[lukeap69]

 

Very funny KJ! 

 

[Taowolf51]

 

 
Would it make it worse if I said it didn't actually sound too bad? 

 

[koiloco]

   
Would it make it worse if I said it didn't actually sound too bad? 

+1
 
And you are a brave man for saying that. 

 

[whirlwind]

 

   
 The HD800's aren't planars, they're not crazy power hungry or anything. They're actually pretty sensitive, they can get pretty loud on even a smartphone (though I don't really recommend it).

 

[ThePhoenix924S]

I've now had a few hours with my HD800s (ordered from Verizon Rewards, as mentioned earlier). Firstly, I am extremely impressed with the clarity and separation between notes/ instruments. Just lovely. I'm very much looking forward to listening through most of my library to compare with my HD650s. For those who are interested, my serial number is in the 40,500s. They came in a sealed cardboard box with Sennheiser-branded tape. Within is the regular retail packaging, so clearly Verizon/ Destination Rewards orders them direct from Sennheiser and then ships them off to their customers. So far so great and I look forward to my journey into high-end audio (once my wallet stops hurting from this last purchase, that is).

 

[koiloco]

^  Gratz and enjoy.  HD800 is amazing.

 

[CanadianMaestro]

  I've now had a few hours with my HD800s (ordered from Verizon Rewards, as mentioned earlier). Firstly, I am extremely impressed with the clarity and separation between notes/ instruments. Just lovely. I'm very much looking forward to listening through most of my library to compare with my HD650s.

The 650s are an entirely different creature. Don't expect equivalent sounds from your new 800.
Congratz, enjoy the music, and don't get obsessed with the comparisons. 

 

[rawrster]

Quote:

 
Would it make it worse if I said it didn't actually sound too bad? 

 
I believe a ban would do you some good 

 
 

  I've now had a few hours with my HD800s (ordered from Verizon Rewards, as mentioned earlier). Firstly, I am extremely impressed with the clarity and separation between notes/ instruments. Just lovely. I'm very much looking forward to listening through most of my library to compare with my HD650s. For those who are interested, my serial number is in the 40,500s. They came in a sealed cardboard box with Sennheiser-branded tape. Within is the regular retail packaging, so clearly Verizon/ Destination Rewards orders them direct from Sennheiser and then ships them off to their customers. So far so great and I look forward to my journey into high-end audio (once my wallet stops hurting from this last purchase, that is).

 
That sounds like a viable option for verizon customers here. I'm not sure how many people know that this is one of the rewards however. I know for my accounts I don't really look at the rewards.
 
 
On another note, it looks like I am all set. I don't anticipate any changes for a long time. I've decided to save up for a car so audio related purchases will be put on hold until further notice. I did want to save up for a Vega but I have a good enough dac as it is. All I have to do is pack the HE-6 and ship it off and the HD800 will be my only headphone. I haven't had much time to put time on it yet but so far so good. I've used it mostly on youtube and other streaming videos. 

 

[Wildcatsare1]

My HD800 are scheduled to arrive today, my recapped Monarchy M22B arrived late last week, an embarrassment of riches!

The Draug 2 balanced should arrive next week, I will be down to the HE560, HD800, Alclair ciems though missing my PS1000.

 

[Gr8Desire]

 

 
You can avoid eviction so long as you replace stock cables with glorified lamp cords that, ounce for ounce, cost more than gold.

 

[Gr8Desire]

   
... It's worth noting that some tube amps can be very tubey and others may be hardly tubey at all.  ...
 
 

I interpret this statement as: Some tube amps create lots of distortion and others may be hardly distort at all.   

​Given the amount of money people spend on this 'hobby', aren't both worth avoiding at all costs?  

 

 

[CanadianMaestro]

 
I interpret this statement as: Some tube amps create lots of distortion and others may be hardly distort at all.   

​Given the amount of money people spend on this 'hobby', aren't both worth avoiding at all costs?  

 

the ones that don't distort are worth investigating if Mr. Bob Barker recommends it (Da Price Is Right....)

 

[skeptic]

I interpret this statement as: Some tube amps create lots of distortion and others may be hardly distort at all.   

​Given the amount of money people spend on this 'hobby', aren't both worth avoiding at all costs?  
 

 
Different people have different sensitivities to different types of distortions.  Nelson Pass has argued that well made nonfeedback amps (e.g. SET amps), have distortion characteristics that are far more like what you hear from live acoustic instruments than the sort of complex non-linear and disproportionate high order distortions produced by feedback amps (i.e. all op amp based amps, most solid state and even some tube amps).  The latter certainly have lower THD, but the former sound better to many people, although not to others.  It is an interesting read: https://passlabs.com/articles/audio-distortion-and-feedback and reinforces the value of attending meets and hearing some of these amps for yourself.

 

[Taowolf51]

 
I interpret this statement as: Some tube amps create lots of distortion and others may be hardly distort at all.   

​Given the amount of money people spend on this 'hobby', aren't both worth avoiding at all costs?  

 

 
Well, when both the tube and SS distortion are well below the level of audibility, and the differences are a tiny tiny fraction of a percent, it doesn't really matter. The tubey sound has more to do with output impedance and FR than anything else, for instance the Bottlehead Crack has an output impedance of 120 ohm, and the Valhalla 2 has an output impedance of 3.5/14 ohms (low/high gain). With 3.5 ohms you're well within the realm of solid state amps, and even with 14 ohm, you're still very comfortably within the 1/10 rule for impedance matching. However, with the 120 ohm Crack, you're blasting well past the 1/10 rule (which would be 30 ohms for the HD800). Being below 1/10 or 1/8 means you start to lose some driver control, especially in the bass area. You also have the headphone FR changing a bit based on the headphone's impedance graph. It's not necessarily bad, just different, and some people prefer it. For instance, the Sennheiser hdvd 800, the amp Senn made to pair with the HD800 has an effective output impedance of 43 ohms, making the fraction slightly less than 1/7. Sennheiser is certainly capable of making a low output impedance amp, especially considering it's expensive and solid state. They chose that output impedance for a reason.
You also generally see a slight increase in bass and decrease in treble, this mixed with the reduced driver control is most (but likely not all) of what contributes to the "tubey" sound. It's more of a preference than anything else, and doesn't have a ton to do with distortion. Tube amps do more traditionally lean towards lower order and even harmonic distortion, which is known for being more pleasureable, while solid state amps are usually more even in their distortion, but that comes more in to play when you are intentionally distorting the amp (one of the reasons tube guitar amps are popular) because any decent amp won't have audible distortion until clipping.
 
There's also the whole tube rolling thing, which allows you to play with the signature a little bit.
 
 
But if you're looking for raw benefits of tubes, one big one is the ability to provide more power into higher impedance loads. Solid state amps are able to output the most power into lower impedance loads, while tubes often are able to output the most power into higher impedance loads. Just as an example, looking at Schiit amps specifically, the Valhalla 2 (800mW) provides more power into the HD800's than the hybrid Lyr 2 (660mW), the solid state Magni 2 Uber (320mW) and Asgard 2 (380mW). It's even pretty much even with the crazy powerful Mjolnir! (850mW). Each of these amps is rated as being more powerful than the Valhalla 2, but once you get to higher impedance headphones, the Valhalla 2 (the only pure tube amp Schiit makes) pulls ahead.
 
Of course, there are also people who believe tube amps sound better than solid state, and that measurements don't necessarily match perceived sound quality, but that area is a bit of a battle ground and I'd rather not get into it (plus, I'm actually not really on one side or the other).
 
And honestly, the component in my signal chain that produces the most noise and distortion is my damn ODAC, which measures great, but sometimes throws audible noise and even distortion into my signal chain (until I power cycle it). My tube amp doesn't.

 

[Wildcatsare1]

OK, day 2 with my stock HD800s....tried to burn them in some last night, but my Daughter kept sneaking in and turning the volume all the way down

!
 
Listening to the Dead at the Fillmore East, stock, not burned in they are sounding darn good. They continue to improve, as does the M22B.
 
Once I get the Draug 2 it will be fairly easy to A/B the stock cable and it, stock to the SE and Draug to the balanced input on the Taurus Mk.2.