Originally Posted by MacedonianHero /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yes I did sell both.
To be honest, I just didn't listen to them much with the T1s in house and I did yearn for the HD800s for Pink Floyd, jazz and classical. I think the great detail retrieval and sound stage would make them a great compliment can to my T1s.
I am going to miss the RS1s and D7000s though....I think I already do.
I sold the AH-D7000 to get the HD800 and now I'm trying to repurchase the AH-D7000. Need them for some bass oriented music. I won't dare sell my Grado RS1 and HD800.
Originally Posted by sling5s /img/forum/go_quote.gif I sold the AH-D7000 to get the HD800 and now I'm trying to repurchase the AH-D7000. Need them for some bass oriented music. I won't dare sell my Grado RS1 and HD800.
If I could only have one full size dynamic headphone it would be my re-cabled HD800, where I could not be happy without the wonderful soundstage it presents, along with great transparency. I think I said as much in my review, and I still use it more than my stats.
Originally Posted by Skylab /img/forum/go_quote.gif And therein lies the most difficult balancing act in all of the world of high-end audio - do we listen to recordings - or do we listen to music? They are NOT the same thing, IMO. We have all heard the stories about "audiophiles" who owned $50,000 hi-fi's, and about 20 total recordings, all that were special "audiophile" recordings, and really listened to the gear, and what it was capable of revealing in the recording, not the music itself.
I have never really believed that such an audiophile actually existed. While clearly being an audiophile (and this encompasses head-fi) dictates some degree of interest in gear, it generally includes a strong love of the music itself, in my opinion.
However, I do see some conflicts here. There are people who set as their primary goal having their system articulate exactly what is on the recording to the highest degree possible, regardless of whether that experience is really very enjoyable for any given recording. And then there are people who set the goal for their system to sound as good as possible with the broadest set of recordings possible. From a system perspective, I do believe the goals to be different, and perhaps at some point in the upgrade process, even mutually exclusive goals. And I believe that not all gear serves both goals well.
For me, I am in the latter camp, where it comes to system design. I own 5,000 plus CDs and LP's, and I want to enjoy them ALL, not just the well recorded ones. I further am of the VERY firm belief that there is NO "correct" approach here. It's just a matter of individual bias, desires, and goals. And it's great that it's possible to pursue either approach.
I think it's a shame that some people DO seem to believe that one approach is better than the other. This has been an issue in audiophilia for a very long time, and that is a shame. This is MUSIC reproduction we are discussing - it's like art appreciation. The point is to appreciate it
I'm much more of a music listener than an equipment listener.....despite being a devout "audiophile" I do own approx 10,000 CDs......but the thing is........with modern day classical recordings it is very rare that you will find one which is not of a very good recording quality. So if you're interest is classical music from the stereo era (and from the digital era even moreso) you will probably prefer something which doesn't compensate for wacky and commercial mixing and mastering techniques. In fact many classical recordings aren't even mastered at all...There's no need for an bass boost, treble emphasis nor dynamic compression.....what is played is generally what makes it to tape. The only thing to look out for are clipping, and phase problems from too many mics in one area.
When it comes to rock music where quality recording is much more varied, the HD800 is more of a gamble for sure.
I don't think the HD800 is the be all and end all for everyone........but it sure does sound attrocious when you're listening to a great recording and the music is blurred by a "fun" headphone.
That said, if all I had for the rest of my life were the iBuds, I could manage, the music is what's important and I'm just someone who's lucky to be able to afford such a luxury.
I agree about the quality of classical. Modern recordings are almost uniformly good and even the old classical records I turn up tend towards the wonderful, as long as they're in good condition.
I have noticed that a lot of the very serious music geeks tend not to care much about the gear. They appreciate it, but a lot of the ones I've known have older stereos thatwere nothing too special to begin with. They don't care as long as they can listen to music.
I'm a bit of a gearhead, though, and really love to learn how things work and build things. I've tried to be good lately, too. Since buying the O2 last June or July, I haven't bought anything more aside from parts. Instead, I've bought a few hundred more discs.
Originally Posted by DavidMahler /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm much more of a music listener than an equipment listener.....despite being a devout "audiophile" I do own approx 10,000 CDs......but the thing is........with modern day classical recordings it is very rare that you will find one which is not of a very good recording quality. So if you're interest is classical music from the stereo era (and from the digital era even moreso) you will probably prefer something which doesn't compensate for wacky and commercial mixing and mastering techniques. In fact many classical recordings aren't even mastered at all...There's no need for an bass boost, treble emphasis nor dynamic compression.....what is played is generally what makes it to tape. The only thing to look out for are clipping, and phase problems from too many mics in one area.
When it comes to rock music where quality recording is much more varied, the HD800 is more of a gamble for sure.
I don't think the HD800 is the be all and end all for everyone........but it sure does sound attrocious when you're listening to a great recording and the music is blurred by a "fun" headphone.
That said, if all I had for the rest of my life were the iBuds, I could manage, the music is what's important and I'm just someone who's lucky to be able to afford such a luxury.
Well, I listen to about 80% Rock (in its many sub-genres), 15% Jazz, and 5% all other. I have never really believed that some headphones were better for some Genres than others - but I have come to recognize, largely due to people's feelings about the HD800, that perhaps for Classical this is not true. I'm not knowledgeable about Classical to say what works well for it. But the things about the HD800 that I found difficult for me for Rock may indeed end up actually being either non-issues, or perhaps even virtues, for Classical.
To be clear, however, in my post I was *NOT* talking about "Fun" headphones. I don't believe that it's a question of supremely accurate or wildly distorted with nothing in between, as such a statement like yours would seem to imply. The Beyerdynamic T1 is a great example of that. Very close to the HD800 in accuracy, but manages to make more recordings sound good, IMO.
Anyway, the good news continues to be that there are choices for all types of goals and desires.
Originally Posted by Skylab /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, I listen to about 80% Rock (in its many sub-genres), 15% Jazz, and 5% all other. I have never really believed that some headphones were better for some Genres than others - but I have come to recognize, largely due to people's feelings about the HD800, that perhaps for Classical this is not true. I'm not knowledgeable about Classical to say what works well for it. But the things about the HD800 that I found difficult for me for Rock may indeed end up actually being either non-issues, or perhaps even virtues, for Classical.
To be clear, however, in my post I was *NOT* talking about "Fun" headphones. I don't believe that it's a question of supremely accurate or wildly distorted with nothing in between, as such a statement like yours would seem to imply. The Beyerdynamic T1 is a great example of that. Very close to the HD800 in accuracy, but manages to make more recordings sound good, IMO.
Anyway, the good news continues to be that there are choices for all types of goals and desires.
That's too much rock.
And I do think some phones are better for rock than others, especially for old classic rock recordings. But, other phones can be good with a wide variety of genre.
For Rock, my Ed8's took over from my MarkL modded D5000's. It's just wonderful with that added bass punch.
OTOH, for the other genres, my ALO K702's or Grado's work great. This is why I'd be interested in the HD800's.
ATM, I'd say Rock accounts for about 30% of my listening. ATM, it's much less so the ALO K702's predominate and the HD800's would make for an interesting replacement.
Originally Posted by MacedonianHero /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yes I did sell both.
To be honest, I just didn't listen to them much with the T1s in house and I did yearn for the HD800s for Pink Floyd, jazz and classical. I think the great detail retrieval and sound stage would make them a great compliment can to my T1s.
I am going to miss the RS1s and D7000s though....I think I already do.
Didn't you just say on Monday in the T1 thread that you are keeping both the RS1 and the D7000? Here's your quote from that thread:
"I'm keeping the RS1s because I still really dig that Grado sound and the D7000s because I need a closed headphone option (mainly to keep my wife and kids happy)".
What changed your mind 180 degrees? I don't quite understand your reasoning for needing a closed headphone and then turning around and selling it (the D7000) the next day. Then you buy a headphone, the HD800, that you stated is not good for 90% of your music collection??? You have stated many times that the HD800 lacks bass impact and that you prefer the D7000. I find this very interesting. Anyway, welcome to the HD800 club.
Originally Posted by SteveM324 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Didn't you just say on Monday in the T1 thread that you are keeping both the RS1 and the D7000? Here's your quote from that thread:
"I'm keeping the RS1s because I still really dig that Grado sound and the D7000s because I need a closed headphone option (mainly to keep my wife and kids happy)".
What changed your mind 180 degrees? I don't quite understand your reasoning for needing a closed headphone and then turning around and selling it (the D7000) the next day. Then you buy a headphone, the HD800, that you stated is not good for 90% of your music collection??? You have stated many times that the HD800 lacks bass impact and that you prefer the D7000. I find this very interesting. Anyway, welcome to the HD800 club.
Easy, I realized that I really didn't listen to my RS1s that much with rock any more (actually never) as I preferred my T1s. With the closed cans, you're right that I noted that I needed a closed headphone for "family" reasons, but I needed $$$ more and if you want to check out my signature, I've got some pretty darn good IEMs that actually fit the bill quite well.
I just missed the wide sound stage of my K701s, and thought why not just go for the king in this area...so I did. So for the 10-30% of the time I listen to jazz/classical/Pink Floyd, I wanted something that really had that!
I hope that I've justified my purchase to your satisfaction...jeesch!
Originally Posted by DavidMahler /img/forum/go_quote.gif When bass frequencies hit your ear, you can actually feel the vibration in addition to hearing it. I have not yet heard a headphone until the HD800 which was able to create the illusion that bass source I was hearing was actually centered rather than feeling a hard left and hard right bass source. Even if the bass is centered in the mix, the notes of the bass are center, but the vibrating resonances which you can actually feel in your ear have this feeling (at least for me) of being left/right, not centered.....this flaw for me has always subtracted from the experience of headphone enjoyment. People have remarked that the bass on the HD800 is lacking, but for me, it is the ONLY headphone I have heard which truly shows how bass should be done in a headphone. (...) Firstly, the HD800 has the deepest bass I have ever heard. The impact is large in that the notes are very present, but the impact of feeling the bass against your ear is less than usual. This creates the illusion that you are not hearing bass, but in fact you are, all the way down to 20 hertz.
I've yet to hear the HD800 but your description reminds me of how electrostats and balanced armatures (maybe not all though) seem to produce bass. I love this kind of bass too, even for rap and such.
Originally Posted by mobbaddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've yet to hear the HD800 but your description reminds me of how electrostats and balanced armatures (maybe not all though) seem to produce bass. I love this kind of bass too, even for rap and such.
I don't think HD800 does poor with bass in all spectrum. It's just a range of spectrum that it's more flatter than the other headphones. So, if you are coming from those headphones, then you start to think HD800 lacks the bass you desire..
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