussing all the upgrades people were doing to the Havana. I bought mine modded from a member, as memory serves, it has upgraded resistors and caps, This was my 2nd havana and I can tell you the upgrades did make a difference.

 

[OldSkool]

Dekoni elite velour pads arrived yesterday, thanks to Amazon prime. Easy install, they clicked right in...unlike the Senn replacement pads I had been struggling with.

Sound is a bit less "airy" and more focused into the ear. However, that's probably to be expected with a thicker pad.

Many thanks to Paradoxper and Leng Jai for the positive comments about the Dekoni's.

Cheers, JC

 

[leng jai]

To be honest I think the Dekoni hybrids are a bit of a downgrade in comfort compared to the stock pads outside of the softer feel of the lamb skin. I'm one of the people who thought the stock HD800s were the most comfortable headphones of all time. The added thickness does add to the clamping, and they're slightly more finicky in terms of ear placement.