But I have serious HF hearing loss (cannot hear kitchen timer at 4k). The HD800s felt like being reintroduced to treble! But... for people with normal hearing?
Introduction courtesy of, and thanks to, @Koth Ganesh, who came to my house today. He's left them on loan, and the risk is that I won't now be satisfied with anything else.
It does my heart good to learn that you have heard something that actually increases your enjoyment of music, Thad. They are not cheap, but under the circumstances, you may be buying a musical time machine as well as a pair of headphones.
I could only ever enjoy them with mods, EQ and tubes and even then i gravitated towards the 650 after trying them twice. Pretty much a speaker slut nowadays though.
First time I got to hear one was during a mini-meet with a new-at-the-time friend. Imaging was unreal, and though the treble bothered me somewhat (this was an Anax-modded pair), I knew that I'd have to have these no matter what.
Three years later, still saving up and planning components-matching. Luckily, used prices (incl mods) are excellent lately thanks to the HD800S and others.
It really is quite something for a slightly deaf cynical old ex-audiophile to have to stutter the words... oh my god, n-n-n-night and d-d-d-day difference here. There were moments when they were a little sharp on the eardrum, like Doris Day, "Black Hills of Dakota."
@Koth Ganesh, sorry, I didn;t notice it was a Floyd t-shirt. I saw them too, once. Well, not exactly /saw/ them, but you know what they say... If you remember it, you weren't there!
Listening on my modest (well, /relatively/ modest) integrated, I can certainly appreciate the extra that ZD gives. KG's combination, ZD+HD, was certainly the full works in terms of the magic.
I declined the loan offer of the ZD, because at this time I just don't have a place where I can safely keep a big tube amplifier. Even the space is occupied is usually taken by my deskside paper and rubbish heap.
Probably a good thing!
BTW, For some reason my back-to-basics Juli@ car gave trouble yesterday and had to dig out the ODAC --- so our source for yesterday's listening was certainly humble by current public opinion.
(Today, Juli@ seems to have returned to health. I never did a proper comparison back then, but I can say now that the ODAC is thin and pale by comparison.
BUT... "fullness" of sound can so easily be a matter of a slight increase in output. Am I going to do this thing "properly" and match the levels? Nope.
Later, after some music, watching some youtube engineering. The reality of spoken-word voice is amazing.
What I most stunned by with these phones is the resolution/real feeling of the bass. I could feel the thump in my stomach when the guy put something down on the bench!
Several years back, one of the Indian online-shopping outlets was offering the HD800 /at half price/. And the full price was much the same as other countries, which is often not the case here.
A number of us noticed this, it was discussed on an India-centric audio forum.
Such an offer has never happened again so far. Should it do so, I would not make the same mistake again. It would /still/ be a lot of money in my economy, but absolutely I'd buy it.
But, at full price, no... $,$$$ 'phones are off my screen. Not possible. And I do acknowledge the synergy with the tube amp. which would be, what, another thousand?
If I had encountered all this gear when I had more cash in the bank, well... But hey, regrets I've had /more than/ a few! lol.
This is a dream I cannot live. But at least I have been able to experience it. Same goes for a lot of hifi gear I've experienced and known I'd never own. That's life!
... Unless there's another half-price deal. Which, as the model moves into obsolescence is not utterly inconceivable. At a slightly-more-than what I can afford price: I'd snap up the HD800. Even without a super-synergy amp.
Buying anything used here tends to be expensive. Even used cars cost more than they should. Cultural attitude, that, despite years of use, people feel that they should get their money back.
Sure, I'll keep my eyes open. But I moved away from that particular forum because it became /heavily/ audiophool and I couldn't take the bullshit any longer!
I might have glanced at that, but had no reason to read it through. Maybe one day I will :)
I buy small stuff from Amazon.com [usa]. Currently waiting for a monitor arm (Oh, actually bought on Amazon.in, but it is still an import). Recent tax changes here seem to have greatly increased import prices here
I just got back to the computer and had this thought: The link http://tinyurl.com/y9rko6eb would probably be useful, but most people will be posting about amps that help keep the peak(s) in check that make the HD800 something special for you. (I didn't miss that this may be a bridge that you may not be crossing.)
Ah yes, true... It could be better for me personally to let those highs fly free, although there is just a wee bit too much bite in some female vocals. Anyway, I enjoyed reading @Marvey's post. Thank you!
@Koth Ganesh ... You'd better come and take this thing away, before it becomes too addictive!
Reflections: I have nothing (unsurprising) that comes anywhere near your tube amp for the HD800. You knew that :)
Tried the HD600 again yesterday. No, I won't cry to go back to them, but one thing I realised, before even turning anything on, was the amazing physical comfort of the HD800
It accommodates my ears like Senhnheiser sent somebody to measure them /and,/ in our climate, it is a lot cooler than the HD600s.
For music, HD800 rules, even with my limited amplification.
For speech, it sounds astonishingly real, but, like with certain female vocals, there is a little bite that causes some fatigue. Odd, as I probably can't hear much at 6K anyway.
Read these "rules" AND introduce
yourself before your first post
Being true to what the artists intended
(opinion / entertainment piece)
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