[JaZZ]

 

Pogart...

Take care not to let you talk into thinking you need a (tube) amp after you've got your Hugo to make your HD 650 / HD 800 sound even better. The Hugo will drive both with ease, with extremely low harmonic distortion, has power in spades for them. Any external amp will add harmonic distortion, but not accuracy. The signal from the Hugo (or Mojo) can't be made more pure and accurate than it is – note that line out and headphone out share the same signal path, so there's no electronics components to be bypassed. Unfortunately it's common practice on Head-Fi to add amps to everything and to spend money for shiny new gear, and maybe it's hard to resist the peer pressure. As an excuse for those on this path there's to be acknowledged that adding harmonic distortion can work like an equalizer or euphonizer, and many «audiophiles» aren't interested in high fidelity in the first place. However, I strongly recommend you to use a (software) equalizer if you're not entirely satisfied with the sonic balance instead of useless re-amping. And congratulations on your choice!

 

Thank you JaZZ for taking a part in teaching me some lessons.
I'm the guy who upgraded HD598 to HD650 and has discovered that the proper amp is a must to compliment the audio experience. With last year HD598 on my ears connected to my mobilephone or PC I was amazed with better sounds of my well known albums and I didn't dig up any deeper to find out if this is all I need, I didn't care? With this upgrade to HD650 I've started searching reviews of how to make the sound even better and soon after few reviews I've realised that I need good amp

I won't bore you with whole the story but I've learnt that at the first place I need good DAC and in my case it's Hugo... It's out of stock and they've promised to send me it next week...
Waiting waiting waiting.....
Yes, the tube amps have interested me because it's all new to me and the tubes used for those amps reminded me the old tv's and radios working on tubes and as far as I know the tubes used to be very well suitable to produce very high end audio gears if I'm right

?
So as far as you know JaZZ I haven't had a chance to hear good quality audio yet

Hugo will come at the end of next week

Our friend icebear has mentioned that for the type of music I'm listening it might be even wrong choice of headphones I'm aiming to (HD800s)... This is makes me thinking twice if I ever will need anything better than Hugo for my listening needs

Probably I can't be ever good with pure classic music as I preffer the harder rhytm and sound with a bit of power , and the perfect match I find with metal/rock bands using both, the rock sound with orchestra, vocals and sort of such music... I like all music though, what's counts to me is the very good clear sounding albums capable of delivering pleasure to listen to.
In this case it's not matter to me if this is classic, rock, jazz or any other type of music, what's matter is emotions included by the artists who can let me feel the whole story locked up in particular audio recorings...
I think JaZZ you're right, I think the Hugo will be enough to let me enjoy the whole spectrum of different music I'm listening, but I'm opened to try out the tube amp if I can, to find out if it's something to upgrade to in my case

The Chord Hugo must be amazing ...
I've tried Oppo HA-2 for a week and returned it with many doubts regarding it's SQ, and the issues and disruptions while trying to listen music from my Android mobilephone, this was the main reason to return it... While connected to the PC I weren't amazed with better SQ at all? No reasons then to keep it... I could buy 5 Oppos instead of one Hugo... It tells me a lot of how good the Hugo might be compared to Oppo HA-2? I believe JaZZ that the Hugo is the thing I need to feel fully emotions given me by all spectrum of music I'm listening to and I'm opened now to try everything else when my Hugo + HD650 will be ready

Pure classic maybe? A jazz probably at the first place as it is music for soul too, I like to try all of it because I'm ready to hear the difference and I think that from now I'm able to discover something new to me,emotional too and interesting being on opposite side of hard rock music itself?
Thank you.

 
Hi Pogart
 
The greatest favor you can do to yourself is to cancel the idea of using a headphone amp with the Hugo. I'll explain in more detail. The tradition of combining DACs with headphone amps for headphone listening has its cause in the fact that DACs either don't have a headphone output or have a headphone amp built in that's considered mediocre compared to some audiophile devices. So the advantage from adding a high-quality amp is clear and undisputed. With the Hugo (as well as Mojo, Hugo TT and DAVE) it's a diffferent thing: It doesn't have a dedicated headphone output stage – the DAC's line-out stage is used to drive headphones directly. The goal behind this design is unmatched signal accuracy and purity in the form of extremely low harmonic distortion. This to enable full benefit from the sophisticated signal processing. Any additional amplification would use the same signal path as the headphone output, thus inevitably increasing harmonic distortion by adding its individual distortion pattern/coloration – an irreparable signal pollution if you consider how much care the developer has applied to get this low distortion figures. Here's what he has to say about it, and there.
 
Tube amps have their own charm, and I can absolutely reproduce that people like them. Solid-state amps may color the sound less obviously, but they do so nonetheless, mostly in a less obviously euphonic way. Both colorations have the ability to mask upstream and downstream shortcomings to some degree. That comes at the price of reduced transparency. Now since no headphone is perfect, particularly when it comes to tonal balance and frequency response, a matching (synergetic) amp may sound like an ideal solution. But at a closer look it's a poor solution: You use an expensive device full of signal-corrupting electronics components as a highly unflexible effect device with just one factory preset. I for one have freed myself from the necessity for component synergy. I simply use a good software equalizer for equalizing the notoriously uneven frequency response of my headphones – this under full preservation of the original transparency, and maybe even more: A passably flat frequency response makes for a further increase of transparency. And with the right settings, you can bring the sound of your HD 650 quite close to the HD 800's. You may even detect that you don't need the HD 800, which may be too bright for you (it is to me without modification and additional equalizing).

 

[Shetzu]

Hey mr. ****z! I'm very well, man. Been enjoying my music the best way I know how as per usual. Thank you for asking. Still all smiles with my gear and music. What could be better? Anyway, sorry for the late reply. Been working like a dog...lots of overtime hrs though. I'm saving up for a Woo Audio Eclipse to pair with my AK jr and Sony MDR z7's and HD 800 (classic)

The MK soloist is different slightly in power supply and VRMS out put than the Soloist SL.
Doesn't have a The same short circuitry pathway either. However, the reviews for the smaller mk are quite good, but spec wise on paper the soloist SL appears to be the better amp. Nowadays though you really can't go purely based on specs anyway. I hope you enjoy the MK and with the Mojo's DAC that will surely be a delight. Please report back to me how you like the Mk soloist paired with the HD 800 against the other amps you are interested in like the RS Raptor.

My knowledge and experience only lies with the soloist SL out of all the amps you listed, so it will be great to hear back from you for how you like them.
Enjoy your sonic universe. Music is timeless and it is my best friend in life, so putting hard earned money towards quality gear is entirely worth it for me. I hope it is for you as well.

Happy listening, my friend.

Good to see you post and you enjoying your gear and music. I am now contemplating in getting a tube amp just for self satisfaction. I like the mojo with Hd 800 too but since Hd800 gives all details some music sound weird. Yes agree with your last few lines. Cheers 

 

[Pogart]

Hi Pogart

The greatest favor you can do to yourself is to cancel the idea of using a headphone amp with the Hugo. I'll explain in more detail. The tradition of combining DACs with headphone amps for headphone listening has its cause in the fact that DACs either don't have a headphone output or have a headphone amp built in that's considered mediocre compared to some audiophile devices. So the advantage from adding a high-quality amp is clear and undisputed. With the Hugo (as well as Mojo, Hugo TT and DAVE) it's a diffferent thing: It doesn't have a dedicated headphone output stage – the DAC's line-out stage is used to drive headphones directly. The goal behind this design is unmatched signal accuracy and purity in the form of extremely low harmonic distortion. This to enable full benefit from the sophisticated signal processing. Any additional amplification would use the same signal path as the headphone output, thus inevitably increasing harmonic distortion by adding its individual distortion pattern/coloration – an irreparable signal pollution if you consider how much care the developer has applied to get this low distortion figures. Here's what he has to say about it, and there.

Tube amps have their own charm, and I can absolutely reproduce that people like them. Solid-state amps may color the sound less obviously, but they do so nonetheless, mostly in a less obviously euphonic way. Both colorations have the ability to mask upstream and downstream shortcomings to some degree. That comes at the price of reduced transparency. Now since no headphone is perfect, particularly when it comes to tonal balance and frequency response, a matching (synergetic) amp may sound like an ideal solution. But at a closer look it's a poor solution: You use an expensive device full of signal-corrupting electronics components as a highly unflexible effect device with just one factory preset. I for one have freed myself from the necessity for component synergy. I simply use a good software equalizer for equalizing the notoriously uneven frequency response of my headphones – this under full preservation of the original transparency, and maybe even more: A passably flat frequency response makes for a further increase of transparency. And with the right settings, you can bring the sound of your HD 650 quite close to the HD 800's. You may even detect that you don't need the HD 800, which may be too bright for you (it is to me without modification and additional equalizing).

Hi JaZZ.
You're helping me a lot to understand what's all about, thank you
No, I weren't going to connect Hugo to any other headphone amp, I didn't even think of doing so
It's because I've paid a lot, even more than I could to get,in my opinion, the best possible DAC I can. I've tried the bargain one first-no impressions at all, so I knew I need the very special one and that's why I wouldn't dare to add any other amp on top of this set.
I knew the Hugo's DAC is very unique so I weren't going to waste it by adding anything. Thank you for your honest warning, it's keen of you that you care Thanks to you JaZZ I had opportunity to read through the Rob Watts post.
Because of that I'm in deep doubts if I ever gonna try the tube amp...
The Rob's review of his own product, the effort he's put in to it explains me everything I need, to understand that the Hugo is very unique by itself and as you've adviced, there actually is not reason for looking for any other amp/tube amp... I'm even more certain that I've paid a lot for the right thing and it's well worth the money
Can't wait to try it !!!
I could have it already - the silver one.., but I do prefer in black so I have to wait Regarding the equaliser I'm playing my FLAC files with Winamp on my PC and mobilephone... The Winamp has small EQ and I'm trying to adjust the audio I'm listening. I bet you're using some more professional software in this matter? To be honest I'm not a big fan of changing anything so the EQ on my Winamp was set at the one middle line all way long till last time I've started to play with it a bit?
I think now my albums sounds a bit better but I'm aware of that I can also ruin originally good sounding album because of my lack of knowledge with EQ settings. I've simply played with this EQ and left at the point that I thought I like it as it is now...
You know JaZZ, I've had only the HD598 and thanks to them I've started understand what real sound might look like I've got now HD650 because I think they're better than HD598, so my next step I'm willing to make is to get ,in my opinion, the top ones HD800 or HD800s... I'm well aware that I might be all way wrong, and the HD598 could be enough in my case? I only wish to build up the best system to listen to my music with pure pleasure and to be proud of being able to enjoy very good sounding music. I believe that HD800 might be the last element in my set, but maybe I'm wrong... I'm gonna check out the modification thing regarding the HD800 yet I usually don't like adding any modifications, but if it helps it might be worth to doing so
Thanks for your good lessons JaZZ indeed

 

[JaZZ]

I'm glad to be of help.
 
Winamp's equalizer isn't really a precision instrument, but otherwise quite useful. I've tried to reproduce the custom presets on my usual source, a FiiO X5 II:
 
HD 650:

 
HD 800 (modified!)

(For an unmodified HD 800 slightly reduce the treble above 1 kHz.)

 

[icebear]

  Hello Iceberg. Thanks for asking. In my opinion many Live concerts of rock music dont sound very good on the Hd800. I prefer the Fidelio X2 for rock etc. But some music is heavy on bass which I try to avoid with the X2 and prefer my Shure 535 . Acoustic jazz & classical I prefer on my Hd800. Vocals too. Prefer the clarity and detail  and spaciousness. How about you

 
Also though I have a great Dac like Chord Mojo and have had no issues with my HD800 it is my choice and for my satisfaction I am wanting to get a Tube amp not because of what people may say or through any pressure. It is only for my satisfaction and a little change in sound. So I am deciding upon the Ray Samuel's Raptor which I think is a good amp. If you wish to share your inputs please do so. It is always a welcome sign. Cheers

Hi there,
see, my recommendation not to get a HD800 in the first place, when the preferred music is heavymetal and rock seems to make sense does it?
Everybody is free to mod and use EQ and pair the HD800 with tube amps to tweak the frequency response to their taste, nothing wrong with that journey, just that kind of music simply sounds more fun with other headphones right out of the box and with a lot less of financial expenses. But hey it's not my money

 

[Shetzu]

 
Hi there,
see, my recommendation not to get a HD800 in the first place, when the preferred music is heavymetal and rock seems to make sense does it?
Everybody is free to mod and use EQ and pair the HD800 with tube amps to tweak the frequency response to their taste, nothing wrong with that journey, just that kind of music simply sounds more fun with other headphones right out of the box and with a lot less of financial expenses. But hey it's not my money

Hey. Your recommendation may be right but I had the Hd 800 for a while and I like them . It is only some music which does not sound so good for which I am not worried.  I am not in the race for modding my in warranty HP. But perhaps like  Using EQ setting could help but I rather listen to the Genre I like and I have other Hp to listen to Live Rock Concerts . Cheers. I have been listening to Alison Krauss and Cat Stevens and HD 800 with the Mojo sounds fantastic out of the box. Tks for your inputs  though.

 

[Shetzu]

  I'm glad to be of help.
 
Winamp's equalizer isn't really a precision instrument, but otherwise quite useful. I've tried to reproduce the custom presets on my usual source, a FiiO X5 II:
 
HD 650:

 
HD 800 (modified!)

(For an unmodified HD 800 slightly reduce the treble above 1 kHz.)

Hello Jazz.Tks for the EQ settings. Since I am a Mac user do you have the presets for Jrivers or Audirvana app for the Hd800 I would like to try the same..

 

 

[Pogart]

I'm glad to be of help.

Winamp's equalizer isn't really a precision instrument, but otherwise quite useful. I've tried to reproduce the custom presets on my usual source, a FiiO X5 II:

HD 650:



HD 800 (modified!)


(For an unmodified HD 800 slightly reduce the treble above 1 kHz.)

Thanks so much JaZZ
You're easy my efforts
I haven't ask you for the pictures but this is exactly what I needed!
Thanks for placing the reference pictures and I hope some other members can use'em as well
Now I'm becoming even more impatient to get Hugo in my hands
Thanks for help JaZZ...

 

[JaZZ]

  see, my recommendation not to get a HD800 in the first place, when the preferred music is heavymetal and rock seems to make sense does it?
Everybody is free to mod and use EQ and pair the HD800 with tube amps to tweak the frequency response to their taste, nothing wrong with that journey, just that kind of music simply sounds more fun with other headphones right out of the box and with a lot less of financial expenses. But hey it's not my money

 
While there's nothing wrong with limiting the own headphone-listening pleasure to the default sound «right out of the box», I definitely recommend to get the most out of what you have, especially when it's free or almost free and the effort is small. I'm explicitly not speaking of the tube amp, to clarify this. I really think the HD 800 is an excellent headphone for Heavy Metal and Rock – when properly equalized. I know from your posts that you consider it extremely neutral and ideal for acoustic instruments. Why should this stand in the way of accurately reproducing Heavy Metal and the like?
 
The reason is that it's effectively not so neutral (hey, no headphone is!

) and lacks the necessary impact at very low frequencies due to the drop-off there, combined with a treble excess around 6 kHz. Not a big deal, since there are a lot of free software equalizers around, and the measurements are rather univocal, so the necessary correction curves are quite obvious.
 

  Hey. Your recommendation may be right but I had the Hd 800 for a while and I like them . It is only some music which does not sound so good for which I am not worried.  I am not in the race for modding my in warranty HP. But perhaps like  Using EQ setting could help but I rather listen to the Genre I like and I have other Hp to listen to Live Rock Concerts. Cheers. I have been listening to Alison Krauss and Cat Stevens and HD 800 with the Mojo sounds fantastic out of the box. Tks for your inputs though.

 
I'm glad to support your choice. The HD 800 is excellent for Metal in my book (see above and below).
 

  Hello Jazz.Tks for the EQ settings. Since I am a Mac user do you have the presets for Jrivers or Audirvana app for the Hd800 I would like to try the same..

 

 
Sorry, I'm Windows based and know nothing about JRiver and Audirvana. But the curves from this post should be quite easy to be translated to your preferred player.
 
My own curve with xnor's graphic equalizer for foobar2000 meanwhile looks like this (with damping modification and Black Dragon cable):
 

 
And on my standard source, the FiiO X5 II (feeding a Chord DAVE), the settings on its octave equalizer are the following:
 
31 Hz:  +4.2  /  62 Hz:  –1.4  /  125 Hz:  –4.4  /  250 Hz:  –5.2  /  500 Hz:  –4.6  /  1 kHz:  –3.4  /  2 kHz:  –2.2  /  4 kHz:  –4.4  /  8 kHz:  –6  /  16 kHz:   +2.6 dB
 
Again note that these are the settings for a modified pair of HD 800 (an original pair may sound too treble-friendly that way, so 0.4 to 2.2 dB of reduction from 2 kHz upward may be beneficial). BTW, the damping serves for further increasing accuracy by eliminating some of the inevitable reflections within the ear cups – in the interest of maximum musical enjoyment. It's not overly difficult to do, just needs some patience, and moreover it's fully reversible and does no harm to the headphone.
 
It is my deep conviction that every kind of serious music deserves to be reproduced in high quality. I'm not very much into metal, but like some of the progressive stuff such as from A Perfect Circle, Ayreon or Rush, and can confirm you that the HD 800 is maybe the best headphone in its price class for this genre. The density of the sound from the distorted guitars benefits a lot from an accurate and transparent headphone, as well as the fast drum-beat staccatos benefit from a clean and fast bass reproduction. You'll be amazed about the precision and punch behind bass drums with equalized low frequencies. Since it's all about fun and enjoyment, you can also play with the EQ settings till they match your personal preference, but don't go too wild, or you may not find back to a long-term compatible sonic characteristic. And by all means forget (tube) amps! It would be a shame to sacrifice the raw energy from the direct connection to your Mojo for a softened and euphonized copy.

 

[Shetzu]

   
While there's nothing wrong with limiting the own headphone-listening pleasure to the default sound «right out of the box», I definitely recommend to get the most out of what you have, especially when it's free or almost free and the effort is small. I'm explicitly not speaking of the tube amp, to clarify this. I really think the HD 800 is an excellent headphone for Heavy Metal and Rock – when properly equalized. I know from your posts that you consider it extremely neutral and ideal for acoustic instruments. Why should this stand in the way of accurately reproducing Heavy Metal and the like?
 
The reason is that it's effectively not so neutral (hey, no headphone is!

) and lacks the necessary impact at very low frequencies due to the drop-off there, combined with a treble excess around 6 kHz. Not a big deal, since there are a lot of free software equalizers around, and the measurements are rather univocal, so the necessary correction curves are quite obvious.
 
 
I'm glad to support your choice. The HD 800 is excellent for Metal in my book (see above and below).
 
 
Sorry, I'm Windows based and know nothing about JRiver and Audirvana. But the curves from this post should be quite easy to be translated to your preferred player.
 
My own curve with xnor's graphic equalizer for foobar2000 meanwhile looks like this (with damping modification and Black Dragon cable):
 

 
And on my standard source, the FiiO X5 II (feeding a Chord DAVE), the settings on its octave equalizer are the following:
 
31 Hz:  +4.2  /  62 Hz:  –1.4  /  125 Hz:  –4.4  /  250 Hz:  –5.2  /  500 Hz:  –4.6  /  1 kHz:  –3.4  /  2 kHz:  –2.2  /  4 kHz:  –4.4  /  8 kHz:  –6  /  16 kHz:   +2.6 dB
 
Again note that these are the settings for a modified pair of HD 800 (an original pair may sound too treble-friendly that way, so 0.4 to 2.2 dB of reduction from 2 kHz upward may be beneficial). BTW, the damping serves for further increasing accuracy by eliminating some of the inevitable reflections within the ear cups – in the interest of maximum musical enjoyment. It's not overly difficult to do, just needs some patience, and moreover it's fully reversible and does no harm to the headphone.
 
It is my deep conviction that every kind of serious music deserves to be reproduced in high quality. I'm not very much into metal, but like some of the progressive stuff such as from A Perfect Circle, Ayreon or Rush, and can confirm you that the HD 800 is maybe the best headphone in its price class for this genre. The density of the sound from the distorted guitars benefits a lot from an accurate and transparent headphone, as well as the fast drum-beat staccatos benefit from a clean and fast bass reproduction. You'll be amazed about the precision and punch behind bass drums with equalized low frequencies. Since it's all about fun and enjoyment, you can also play with the EQ settings till they match your personal preference, but don't go too wild, or you may not find back to a long-term compatible sonic characteristic. And by all means forget (tube) amps! It would be a shame to sacrifice the raw energy from the direct connection to your Mojo for a softened and euphonized copy.

Thanks for all your efforts. I shall try these settings however since I dont have a modded Hd800 will go by what you said. 

  And yes for the time being no Tube amps. Also can you describe how the modding sounds. Are you using the superdupont resonator?

 

[JaZZ]

  ... Also can you describe how the modding sounds. Are you using the superdupont resonator?

 
No Helmholtz resonator... since I use active equalizing, I don't need additional passive/acoustic equalizing. The resonator itself creates some additional reflections (after all it blocks the center hole), as can be identified on the measurements.
 
The sonic result is a (litterally) drier, less ethereal sound with less glare. It may take some getting used to (as it was in my case – farewell from a spectacular sparkle which seemed to enhance clarity and transparency), but I think in the long run most will like the higher accuracy and the virtual absence of glare better. Note that the audible loss is solely caused by reduced reflections, the actual signal from the membrane is untouched. What you gain instead is an increased sense of spatial depth.
 
I can't speak for the «Anaxilus mod», which has been derived from my own mod (consisting of layers of velvet) and uses foam, felt, velours and the like. There's a reason I stuck with velvet, and the reason it hasn't become more popular may be that it looks less «professional». In exchange it sounds better (to my ears anyway).

 

 

[Pogart]

You're passing us the great knowledge JaZZ and it seems like you've experienced a lot regarding audio matter, thank you
I've experienced some issues regarding adding new playlist to Winamp.
When CD were ripped the audio files went missing. I've checked all settings and it's looking just as normal but it's not Sometimes I'm experiensing such unknown errors with Winamp.
I'll try it again tomorrow after work.
I've tried few times the Foobar2000,but I'm not feeling familiar using it yet... I've got Winamp Pro, I've paid for this full version,but sometimes the errors like mentioned above annoying me I'm appreciate your point of view regarding listening to hard rock or heavy metal on HD800. It's making great sense what you've said. If the HD800 are made to reproduce clear sound, then it's not too worry what sound, they should be still capable to do their best whether with classic, live or rock because all of this is music,nothing else I did bin some heavy metal CDs this evening,though. It's because of their poor record quality or I'm not listening this kind of music any more.
I know I've mentioned that I'm listening to heavy metal bands, but I might be taken wrong... It's because it's actually not proper very heavy metal but definitely not trash metal? Type ONegative,RobZombie,Metallica,Iron Miden,LedZeppelin,BlackSabbath,Nirvana,GunsN'Roses,Scorpions,Nazareth,Therion,Bruce Springsteen,some pop artists like Adele or Rihanna...I do like Luciano Pavarotti,Andrea Bocelli... I used to like Slayer,Kreator,Pantera but I've got no albums in my collection.
I'm big fan of Rammstein though,and I like much Nightwish I hope the HD800 will work for me

 

[jibzilla]

 
 
It is my deep conviction that every kind of serious music deserves to be reproduced in high quality.  Since it's all about fun and enjoyment, you can also play with the EQ settings till they match your personal preference, but don't go too wild, or you may not find back to a long-term compatible sonic characteristic. And by all means forget (tube) amps! It would be a shame to sacrifice the raw energy from the direct connection to your Mojo for a softened and euphonized copy.

 
Problem is most music isn't mastered all that well. 
 
If it is all about fun why do you care whether or not people use a tube amp. You can go that route if you want but you open yourself up to me saying that a TT is a way better route to go than a dac.

 

 

[Pogart]

JaZZ...
Is it worth to upgrade the headphone cable please? I've found Silver Dragon V3 online prices... They're near £300 Will I notice difference pls?

 

[JaZZ]

 

 
It is my deep conviction that every kind of serious music deserves to be reproduced in high quality.  Since it's all about fun and enjoyment, you can also play with the EQ settings till they match your personal preference, but don't go too wild, or you may not find back to a long-term compatible sonic characteristic. And by all means forget (tube) amps! It would be a shame to sacrifice the raw energy from the direct connection to your Mojo for a softened and euphonized copy.

 
Problem is most music isn't mastered all that well. 
 
If it is all about fun why do you care whether or not people use a tube amp. You can go that route if you want but you open yourself up to me saying that a TT is a way better route to go than a dac.

 

 
I'm not sure if I really understand you and if you understand what I'm trying to say. What has the turntable to do with the topic? The tube amp has been brought up by Shetzu, but in fact it's just about the dispensability of a headphone amp with the Chord DACs (I'm not against tube amps as opposed to solid-state amps, although meanwhile I prefer the latter). It's true, there are good and bad recordings. Is that a plausible reason for chosing a forgiving, low-resolution headphone and spending money for a useless device if there are better alternatives?
 
I would rather say it's about musical enjoyment – and I try to steer people away from short-term fun. But maybe it's a route some have to go nonetheless until they discover the beauty of unvarnished sound with preserved subtleties. However, I believe that most people are sensitive enough to rate the lifelikeness and inner detail of a sound as pure and uncolored as possible (not least by means of equalizing) higher than a «fun» sound achieved by euphonic distortion. I also think many headphones can be made to «genre masters» that way. BTW, none of the people criticizing this approach has ever (seriously) tried the logical alternative: equalizing via equalizers instead of amps.
 
 

JaZZ...

Is it worth to upgrade the headphone cable please? I've found Silver Dragon V3 online prices... They're near £300

Will I notice difference pls?

 
Hard to tell if you'll notice a difference. Some people don't, some people do. For me the sound of a cable, particularly headphone cable, is an essential component in a system, and the Silver Dragon is one I've learnt to appreciate: very clear and transparent. I'm not sure if it is a good match for an unmodified HD 800, though, it may make it sound colder than with the stock cable, which isn't bad at all itself and sounds a bit more organic, although slightly sharp. I have used a Silver Dragon with my modified pair till last year, when I found the original cable to be a better match nonetheless (possibly due to the Hugo). Meanwhile I use a Black Dragon and like it.