[nordkapp]

My next purchase is the HD800. I want something with more air and upper frequency extension. The soundstaging and imaging sound very appealing. My present wheelhouse is lacking in this regard. Sounds like they'd be fun for chamber music. Besides , they are on Amazon now for a tad over $1k.

 

[Imperfectionist]

and he added this to it: "when properly modded and EQ'ed."

My good sir, does the above statement makes arrogance displayed by ubs28 any less?
Under whose authority does ubs28 thinks he can dictate what is acceptable and what is none?
A lot of us likes z1r the way it sounds. Does that mean our preference is not acceptable then?
And by whose standards? Tyll? Ubs28? Or even yours?
A lot of us do not care what you lot thinks. You can enjoy what you like and so will we with our z1r.

 

[tomb]

and why do you assume that every hd800 owner (and there are probably thousands of them) couldn't possibly be satisfied with it stock? the reason i ask is because i know of folks who prefer it stock over modded variants and the hd800s.

^ this ...

I absolutely prefer mine stock ... and to the "S" version. It is still the most dependable flagship headphone.

 

[nanaholic]

why do you assume that every hd800 owner (and there would probably be thousands of them) couldn't possibly be satisfied with it stock?

Well for starters, HD800 owners are probably some of those people who asks for the most advice/recommendation regarding what gear to get such as amps and cables to "drive it properly" or get "more bass/get rid of the harshness". I think the head-fi HD800 thread is probably the longest there is with all sorts of recommendation in terms of people asking for advice on how to get the HD800 to sound "right".

It's an undeniable fact that amp is flavoring/EQ in itself (as no amp is a truly just a "wire with gain", no amps are perfect gain only boosters and thus will add distortion and flavouring to the sound, engineering fact), and while I'm no cable believer (I only buy cables for conveniences) but if you are a cable believer you must throw that into the "parts that flavour sounds in a particular way" basket too. So if you have to spend another 2k+ for amps and DACs and cables to flavour or "drive your headphone properly", it probably means you aren't satisfied with the phone stock. And while you aren't modding or EQing the headphone directly, it's still tuning the sound essentially, just at the different part of the music chain.

 

[Whitigir]

Well, everything affect sound quality, and as far as we have come to discussed this, have any of you bothered to find out what your flavored and favorites "reviewer" setup is ? His preferences of cables ? Amplifier ? Power sources ? File sources ?....etc...I am surprised that people even believe what the "reviewer" said so litterally without any regard for the rest of the chain at all, and especially when you are into the higher end tier.

Now, did you know that there are "hardcore enthusiasts" ?

 

[up late]

My good sir, does the above statement makes arrogance displayed by ubs28 any less?
Under whose authority does ubs28 thinks he can dictate what is acceptable and what is none?
A lot of us likes z1r the way it sounds. Does that mean our preference is not acceptable then?
And by whose standards? Tyll? Ubs28? Or even yours?
A lot of us do not care what you lot thinks. You can enjoy what you like and so will we with our z1r.

your outrage is apparent but why are you directing at me?

 

[up late]

Well for starters, HD800 owners are probably some of those people who asks for the most advice/recommendation regarding what gear to get such as amps and cables to "drive it properly" or get "more bass/get rid of the harshness". I think the head-fi HD800 thread is probably the longest there is with all sorts of recommendation in terms of people asking for advice on how to get the HD800 to sound "right".

It's an undeniable fact that amp is flavoring/EQ in itself (as no amp is a truly just a "wire with gain", no amps are perfect gain only boosters and thus will add distortion and flavouring to the sound, engineering fact), and while I'm no cable believer (I only buy cables for conveniences) but if you are a cable believer you must throw that into the "parts that flavour sounds in a particular way" basket too. So if you have to spend another 2k+ for amps and DACs and cables to flavour or "drive your headphone properly", it probably means you aren't satisfied with the phone stock. And while you aren't modding or EQing the headphone directly, it's still tuning the sound essentially, just at the different part of the music chain.

could the hd800 thread be long because the headphone has been around for almost a decade? they're on to the "new" hd800 thread now which started back in early 2013.

there are folks who search for audio synergy through their headphone, amp, dac and cable pairings. others want to alter the sound signature of their headphones by eq or modding. look around the forum threads and you'll find that this isn't unique to the hd800.

 

[pietcux]

I am a lucky person compared to lots of others around here. I can adapt to nearly every single headphones sound that was mentioned here without nodding it. My brain does the trick for me. Just got me a Sennheiser Game One, because I needed a proper headset for gaming. Even that one can satisfy me with music directly from my WM1A dap. I even dared to run the HD800 from an Ipod Classic....OMG!!.!

 

[Whitigir]

I am a lucky person compared to lots of others around here. I can adapt to nearly every single headphones sound that was mentioned here without nodding it. My brain does the trick for me. Just got me a Sennheiser Game One, because I needed a proper headset for gaming. Even that one can satisfy me with music directly from my WM1A dap. I even dared to run the HD800 from an Ipod Classic....OMG!!.!

Time to run a SusVara out of iPod classic because it sound heavenly good. Joking aside, personal satisfaction is hard to achieve, and I am glad that you have your

 

[tomb]

Well for starters, HD800 owners are probably some of those people who asks for the most advice/recommendation regarding what gear to get such as amps and cables to "drive it properly" or get "more bass/get rid of the harshness". I think the head-fi HD800 thread is probably the longest there is with all sorts of recommendation in terms of people asking for advice on how to get the HD800 to sound "right".

It's an undeniable fact that amp is flavoring/EQ in itself (as no amp is a truly just a "wire with gain", no amps are perfect gain only boosters and thus will add distortion and flavouring to the sound, engineering fact), and while I'm no cable believer (I only buy cables for conveniences) but if you are a cable believer you must throw that into the "parts that flavour sounds in a particular way" basket too. So if you have to spend another 2k+ for amps and DACs and cables to flavour or "drive your headphone properly", it probably means you aren't satisfied with the phone stock. And while you aren't modding or EQing the headphone directly, it's still tuning the sound essentially, just at the different part of the music chain.

What people fail to note about amps - many may seem to test as "perfect gain-only boosters" - but it's the load itself (headphone) that's so complicated. The most expensive and well-developed amps may handle more headphones well than other amps. That's where the problem arises - less expensive amps do some things well, others not. The search begins with trying to find one of those inexpensive amps that does things well with the headphone you've chosen. All of that is not really "flavouring."

 

[nanaholic]

could the hd800 thread be long because the headphone has been around for almost a decade? they're on to the "new" hd800 thread now which started back in early 2013.

there are folks who search for audio synergy through their headphone, amp, dac and cable pairings. others want to alter the sound signature of their headphones by eq or modding. look around the forum threads and you'll find that this isn't unique to the hd800.

No it's long because people buy it and then asks for a lot of recommendations. There's really no way to spin this any other way.

For example, the T1 thread is nowhere near as long as the HD800 thread (still on the first and only thread), and the T1 is as old as the HD800 and is also one of the TOTL at that time that is considered on equal level. Then there are other "classics" like K701/HD650/DT880 the used to be the the "top of the game" but again, nowhere near the long discussions on how to get the best out of it unlike the HD800. Asking for synergy pairing always means that you think your gear has untapped potential, which means you aren't fully satisfied as how it is now. So in that respect, I think it is completely fair to say that people searching for the best synergy for their HD800 (and yes, this does apply to all headphones as well) - whether it is in DACs, amps or cables - cannot be said to be satisfied with their headphones as they are. The fact remains though that there's such a HUGE thread for it that greatly out numbers any other headphone on this forum, must point to that when people buy the HD800, deep down they really may not be that satisfied with how it is out of box.

What people fail to note about amps - many may seem to test as "perfect gain-only boosters" - but it's the load itself (headphone) that's so complicated. The most expensive and well-developed amps may handle more headphones well than other amps. That's where the problem arises - less expensive amps do some things well, others not. The search begins with trying to find one of those inexpensive amps that does things well with the headphone you've chosen. All of that is not really "flavouring."

No it is still flavouring. It doesn't matter how complciated the load is because the end result is still subjective to the listener. For example a person may very well plug a pair of HD800 into an iPhone and find that when under driven to be completely sufficient and a pleasing sound, or a person can find a 5 grand tube amp but find the pairing not good. It's the end result that people listen to, and they most certainly aren't looking at whether the amps are pairing properly with the headphone in any objective way - ergo you would see that most recommendations for amps and cables are purely subjective with no measurements anyway! If people were genuinely interested in *properly* (as in engineering/science way of "proper") driving the HD800, they'll actually objectively measure all the amps' output under a 300ohm load and measure distortion etc in a very non-subjective way. That's why fundamentally they are still just trying to flavour the signature of the headphone to suit a certain personal subjective taste, they just aren't stuffing foam into the headphone itself or use more precise methods like software EQing, but in the end, is still trying things to alter the sound of the headphone, which ultimately means they aren't fully satisfied with the headphone as it is out of the box.

 

[up late]

No it's long because people buy it and then asks for a lot of recommendations. There's really no way to spin this any other way.

For example, the T1 thread is nowhere near as long as the HD800 thread (still on the first and only thread), and the T1 is as old as the HD800 and is also one of the TOTL at that time that is considered on equal level. Then there are other "classics" like K701/HD650/DT880 the used to be the the "top of the game" but again, nowhere near the long discussions on how to get the best out of it unlike the HD800. Asking for synergy pairing always means that you think your gear has untapped potential, which means you aren't fully satisfied as how it is now. So in that respect, I think it is completely fair to say that people searching for the best synergy for their HD800 (and yes, this does apply to all headphones as well) - whether it is in DACs, amps or cables - cannot be said to be satisfied with their headphones as they are. The fact remains though that there's such a HUGE thread for it that greatly out numbers any other headphone on this forum, must point to that when people buy the HD800, deep down they really may not be that satisfied with how it is out of box.

well there is another way to "spin" it actually. the hd800 was the biggest news in headphones in years when it was introduced. it was "a game changer" at the time and it generated huge interest at head-fi. as popular as the t1 was, i'm not sure that it made the kind of splash that the hd800 did or has sold as many units. the same could be said of the k701, hd650 and dt880. so it could simply be a matter of there being many more hd800 owners and potential owners making the hd800 thread one of the most popular and consequently, one of the longest. and I've no doubt that the hd800 thread contains more than just posts from folks seeking advice on how to "get the best out of it". surely there are posts from folks praising it as well.

you have acknowledged that there are other (totl) headphones whose owners seek advice about which ancillary components pair or synergise best with them, so this isn't unique to the hd800 as I said. and then there are the separate modding threads; the th900 has one for example.

i'm not denying that the hd800 has a reputation for being a highly strung thoroughbred of a headphone, but there hadn't been a dynamic headphone before it that was so revealing. it set new standards in resolution, imaging and "soundstage" that head-fi'ers hadn't heard before, and then there was that 6khz peak. and troublesome treble peaks aren't unique to the hd800 either. owners of the t1 have found its treble peaks problematic too.

there wasn't a high-end headphone market to speak of at the time that the hd800 was introduced. highly resolving totl headphones are now commonplace however, and there are many more options to pair with them than there were when the hd800 was released. you'll find owners and potential owners of the more recent totl headphones still asking the same kinds of questions over in summit-fi that have been asked about the hd800. anyway, this is the z1r thread so we probably should turn our attention back to it.

 

[Beagle]

i've never found it unlistenable but it has a treble tilt to my ears, and i can understand how that 6khz spike would be a deal breaker for some folks. if you prefer a darker, bass heavy presentation then the z1r would most probably suit you better.

Bass heavy compared to bass light maybe

 

[MacedonianHero]

Bass heavy compared to bass light maybe

That's why I prefer the HD800S to the HD800...the added bass was very much welcomed...as was the disappearance of the 6kHz spike. That said, my Z1Rs still get quite a bit more head-time.

 

[up late]

Bass heavy compared to bass light maybe

maybe