$99 fixed the hd800 (subjectively for me)

So I've had a love/hate with the hd800 for several years now. I've bought several amps to "fix" the brightness and make the 800 warmer and more musical.

Now, let me say for the record that I suck at EQ on many levels. I've tried it before but never got the results that I'd been promised (probably my fault). So a few days ago I decided to load up a free trial of Sonarwork EQ plugin. That's when the magic happened. Took only about 20 minutes to get it set up and tweaked. I'm using "flat" setting with the pre-calibrated setting for the 800.

The treble spike is gone and the bass punches shamelessly hard and tight. Now I'm wondering if I should try a better EQ plugin or just leave good enough alone. I'm also waiting for the Superdupont mod and will be curious as to how it stacks up against a good EQ and if it will work together for even better results.

 

Very interesting. Have you noticed any negative effects? Some people don't like eq and they say it rolls off highs, screws up soundstage/imaging, etc. Any of that?

 

If there are negatives there, they are very minimal. I've only had a couple of days with it, so it will take some more time to do critical listening. But the initial impression is very good.

IMO some headphones respond better than other. Hd800 and Ether respond nicely to EQ with very little distortion. Staging and imaging are still top notch with the 800 after EQ.

 

@Ice-man
Welcome to the club of HD800 EQ-ing believers

http://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/the-hd800-eq-ing-thread.1735/

 

I am officially turned from doubter to a Belieber.

 

Very interested in your comparison once you mod yours. The cork and resonator mod really made the 800's much more enjoyable.

 

^^ Bahaha...just noticed your avatar. Made me spew my drink. Hilarious.

So far, I've had NO urge to listen to anything but the 800 (three days now). I've usually gone back to the 650 by now under normal circumstances. This may be the best money I've spent in this hobby.

 

how would that EQ plugin be used in Audirvana on a MAC?

 

Simple. You enable it in preferences using the AudioUnits tab.

 

thanks for the reply...got it to work!

 

After reading at head fi the seattle meeting where they compared hd800S, hd800 stock and hd800 with sonarworks, Abyss, HE-1000 and HE-X, and the hd800 with sonarworks was the preferred headphone of the meet, ive ordered hd800 and sonarworks and haven look back
http://www.head-fi.org/t/799494/tot...800-heavy-mod-hd800-stock-Yggdrasil-rok-stack

Ive tried listening to hd800 without sonarworks and I find it unbearably bright and would have gone back with hd650. With sonarworks at 90% wet/dry, I wont be looking for another headphones.

with hd650, I however note that sonarworks is detrimental to sq for me.

I LOVE sonarworks.

 

I gave this a try on my now unmodded HD800 and HD650. There is definitely an improvement with both headphones.

With the HD800, it's a pretty big difference. Vocals are more natural and the headphones have an overall smoother quality. There are still some treble issues, however, which I imagine could be alleviated with some modding and then re-eqing.

The HD650 is much more subtle. The treble is less splashy and the bass isn't as wooly as stock. If Senn released an HD655 that sounded like this, I think people would be pretty happy about it.

I find with the 800 I like something around 90% wet, while 650 is closer to 75%, though I'm still playing with it.

 

I use Sonarworks with HD 650. Just excellent. Have also used SW with HD 800

 

I've been hoping they add a HE-560 to their list. I've had great results with the HD-6X0 line and especially the HD-800 (No-Limits)

 

You don't need no stinkin sonarworks, you run a mac and A+ right. I am having a blast fine tuning my speaker setup using Tokyo Dawn Nova EQ. Pretty damn transparent and great visuals to figure where to apply some EQ. It is an Audio Units plugin and works really well so far with A+. should work great with your Hifiman cans as well. And it is FREE.

Listening to Ok Computer right now with a tiny cut around 2k.

 

Can't you send headphones to them to measure?

 

Yeah, I'd think that they would be better off acquiring their own based off request from their subscribers. I'd love to have them EQ my ETHER but I'm not about to send off my $1500 hp to Latvia.