[RUMAY408]

My sage advice after about 2 years with the HD800, buy in @ whatever HP amp you can afford.
 
The HD800 scales with the quality of the HP amp, so even at the lower end, they sound fine as you scale up the HD800 gets better and better.
 
Like falling in love over and over again 

 

[shabta]

  My sage advice after about 2 years with the HD800, buy in @ whatever HP amp you can afford.
 
The HD800 scales with the quality of the HP amp, so even at the lower end, they sound fine as you scale up the HD800 gets better and better.
 
Like falling in love over and over again 

And buy used so you get more for your money 

 

[longbowbbs]

  My sage advice after about 2 years with the HD800, buy in @ whatever HP amp you can afford.
 
The HD800 scales with the quality of the HP amp, so even at the lower end, they sound fine as you scale up the HD800 gets better and better.
 
Like falling in love over and over again 

+1

 

[ruthieandjohn]

I always wanted to try them ever since I saw them in the InnerFidelity Wall of Fame for portable amps
http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/innerfidelitys-wall-fame-headphone-amplifiers

That said, I have the newer iFi Mico iDSD, very well review portable dual DAC & amp combo that is price comparably to the M8. I feel it would be a side grade if I buy it.

The iDSD does nothing to tame the painful treble spike & harshness of the Beyer T1 (pairs fantastically with the LCD2 though).
I used the iDSD with a Schiit Asgard 2, which is a warmer amp & did lower the peaks & shrill sounds of the T1, but not close to fully taming them.

I'm convinced after having the Micro iDSD, that I would need a stronger desktop amp than something that is available in a portable package to fix the problems.

Just looking for an amp or dac that can 100% smooth out any painful, harsh, treble spikes & sibilance of the HD800 (and T1 by extension), while not affecting or  congesting the soundstage/imaging. If anything, I want the amp to expand the holographic sound!

If there was a solid state portable amp that can do that & still be under $1,000, I would jump on it in a second!

Forgot to mention that the HiFi M8 also provides two levels of (gentle) bass boost / suppression and likewise two levels of treble adjustment. Might help.

 

[Thenewguy007]

No one here had any experience with the LittleDot VI+ or VIII+ OTL amps? They are like $800+, but I heard they compare with $3,000 American or European amps? Haven't really put serious thought into them since I haven't heard too many Sennheiser owners talk about them.
 
 
If there were a few owners here that owned them & gave solid recommendations for them, it would be great.

 

[Aktersnurra]

A

 

[Redge78]

  No one here had any experience with the LittleDot VI+ or VIII+ OTL amps? They are like $800+, but I heard they compare with $3,000 American or European amps? Haven't really put serious thought into them since I haven't heard too many Sennheiser owners talk about them.
 
 
If there were a few owners here that owned them & gave solid recommendations for them, it would be great.

Have a look here :
http://www.head-fi.org/t/522099/little-dot-mk-vi-little-dot-mk-viii-se-owners-unite/2010#post_11880846
 
In short, the MK8se is a excellent match for the HD800, and it's stellar when it's modded.

 

[devilboy]

Well back on the grind.
Last night I left off on page 990. Only 400 or so more pages to go until I'm all caught up.

Kinda frustrating, every $200-$1,000 amp recommendation I read in this thread so far, was eventually dropped for by those people recommending them & they bought a $3,000-$5,000 end game amp/dac.
I can't &won't, at least in the foreseeable future, spend $3,000 to $5,000 on JUST A HEADPHONE AMPLIFIER.

So every post in this thread that has nothing but good things to say, with absolutely no negatives, about the amp pairing with the HD800 are those in the $3,000+ range.


Violetric V200 & Schiit Valhalla 2 are the ones that keep coming up over & over throughout the years that people keep mentioning as a good pair.
Just not sure how reliable they are, as those recommendation are years old & could be outdated or if those people found something a step above them (but still under the $2,000 price range).


I also read through all the separate Hd800 amp recommendations (most were ike 5-6 years old).

Your problem is that you want a $1,000 amp to "do it all" so to speak. No amp, regardless of cost, does it all........ever. Now, usually the more you spend, the more that amp will do. Everyone gets upgradeitis, which is why you see people getting rid of their less expensive amps. It's the madness we're in.
You just need to pull the trigger on something already. Buy used so if you don't like it you won't lose money.

 

[devilboy]

And are you really reading every page? Dude...... stop.

 

[whirlwind]

I am soon going to get to experience my HD800 & HD650 on my new amp.....Glenn told me that it will be done soon, a little more wiring to do.
 
I am pretty stoked to hear it and I have been buying tubes for the last 6 months so i will have plenty of rolling options
 
Here are the pics that he sent me.
 

 

 
If it sounds as good as it looks, I am in for a fun time 

 

[devilboy]

  I am soon going to get to experience my HD800 & HD650 on my new amp.....Glenn told me that it will be done soon, a little more wiring to do.
 
I am pretty stoked to hear it and I have been buying tubes for the last 6 months so i will have plenty of rolling options
 
Here are the pics that he sent me.
 

 

 
If it sounds as good as it looks, I am in for a fun time 

Gorgeous, and yes, it looks like someone is in for some fun!

 

[jsgraha]

I always wanted to try them ever since I saw them in the InnerFidelity Wall of Fame for portable amps
http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/innerfidelitys-wall-fame-headphone-amplifiers

That said, I have the newer iFi Mico iDSD, very well review portable dual DAC & amp combo that is price comparably to the M8. I feel it would be a side grade if I buy it.

The iDSD does nothing to tame the painful treble spike & harshness of the Beyer T1 (pairs fantastically with the LCD2 though).
I used the iDSD with a Schiit Asgard 2, which is a warmer amp & did lower the peaks & shrill sounds of the T1, but not close to fully taming them.

I'm convinced after having the Micro iDSD, that I would need a stronger desktop amp than something that is available in a portable package to fix the problems.

Just looking for an amp or dac that can 100% smooth out any painful, harsh, treble spikes & sibilance of the HD800 (and T1 by extension), while not affecting or  congesting the soundstage/imaging. If anything, I want the amp to expand the holographic sound!

If there was a solid state portable amp that can do that & still be under $1,000, I would jump on it in a second!

I doubt you can find this dream amp under $1000. And the synergy of hd800 setup not only with the amp, but also with the source, either analog or digital.

IMO, better look for other headphone than hd800. Having hd800 was like a journey to me. I enjoy the journey, whether tweaking with mod, try or audition or even trades source or amp etc. It's been almost 3 years and counting. There's no instant result.

My advise would be getting other phone. Lcd-x would be nice. Soundstage is quite big, easier to match, great bass and smooth treble. Buy one used maybe, so it could be sold without much loss.

 

[Sorrodje]

+1 @jsgraha . Similar experience here.  

 

[rawrster]

   
Just looking for an amp or dac that can 100% smooth out any painful, harsh, treble spikes & sibilance of the HD800 (and T1 by extension), while not affecting or  congesting the soundstage/imaging. If anything, I want the amp to expand the holographic sound!
 
If there was a solid state portable amp that can do that & still be under $1,000, I would jump on it in a second!

 
I don't find there to be any painful, harsh, treble spikes & sibilance with any HD800 I've owned. I've had 3 with different S/N from around the time it was released, a few years ago and my current one is around one year old. The only times I've had any of those symptoms were when I had subpar gear or my music files were not good. 

 

[mcteague]

   
I don't find there to be any painful, harsh, treble spikes & sibilance with any HD800 I've owned. I've had 3 with different S/N from around the time it was released, a few years ago and my current one is around one year old. The only times I've had any of those symptoms were when I had subpar gear or my music files were not good. 

My findings as well. I have a lowly Schitt Audio Asgard 2 paired with my HD800s and find no sibilance nor harshness. As I have mentioned before, I listen to well recorded CDs and mostly Classical music. Even some of the 60s era rock I have is not unpleasant with this setup.
 
Tim