Spent some time a couple nights ago with the 800s and decided to swap the DHC Molecule Elite 19 for the Complement C. On the Pi2AES > Berkeley RS1 > Crayon CHA-1 chain, I think the cable swap was enough to help it click. I think maybe the Elite 19 is just a little too forward and doesn’t have the synergy I needed in that chain.
I now understand the hype to some extent. Still not really comparable to Susvara or MySphere, or even LCD-24 on a more suited amp, but it was really enjoyable. Bass was more full bodied, mids filled out a bit, and treble more controlled. Some of the edge was rounded off, which allowed the sound to feel more liquid and coherent.
Might be more about the cables than the headphone, but this seemed to be the better place to put my thoughts.
I will never wear a HP enough to even begin to wear out the pads…lol My stuff will rot from old age but not from too much use. More power to you, grab an extra set while you can!
whew! got the ear pads in today and spent like 25 minutes per earcup trying to get them on… holy fuck and I thought hifiman pads were the worst to put on these are really bad haha
but I notice an immediate increase in stage size and space (also more comfortable) so i guess it was worth the trouble. I think my 800s is one of the earlier models and I have a hunch that the pads were also the original set so quite old and well used lol
If it is an earlier model it will say hd800 on the headband instead of 800s.
Yeah the pads for me werent that difficult, but you had to put even pressure all over and push or they would pop out. The headband pad would seem like it was in then the headband would flex and it would pop. I basically had to grip it like a baseball bat and squeeze.
The pads are very thin and lightweight even when new so its hard to tell when theyre worn.
I’ve bought a HD800S recently although I was pretty certain this was probably not the headphone for me. But, since it’s such a referenced piece in a lot of comparisons and I was still figuring out what to buy next, I thought I’d check it out for empirical research when one crossed my path. Comfort wise it’s really light, comfy & ideal for hot days but grip wise it’s not enough to prevent it from sliding when you lean back.
I enjoy my DT1990 so I’m fine with some treble I guess and the HD800S did not bother me with its highs either. When staging some things get pushed really far left or right which sometimes leaves maybe too much space in the center. Transients can go endless in the distance and there is a lot a space and layering but oddly it didn’t come across as a very deep soundstage in general.
The bass is really the problem area of this headphone, it’s there, it extends but it lacks any form of presence. You hear the texture but not the weight, on electronic music this is a problem for me, you hear too well that it is an artificial bass, there is not enough weight and slam to make it enjoyable. Getting it to a level I could enjoy required me to switch some gear around and EQ. The initial chain was Pro-ject StreamBox S2 Ultra → BF2 → V280 → HD800S. I only have the balanced cable and no adapters so I was not able to try on my Asgard 3 or Aethos.
Although V280 and BF2 are known for adding some weight on the bottom, it was not enough for me. So I added a low shelf, 3db at 100Hz, Q 0.8 via Roon. That mainly emphasized the mismatch between V280 and BF2 with some odd distortion or something in the upper-mid bass sometimes. I then changed the DAC to a Pro-ject Pre Box S2 Digital and that was a better/cleaner match. After a while though I started to notice some songs just sound a tad flat and boring compared to earlier. I had the feeling I wasn’t getting what I could so I kidnapped La Voce S3 from the 2-channel to see if this worked better.
And it did, playing some Idle Moments by Grant Green was really close your eyes and enjoy. More texture, better placement in the stage and just a hint of refinement in the mids and sweetness in the highs going on to finish it off. The Forest by Trentemoller, although I know it’s even better with extra bass, it was enough, texture and lots of detail going on, very nice. For Brass Monkey – Beasty Boys the bass was also enough and very enjoyable but The Hills by The Weeknd or Gosh by Jamie XX were both lacking that visceral bass that they need imo. I was able to hear the texture and layering within the bass better than ever but it didn’t work well, neither for something like Flight of the Cosmic Hippo.
Besides the lack of real slam, it’s also EQ that bothers me, I don’t like to EQ and they’re pretty sensitive to that, in a bad way imo. Main lesson learned is that synergy and a balanced chain become more important when moving up and I might need to pay more attention to that. Better equipment made bigger improvements and while the mismatch between BF2 and V280 was a minor nuisance with my DT1990, on the HD800S it could really annoy me at times and pull me out of the music. As expected, not for me right now but all in all I’m enjoying the experience. I can see this as part of a collection and I think it might do well on a tube amp but I’m not there yet so I sold it yesterday to fund the next purchase.
On my PC → BF2 → rnhp → 800s I could live without EQ, but a 3-4db shelf at 80Hz does it for me. I dont have any eq induced distortion, maybe the 100Hz shelf extends too much to a spot the hd800s doesnt like.
The bass shelf was better once the BF2 was out of the chain, maybe I should have experimented a bit more there but I’m not really an EQ guy. Only on the car stereo
HD800 was my first “unreachable” headphone and for some reason I still haven’t bought them yet. Today is a bit of a special day and I want to finally put a cap to the HD800 peak. Is it worth looking out for an earlier low serial number model which would potentially require pad and headband swaps or just go for a new one. I don’t mind the price difference and would actually like getting a new one since it has a bit of a special value for me but if the older models have a difference in SQ then I’d obviously want to go with that one. There is one listed here for some time now which would obviously need at least a pad swap right away.
I’d get new at that price. The lower hd800S sn isn’t as sought after as the lower 800. At least I didn’t think they were. Even if we’re talking about an original 800, I wouldn’t get caught up in the low sn game.
FWIW I had multiple hd800S over the years and they all sounded very similar from memory. You may find some small differences if you’re A/Bing a few side by side but I’d be willing to bet it’s very small.
Price out the pads and make sure theyre actually in stock. Are HD800 and 800s still like $1500 new? I think theyre around $1000 used and pads will put you back $150ish. Less used for 800 non-s.
Not sure about any discernable difference over their production cycle, serials, years.
I got my HD800s used off US Audiomart for 850 shipped and fees… Mine came with a stock balanced cable but frayed quickly which I think they are notorious for doing. Ended up getting a Norne draug cable for 150 shipped.
can’t speak to early SN but I’d tend to avoid early SN in general as they tend to have move quality control issues than later produced models.
Thanks @Rhodey@Souldriver@Rmsanger. New were like $1600-$1700 depending where I got it from with some dealer discount/taxes. I ended up picking the used one (I blame my fat fingers) with early SN (this was late 2015) for $1k plus paid $75 for new pads (found on HifiHeaven, will find out if they actually have them once they ship) and replacement headband.
these are really bad haha
