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.