[kvtaco17]

  Thats why we need a variety of  HP'S. 

That reminds me, I'm down to 4 cans... lol

 

[koiloco]

  That reminds me, I'm down to 4 cans... lol

what a positive way to spin it!   

 

[Mambosenior]

That reminds me, I'm down to 4 cans... lol

Man, that's tough! Can't the generous souls here at Head-Fi start a collection for you? Alone with only 4 headphones to keep you warm during the long winter? Why, that's positively inhuman.

 

[kvtaco17]

Man, that's tough! Can't the generous souls here at Head-Fi start a collection for you? Alone with only 4 headphones to keep you warm during the long winter? Why, that's positively inhuman.

Right? Our initial goal should be a pair of RS1i's... the Stax SR-009 will be a stretch goal lol

 

[PTom]

I've been reading about the HD800 being extremely detailed and having a very expansive soundstage. How does this headphone compare to reality i.e. if I want a headphone that sounds like real life is this a good option? Or is it better to describe the HD800 experience as hyperreal (i.e. better than or an improvement on actual reality).

 

[palmfish]

  I've been reading about the HD800 being extremely detailed and having a very expansive soundstage. How does this headphone compare to reality i.e. if I want a headphone that sounds like real life is this a good option? Or is it better to describe the HD800 experience as hyperreal (i.e. better than or an improvement on actual reality).

 
It has no resemblance to "real life" whatsoever. All headphones put the soundstage primarily inside your skull. Your brain suspends belief and allows it to be enjoyable.

 

[Nitori]

imo you get an almost speaker-like experience......which is still far away from "real-life" however
 
still, there's is no other headphone (that I know) that creates something so enjoyable soundstage wise.......interesting on some genres and can be annoying on other genres

 

[koiloco]

   
It has no resemblance to "real life" whatsoever. All headphones put the soundstage primarily inside your skull. Your brain suspends belief and allows it to be enjoyable.

+1

 

[pdrm360]

   
It has no resemblance to "real life" whatsoever. All headphones put the soundstage primarily inside your skull. Your brain suspends belief and allows it to be enjoyable.

+1

+2

 

[Spakka]

I would agree the soundstage is nothing like reality... Sometimes it even sounds, dare I say it, a bit too separated, a bit weird. 
 
I still love my HD800s though, to the extent of having no interest in investing in new headphones for a very, very long time. 

 

[icebear]

  I've been reading about the HD800 being extremely detailed and having a very expansive soundstage. How does this headphone compare to reality i.e. if I want a headphone that sounds like real life is this a good option? Or is it better to describe the HD800 experience as hyperreal (i.e. better than or an improvement on actual reality).

There is a crucial difference between reality and your favorite armchair :
When you are at home, relaxed in your private environment you are focusing (ideally) only to listening, maybe even with your eyes closed. That way, you are perceptible to every minute acoustic detail that your system is able to transport. A live concert is completely different. You have visual contact to the musicians and connected to that your hearing is focusing on the direction of your visual perception. Both together will enable you to be aware of things that you wouldn't pay attention to other wise, although they are there.
 
Usually all of the performance is happening in front of you and not right and left next to your ear canal, so there is a crucial difference in listening to something via a headphone with almost perfect channel separation and listening in a regular space with minute time delay to the left and right ear that enable locating the source of the noise.
 
The HD800 has the ability to create the impression of a great sound stage, comparing among headphones but there is no comparison with a proper speaker set up.

 

[Mambosenior]

There is a crucial difference between reality and your favorite armchair...

At my age, I vote for armchair. Live events, even staid classical evenings, have become scenarios for bothersome distractions due to the diminishing lack of courtesy in society. I do miss live experiences but not on present terms.

 

[Dillan]

Honestly, the HD800 with a good binaural recording can kind of trick me into thinking that I am at some live event.  However, a regular high quality digital track or maybe a spin of the vinyl puts me back into reality, but not in a bad way.  I thoroughly enjoy the music, but unless its some binaural recording "trying" to trick you into thinking the band is right there.. I am fully aware of the music just being music.  Not that it is a bad thing. 

I love every minute of it - It still sounds beautiful. 

 

 

[lamboy1]

I love my 800's but there is no comparison to aerial 10 t's which I have
had for 15 years

 

 

[froger]

It has no resemblance to "real life" whatsoever. All headphones put the soundstage primarily inside your skull. Your brain suspends belief and allows it to be enjoyable.

Soundstage inside your skull? Does it mean that the singer or instruments are playing as if they are positioned inside or near your head?