HD800? Another rumor?

[Eric5676]

Well, they are absolutely not bass-shy, that's for sure. Have listened to them today both balanced and single-ended on the 307A, Balancing Act, BUDA, Zana, B22, HD2, Luxman, SDS-XLR, Woo 22 and some others -- and my ears are profoundly content. My only caveat: some songs on some sources suggest the slightest shade of sibilance.

Not sure if I've noticed that yet but I have noticed that these cans have "opened up" a bit more since I took them out of the box yesterday. I'd say between yesterday and today I have maybe about 6 hours of use on them.

I personally couldn't be happier all the way around.

[uberburger101]

I'll know on 5th June if I like it.

[Eric5676]

I'm reminded yet again why I barely post at Head-Fi and don't lurk much, either.

Somewhere in yesterday evening the 800 impressions thread ceased to be useful or constructive. I shouldn't be surprised considering the inital 800 thread was over 400 pages of garbage with maybe a dozen pages or so of anything worthwhile.

I don't pretend that the 800's are perfect headphones and above and beyond any reproach or criticism but here's the blunt truth of what's going on in that thread, without naming names.

Just about every single negative comment against the 800s meets at least one of the following criteria:

1.) People using crap equipment.

and/or

2.) People in crap environments

and/or

3.) People who haven't seen or heard a damned thing for themselves at all, which is far and away the most annoying and worthless.

Sennheiser HD800 Appreciation Thread - Page 25 - Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio

^^ Perfect example and that's where I checked out of that thread.

I can see it's gone even further downhill since that post when I skimmed the rest of it this morning. That's it for me.

Not surprisingly I was ignored and that same moron continues to post in that thread like that along with some others.

I'm once again reminded why I barely post at Head-Fi and just don't go there that much, in general.

[GPH]

I can see it's gone even further downhill since that post when I skimmed the rest of it this morning. That's it for me.

Too bad for the trolls, your impressions are probably the most articulate so far in that thread. Please continue to post your thoughts here.

[The Monkey]

And call out the idiots on their BS.

[Eric5676]

And call out the idiots on their BS.

I've done that a few times in the past and have found myself in a place where I get conveniently personally attacked by certain mods and there's just no backup. It's just not worth it if there's no follow through.

The Sennheiser HD 800: The First Listen, The First Review - Page 231 - Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio

Perfect case in point.

I post infrequently enough that I was able to call this up out of my post history fairly quickly. This was fairly early on in the 400 page bloated mostly worthless Sennheiser first impressions thread and you could see where I was already taking exception to some pretty heinous things going on in there, including what I felt was some unfair and excessive abuse directed at Mr. Willet from Sennheiser.

That whole episode and what I took exception to was happening almost from the beginning of the thread and it unfortunately set the tone for the rest of the thread.

I think there's maybe a dozen or so pages of substance out of that whole 400 page monstrosity.

Unfortunately, all of that is simply all too typical of the Head Fi forum, in general.

You can see what happened to me.

You can also see that I never got a response to that, either. I'm amazed I didn't find myself seeing a nice little PM or a temp ban for not tolerating that kind of crap directed at me.

I know you're one of several long time regulars that knows exactly what I'm talking about.

I also know you'll know exactly what I mean when I say this: Certain other...beloved names on that forum would NEVER see those kinds of shenanigans tolerated in their threads.

I may or may not pick my spots in that thread but I'll honestly tell you...and take it FWIW: I'm too busy enjoying my 800s.

Too bad for the trolls, your impressions are probably the most articulate so far in that thread. Please continue to post your thoughts here.

Thanks for the kind words. Posting here is a much better idea and what I should have done in the first place although I was happy to see several people liked what I posted in that thread and hopefully took something from it.

[diebenkorn]

For Zappa fans, there's a sweet picture of "confinement loaf" on the bottom of that page

Urban Dictionary: confinement loaf

[Eric5676]

For Zappa fans, there's a sweet picture of "confinement loaf" on the bottom of that page

Urban Dictionary: confinement loaf

That's great!

[Hopstretch]

Ugh, that thread. Too much moronity for one Sunday morning. Who wants to go to Dennys for biscuits? I'm gonna shove 'em in my ears then come back and post about the 800s suddenly sounding muffled.

Monkey, I think the Beta will rawk you. So far, very much against my own expectations, I've generally liked the 800s best off the solid state setups here. Naaman's rig sounds wicked and Berkeley Alpha DAC -> Luxman P1 -> HD800 was just an eargasm.

[Eric5676]

Another quick piece of completely inaccurate stupidity I just saw that goes to my point about crappy equipment.

Again, I'll deliberately not name names but people saying these cans aren't good with solid state equipment...no, they aren't good with crappy, overpriced solid state equipment from crappy companies.

Very important distinction there.

I need to stop looking at that thread now although it's almost like watching some kind of train wreck where I almost can't turn my eyes away even though I should.

[wrecked_porsche]

Let's just leave that train wreck alone over there and let them squabble with each other; don't let it get to you and let's not let that influence this thread anymore. I've stopped reading that thread a long time ago and prefer this one for HD800 impressions. So far, almost everyone seems to be impressed by the HD800. Good to know that the HD800 sounds sweet with SS amps such as the Luxman and Beta22. Nice.

[Eric5676]

Let's just leave that train wreck alone over there and let them squabble with each other; don't let it get to you and let's not let that influence this thread anymore.

Agreed.

I've stopped reading that thread a long time ago and prefer this one for HD800 impressions.

As do I. Easily. A huge night and day difference.

So far, almost everyone seems to be impressed by the HD800. Good to know that the HD800 sounds sweet with SS amps such as the Luxman and Beta22. Nice.

Indeed. The Senns 800s are going to sound great when connected to quality equipment of all kinds.

[digger945]

I must say thanks again for the "real world" assessment here, and the post on HF giving some pieces of music involved in your impression. It's so refreshing to read an impression without all the colorful adjective garb that no two people are ever gonna share interpretations of anyway, and to have a common piece of music with a common genre to compare.

You really can't expect much more than what you see on other forums. The sound and enjoyment of listening gets buried with "price" and "worth". Just the links you posted alone are enough.

And thanks for the personal feelings and anxiety about the purchase, I feel/have felt the exact same way. Obviously, it was for nought.

[pabbi1]

I also had to check out over there... but will give it one shot, as I have promised some impressions - once Alex gives me back my phones with the cables. Methinks he likes, but, as always, hates the cable, so, he's testing product with my cans.

At least someone is enjoying them.

Oh, and how precious is the HC linky in that thread? Someone is getting a pee-pee spank for that one.

[Les_Garten]

I'm really curious how they compare against the DT770.

.

[screaming oranges]

Ugh, that thread. Too much moronity for one Sunday morning. Who wants to go to Dennys for biscuits? I'm gonna shove 'em in my ears then come back and post about the 800s suddenly sounding muffled.

Monkey, I think the Beta will rawk you. So far, very much against my own expectations, I've generally liked the 800s best off the solid state setups here. Naaman's rig sounds wicked and Berkeley Alpha DAC -> Luxman P1 -> HD800 was just an eargasm.

Curious about the Luxman P1 combo. Was the Luxman connected balanced to the Berkeley, or was it via RCA? I know most people agree that the HD800's sound better balanced (though I do not yet have an idea of by how much). Supposing that the difference between balanced and SE is significant enough with the HD800, how does the HD800 sound with balanced cables coming from an all-balanced rig compared to a balanced rig with the P1 as the amp? (Luxman P1, of course, doesn't offer balanced output, but does accept balanced input).

[Hopstretch]

Sorry, I don't know. It was a very complicated set-up with an Amarra and two Transporters and though I made sure it was the Alpha switched in, I did not take note of which connection was in use.

I'd also broaden my previous impression to include trafo-coupled tube amps doing well with the 800s. The 307A, obviously, but the Woo 6 SE did great too. I don't think I'm alone in feeling that OTL is not necessarily the way to go with these particular Senns.

[Wyaeengee]

I like the style/look

They look goofy on middle-aged men, however

[Les_Garten]

I like the style/look

They look goofy on middle-aged men, however

If you take them off, does the guy still look goofy?

Somethin' to consider... We are talkin' Headphone Geeks here

.

[Wyaeengee]

If you take them off, does the guy still look goofy?

Somethin' to consider... We are talkin' Headphone Geeks here

.

No, he'd look like an average American

Concerning the HD800s...

It's a hard look to pull off correctly

[manaox2]

If you take them off, does the guy still look goofy?

Somethin' to consider... We are talkin' Headphone Geeks here

.

Why 's there a dot at the end of all of your posts?

[The Monkey]

Why 's there a dot at the end of all of your posts?

yeah.

[Les_Garten]

yeah.

Because I always put one there.

[n_maher]

Because I always put one there.

Not anymore.

[The Monkey]

Ding dong the dot is gone.