[marlowe19]

  My SR009 with 007t/ii amp with RCA 6cg7 tubes is awesome to me, even the bass is very fine. A super-amp is nice, but not necessary by any means.
HD800 actually seems to need more high-end-amp support to sound great (mine do), but still not in SR009 territory in terms of resolution, smoothness, and speed.

I'm leaning towards this exact combination at the moment (SR-009 + 007tII). And I have yet to read complaints from any of its owners. However, Tyll has this to say: "The problem with this amp is all that goodness goes out the window when turned up to stronger listening levels. The bass doesn't seem to get louder, just woollier, and the mids start to get shouty. But the worst thing is that the somewhat innocuous treble sparkle quickly grew through glare and on into what sounds like significant distortion to me." Now, just how hard is Tyll actually pushing this amp before experiencing such a deterioration in sound quality? What does "stronger listening levels" mean? Are we talking ear-splitting rock concert levels? I'd like to hear from some owners. Has anyone encountered what Tyll describes?

 

[LugBug1]

   
 
People think that the HD800 sounds "dull", but that's exactly what I feel when I try the Audeze headphones. It's a powerful and smooth sound but the soundstage is pretty small and there is no top end "air" and sparkle, for me that makes the Audeze headphones boring. They are also pretty heavy and your ears get warm after a while.
 
People keep saying that the bass of the Audeze headphones is superior but I don't think so. Give the HD800 proper amplification, a pure copper cable and apply some light EQ (-3dB in the 6kHz band to soften that treble peak is a good start). The bass of a properly setup HD800 is super tight, goes as deep as the ocean and can really make your head shake if that's what you want.

 
+2 on that. Audeze have great bass if that is all you want from a headphone. But the fire is too hot below! The heat travels up through the rest of the frequency response and you can't make out what's happening at the top for smoke.. They have a lovely cozy tone that is ideal for Jazz ensemble or intimate vocals. But they simply can't compete in true hi-fi terms with the Senn's. Everything is the right temperature with the HD800. Even if some don't agree with the 6k icicle. 

 

[Rossliew]

It's the 6k icicle that brings air, clarity and transparency to these cans. I've learnt to accept it for what it is and enjoy whatever music that flows through it.

 

[LugBug1]

It's the 6k icicle that brings air, clarity and transparency to these cans. I've learnt to accept it for what it is and enjoy whatever music that flows through it.

Yup its never been an issue with me at all. 
 
I do EQ other cans and am not against a bit of digital tailoring so to speak. I tried downing the 6khz area 2-3 db just to see how it affected them. To be honest the difference was that small I found it hard to tell any change. This lead me to believe that the so called 6k trouble area might not be the cause of some folks fatigue. I would recommend anyone trying this. Just down the 6k a few db and see what difference it makes. (shut your eyes and click the reset to put it back to flat with some piano music for e.g) It could of course be my middle aged hearing, but I can generally hear changes with other hp's and their peaks when I play around with an EQ. 

 

[pearljam50000]

I read somewhere here that the earlier serial # HD800 had a fuller sound in comparison to new serial #.
Is that true? how big is the difference between "old" and "new" HD800's? thanks.

 

[Maxvla]

No significant difference. Normal production variance, the smallest of any high end headphone.

 

[rydenfan]

What is the best EQ to use in conjunction with J River?

 

[bearFNF]

What is the best EQ to use in conjunction with J River?

In my experience, "Off" is the best EQ, YMMV 

​

 

[Zoom25]

 
Positively the HD800 has a better sound stage than the SR-009. I heard both at the NY Spring meet with Justin's set up, i.e. GSX-MkII and BHSE respectively. Yes, the SR-009 is a class above in terms of resolution and complete effortless of the presentation, the music is "just there" BUT the music is inside your head. There is no other headphone currently that has the ability to create a live like sound stage and allows pin point localization of voices and instruments like the HD800 does. Therefore I would prefer the HD800 every time besides the little monetary difference for a complete set up (hp & amp).
 
But anyway enjoy you b.. a.. TV.
My living room wouldn't be big enough for a proper viewing distance

.

 
Yeah I liked that about the HD800. It's the closest headphone that can emulate how speakers throw a soundstage from the front and also have a pinpoint centerstage. Centerstage is quite important to me. I hated how some planars, like HE-500 didn't have a coherent centerstage despite how well it imaged on the sides. LOL I'm in the process of adding new TVs to each floor along with their active monitors and DAC/pre-amp. Down to one passive speaker setup. It's much cheaper, easier and better sounding this way.
 

   
Nothing polite about the HD800s, that's for sure..

Yeah definitely not. I wish I had tried them earlier. I suppose it's all for the best. At least this way I won't have a "what-if" planar bug. I've yet to experiment with HD800 on other setup besides mine, but it sounds like a high end neutral monitor. Much better than the laid back Audeze.
 

  I just demoed the Audeze LCD-X in a store today and in my humble opinon my rig with a slightly EQ'd HD800 still rules supreme.
 
People think that the HD800 sounds "dull", but that's exactly what I feel when I try the Audeze headphones. It's a powerful and smooth sound but the soundstage is pretty small and there is no top end "air" and sparkle, for me that makes the Audeze headphones boring. They are also pretty heavy and your ears get warm after a while.
 
People keep saying that the bass of the Audeze headphones is superior but I don't think so. Give the HD800 proper amplification, a pure copper cable and apply some light EQ (-3dB in the 6kHz band to soften that treble peak is a good start). The bass of a properly setup HD800 is super tight, goes as deep as the ocean and can really make your head shake if that's what you want.

Yup. I've owned all or auditioned all the planars and their bass isn't anything over special compared to HD800. HD800 with seem deep house easily shows just how much it can be a sub bass head monster. The only planar I'd take is LCD-2 for it's slam. The other Audezes and Hifiman either go soft on the impact (LCD-3) or lose out on the extension (HE-500).

 

[icebear]

The HD800 made me love treble and its realism is second to none, imo. It is the treble that gives you the beautifully wide soundstage. ...

I am not sure about this.
It is ambient information, reflections of the original sound source from the walls of the performance/recording room. That includes all frequencies not only treble. The most important factor for localization are time differences between these reflections and the source and the delay between the receptions of this information at your eardrums. So accuracy in detail and perfect timing need to come together to make the reproduction believable.

 

[TwoEars]

  I am not sure about this.
It is ambient information, reflections of the original sound source from the walls of the performance/recording room. That includes all frequencies not only treble. The most important factor for localization are time differences between these reflections and the source and the delay between the receptions of this information at your eardrums. So accuracy in detail and perfect timing need to come together to make the reproduction believable.

 
I think I have to agree with this. The HD800 was designed with a big angled driver that is meant to act on the whole ear, not just a narrow point around the ear canal. This is what gives the HD800 such a big and wide soundstage.
 
I've tried some pretty extreme EQ settings and even when you make the HD800 sound as dark as the LCD-2 the soundstage is still there.

 

[MickeyVee]

It's all relative. I have the RS1i as my complementary pair of HPs to the HD800 and in my case, yes, the HD800 are polite.
Quote:

  Nothing polite about the HD800s, that's for sure..

 

[pearljam50000]

So can we agree that the HD800, as a package, is the best headphones on the planet? ^_^
I never heard such a realistic and holographic sound from headphones, in my life.

 

[TwoEars]

So can we agree that the HD800, as a package, is the best headphones on the planet? ^_^
I never heard such a realistic and holographic sound from headphones, in my life.

 
At this level it's down to personal preference.
 
Some people like beer, I prefer wine. Some people like fast cars, I like reliable cars. You get the idea.
 
In stock form straight out of the box and with no EQ I'd probably take the LCD-X. But the thing with the HD800 is that just like the HD600 and HD650 it scales exceptionally well with better equipment.
 
HD800 balanced with pure copper cable and -3dB EQ on that 6kHz peak is for me an entirely different experience than the stock HD800. It's powerful, meaty, dead neutral, and still with soundstage and comfort to die for.

 

[icebear]

   
I think I have to agree with this. The HD800 was designed with a big angled driver that is meant to act on the whole ear, not just a narrow point around the ear canal. This is what gives the HD800 such a big and wide soundstage.   ...

That's an interesting point - the size of the driver but then ...
the driver surface of the Audeze range or SR-009 isn't any smaller than the driver of the HD800, are they?
So this leaves the angle position but then there were a couple of Staxes around with angled position drivers.
I guess it's not so easy to explain how the Sennheiser development crew came up with this "beast"

.