Marv's Place Meet

Discussion in 'The Meeting Place' started by Mithrandir41, Feb 17, 2018.

  1. gixxerwimp

    gixxerwimp Professional tricycle rider

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    I just found that searching your post history! Sorry we didn't get a chance to chat.
     
  2. Melvillian

    Melvillian Friend

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    He’s the dashing new HiFiMan headphone model.
     
  3. Walderstorn

    Walderstorn Friend

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    Seems like a great time. Moments like this must be priceless and for those of us who can't participate, mainly because of geographical reasons, pics are always more than welcome.

    Now i will wait for the day @Torq will offer me a free trip to the US.
     
  4. loki993

    loki993 Facebook Friend

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    Damn, looked like as great time and it looks like Marvy definitely rolled out he red carpet for you all. I also like the Dirty Bastard...I love to see the Michigan beers venturing to far away places like California.

    Definitely interested in more impressions.
     
  5. gixxerwimp

    gixxerwimp Professional tricycle rider

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    Just remembered that I also tried Marv's HD800 Vader by @Bill-P, with Marv's original resonator mod. I also had sonic environmental issues while listening, and it's been a while since I heard a stock one, so yadayada....

    Treble was fairly even with no apparent nastiness. They were much thinner sounding than everything I'd heard that afternoon. Bass was tight but anemic compared to Clear/LCD-2C. Stage seemed not as open and holographic as I remember the stock and Tyll-mod to be.

    I extrapolate that after some brain burn, these would be a high performance daily driver, possibly the HD800 I could love but gave up on. I've never owned a pair but aspired to before defecting to the HD650.
     
  6. Bill-P

    Bill-P Level 42 Mad Wizard

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    Yeah, great to hear some more impressions on that thing. Thanks, Jack!

    I think I would have preferred for there to be some extra bass on that thing, plus a bit less lower treble still (I'm still very sensitive to that). But that's just personal preference.

    Working on the darth vader HD800 did give me inspirations to get my own HD800 and start on something new. I think there is still hope for a HD800 that's easier to listen to, but the problem is real: if you need/want more bass, HD800 is just not the headphone to go for. <- so just to warn you in case you want an HD800 now.

    HD650 and the likes will still be better as far as bass cannons are concerned.
     
  7. Ash1412

    Ash1412 Friend

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    From Serious's raw HD800 driver measurement vs HD600, the driver in HD800 is literally a tweeter with a lot more high end extension and no treble breakup until around 40k , but has more bass rolloff. The metal mesh thing probably acts as some kind of baffle to increase bass. Although it does increase the HD800's bass to somewhat sufficient levels and works really well in diffusing sound (HD800's CSD floor goes down to -60db or something compared to -45 for other designs), it also rings like a mofo since it's metal. Changing that out for cloth-like material would probably make the 6k peak less apparent, maybe even disappear completely, at the cost of less bass and higher CSD floor since it adds damping and reduces diffusion. I'm guessing the Darth Vader's presentation would be really thin but really smooth. What you did to the HD800 is essentially the reverse of what Sennheiser did with the HD650s: instead of replacing black cloth-like material (looks a lot like the surgical mask cloth you used for HD800 from Tyll's pictures on IF) with metal mesh like Senn, you replaced metal mesh with surgical mask cloth.

    I guess the most tried and true way to increase both bass and treble performance at the same time is still to go with stiff diagphrams with soft surrounds similar to full-range speaker drivers like Focal did. I didn't like the Focals that much when I tried them at the NYC meet though, both of them seemed like they were trying too hard. Clear did better in bass and lower mids while Utopia did better in upper mids and treble and clarity in general among the two but they both had problems elsewhere and lacked smoothness. I'm still inclined to stick to my trusty HD650 as I feel like they do mids equally as good if not better than most dynamics I've heard (Utopia is the exception but their scratchiness detracts from my enjoyment of its redeeming qualities), which makes sense considering their drivers are essentially mid-range drivers. The HD820s being closed might be able to boost the bass of the drivers enough while preventing any huge peaks if the engineering's good, but the Canjam impressions haven't been too positive. I wish you luck in trying to improve the HD800s, as long as the mods are repeatable and don't come with a 1000$ increase in price tag o_O.
     
    Last edited: Feb 25, 2018
  8. Ice-man

    Ice-man Friend

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    I still think that the potential of the driver, with regard to bass quality and quantity, is one of if not the best in the game. With Sonarworks EQ profile, the hd800 has better bass response than any hp that I've owned including planars. Modding the 800 offers only a fraction of what potential a good EQ plugin can offer. (you may now fling your rotten tomatoes at me)
     
  9. Bill-P

    Bill-P Level 42 Mad Wizard

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    Well, admittedly, it does have better bass than my 580. But quantity-wise, I don't know if it's got the "right" amount. I know it's got just about enough for me.

    I prefer mechanical mods to HD800 overall, because I think EQ while keeping the dust filter on kills clarity, while keeping the dust filter off means there is not enough pressure inside the chamber for decent bass force.

    Talking about which, I guess this is ready for prime time now:

    [​IMG]

    I call it the "arc reactor." Took me some time in a cave. :p

    I don't think I'll provide instructions on how to make the "arc reactor" any time soon, simply because the complexity/amount of things I had to do was just way too time-consuming. I know Marv's resonator and this was inspired by that, but I wanted to go a bit overboard and the result is... very interesting.

    Some local friends will get to hear this soon.
     
  10. Tim Thomas

    Tim Thomas Friend

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    What pads are you using Bill?
     
  11. Bill-P

    Bill-P Level 42 Mad Wizard

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    Oh, those are the Dekoni sheepskin pads. They add a bit of upper mids.
     
  12. Tim Thomas

    Tim Thomas Friend

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    Thanks! I tried the low end Dekoni and the muffled the sound quite a bit.
     
  13. gixxerwimp

    gixxerwimp Professional tricycle rider

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    Dayam! Really too bad TSA prevented your attendance @Bill-P, as I assume you would have brought these for us to listen to.
     

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