[fzman]

Given this on-going dichotomy regarding the 800s  portrayal of thing like sibilance, is  there a consensus whether the 800s sound better 'balanced' vs singe-ended with regard to this issue?  Which amps that provide balanced connection via 4-pin xlrs?  
 
What I am wondering is whether balanced connection would allow a higher percentage of recordings to meet with the 800's approval - whether balanced would bring over more warm-heads into the 800 fold.
 
A man can dream, can't he?

 

[bigfatpaulie]

  Given this on-going dichotomy regarding the 800s  portrayal of thing like sibilance, is  there a consensus whether the 800s sound better 'balanced' vs singe-ended with regard to this issue?  Which amps that provide balanced connection via 4-pin xlrs?  
 
What I am wondering is whether balanced connection would allow a higher percentage of recordings to meet with the 800's approval - whether balanced would bring over more warm-heads into the 800 fold.
 
A man can dream, can't he?

 
I don't think balanced or single ended has anything to do with it...

 

[fzman]

   
I don't think balanced or single ended has anything to do with it...

 
thanks for the reply.  I have read several comments that running the 800s balanced sounds better - was wondering if the alleged Achilles Heel of the 800 would become the Achilles Heal with a balanced connection (and an amp of the right sonic presentation, of course-- that is, for amps that offer both connection options, does the balanced connection to the 800s sound beter in this spedcific way.

 

[Sorrodje]

   
 
I don't hear it either on my pair in my setup.  So I'm a lie to?  Seems like you just go with what the majority say and anything else is a lie.  Seems you are easily persuaded.  No owners of this headphone is scrambling over a negative commit from you - why?  Who cares what you think, we happen the like the headphone and are willing to taylor around it.  May be the Senn amp is to bright? Who knows.
 
For you to come here and call people a lie is down right wrong.

 
Take This Diana Krall's recording for example :
 

 
Sibilance is obviously excessive . Lot of reverb and overally bad recording.  I use this recording to test my gear with the HD800. Unlistenable on inappropriate amp or dac , bearable with better ones . never really enjoyable and I never listen to this album for enjoyement. I"ve "Live in Paris" too and it's better.
 
Everyone recognize here that the HD800 tend to be brighter than strictly neutral. Flaws in recordings like sibilance are more obvious. That's all.  IMO , YMMV and What.
 
The Above poster should better listen to Youn Sun Nah instead

 

[yates7592]

@ potkettleblack:
 
I'm just wondering what cable you used for your listening? Sounds like a small detail but a lot of people, myself included, agree that the stock Senn 1/4" cable is utter *****. Replacing this with an after-market cable can tame the apparent sibilance (as well as fattening out the low-end somewhat). Just a thought. 'Cardas Clear' 4-pin balanced makes a big difference on my set and transforms the HD800 from "almost there" to well and truly there.
 
Edit - just realised the autochecker is replacing my S-H-I-T-E with ***** !!

 

[Sorrodje]

I'm back to stock cable since the end of august and I've no problem with it. I had a cardas (don't known which one) before. Just saying.

 

[preproman]

   
Take This Diana Krall's recording for example :
 

 
Sibilance is obviously excessive . Lot of reverb and overally bad recording.  I use this recording to test my gear with the HD800. Unlistenable on inappropriate amp or dac , bearable with better ones . never really enjoyable and I never listen to this album for enjoyement. I"ve "Live in Paris" too and it's better.
 
Everyone recognize here that the HD800 tend to be brighter than strictly neutral. Flaws in recordings like sibilance are more obvious. That's all.  IMO , YMMV and What.
 
The Above poster should better listen to Youn Sun Nah instead

 
 
Never will it be "Everybody"  sorry.   What track are you talking about?    I got it playing now.

 

[ToddTheMetalGod]

Alright lads!

the chance to have two, two hour listening sessions on the new (20,000plus serial number) HD 800 this week.

I only listened to FLAC files and it was driven by the hdvd 800 amp.

This was the first time I'd listened to this headphone, and it's something I've been waiting to do for a long while. I felt like a kid on Christmas day when I first walked in the room and saw them.

Plus sides:

1. The soundstage was incredible. The placement of instruments and massive feel they give you is something I'd never experienced before, and it completely took me off guard, no matter how many reviews I'd read beforehand.

2. Clarity and detail were second to none. There was nothing this headphone was gonna miss on a song. Not a thing.

3. Classical, specifically piano and orchestral pieces sounded spectacular - enough to make me buy them just t be able to listen to that genre alone.

Jazz also sounded very impressive but seemed to lack warmth.

Downsides:

1. I felt it struggled hugely with Reggae, Pop and Rock (I preferred Reggae on my ps500e's by quite a margin)
They seemed to lose their life within the shuffle of each track.
Very thin, cold and anemic sounding.

2. I'd heard that the 800's can be quite harsh and have quite a bit of sibilance with vocals. To my delight in the first listening  session I had I didn't experience any. That was until the last 5-10 minutes, just before I left, when I decided to listen to some Diana krall.
Her voice hit me like a bloody thunderbolt, like someone had taken an icepick and driven right into my dome!
I went through a few more tracks and again spike that came with some of the vocals were quite shocking.

This pretty much broke my heart. And I decided not purchase.

I did come back the next day and had an hour comparing them with hd650's, just for ****s and giggles.

Sorry I couldn't really go into details as I struggle to articulate experiences with headphones in the same depth some of you ''audiophiles'' do - I just thought I'd let you know how I felt.

It's a shame such an incredible headphone has such a huge flaw.

Honestly, the solution is a coloured amp. Even though that goes against objectivism, an amp with body/weight to the sound and a bit of bass emphasis can really fix the sound of pop and other exciting genres.

My Nuforce HA200 made the HD800 lose soundstage width and made the sound a bit too forward, but it added the perfect amount of body, bass, and soundstage depth... so for me it is now enjoyable for all genres. Of course it took away some of the good about the HD800, but it more than made up for it by fixing it's flaws. I never found the HD800 annoyingly bright even off of my O2, but it is slightly less bright on this amp (probably just due to the increase in volume on the low end tilting the overall frequency response).

Obviously I do find it bright, but nothing to complain about. I noticed a tiny bit of sibilance in pianos and female vocals, but nothing that immediately jumps out (except on awful recordings). I actually have to focus to hear it, I can't imagine being bothered by it. Then again, I'm bothered by the 10kHz peak on the HE-400 which many people aren't.

 

[Sorrodje]

   
 
Never will it be "Everybody"  sorry.   What track are you talking about?    I got it playing now.

 
First one and all other tracks. I listened to it a few minutes ago at work with a Porta pro and sibilance is obvious to my ears even if its' far less noticable than with my HD800.

 

[bigfatpaulie]

   
thanks for the reply.  I have read several comments that running the 800s balanced sounds better - was wondering if the alleged Achilles Heel of the 800 would become the Achilles Heal with a balanced connection (and an amp of the right sonic presentation, of course-- that is, for amps that offer both connection options, does the balanced connection to the 800s sound beter in this spedcific way.

 
There are good amps for the HD800 that are balanced and good amps that are single ended.  I think where there whole, "the HD800 is better balanced" thing came from is that there are more very good amps that are balanced for the HD800's than very good amps that are just single ended.  In addition to that amps that offer both balanced and single ended typically sound better balanced because the balanced connection is wired differently for higher impedance phones with more more power.  The M9, GSX ans Stratus all output less on their single ended outputs vs their balanced ones.  My guess is that the builders are thinking you are using the single ended jack to drive things like IEMS.  

 

[preproman]

   
First one and all other tracks. I listened to it a few minutes ago at work with a Porta pro and sibilance is obvious to my ears even if its' far less noticable than with my HD800.

 
I'm already down to track #6 Love me like a man.   All I hear is great music.  I pair is hardwired with a solid core copper cable.  Maybe that's it.  Not sure.

 

[Sorrodje]

This demonstrates that we have not the same sensitivity/tastes. All I hear in this recording is metallic Piano, too much reverb  and sibilance. Currently playing it.  It's in my opinion a good example of "bloated" Jazz sound . take the "bloated" with a grain of salt. English is not my native language so maybe I use a inappropriately rude word .
 
For me , a "near to perfect" recording is for example this Album :
 

 
 
 
Youn Sun Nah "Lento".
 
Just notice I can hear some sibilance in his voice but so much less than with Diana Krall.
 
All ACT recordings are amazing. Ulf Wakenius "Vagabond" is magical.
 
 
For more classical Vocal Jazz , I often listen to this:
 

 
Sounds good If I trust my ears.
 
 
IMO , YMMV , matter of preference, no offense here and so on...

 

[potkettleblack]

Hi,
 
I didn't mention that which I should have. It was the sennheiser balanced cable.

 

[LugBug1]

   
And having to ''taylor'' around a headphone that costs £1000 pounds to make it sounds right, not just different,  is quite frankly unacceptable.
 
 

You mean sound "right" to you... 
 
Most of the peeps on this thread think it is the most "right" sounding hp there is. It is famous for being the most transparent hp in the world. Now just think about that for a moment... Could it be the recording/recordings that are bad? 
 
You've already admitted that piano/orchestral (acoustic) music sounds amazing - and classical music is generally very well recorded. 
 
Now just have a think about it before you cause uproar on here hahah (or is that your plan

 

[potkettleblack]

Thank you for the reply.
 
A big part of me is still considering this headphone.
 
If I can somehow curb enough I still might buy it. It just angers me a little that you have to work around things like this.