[kapanak]

  Did you just really call the V200 amp "soft and gooey"? I know everyone has their own preference for amps but the v200 is certainly a good headphone amp. It has been reviewed many times and though it may not please everyone it is still considered a good quality amp. Or maybe you were joking? No I don't own one but I have head it for extended listening.

V200 is a very warm amp. And yes, it softens the HD800, or gooefies it, and many like it that way. And yes, it is a very good amp.

 

[62ohm]

  Did you just really call the V200 amp "soft and gooey"? I know everyone has their own preference for amps but the v200 is certainly a good headphone amp. It has been reviewed many times and though it may not please everyone it is still considered a good quality amp. Or maybe you were joking? No I don't own one but I have head it for extended listening.

 
We all hears differently, and to me it does make the HD800 soft and gooey. That said, I don't think that's a bad thing as it IMO is captivating to listen to with the HD800. But as Kapanak said, it does gooefies it and many like it that way. Purrin also often says the V200 gooefies the HD800 too much you would be better off getting an LCD-2 instead.

 

[HiFiChris]

One of the reasons for the HDVD800 producing rather smooth treble coupled with the HD800 is its rather high output impedance of roughly 50 Ohms. IIrc, a Sennheiser production manager said they tested out several lower and higher impedances and decided they liked 50 Ohms the best.
Beyerdynamic's A1 has also got a quite high output impedance (but they did it to minimize differences in volume when connecting different headphones).

 

[ruthieandjohn]

I agree. The HDVD 800 and HD 800 is a match made in heaven. I have never experienced either the fatiguing highs or the weak lows that some have on thenHD 800 while using the HDVD 800. I also have used it both single ended and balanced, and while there is a difference, I think the single ended sounds just find, too.

 

[knowhatimean]

  Anyone else experience fatigue after listening to the HD800s for a few hours?
 
What do you do to cope with this fatigue? Sleep? Watch TV? Go for a walk? Have a bite to eat?

The reason we get fatigued after a few hours on one headphone & not another is that 1 has a much higher amount of high frequency
"hash" (a lot of people like to call this "air";we really can't "hear" air) is acting like a constant "drone" that becomes a cumulative stress
on our eardrums. The sound is being generated by the headphones themselves & while a lot of people aren't sensitive to this noise
their eardrums could "care less" as it bothers them !
 
When you finally reach the point where your ears have had enough you feel fatigued (& may also experience a slight bit of "tinitus"
after taking the headphones off). At this point the best thing you can do is give your ears as much rest as you can (for a few hours
at least)
 
As JJ mentioned several hrs ago the Anax mods help quite a bit ,as they arey introducing more "random" lower frequency sound
to the mix to "interrupt" the unchecked "hash" that is creating the constant "drone"(that you don't know is there) (These mods really
aren't that difficult & are completely reversible). The important thing here is that you introduce something to change the sound balance.
(Can you introduce a balance change by using a different amp ? Sure, but you don't have to (unless you just prefer the "sound" of
that amp) to get rid of the "hash")
 
If you do nothing else (& that would be ridiculous :as you have these great headphones) shorten your listening sessions to a point
before you notice fatigue & take several listening breaks . If you do become fatigued only a substantial listening break (at least an
hr, more if possible) is going to help you out, or LFF will pop right back up & you may now have to suspend your listening for the
day !

 

[ubs28]

  The biggest issue I had with the HDVD800/HDVA600 is that you're buying it for the HD800. That's it. It won't really play well with much else.

Why is that? Is it because of the high impedance? 

 

[ubs28]

  One of the reasons for the HDVD800 producing rather smooth treble coupled with the HD800 is its rather high output impedance of roughly 50 Ohms. IIrc, a Sennheiser production manager said they tested out several lower and higher impedances and decided they liked 50 Ohms the best.
Beyerdynamic's A1 has also got a quite high output impedance (but they did it to minimize differences in volume when connecting different headphones).

What does the high impedance do with the HD800? Does produce some kind of bass boost since the impedance graph rises in the bass area?

 

[Priidik]

Fwiw some in ears (very low impedance) work great with the HDVA600.
Sure enough most planar mag-s suck from it. But even then some havereported good synergy with LCD-s.

 

[HiFiChris]

@ubs28: Most likely yes.
 
Only headphones with a flat impedance response, such as the LCD-X, Signature Pro or HE-6, would not experience any changes in tonality.

 

[ruthieandjohn]

 
Why is that? Is it because of the high impedance? 

Yes.  As mentioned above, listening tests guided Sennheiser to set the HDVD800 output impedance to 43 ohms, which is great for the nominal 300 ohms input impedance (up to 600 ohms at some frequencies) of the Sennheiser HD 800 headphones (rule of 8 - headphone impedance to be at least 8x higher than amp output impedance).  However, for such headphones as Grados, which have a 32 ohm input impedance, you would do better with an amp of lower output impedance as well... 4 ohms or less.

 

[maibuN]

  The ANAX mods can help with this quite a bit, especially v.2.
 
Also a 10-20 minute break can really be effective.
It sort of 're-sets' and 'clears' the cumulative effects of Listener Fatigue Factor.
 
My 2¢ anyway.
 
JJ

 
Anax mod 2.0 and removing grilles helped me.
 
But in the end it's still the hd800, listening is sometimes very interesting but also exhausting and not very emotional or fun.

 

[roguegeek]

Hola gentlemen. It's been a little while since I've been on this thread. Probably around 10 months or so. When I last left, I had my HD 800 paired with a Crack/Speedball and was on a journey to find a good SS amp. Life got in the way, as it always does, and nothing has changed, but I'm still enjoying the hell out of my cans. I'm still looking for that amp and my requirements haven't changed.
 

1. solid-state
2. no integrated DAC
3. single-ended headphone outputs and a preamp to run powered speakers
4. pairs exceptional with the HD 800: keep the signature neutral, maybe warm it up a tad, compliment the soundstage, separation, detail, and resolution
5. pairs well with other popular headphones and IEMs
6. ≈$1500, but will go higher if the argument is made
7. optionally, balanced headphone outputs would be nice

 
This was my original list back then. I've ruled out a couple since and have elevated some.
 

1. AURALiC Taurus MKII: $1899, ss, single-ended, balanced, RCA+balanced preamp
2. Schiit Ragnarok: $1499, ss, single-ended, balanced, RCA preamp, balanced preamp?
3. Questyle CMA800R: $1499, ss, single-ended (2), balanced, RCA preamp
4. Senn HDVA 600: $1499, ss, single-ended (2), balanced (2), balanced preamp?
5. Lehmannaudio Linear SE: ss, single-ended (2), RCA preamp
6. Bryston BHA-1: $1395, ss, single-ended, balanced (2), balanced preamp?
7. Luxman P-1u: ss, single-ended (2), RCA preamp

 
The Taurus MKII is at the top based solely on objective functions available and the stellar reviews I've read here and from other sources. Looks like it hit all of my requirements and worked with with a ton of cans. So then onto the questions. Has there been any update since that time that I should know about in terms of the subject I'm tackling? I know there was talk about the Ragnarok and it looks very very interesting, but it wasn't widely available at the time I was looking. Function is definitely there, but how did that one go over with everyone? Should the Taurus MKII still be a top choice for me, considering what I'm looking for? Any other amps I should be looking at?
 
Thanks all!

 

[TonyNewman]

  Hola gentlemen. It's been a little while since I've been on this thread. Probably around 10 months or so. When I last left, I had my HD 800 paired with a Crack/Speedball and was on a journey to find a good SS amp. Life got in the way, as it always does, and nothing has changed, but I'm still enjoying the hell out of my cans. I'm still looking for that amp and my requirements haven't changed.
 

1. solid-state
2. no integrated DAC
3. single-ended headphone outputs and a preamp to run powered speakers
4. pairs exceptional with the HD 800: keep the signature neutral, maybe warm it up a tad, compliment the soundstage, separation, detail, and resolution
5. pairs well with other popular headphones and IEMs
6. ≈$1500, but will go higher if the argument is made
7. optionally, balanced headphone outputs would be nice

 
This was my original list back then. I've ruled out a couple since and have elevated some.
 

1. AURALiC Taurus MKII: $1899, ss, single-ended, balanced, RCA+balanced preamp
2. Schiit Ragnarok: $1499, ss, single-ended, balanced, RCA preamp, balanced preamp?
3. Questyle CMA800R: $1499, ss, single-ended (2), balanced, RCA preamp
4. Senn HDVA 600: $1499, ss, single-ended (2), balanced (2), balanced preamp?
5. Lehmannaudio Linear SE: ss, single-ended (2), RCA preamp
6. Bryston BHA-1: $1395, ss, single-ended, balanced (2), balanced preamp?
7. Luxman P-1u: ss, single-ended (2), RCA preamp

 
The Taurus MKII is at the top based solely on objective functions available and the stellar reviews I've read here and from other sources. Looks like it hit all of my requirements and worked with with a ton of cans. So then onto the questions. Has there been any update since that time that I should know about in terms of the subject I'm tackling? I know there was talk about the Ragnarok and it looks very very interesting, but it wasn't widely available at the time I was looking. Function is definitely there, but how did that one go over with everyone? Should the Taurus MKII still be a top choice for me, considering what I'm looking for? Any other amps I should be looking at?
 
Thanks all!

 
I own the Taurus and it is a good amp. Pairs well with the HD800 via balanced output - not so great single ended (I think its a power thing - not sure). Can't drive the HE6 properly, if that is a consideration. Drives anything else I have thrown at it very well.
 
However, if your budget could stretch as far as the Simaudio 430HA you will be rewarded. It is a better amp and preamp, as it should be for close to double the price.

 

[ezone2kil]

*edited for double post*

 

[ezone2kil]

  Hola gentlemen. It's been a little while since I've been on this thread. Probably around 10 months or so. When I last left, I had my HD 800 paired with a Crack/Speedball and was on a journey to find a good SS amp. Life got in the way, as it always does, and nothing has changed, but I'm still enjoying the hell out of my cans. I'm still looking for that amp and my requirements haven't changed.
 

1. solid-state
2. no integrated DAC
3. single-ended headphone outputs and a preamp to run powered speakers
4. pairs exceptional with the HD 800: keep the signature neutral, maybe warm it up a tad, compliment the soundstage, separation, detail, and resolution
5. pairs well with other popular headphones and IEMs
6. ≈$1500, but will go higher if the argument is made
7. optionally, balanced headphone outputs would be nice

 
This was my original list back then. I've ruled out a couple since and have elevated some.
 

1. AURALiC Taurus MKII: $1899, ss, single-ended, balanced, RCA+balanced preamp
2. Schiit Ragnarok: $1499, ss, single-ended, balanced, RCA preamp, balanced preamp?
3. Questyle CMA800R: $1499, ss, single-ended (2), balanced, RCA preamp
4. Senn HDVA 600: $1499, ss, single-ended (2), balanced (2), balanced preamp?
5. Lehmannaudio Linear SE: ss, single-ended (2), RCA preamp
6. Bryston BHA-1: $1395, ss, single-ended, balanced (2), balanced preamp?
7. Luxman P-1u: ss, single-ended (2), RCA preamp

 
The Taurus MKII is at the top based solely on objective functions available and the stellar reviews I've read here and from other sources. Looks like it hit all of my requirements and worked with with a ton of cans. So then onto the questions. Has there been any update since that time that I should know about in terms of the subject I'm tackling? I know there was talk about the Ragnarok and it looks very very interesting, but it wasn't widely available at the time I was looking. Function is definitely there, but how did that one go over with everyone? Should the Taurus MKII still be a top choice for me, considering what I'm looking for? Any other amps I should be looking at?
 
Thanks all!

 
Do consider the Audio GD Precision 2 too. It has most of what you need except for the IEM part (too much power).
 
Here's a recent review of it:
http://headmania.org/2014/12/01/audio-gd-precision-2-review/
The Headphone output is exceptional and I am certainly more than happy with mine paired with the HD800