[Wildcatsare1]

The only music I get any sibilance with my 800 is recently recorded rock. That is with the stock cable and without mods.

Classical, jazz, acoustic, classic rock are all spectacular!

 

[Pianist]

 
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

+1 HD800 treble is not harsh or sibilant in itself.
 
I think the headphones are just ultra revealing and very unforgiving of low quality recordings - you will simply hear everything that's there on a recording, regardless of whether you like it or not.

With HD800 I try to find recordings that sound great on them like with no other headphone I've experienced. I find that recording quality makes the biggest difference with these headphones, while amps, DACs and even bitrate make less of a difference. As long as the bitrate is at least 96 kbps, HD800 can sound great with high quality music, even on pretty low end equipment. Even out of my Fiio X1, HD800 still easily distinguishes music by its recording quality and headphones still sound very satisfying out of the X1 to my ears with quality music - better than with bad recordings and my STX or Fiio X5 + Objective 2.

 

[mrmarano]

I also ordered replacement pads that were back-ordered. Sennheiser estimated two months.
 
They arrived in about three weeks.

 

[Moonhead]

Thanks Pianist i agree with everything, finally someone who gets it!

 

[Taowolf51]

The newly bought Mjolnir I've owned came with scratches poor assembly in corners and every button felt lose and of very poor quality, as I said next to Questyle was like compering a Fiat to a Ferrari

Schiit products a way to hyped, IMHO!

 
That's pretty surprising, I'm sure if you told Schiit they'd replace it for you.
I picked up a Valhalla 2 from them and the build quality is excellent, it's extremely heavy, the PCB looks very clean and well put together, and everything is very tight with no rattling at all. It doesn't have as thick of a chassis as something like Woo, but for the price the build quality is pretty nice.
 

 
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Just not sure how reliable they are, as those recommendation are years old & could be outdated or if those people found something a step above them (but still under the $2,000 price range).
 

 
The Valhalla 2 isn't even a year old yet, so it's likely the things people are saying about it are pretty current.
 
What are you looking for in an amp?

 

[fudgebucket27]

I installed anax mod 1.0 last night and I just gotta say wow. It's like a totally new headphone . I'm really preferring the sound compared to unanaxed. I was scared it would take too much away but it shaved off just the right amount. When I can find the right rug liner I'll try out 2.0.

 

[JaZZ]

I installed anax mod 1.0 last night and I just gotta say wow. It's like a totally new headphone . I'm really preferring the sound compared to unanaxed. I was scared it would take too much away but it shaved off just the right amount. When I can find the right rug liner I'll try out 2.0.

 
Why not try black velvet?! To my ears it offers the best sonic result (although not the most «professional» look).

 

[fudgebucket27]

Why not try black velvet?! To my ears it offers the best sonic result (although not the most «professional» look).

Thats pretty interesting actually thanks for that.

 

[Mach3]

   
Why not try black velvet?! To my ears it offers the best sonic result (although not the most «professional» look).

To me the Anax 1.0/2.0 mod seems to dampen some of the airy/micro details, I much preferred the black velvet.

 

[Thenewguy007]

   
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. 

 
I've read conflicting reports on this. For some don't hear it or don't mind it, others have said they find it distracting.
 
 

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.

 
 
I been doing my research.
 
Top tier soundstage: Sennheiser  HD800
Top tier full bass body: LCD 2 Rev.1
Top tier bass impact/rumble: Fostex TH900
Top tier imaging accuracy: Beyerdynamic T1
Top tier clarity/resolution: Hifiman HE1000
Top tier mids - Probably one of the flagship Grado
 
Any combination of  those aspects in one headphone would be in the $3,000-$5,000 range headphones.
 

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

 
I'm on page 1,120,  almost caught up.
 

  The Valhalla 2 isn't even a year old yet, so it's likely the things people are saying about it are pretty current.
 
What are you looking for in an amp?

 
If I do spend $1,000, I want the soundstage & imaging to be noticeably improved & any brittleness, harshness or overly brightness to the the highs be smoothed out.
I know it is impossible for any amp/dac to give the HD800 the bass of the LCD2, so I am abandoning that dream.

 

[Arnotts]

   
I've read conflicting reports on this. For some don't hear it or don't mind it, others have said they find it distracting.
 
 
 
 
I been doing my research.
 
Top tier soundstage: Sennheiser  HD800
Top tier full bass body: LCD 2 Rev.1
Top tier bass impact/rumble: Fostex TH900
Top tier imaging accuracy: Beyerdynamic T1
Top tier clarity/resolution: Hifiman HE1000
Top tier mids - Probably one of the flagship Grado
 
Any combination of  those aspects in one headphone would be in the $3,000-$5,000 range headphones.
 
 
I'm on page 1,120,  almost caught up.
 
 
If I do spend $1,000, I want the soundstage & imaging to be noticeably improved & any brittleness, harshness or overly brightness to the the highs be smoothed out.
I know it is impossible for any amp/dac to give the HD800 the bass of the LCD2, so I am abandoning that dream.

The bolded part reads like you've just read a whole bunch of random peoples' opinions on various headphones, then tried to come to some sort of conclusion on the best of each aspect of a headphones sound. The problem with this is that, depending on who you ask, you're going to get different answers. Your sample isn't representative of the truth.
 
And just like @Taowolf51 said, the Valhalla 2 isn't even a year old yet...
 
Your method of learning is, imo, very inefficient. Reading all the posts from 2012 or something really doesn't help much today.
 
I don't mean to sound rude, but it honestly seems like you've done a LOT of reading and you're no better off because of it. I'll send you a PM.

 

[punit]

   
I been doing my research.
 
Top tier soundstage: Sennheiser  HD800
Top tier full bass body: LCD 2 Rev.1
Top tier bass impact/rumble: Fostex TH900
Top tier imaging accuracy: Beyerdynamic T1
Top tier clarity/resolution: Hifiman HE1000
Top tier mids - Probably one of the flagship Grado
 
 

I have heard all of those HP's & do not agree with most of your assessment.  No disrespect but Just want to know if you have  heard them all or this is based on comments from the internet ?

 

[thecrow]

If I do spend $1,000, I want the soundstage & imaging to be noticeably improved & any brittleness, harshness or overly brightness to the the highs be smoothedout.
I know it is impossible for any amp/dac to give the HD800 the bass of the LCD2, so I am abandoning that dream.

From what I've experienced, read and where I'm at.....

Look at the anax mod. A lot of fans here. No doubt you've read about it over and over in this thread.

Woo amp wa2 (I'm looking at that for me) but more than $1000 plus tubes but that sounds like that can get you where you want to go. Perhaps other tube amps like little dot but I'm not too well versed in those.

I currently have the soloist (with irdac). For the price I enjoy the overall detail, tight detailed lower end, rich mids and airy highs. But these highs can sometimes be a touch grainy, a little.

Good luck in your search

 

[DavidA]

 
I been doing my research.
 
Top tier soundstage: Sennheiser  HD800
Top tier full bass body: LCD 2 Rev.1
Top tier bass impact/rumble: Fostex TH900
Top tier imaging accuracy: Beyerdynamic T1
Top tier clarity/resolution: Hifiman HE1000
Top tier mids - Probably one of the flagship Grado
 
Any combination of  those aspects in one headphone would be in the $3,000-$5,000 range headphones.
 
If I do spend $1,000, I want the soundstage & imaging to be noticeably improved & any brittleness, harshness or overly brightness to the the highs be smoothed out.
I know it is impossible for any amp/dac to give the HD800 the bass of the LCD2, so I am abandoning that dream.

As @punit noted, I also would not agree with your list 100%.  The only headphone I can't comment about yet is the HE-1000 since I haven't heard it yet, will get to in a week when I'm at my friends house who has one.
 
On spending $1000 and wanting the "soundstage & imaging to be noticeably improved and any brittleness, harshness or overly brightness to the highs be smoothed out" what are you comparing it to? and what sounds bright/harsh to you may actually sound ok to another since we all hear differently.  The reason that they are different opinions on what sounds good is the individual's hearing and also their preference which varies from person to person.
 
I know that its not practical or possible to audition all headphone that you are interested in but the only thing that really matters is what sounds good to you.  If you find one that sounds good to you stick with it and if you feel that you want a different sound then start looking around and ask for a comparison to something that you have so you have a reference point to start at.  For me I just like the different sound signatures of different headphones and don't look for "upgrades" to any of my current headphones, its not worth stressing over IMO, I'd rather spend more time enjoying the music.

 

[Thenewguy007]

  The bolded part reads like you've just read a whole bunch of random peoples' opinions on various headphones, then tried to come to some sort of conclusion on the best of each aspect of a headphones sound. The problem with this is that, depending on who you ask, you're going to get different answers. Your sample isn't representative of the truth.

 
 

  I have heard all of those HP's & do not agree with most of your assessment.  No disrespect but Just want to know if you have  heard them all or this is based on comments from the internet ?

 
This is true. Besides the LCD-2 & T1, I know nothing of the other headphones other than reading impressions & reviews. The general consensus I got from spending a few weeks reading up &  agreeing with people's opinions who also matched mine on what I thought of the LCD2 & T1.
 
Until I try them all, I will not know for certain.
 
It looks like I may play the auditioning game. Buying one flagship & selling the other until I come to a conclusion.
 
 
It's going to be a long few months ahead for me.