HeadphoneAddict

Ahhh, nice pink labia. It was great meeting you there, and talking about cars and bikes too!

Where does your personal "point of diminishing returns" lie?

I used some Quads ESL57 back in the 80's in med school set up in the middle of the room (about 5 feet off the walls) and I did need to use a MK subwoofer with them for the best sound, but otherwise it worked well after fiddling with it for a while. They also sounded better if they were higher up off the floor. I did have a spectrum analyzer to help me find the best position, but then got tired of it and ended up with some Polk SDA CRS which worked out better for me in the long run. I think I miss my 250 watt Heathkit power amp more than the Quads, but I still have the Polk 23-24 years later.

I still wonder how much better does a $5000 DAC really sound vs a $1295 DAC. There has to be a point of diminishing returns, where you could stop at something like this and never need to go past that?

I agree about the sound. My HD800/Woo WA6 offers stiff competition to my stats/Woo GES. And they're the only dynamic cans I've tried that can reach the speed, transparency, neutrality and immersion in the performance that I get out of my Westone ES3X. And yet I can tell the lineage comes from the same line as my HD600. Plus they don't suck from a $200 amp and sound gorgeous from a $1000 amp. Selling my Edition 9 to pay for these was the best decision I've made in a while, and I suspect the only way to get my stats to soundly beat this is to sell my GES for a KGBHSE. I don't know if it is worth doing that anymore, but if my ZDT doesn't noticeably improve upon the WA6, I'll maybe consider selling both the ZDT and GES and use the money for a Blue Hawaii. Or maybe not... PS: My "what's in the new box" solution is having a UPS Store mailbox for deliveries.

I'll recable my K1000 before I do the HD800.

I could have never done that. Since you don't need the KGBH SE so badly, how about I trade you a $2500 maxed GES and a $2500 Eddie Current ZDT for yours?

I am really wishing I hadn't been forced to sell my STi for a Tribeca just for making a stoopid car pool for kid's school work out. With my disability it was impossible to take and pick up my three kids to three different schools (elem, Jr and Sr high), so I ended up taking more kids to one school than the STi could hold.

Headstage/Headphonia was making the Arrow. Did they change their name again?

I know I didn't have enough time to more clearly explain, and I don't right now either, but I'll try before I rush out the door. I am not talking about comparing anything but power when I made that statement. My GES cannot give me the power, dynamics and impact that I get from a speaker amp with transformer, and my speaker amp and transformer cannot give me the micro-detail, superb frequency response/tone and refinement of my GES. The KGBH SE did it all. Plenty of stat amps sound nice with the O2 Mk1, but when you turn up the volume they fall apart (like the GES). The KGBH SE was like a locomotive vs a pickup truck. It didn't happen to me right away - it took at least 5 minutes.

Also, I don't want to confuse you guys - I'm not saying buying a Q1 will make you happy and to forget the Q2. I wanted to chime in that since the Q1 isn't crap, so the Q2 is likely to sound better (since Skylab didn't think it sucked), which should make you happier. It isn't mid-fi level stuff like the A-3, but it isn't FM transistor radio out of a 3" speaker quality either.

Sorry, but he wont. At one point I tried to get him to take my SR-5NB gold edition so that I could keep the Lambdas for myself, and he insisted on the SR-Lambda as 6 months worth of allowance. So I had to buy myself another Lambda later from Fitz to replace it. Mine aren't for sale either. Incidentally, prior to the Q1 he was driving the SRD-6 transformer/Lambda with an old Optimus (Radioshack brand) 5 watt mini-receiver, and the Q1 sounds a bit cleaner, while the Optimus was a little warmer and darker ($59 new). So, for $39 the Q1 is nice because it has an FM radio built-in, and CD or iPod input, speaker out, and pre-amp out that can feed his Millett or run a headphone. With the Q2 (which he did want) I think he'd need a separate radio. The bets part is even though the specs say 100Hz - 20KHz, the Lambda or normal headphones played with the Q1 don't seem to be lacking much bass - it's better than I expected for the cheap price (not sure how they can make money on these).

I don't know about the Q2, but the Q1 is good enough for some inexpensive speakers, and for driving my 11 yr old son's SRD-6 and Stax lambdas in his bedroom. And the sound quality with headphones plugged in or feeding the output into a Millett starving student hybrid is also pretty decent. I know Skylab reviewed the Q2 and it didn't suck either, so I suspect it is better than our Q1. That being said, the Qinpu A-3 is a noticeable step upward in sound quality for driving speakers, stats or even K1000, although at a much higher price.

It depends on what gear you are using to compare. I think that right now I prefer my HD800 with maxed WA6 over my O2 Mk1 with maxed GES. But I really liked the O2 Mk1 on Asr's KGBH SE that I tried at CanJam. I have my stat rig in the living room and dynamics in the bedroom, so that isn't a fair test because I can't do a side by side comparo. And I only had 5 minutes with the Blue Hawaii at CanJam (enough to hear how well it produced a solid foundation and underlying authority to driving the Mk1 that I haven't heard before except with a speaker amp and transformer). I am considering keeping one really good dynamic amp (either WA6 or ZDT after I compare them at home), but then selling the GES and several other amps laying around that I don't need => to buy a KGBH SE for my stats. I picked the ZDT because I could drive the Mk1 with more authority with the speaker amp and transformer, plus drive my K1000 and my 4-pin and SE phones. The ZDT can replace my WA6, Sq Wave, Amphora and mishmash of small inexpensive speaker amps (Travagans, Nuforce, Qinpu). The KGBHSE could replace the GES, and I'd have aural bliss in both rigs.

Sadly the ZDT was a no-show because it was locked up at a friend's house who was out of the country. I was really looking forward to hearing it since I paid a deposit back in March for one. Craig offered to let me off the hook on the deposit, but I declined after hearing the ZD SE, BA and HD-2 and figure it will sound just fine.

I agree completely with all of that. And yes, the HD800 treble can be very good (in detail, clarity, depth, transparency and speed) with the right amp and source. I spent more time at CanJam listening to the HD800 more than with any other phone, and it definitely sounds more different with a change in amps and SE vs Balanced. Regardless, the HD800 treble is an improvement over the HD600 which has been one of my favorite cans for a while.

I think a MSSH, Cavalli CTH or head-direct EF1 would be a great match for the HF-2. I don't know that I could decide which of the three I thought sounded better after listening, whether our rds Millett SSH kit (same at the Whiplash kit, but assembled by -=Germania=- for me as a free favor, the wiatrob built CTH that I handed over to Naamanf at CanJam, or the early production EF1 (which I just traded for an EF2 at CanJam).

Congrats!

MORE HD800 impressions: I have been going back and forth between my HF-2 and HD800 today, listening to music on several amps while I burn them in more. They both have about 24 hours of burn-in as CanJam demo phones. I have a 4-pin XLR on the HD800 with a single ended and dual 3-pin balanced adapter out of APS V3 cable, so I can any amp with them. I have been mesmerized by my HD800 and found it hard to go back to the HF-2. I am listening to the HD800 run balanced off my Single Power Square Wave XL, and they clearly respond well to being balanced. I just can't stop listening. The speed and detail and transparency is well above the HD600 which are more laid back and mellow. The HD800 are also quite good off my Woo WA6/Sophia Princess/Maxed with pseudo PSU, which is better with the HD800 than the Grahm Slee SOLO SRG (a very nice amp though). The WA6 might still be better than the SP balanced amp, but I can't stop listening balanced long enough to try them on the other amps yet. I am really looking forward to getting my EC Zana Deux T in a few weeks, and trying the HD800 off the 4-pin XLR out. These are the first dynamic headphone to give my electrostatics a run for their money, and the best dynamic that I have owned. These come the closest to my highly regarded ES3X custom IEM in sound quality and performance. Vs other dynamic headphones, my APS cabled HD600 (balanced and SE) are my second favorite, followed by my APS re-cabled RS-1, and then ESW10 and HF-2 tied. They remind me a bit of my Senn HE60 but with a more solid foundation to the soundstage, while the HE60's soundstage seems to float around the head up in the air, the HD800 have more of an organized and grounded headstage/soundstage. In comparison to the HD800, my balanced woodied recabled D2000 sound closed, boxy, boomy and bright (which I still liked more than my re-cabled Edition 9 which I already sold to pay for the HD800). Now, if the modded D2000 are the first headphones that I put on for the day, then they do sound nice - rather it's in comparisons after getting acclimated to an open can where the modded D2000 fall behind. The HD800 do not impress you right off the bat, and have no flashy attention grabbing features; but simply put you into the venue of the performance better, without getting in the way. They don't sound like an entirely different headphone than my balanced HD600, but they improve upon them in areas where the HD600 dropped the ball (speed, detail, soundstage, extension). I've always thought the HD600 has nice timbre/tone and transparency, but the HD650 weren't quite my cup of tea - the HD800 is an improvement to both, without making a properly driven HD600/650 sound bad or anything.

Cool. I'm fortunate enough to already have a APS V3 SE and dual 3-pin adapter already. I might ask him about sending me a stock HD800 plug if he does balance another pair (or buying it back - I assumed it was in the box).

Good job on Balancing my HD800 for Todd, it turned out well! I gave him another XLR and was wondering if he had you balance the other pair at the end of CanJam?

Yes they do. I brought my balanced HD800 and HF-2 home from Canjam and I could be happy if they were my only dynamic cans. All I'm missing is the KGBHSE for my stats... May end up selling the ZDT and GES for one if the ZDT with SRD-7 pro isn't powerfull enough, or the ZDT isn't massively better than my WA6.

I agree, for HD6X0 when using a cost effective cable material, a separate cable isn't such a bad idea (one of each kind). But I've still got three phones with 4-pin XLR, plus a matching APS v3 single ended adapter and dual 3-pin adapter, so I can use all of them on any amp. On the HD600 I do keep a spare APS single ended cable with 1/8" (and stock HD600 and 650 cable) for when I want to avoid the extra connector in the middle of the cable. I'm bringing a spare Neutrik 4-pin with me to CanJam in case I want to have it installed on my HD800 when I pick them up from TTVJ there. I just wont be able to ask anyone to do it till the end of the day Sunday, since Todd will be using them as a demo for the weekend. Or, I might wait and try to do it myself at home. It's nice to have options.

So, here in Colorado we have the best custom license plates. Apparently the Jimmy Kimmel show found out that "I love tofu" yay! Or, it could mean something else.... In college my plates said "IM2EASY", then in med school it was "DOCJEKL" and then "MD2B", and then with Clinton in office it was "NRA4EVR". Now I just have normal handicapped plates.

My WA6 has an impedance switch - not sure how it works on that amp (whether a multi-tap transformer, or some other trick).