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HD800? Another rumor?


riceboy

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Currently listening to HD800s with my AE2 (mid gain) running on battery sourced from my Bel Canto DAC3 and you know what. It sounds pretty damn amazing and at max volume is uncomfortably loud. Figured I would let my ears make their own decision and they say "it is good". So much for portables not being able to keep up.

but you also liked those planars with the AE2, which was....uh....er....:basement: ....well, at least to my ears.

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Yeah, this thread is not helping at all. I've been saving up for some speakers... managed to dodge the HF-2 and stay on course, but reading this thread... ugh! :basement:

Maybe I should do some spring cleaning and get rid of all my other audio gear... hmmm... must resist temptation.... Hopefully the right speaker deal comes along before I loose my self control. :(

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Yeah, this thread is not helping at all. I've been saving up for some speakers... managed to dodge the HF-2 and stay on course, but reading this thread... ugh! :basement:

Maybe I should do some spring cleaning and get rid of all my other audio gear... hmmm... must resist temptation.... Hopefully the right speaker deal comes along before I loose my self control. :(

Easy, just buy the HF-2 and you won't need to think about the HD800.

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;D ---> :palm: ---> :rofl:

Nice try, but I'm gonna stay the course. :mad:

Also have the RS-1 around, so no point in getting the HF-2... :)

vonschweikertvonschweikertvonschweikert... :peter:

I find the RS-1 and HF-2 to be quite different. For me, listening to the RS-1 is akin to having hot needles repeatedly stuck into my ear drums. The HF-2 is much more like the old HP-1000 series. It's very balanced and only slightly warm. I prefer it to the new PS-1000, which to me has way too much bass. At the HF-2's price, it's quite a deal IMO.

However, I did get an HD800 too. ;D

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I got to hear the HD800's today for the first time.

They're okay. Really amp-dependent, though. KG's statement about them being inductive and therefore not tube-friendly made me paranoid, though, so I have no idea if what I heard was real or induced, but it sounded better out of a NAD pre's headphone jack than a tube amp. I'll bring over one or two of my solid state amps next time (Creek OBH-11SE & the Headroom Desktop something that I just got from Morphsci).

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Currently listening to HD800s with my AE2 (mid gain) running on battery sourced from my Bel Canto DAC3 and you know what. It sounds pretty damn amazing and at max volume is uncomfortably loud. Figured I would let my ears make their own decision and they say "it is good". So much for portables not being able to keep up.

Edwood_DISTURBING_01.jpg

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but you also liked those planars with the AE2, which was....uh....er....:basement: ....well, at least to my ears.

Well I was not comparing the planars to the HD800s at the time. I was more listening for potential than anything else at the time and I was not the only one impressed. Also they were sourced from my PMP which you may or may not like. That said different strokes for different folks as they say. For example I really don't care about the spring noise statement product or not or you don't like the qualias which I would say the planars are closer too than the HD800s.

I would love to DBT the AE2 vs my GS-X since in the past I've never managed to measure an audible difference with the HD650s I assume that will likely hold with the HD800s.

Edited by Dreadhead
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I got to hear the HD800's today for the first time.

They're okay. Really amp-dependent, though. KG's statement about them being inductive and therefore not tube-friendly made me paranoid, though, so I have no idea if what I heard was real or induced, but it sounded better out of a NAD pre's headphone jack than a tube amp. I'll bring over one or two of my solid state amps next time (Creek OBH-11SE & the Headroom Desktop something that I just got from Morphsci).

Yeah KG's statement was quite interesting to me. Listening to the HD800 out of either the Headroom Balanced Ultra-Desktop or the Millett 307A, I definitely preferred the sound out of the Headroom amp. Then the Balancing Act threw a monkey in the wrench. Even though it is a 307A based amp, I preferred it to either of the other amps. So right now the inductive nature may certainly be a factor, but I do not think it is the whole story. It lets you hear your upstream gear very clearly and some people like that while others may find it "disturbing" depending on what that upstream gear is actually doing to the music.

P.S. It's the HR desktop portable 2007 (latest) version.

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PS: Lest anyone think I am a K1000 hater, I like them a lot - but mine still just don't sound as good as the HD800 with my current lot of amps. With my K1000 I get a slightly mushy bass cloud, and not a whole lot of high-end detail either. Im thinking even my older APS v3 cabled HD600 may have more detail and better controlled bass than these, but in sound-staging the K1000 still lead the HD600/800. Unfortunately they are still less engaging, detailed and vivid than the HD800 which are more natural sounding and realistic because of that.

I suspect with a good amp they can keep up with the HD800, based upon the fact that Naaman's K1000/B22 did keep up with his O2 Mk1/Jade/KGBH back at my house in February (and inspired me to buy my own K1000).

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PS: Lest anyone think I am a K1000 hater, I like them a lot - but mine still just don't sound as good as the HD800 with my current lot of amps. With my K1000 I get a slightly mushy bass cloud, and not a whole lot of high-end detail either. Im thinking even my older APS v3 cabled HD600 may have more detail and better controlled bass than these, but in sound-staging the K1000 still lead the HD600/800. Unfortunately they are still less engaging, detailed and vivid than the HD800 which are more natural sounding and realistic because of that.

I suspect with a good amp they can keep up with the HD800, based upon the fact that Naaman's K1000/B22 did keep up with his O2 Mk1/Jade/KGBH back at my house in February (and inspired me to buy my own K1000).

I don't think the Squarewave can keep up with a B22.

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I don't think the Squarewave can keep up with a B22.

Yeah, the balanced square wave is great with my balanced HD600 and HD800, and has enough volume for the K1000 but the sound becomes more dull and less detailed when driving the balanced K1000.

When driving the HD600/800 the Sq Wave is close to my Woo WA6 (still a notch below). But with the K1000 the Square Wave XL is closer to my $299 8-watt/ch Chinese Qinpu tube hybrid amp that I have here. That same Qinpu can drive an SRD-7 Pro and O2 Mk1 much better than it can drive the K1000, and sounds fantastic with all stats. My Nuforce Icon 12-watt/channel is no better, and my 5-watt Travagans Red with AD743 opamps has nicer detail and tone but less bass and power. I can't really easily get to the back of my Yamaha or Denon home AVR's to connect the K1000 pigtail, and I don't want a mishap with 80 watt/ch amps.

It's really up to the ZDT I have on order to fix this, or I might have to look at the Almarro A205a Mk2 to drive the K1000 (or something on a similar level). I like tubes, so I was reluctant to look for a balanced Beta 22 with speaker output - wondering if I would have to revisit that idea later as well. Until then, the HD800 reign king here.

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Just a thought here, but I reckon the 800s finally deliver a back-end good enough to really hear the front end of your system. I'm guessing the whole hobby will be revisiting the conventional wisdoms on various amps and dacs, and we'll begin to experience some reshuffling of opinion about a goodly amount of gear.

deal.gif

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Just a thought here, but I reckon the 800s finally deliver a back-end good enough to really hear the front end of your system. I'm guessing the whole hobby will be revisiting the conventional wisdoms on various amps and dacs, and we'll begin to experience some reshuffling of opinion about a goodly amount of gear.

deal.gif

^^

This man speaketh great truth.

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They really are exceptional headphones, though. Holy moley. :eek:

Finding it quite hard to pull off the usual multi-tasking while listening. Keep getting sucked into the music. I do sstill find them ssomewhat ssibilant on particular recordingss, but no one else sseemss to mind sso maybe itss jusst my earss.

Or the original recording. ;D

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Quite so. :)

Certainly supporting that thesis is the fact that different songs on the same album can range from silky smooth to oh-god-needles-in-my-ears.

It depends on what microphone was chosen to record, what the studio did with it, and whether their monitoring system was capable of resolving it properly.

I expect that the HD 800 will be picked up by professionals as monitoring headphones and that is certainly why I am getting my own HD 800s after listening to my own recordings through them.

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