[PinkyPowers]

It's not really a recommendation. If you love the HD800, chances are you won't love the LCD-3. I'm just one of the few who dig both headphones, even though my preference leans towards Audeze.

 

[baiyy1986]

It's not really a recommendation. If you love the HD800, chances are you won't love the LCD-3. I'm just one of the few who dig both headphones, even though my preference leans towards Audeze.

agree, the mood is the most important thing to choose today's headphone.

 

[Eggtuary]

I checked out Darin Fong Audio's trial version of "Out Of Your Head" software. Wow, that's cool stuff. I sent an email asking if they'll be running a sale again any time soon, and he says he plans one for June. Great timing. I'll just have to tell the kids that's what I want for Father's Day!

 

[Thenewguy007]

I checked out Darin Fong Audio's trial version of "Out Of Your Head" software. Wow, that's cool stuff. I sent an email asking if they'll be running a sale again any time soon, and he says he plans one for June. Great timing. I'll just have to tell the kids that's what I want for Father's Day!

How's that software work? Is it a extension to use with another music player?

 

[Thenewguy007]

It also looks like Yaki Earpads will be making 3rd party HD800 earpads as well.



They look a lot like Dekoni's, maybe a little thinner though.

 

[Eggtuary]

How's that software work? Is it a extension to use with another music player?

Yep. I got the free trial version, and have been able to use it with Tidal or iTunes. It basically adds its own control panel, and you select what speaker system you want your headphones to emulate.

There's a thread on it here. https://www.head-fi.org/threads/out-of-your-head-new-virtual-surround-simulator.689299/

 

[Got the Shakes]

How's that software work? Is it a extension to use with another music player?

It essentially shows up on your computer as 7.1 sound card. In the program itself you can buy different speaker setups that have been recorded from real life setups. If you can find one that suits your ears it can work surprisingly well.

 

[baiyy1986]

It also looks like Yaki Earpads will be making 3rd party HD800 earpads as well.



They look a lot like Dekoni's, maybe a little thinner though.

This a great news, will them sell it in the US?

 

[kylewit]

I've been using the HD800s with a DacMagicPlus out of my HP Pavillion laptop streaming Tidal hifi. I've been playing around with audio settings to get the best sound and I have to say that a change on the Tidal app made the biggest difference. I selected the Dac as my default output and then entered the settings for Tidal output to the dac and clicked to stop MQA decoding to allow my dac to handle everything. Huge difference in detail and soundstage... and i thought the HD800s couldn't get any better for my budget

 

[Eggtuary]

I've been using the HD800s with a DacMagicPlus out of my HP Pavillion laptop streaming Tidal hifi. I've been playing around with audio settings to get the best sound and I have to say that a change on the Tidal app made the biggest difference. I selected the Dac as my default output and then entered the settings for Tidal output to the dac and clicked to stop MQA decoding to allow my dac to handle everything. Huge difference in detail and soundstage... and i thought the HD800s couldn't get any better for my budget

Does DacMagicPlus handle MQA rendering? A lot of folks let the desktop app handle the first "unfolding" with MQA files, unless their DAC has MQA decoding built in. If you turned off MQA decoding in the app, then aren't you getting less than the full possible resolution?

Then again, maybe you prefer the sound with the DacMagicPlus doing what it can, regardless of whether it's more or less resolution. In those internet tests where they ask you to compare lossless versus 256 or higher mp3, I can sometimes tell a difference, but I can't consistently tell you which is "better." Now I can always tell a 128 mp3, because that is clearly losing information through compression. But high-res compressed and lossless can often just come down to a matter of preference. Just like different DACs can come down to preferences.

 

[WilliamLeonhart]

I've been using the HD800s with a DacMagicPlus out of my HP Pavillion laptop streaming Tidal hifi. I've been playing around with audio settings to get the best sound and I have to say that a change on the Tidal app made the biggest difference. I selected the Dac as my default output and then entered the settings for Tidal output to the dac and clicked to stop MQA decoding to allow my dac to handle everything. Huge difference in detail and soundstage... and i thought the HD800s couldn't get any better for my budget

Agreed. To think I could spend $100 on a cable and did not subscribe to Tidal till last year...

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

I listened to HD820 at Sennheiser SF yesterday via their HDV 820, the apparent successor to HDVD 800. I compared them to the HD800 on hand, though I did not check the headphone's serial number.

The store, for reasons that are beyond me, plays music in the background. I requested that they turn it down during my Orpheus audition earlier this year, and while that helped, it was still an issue. It continues to be an issue with the HD820, which have isolation that I found difficult to distinguish from HD800. For both headphones, I had to turn the music up fairly high to drown out the ambient sound. HD820 offers me little to no isolation, and I don't know the extent to which it hides one's own music from others, as I was alone. If it does, this might be a selling point for some potential buyers.

In general, I found the tonal quality more aggressive, hash, and sibilant than HD800. Though the bass seemed to be more pronounced, the quality of the music (for instance, the finale to act 2 of the Giulini Figaro) was sharper. Though in general I fault the abysmal quality of Sennheiser's DACs, I was surprised that HD800 sounded smoother, more organic, and more integrated, though perhaps with slightly less bottom end. I would love to borrow HD820 for an at-home audition, of course, but I doubt Sennheiser would extend that privilege to me. I note that HD800 had a 1/4 inch cable versus the 4-pin XLR of the 820. Perhaps the noise of the shared ground took the edge off the schiit digital to analog conversion, eh @Baldr?

I am not certain how many hours of play the HD800 had versus the newer HD820. Although I am usually dismissive of burn-in, I mention it for the sake of completion.

 

[pietcux]

I listened to HD820 at Sennheiser SF yesterday via their HDV 820, the apparent successor to HDVD 800. I compared them to the HD800 on hand, though I did not check the headphone's serial number.

The store, for reasons that are beyond me, plays music in the background. I requested that they turn it down during my Orpheus audition earlier this year, and while that helped, it was still an issue. It continues to be an issue with the HD820, which have isolation that I found difficult to distinguish from HD800. For both headphones, I had to turn the music up fairly high to drown out the ambient sound. HD820 offers me little to no isolation, and I don't know the extent to which it hides one's own music from others, as I was alone. If it does, this might be a selling point for some potential buyers.

In general, I found the tonal quality more aggressive, hash, and sibilant than HD800. Though the bass seemed to be more pronounced, the quality of the music (for instance, the finale to act 2 of the Giulini Figaro) was sharper. Though in general I fault the abysmal quality of Sennheiser's DACs, I was surprised that HD800 sounded smoother, more organic, and more integrated, though perhaps with slightly less bottom end. I would love to borrow HD820 for an at-home audition, of course, but I doubt Sennheiser would extend that privilege to me. I note that HD800 had a 1/4 inch cable versus the 4-pin XLR of the 820. Perhaps the noise of the shared ground took the edge off the schiit digital to analog conversion, eh @Baldr?

I am not certain how many hours of play the HD800 had versus the newer HD820. Although I am usually dismissive of burn-in, I mention it for the sake of completion.

Was the HD820 a final production model or a prototype, was it for sale?

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

Unclear, though they were throwing in IE80s with preorders. That specific unit was a floor model and very much not for sale. I'll swing by and ask.

 

[pietcux]

Unclear, though they were throwing in IE80s with preorders. That specific unit was a floor model and very much not for sale. I'll swing by and ask.

Thanks a lot.