The (new) HD800 Impressions Thread

[ColtMrFire]

I havent heard the Soloist but for me the HD800 started to reveal itself more when I switched to tubes. I did not care for tubes with other headphones. The 800 seems to crave them though. Good tubes mind you, not mushy crap.

 

[analog'd]

I havent heard the Soloist but for me the HD800 started to reveal itself more when I switched to tubes. I did not care for tubes with other headphones. The 800 seems to crave them though. Good tubes mind you, not mushy crap.

well, i'm an old tube guy, and i hear ya. my  tube in my dac output stage is an amperex white label from1960 or 61. it is the perfect tubbe for this unit. mullards were too mushy, telefunkens too bright for the hd800 in particular. but as i said the dac output without the tube sounds nearly just as good, but different a little bit.

my power amp is a tube amp also. hell, i'd power my car with tubes if one could... 

 

[ColtMrFire]

  well, i'm an old tube guy, and i hear ya. my  tube in my dac output stage is an amperex white label from1960 or 61. it is the perfect tubbe for this unit. mullards were too mushy, telefunkens too bright for the hd800 in particular. but as i said the dac output without the tube sounds nearly just as good, but different a little bit.

my power amp is a tube amp also. hell, i'd power my car with tubes if one could... 

 
I had a pair of Bugle Boys that were unbelievable.  But one of them broke.  So I had to get a quick cheap pair of Russian Volkshods until I can get some more BBs.  The Volkshods are good, but not as good as the BBs.

 

[analog'd]

bugle boys are lovely. my first tubes in my first headphone amp (a melos). the v's from russia actually are only 2nd best in my dac to this amparex. everthing is so gear dependent. bugle boys and other mullards didn't cut it with this dac. i gave a $100 tube headphone amp to a friend and the mullard that my dac didn't "like" sounded AMAZING. seriously sounded as good as my rig!!!

 

[ColtMrFire]

Not to turn this into a tube thread but my V's only have about 50 hours on them, and the Russian tubes are supposed to take 100-200 hours to break in.  So we'll see.

 

[nephilim32]

Wonderful!

Hi. It is wonderful. I have had the pairing for nearly 4 yrs now. It's absolutely fantastic. You match neutral with neutral. The only recommendation I would give is get a quality DAC and a cable upgrade for the HD 800. You'll be in HIFI heaven. Also you'll rarely wanna use the second gain level on the soloist. The first gain setting at 60 to 75% used is plenty. You'll see.
Enjoy man. It's awesome.

 

[ColtMrFire]

There seem to be several versions of the Soloist.  Which version are people referring to that is a great match?
 
EDIT:  Ah, the SL?

 

[chimney189]

Hi. It is wonderful. I have had the pairing for nearly 4 yrs now. It's absolutely fantastic. You match neutral with neutral. The only recommendation I would give is get a quality DAC and a cable upgrade for the HD 800. You'll be in HIFI heaven. Also you'll rarely wanna use the second gain level on the soloist. The first gain setting at 60 to 75% used is plenty. You'll see.

Enjoy man. It's awesome.

They look lovely together.  I'm not so sure about upgrading the cable.  The stock cable is pretty impressive as is.

 

[jamesino]

Would someone mind sharing their Equalizer APO settings?

 

[johnjen]

I too use a SS amp, the Schiit Ragnarok.
It delivers subsonic bass with authority and reaches all the way up with an ease and delicacy that is simply wonderful.
It also tightly controls the driver due to its VERY low output impedance and ample power in reserve.
 
As for adding some toobz coloration/emphasis, I have achieved that in other ways.
 
JJ

 

[analog'd]

  There seem to be several versions of the Soloist.  Which version are people referring to that is a great match?
 
EDIT:  Ah, the SL?

just the burson soloist. the sl is a baby brother i think. the soloist is the amp that's found (with a dac) in the burson conductor

 

[analog'd]

  I too use a SS amp, the Schiit Ragnarok.
It delivers subsonic bass with authority and reaches all the way up with an ease and delicacy that is simply wonderful.
It also tightly controls the driver due to its VERY low output impedance and ample power in reserve.
 
As for adding some toobz coloration/emphasis, I have achieved that in other ways.
 
JJ

yeah, there are nine million ways to skin a cat. i tweak with cables also. schiit is the good ****. when i got my friend the inexpensive tube amp and put a very expensive mullard tube in it, i sent it to her with the schiit entry level dac.

 

[RogerWilco]

  bugle boys are lovely. my first tubes in my first headphone amp (a melos). the v's from russia actually are only 2nd best in my dac to this amparex. everthing is so gear dependent. bugle boys and other mullards didn't cut it with this dac. i gave a $100 tube headphone amp to a friend and the mullard that my dac didn't "like" sounded AMAZING. seriously sounded as good as my rig!!!

I  had a Melos SHA Gold about 10 years ago and @ 2 g it was not a cheap piece .  In the right circuit tubes are very amazing !

 

[Moochibond]

Hi guys,
 
Please may I have your thoughts/recommendations?
 
Currently running: macbook pro > Teac UD 501 (single ended) > HD 800 - and YES I like the sound.
 
Little back storey; I was running the UD-501 through a Schiit Lyr with Reflektor 75's (Holy Grail) > HD 800 & LCD 2.
 
Have since sold the Schiit LYR and LCD2 because:
 
- Coming out of the Lyr was (to my ear) very slightly better (More Organic/Soundstage/Bass) in some areas and very slightly worse (Slightly reduced/Veiled treble) in others when compared to coming out of the UD -501 only
- Decided to use the funds from the Lyr / LCD 2 to buy a "better" amp from the 2nd hand market for the HD 800
 
What amp/s would you recommend?
 
May be helpful to add:

- The Teac UD-501 has balanced outs - so could go fully balanced - I think I am right in saying this?
- My taste in music is very elcetic
- In the near 'ish" future would like to buy another set of Planars, possibly the HE 500 (Again!) 
 
I do not have thousands of $/£ so e.g. GS-X, Beta 2, Master 9, WA 22 etc. are all out.
 
Ideas I think may offer good price/performance inc.
 
- NuForce HA-200 x 2 (Dual Mono-block)
- First Watt M2 (if i can find one!)
- Laconic Labs Midnight Blues Mini 
- Musical Fidelity MX-HPA
- Liquid Carbon (2nd Hand - don't really want to spend more than the cost of one of these)
- Parasound Zamp V3
 
Thanks in advance!
 
Mooch

 

[ColtMrFire]

The Lyr also greatly depends on the DAC being used especially with the HD800. I use the Mimby/Lyr and its a stellar combo. Better for the HD800 than my previous Jotunheim. I honestly think you'd have to spend thousands to get significantly better sound from an amp. Otherwise you are likely getting pointless sidegrades. You are probably better off getting a multibit DAC like the Mimby ($250) that competes easily with $1K - $2K DACs. It makes a noticeable difference for such a transparent headphone.