Sennheiser Owners & Discussion Thread

[Equaliser]

Nice!

 

Do report back on how the Crack A Two sounds with your HD600's. I have not heard the Crack A Two but the choice of tubes they use is interesting.

[mwhouston]

I've just placed an order with Bottlehead for their Crack-a-two-a Headphone amp and I've arranged for Mark @@mwhouston to build it for me.

 

bottlehead-crack-a-two-a.jpg

 

http://bottlehead.com/product/crack-a-two-a/

Can't wait to get into it. The toughest part is the colour scheme.

[MusicOne]

Can't wait to get into it. The toughest part is the colour scheme.

 

Mark, I've been trying to send you the manual, but it's 52 MBs and it is taking forever to send via email. Should I use a compressed file like Zip or RAR?

[MusicOne]

Mark, I've been trying to send you the manual, but it's 52 MBs and it is taking forever to send via email. Should I use a compressed file like Zip or RAR?

 

Might try sending early tomorrow morning, when the network is quiet.

[mwhouston]

Mark, I've been trying to send you the manual, but it's 52 MBs and it is taking forever to send via email. Should I use a compressed file like Zip or RAR?

I can read either.

[mwhouston]

And can @@mwhouston post progress pics if possible

Will do.

[Munce31]

Hey everyone,

 

Just spent this afternoon creating the SuperDupont mod from 5mm felt and 2mm foam (depron) from Spotlight and a hole punch set from Super Cheap Auto.

 

Been listening to this mod with my HD800 and all I can say is that it was well worth the trouble. It's done a terrific job in attenuating the 6khz peak that made the HD800's sound analytical. 

 

Lately I've been listening to my HifiMan HE-1000s due to their musicality, smooth highs and thumping bass, but now with this SuperDupont mod to my HD800's, I think I'll be listening to the HD800's more often. 

 

Highly recommended 

 

If you'd like try yourself, here's the video that I followed. Best to skip towards the last 10 minutes.

 

 

Cheers,

Vince

[Jsgraha]

The SuperDupont Mod did elevated the performance further for hd800 to my ears as well. Though I didn't make the mod myself, but ordered directly from sorrodje who pioneered the mod from France. It took about 2 weeks for his mod to arrive via regular postage. His thread is below

http://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/superdupont-resonator-summary-and-interest-check.1558/

This SD mod also made me listen to 800 more to he1000 nowadays :-)

[Munce31]

The SuperDupont Mod did elevated the performance further for hd800 to my ears as well. Though I didn't make the mod myself, but ordered directly from sorrodje who pioneered the mod from France. It took about 2 weeks for his mod to arrive via regular postage. His thread is below

http://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/superdupont-resonator-summary-and-interest-check.1558/

This SD mod also made me listen to 800 more to he1000 nowadays :-)

 

Sorrodjie's would be better quality than mine. He's got a concentric punch, so he gets them perfectly every time. I had to measure twice and hit once with my punches to ensure that they were roughly centred with each other. 

 

HD800's a performance bargain!

[Lansche plasma guy]

I spent a few hours making some pairs and fitted the most accurate pair in the hd800 while waiting for Sorrodje's to arrive.

 

Sorrodje's seem to isolate that 6khz peak more without affecting the surrounding frequencies.  Far more accurate balance between left and right cups now.  Mine were a little more mellow but ultimately not as good so definitely worth ordering his.

 

Am also using a modification of the Analax mod which is working really well with the Super Dupont Resonator. 

 

Heard the HE1000 with the Cardas cable.  Huge step up from the standard cable.  What i thought was a flawed headphone now sounds really stunning as well.

 

LPG

[Tassie Devil]

I do not ask this for my own information as I own both but thought my determination could be of interest to others.

 

I have owned the HD800 for several years now and was so impressed with it I later purchased a second used pair.  They sounded close to the same to me but a friend with better ears than these old ones (I'll be 81 in a few months) proclaimed them not as good.  Anyway I found that second pair were not being used as originally planned so were sold to a friend who lurks in these columns.  Interestingly he did not like them so onsold them. IMHO the HD800 are very sensitive to input quality so might not suit some systems.

 

Anyway to get to the point of this post, a few weeks ago I did buy a new pair of HD800S here in Australia and immediately put them to use at the main listening host.  Here is the setup there:

 

Meridian Sooloos system with over 15,000 albums (mostly classical) on board -> balanced digital out -> M2Tech Vaughan DAC -> balanced HeadRoom Blockhead amp -> custom balanced cabling -> HD800S

 

VERDICT:  Yes, surprisingly even more articulate and smooth

 

So yes, it is better but whether or not it is worth $1350 more than a good used pair of HD800s is a moot point.  For anyone not retired like me, with other financial commitments, if you have the HD800s, be happy with them because, unless you have a pristine front end, you might not hear a significant difference.

 

And I should add I am now using the HD800 with a portable SONY ZX100 with delightful results.  I butchered an unused aftermarket HD800 cable and silver soldered a 3.5mm plug on the end.  I had erroneously felt for ages that the SONY portables had insufficient grunt to drive the HD800s and there would be a ghastly mismatch - wrong.  They are as drivable as any of the other headphones in this collection and, unsurprisingly, sound better.

 

Audiophilia can be a curse and it can often over shadow the whole point of all of this - listening to and enjoying music.  I have a friend who, although he admits he can hear the difference between his AKG 701s and the HD800, can enjoy music without further expenditure so is very difficult to persuade to part with his money for any upgrade.  And I have felt for many years that upgrades might offer a different sound, but the move is one sideways, not forward as that different sound is not necessarily any closer to achieving (the impossible) "perfect" reproduction than the earlier effort.

 

Bottom line I'm, not claiming the HD800S is the "best" headphone out there (I haven't heard them all anyway) as reactions to AQ vary enormously because we all have different brains with attached ears and have been subjected to different environmental issues which shape our subjective judgements.

 

But I'm, rambling, the privilege of old age, so will stop.

[Lansche plasma guy]

The HD800s is much more forgiving than the HD800.

 

With the 6khz peak smoothed out a little via the 'Super dupont resonator' and with better quality gear the HD800 is seen to be superior to the newer HD800s.

 

The original HD800 scales incredibly well.  So as your gear gets better if it mates well with the HD800 it will kill the HD800s (in my opinion).

 

Sennheisers mucking around with the bass on the newer HD800s makes it more forgiving but really limits how good the 's' model sounds.

 

Given the right gear the HD800 is an incredible headphone and easily sits beside the other 'best' headphones.

 

The 800s is not transparent or open enough to reach that level.

 

But you may be driven insane and give up trying to get the best out of the original 800. 

 

LPG

[Kaynin]

 'Super dupont resonator'

 

Lol.

[Equaliser]

 

The 800s is not transparent or open enough to reach that level.

 

 

 

What?

 

They are the same thing just the driver enclosed grill is slightly different to the original HD800 which the folks on SBAF made the mod called the Dupont Resonator to match to that on the HD800S.

 

Both are equally transparent and unforgiving with poor source. We are talking very small differences here even with the old 5-6k and 10k peaks from the original HD800's. 

 

Doesn't matter with the gear you can either make the HD800/800S more brighter sounding or roll it off to a certain degree where it is very hard and next to impossible to tell the difference between each other and make it less susceptible for it to sound "edgy" or "bright" but it is still a bright sounding headphone at the end of the day.

[Lansche plasma guy]

@@liteneasy Not very small differences.

 

If you look at the graphs and the video and write up that Tyll and others have done his listening experience and other mirrors mine.

 

Sennheiser addressed complaints from some quarter about the hd800 being too analytical and ruthlessly revealing.  They tweaked the model by putting in the helmholtz resonator to reign in the 6khz peak a little.  The super dupont resonator that's mentions on SuperBestAudioFriends does a very similar thing (but not quite as well).  Further Sennheiser tweaked the bass to give it more richness.  They did this by increasing the distortion in the driver in the lower frequencies.  It shows up in graphs, Sennheiser mentions it, Tyll measures and highlights it in his Innerfidelity article.

 

He like many others believes if your gear is good enough the best unit is the original hd800 with the superdupontresonator installed.  The increased distortion and richness in the bass makes it sound nicer if your gear is crappy or not suited to the signature of the headphone but also makes it much less transparent.  The original has a much more illuminated soundstage.  It also sounds more 'out of the head'.  The transients are faster and the bass is cleaner.

 

Your ears however are no doubt different to mine and many others who have posted about it.

 

No offence intended to those with the HD800s.  Its still a great headphone.

 

LPG

[Qwertyqaz]

I knew there was a reason I kept my HD800. Sounds awesome through the Zana Deux.

[JamesRF]

I listen exclusively to classical music and own both the HD 800 and HD 800S.  Owning and using the 800S has been instructive, and has allowed me to appreciate the 800 in different ways (as has using the AKG K812, Focal Utopia and Stax 009). In combination with the HDV820 amp, the 800 is the best transducer I've heard.  I think it clearly edges out the 800S, and the Stax (the AKGs and Focals are not really competitive in my view).  But amp selection is critical, and with amps that are less well suited it is less convincing.  I agree with earlier comments to the effect that the HD 800 has a degree of refinement and subtlety - in terms of frequency response, detail retrieval and dynamic range - that is unmatched.  This can make it almost uncomfortable on occasion, but no more so than might be expected at a recital or concert where the acoustic environment is unflattering, or the music too loud.  In fact, I think attention to volume level is always a big deal with the HD 800 - where realistic or natural settings invariably produce an engaging sound, which can quickly become harsh at higher settings.  More generally, I think adjusting to natural (ie, lower) volume levels is an important part of getting the most out of all headphones - ensuring that very high resolution reproduction is actually delivered, and not masked by over-driving the mechanical hearing process at the point of delivery.

[Steam]

19 minutes ago, JamesRF said:

I listen exclusively to classical music and own both the HD 800 and HD 800S.  Owning and using the 800S has been instructive, and has allowed me to appreciate the 800 in different ways (as has using the AKG K812, Focal Utopia and Stax 009). In combination with the HDV820 amp, the 800 is the best transducer I've heard.  I think it clearly edges out the 800S, and the Stax (the AKGs and Focals are not really competitive in my view).  But amp selection is critical, and with amps that are less well suited it is less convincing.  I agree with earlier comments to the effect that the HD 800 has a degree of refinement and subtlety - in terms of frequency response, detail retrieval and dynamic range - that is unmatched.  This can make it almost uncomfortable on occasion, but no more so than might be expected at a recital or concert where the acoustic environment is unflattering, or the music too loud.  In fact, I think attention to volume level is always a big deal with the HD 800 - where realistic or natural settings invariably produce an engaging sound, which can quickly become harsh at higher settings.  More generally, I think adjusting to natural (ie, lower) volume levels is an important part of getting the most out of all headphones - ensuring that very high resolution reproduction is actually delivered, and not masked by over-driving the mechanical hearing process at the point of delivery.

So what amp do you think is best?

[prymortal]

Owned both & I didn't like the HD800s. I can go into specifics. Keep in mind HD800s was brand new HD800 was used with slightly used pads. Both 4pin XLR HD800s cable.

NFB1 Amp (Class A): HD800s not enough treble, Dirty/distorted sounding bass. HD800 perfect but still slightly lacking in the highs.

THX Amp (Class A-B): Both sound the same mostly. HD800s the bass is more forward (unnaturally & noticeably) while the HD800 its there naturally.
I have used the HD800s on a few other amps before I got the HD800 (el stack, The Element, Schiit stack, jotunhiem to name a few) same deal treble either to much or little, Bass is always forward & distorted.

I actually preferred the K712 over the HD800s on both amps, it has clean bass & treble under control on both. I can't deny the HD800s is smoother than the HD800 but its also very obvious when the bass hits how distorted the HD800s is, it was so bad & obvious in songs that I sold it, Kept & still have the HD800. The HD800 is like a speaker system I guess, Just the natural music & detail.

New owner loves the HD800s & doesn't/didn't notice the distorted bass.
Same deal with the NFB1 amp sold it to a HD800s owner & he loves how it nerfs the treble on the HD800s enough for him to enjoy.

 

Edit Since I have it:

Edited August 17, 2020 by prymortal

[TDX]

Good comments, I saw a few people also discuss about this, 800s maybe a bit “warmer” but the original hd800 is true to source. 

[betty boop]

I ended up selling my original 800, have the 800S now and happier.....

 

what ever hits the spot.....

[JamesRF]

I've found the Sennheiser HDV 820 to be an excellent amp with both the 800 and the 800S.  My source is a Marantz SA10 digital player, on balanced analogue connections.  I use the Sennheiser's balanced headphone output.  I've previously acheived excellent results using the single-ended headphone output on the Marantz, and have tried a number of other headphone amps with very good results.  But the Sennheiser seems to me to allow the 800 to work at its best and most natural - extraordinary detail retrieval without any hype.  I should mention I prefer both the 800 and the 800S sans their removable dust-covers.  I read an article by Keith Howard some time ago suggesting this was worthwhile 'tweak' - and I agree (particularly as you can put them back again if you're not convinced!).

[lwd]

As a long time sennheiser fan, I can remember how excited I was when the original HD800 came out... and how disappointed I was when I heard them for the first time. I never owned a pair but they just sounded lifeless. Am now a very happy owner of the HD800S. The tuning and balance are just so much better to my ears. Drive mine with a fully balanced cayin iha-6. Now all I need to do is save for a sennheiser HE1.

[TheWretchedWorld]

I owned a HD800S sold it for a Focal Clear. I now own a HD800 in addition to the Clears with the SDR mod. The modded HD800 and HD800S sound extremely similar, the stock HD800 however I deem unlistenable without EQ. The HD800S with its helmholtz resonator basically fixed them for me. Should have come out like this in 2009.

Edited August 16, 2020 by TheWretchedWorld

[JamesRF]

My only further thought on this is that my reactions to the 800 and 800S - which, with the Stax 009s, are the most satisfying transducers I've come across - are based on listening only to classical music.  I must confess I have no idea how they would sound with electronic or amplified music.  But it does seem to me their ability to reproduce the textures and dynamic swings of acoustic instruments at realistic levels is unique.