Sennheiser HD-DVD 800

Alright. I understand this community a little bit better. I'm not here to start a fight.

I have the Sennheiser HD-800 headphones. I got them two days ago from Todd the Vinyl Junkie. I'm highly interested in the Sennheiser HD-DVD 800 digital headphone amplifier and 24 bit 192 kHz USB DAC. I'm wondering if anyone has this combination? If so, then please post your opinions.

I can't get any reliable information from Head-Fi.Org. The problem with this community is that it's overwhelming in terms of information about this pairing and I can't make heads or tails. They are the most experienced, but they are the least reliable.

Thanks.

 

The point of getting the Sennheiser HD-DVD 800 is because it was designed for the Sennheiser HD-800 headphones. Furthermore, it has a modern 24 bit 192 kHz USB asychronous DAC and it has a USB 2.0 port to connect it to my Lenovo IdeaPad Y510P notebook PC. I'm using Microsoft Windows 8.1 Professional with the Media Center Update 64 bit. I know it is compatible and I sure as heck know it costs $2,000.00 USD.

I still have both a FLAC and MP3 music library on my hard disk drives. I'm looking to extract the maximum compatibility and sound performance with the FLAC library especially with my 45 24 bit 48 - 192 kHz high resolution music albums at home.

I'm not expecting a ton of replies, but I thought to give this a try here at SHF.

 

I have no experience with either products, but I would not put too much into the "designed for" aspect, when it comes to headphone/amp combinations. These are classic dynamic headphones. Of course some aspects like impedance need to match, but otherwise it's like finding a good speaker/amp match. Many combinations are possible, and a good speaker manufacturer does not necessarily make good amps, and vice-versa.

It don't think there are that many extreme headphone afficiandos here, the type of people who spend $3000 for a haedphone/amp combination.

 

Thanks for your comments. Those are the exact same opinions found on Head-Fi.Org, but the members over there have commented that the USB DAC is sub-par with the HD-800. Right now, it's a crap shoot in terms of collecting enough useful information about this pairing with strongly worded opinions in the pro and con camps over there. I've read comments that the HD-DVD 800 pairs well with non Sennheiser headphones just as much as it does with the HD 600, 650, 700, and 800. A fair number have said that the HD-DVD 800 is overpriced and the Grace M902 is a better choice for the HD-800 headphones with a slightly more robust set of features and user interface options. This strikes me as being a possibility, but not one that I can seriously entertain at its slightly higher price point. Conversely, there are a small number of people that have the HD-800 and HD-DVD 800 and they write that they fit hand in glove and no other serious contenders should be considered at this level or price point. Naturally, a swath of other people write that much pricier headphone amplifiers and USB DACs are the only way to drive the HD-800 with authority and tube based products are the only serious contenders because they find that the warmth compliments the cold and analytical nature of the HD-800 headphones especially with analog source components. I respect other people's opinions, but this will cost me a pretty penny so I'll continue to research various sources of information. In the end, I would not be surprised with myself if it comes down to an impulse buy.

 

Ive read that the Fosgate Signature Headphone Amp pairs very well with the 800s. About $1,500.00.

 

I would second the Grace as a better choice. Dollar wise you get more.
I own Sennheiser HD800 and use a Rudistor RPX33 mk2 headamp.
So My headamp is right up there costwise with the other choices. Though it does not have a DAC, nor USB I have no need of those features in my headamp anyway.

The synergy of a pair of Sennheiser products only means something if you LIKE THE SOUND. If you do not like the sound, then that is a useless point. Maybe you would not like the house sound of the pair anyway.
So I personally would not give much 'weight' to the fact the Sennheiser headamp is also a Sennheiser product.
.
PS the 902 is NO LONGER AVAILABLE. So it would need to be the Grace m903 at Sweetwater for $1595 Audio Advisor has it for $1895

 

HD 800 are an easy drive for Apogee Duet and my Nagra VI
They are analytical and'in head' as compared with the HD 650 which are warmer and slightly' out of head'
Both are great cans
Even my MacBook Pro will drive the 800s,just listened to Heartshaped World by Chriss Issac, excellent.

 

Thanks for the recommendations. I'll state that I'd rather get the Sennheiser HD-DVD 800 for my Sennheiser HD-800. I absolutely cherish the Sennheiser house sound.

 

You live near NYC. There's got to be a number of audio shops near you that have the Sennheiser amp. Bring your headphones and go listen to it. You'll learn more about the sound of the amp from 5 minutes of listening than you will by trying to makes sense of reviews and opinions. I've never listened to the Sennheiser amp. I have no idea how it sounds. If I was interested in the amp I wouldn't bother reading reviews. I'd drive in to Portland OR (or take the bus) and go listen to it.

TTVJ also carries the Sennheiser amp. Ask him how it does and how it compares to other amps.

Tube amps are also very nice with the HD800. And would be my choice if I was looking to pair an amp with the HD800. TTVJ has nice tube amps. Eddie Current has nice tube amps that go well with the HD800. And there's others.

 

I have the HD800 and the HDVD800 combination and I like the built in DAC in the HDVD800. Currently, though, I am bypassing the HDVD800 DAC and using the Rega DAC instead. The Rega DAC does sound a bit better IMHO. I also listen to the Audeze LCD-X cans through the same system and they sound fantastic. The other headphone amp that is getting a lot of attention in the forums is the Auralic Taurus MkII headphone amp but it does not include a built in DAC, FYI.

 

Ohhhhhh... What's the Auralic like? I've been thinking about that one. Would be paired with orthos mostly since I like orthos.

Actually, I should just follow my advice and go listen to the Auralic amp myself. Echo HiFi here in Portland carries Auralic.

 

Seems strange to buy analytical cans and a valve amp to warm it up,its strengths are its speed and articulation
The 650s are warm .

 

A really good tube amp isn't there to try to make the HD800 sound more like the HD600/HD650. The HD800 will be every bit an HD800. The Eddie Current tube headphone amps are in the $1.6K to $4K range. The TTVJ amps get up to the $10K range. These aren't amps that are tubey bloated. Just tube goodness and spacialness. More spacialness is a nice thing for headphones.

I do consider the HD800 a bit of an ear tweeter. Hence the preference for tubes to not add additional SS edginess to the treble. And the good tube amps can do better headphone soundstage in depth and size.

 

Doesnt sound edgy from my Nagra VI with fig of eight mics as sources.
Or from my Apogee Duets, some of my ITunes library might, but thats just over egging by producers
They are forensic devices these cans

 

Actually the m903 is being phased out as well in favor of the DSD-capable m920. ($2180 at Sweetwater). If you're thinking about an m903, don't wait too long...

 

Disclaimer here: I tend to think sonic differences between competent SS amps that are sufficiently powerful for the cans they are driving to be overrated and/or I have lousy ears and simply cannot tell much of a difference (I know how the SH board will vote on that choice ). That said I have heard many of the TOTL headphones through an Auralic DAc/amp stack and they have all sounded fantastic, particularly the Audeze lineup. If I end up with an Audeze and have the budget for an amp in that price range, Auralic would be at the top of my list.

 

I went to Echo Audio in downtown Portland this afternoon. Had a listen to the AURALiC TAURUS MKII. Brought along my oldish LCD-2 rev 2 and used the store's HD-800. I have both balanced and single-ended cables for the Audeze. The HD-800 only had the single ended cable.

The AURALiC amp is impressive. Spectacular. A great sounding solid state amp. Very nice soundstage and what I call headstage. The LCD-2 did better with the balanced output for me. Better soundstage. The center of the image was better filled in, which is a sonic feature I value in headphone sound. The amp is very dynamic. Percussion snaps. Bass is very tight. Dynamics of the macro and micro type are all there. Great sound with the HD-800 as well. Very nice deep soundstage with the HD-800 as you would expect the HD-800 to do. Don't know if the soundstage would have improved with balanced. I was really liking the sound of the HD-800. Treble was HD-800 style, but not edgy. Music held together very well. Some SS amps can make the HD-800 hyper separated. The AURALiC held the music together so you can enjoy the music while still letting the analytic nature of the HD-800 come through. I was super impressed with the amp.

Echo also had a used Cavalli Liquid Fire amp in. That gave me something I've heard before to compare against the AURALiC. The Liquid Fire has a sound that is smooooth. Deep soundstage that fills in the center and lets you hear the music in the center of the soundstage without being so conscious of the left and right sides of the soudstage image. The soundstage however is less wide than the AURALiC. The Liquid Fire gives the HD-800 a smoother sound. It's still analyic is flavor, but smoother than with the AURALiC. Less dynamic than the AURALiC. Percussion doesn't have the same snap. The macro and micro dynamics are all still there, just somewhat softened. I liked the HD-800 with the Liquid Fire. I could see an HD-800 in my future now. The Audeze headphones also get the big deep soundstage and smooth sound. Sound that just hugs you and really makes you get immersed by the music.

Both amps are spectacular in their own way. Different flavors of what I consider great sound. I could see someone who has excess money having both amps to have both flavors. If I had excess money I'd get both. ROLO46 would no doubt vastly prefer the AURALiC. I can understand that preference, and also agree. However, for getting immersed and hugged by the music I absolutely love the sound of the Liquid Fire amp. So much so that I bought it and brought it home with me. That means I also now have an amp that could do the HD-800 very well for me. Perhaps an HD-800 is in my future now.

Echo also had the HDVD 800 amp out. I didn't give it a listen. I was a bit distracted with the AURALiC and Cavalli. I don't see the HDVD 800 competing well against the AURALiC so didn't feel like taking listening time away from the AURALiC to try it. If you've got $2000 to spend on a SS amp for the HD-800 the AURALiC would get my vote.

 

Sounds like the OP is looking for a DAC/AMP to drive those 800's adequately with good sound. Oppo HA-1 has gotten some positive feedback for being reasonable priced and capable with the 800's, does both amp/dac.
For myself with the Audeze X's, Hugo Chord, twice the price of the Oppo, but the best priced dac/amp for the reference quality sound it produces from digital, especially non hi rez, although it does hi rez very well. The amp of the Hugo might be a little light driving the 800's, at least from half the 800 users, I've read.

 

Possibly. My preference is for separates. My opinions are going to be very biased to that regard. I'd rather have one good DAC and a couple of amps to play with. The amps are for sonic flavor. The DAC should not be for sonic flavor. Play with amps for different sound. Integrated DACs also tend to compromise. For example, the Oppo HA-1 has already gotten docked in reviews for having less good sound on the line outputs than the headphone out. The headphone out is discreet. The line outs are op-amps. Great if you only intend to listen to headphones from its built-in amp. Not so good if you want to use it as a DAC and connect it to an outboard headphone amp or speaker amp. Better to buy a DAC that is designed to have its best sound from the line-outs on the back.

Here's a review of the AURALiC Taurs MKII that describes it as transparent.
http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/spectacularly-transparent-auralic-taurus-mkii
Of course what is "transparent"? Many headphone amps claim that, but sound different.
One thing I like about the AURALiC is that it has a soundstage that sounds cohesive. The music holds together and seems to fill the center. Lots of other amps that claim to be transparent don't fill in the center like that. Music without a center isn't as enjoyable to me. Might be useful for someone working in a studio who finds the hyper-separation to be useful to hear problems and artifacts. But for musical enjoyment listening? Nah, fill in the center. And the AURALiC did that adequately.

I did buy the Cavalli amp after head-to-head listening against the AURALiC. But for trasparency, dynamics and being more true to the headphone that is plugged in I consider the AURALiC to be better. The AURALiC really did sound spectacular for a SS amp. I'm just looking for something more on the pleasure side than the analytic transparency side. I listen primarily for pleasure and want maximum pleasure from that listening. That's what the Cavalli gives me. The music it plays makes me smile in a way that few other amps can match. That smile is why I bought the amp. I'd still consider the AURALiC technically better.

 

Wow! That's more information and research for me to do. I'll look into the Aurilac. By the way, I do have separates for my DAC and headphone amplifier right now. I have a Resolution Audio Opus 21 CD player, power centre, extra sources box including a USB 2.0 24 bit 96 kHz DAC, and S30 power amplifier. I have a Ray Samuels Audio Emmeline HR-2 headphone amplifier. These items are old, but they do sound terrific. I get an analogue and tube sounding digital solid state upstream system.

At this rate, I will do my research and I'll go to some local audio dealers to audition my HD-800. However, I'm still firmly looking square at the HD-DVD 800 because they are made for the HD-800. I like the fact that I can buy a symmetrical Sennheiser HD-800 cable and go with a balanced digital solid state front end with the HD-DVD 800. The others don't seem to offer this type of "end game" setup.

 

HD800's like tubes. I run mine with a 15wpc 6v6 tube amp from Sound Quest, the SQ84-V2. It's a spectacular combination.

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/0909/sound_quest_sq_84_v2.htm

As a plus it's very good as a speaker amp, I've run it on my Quad 57's.

 

Is this really necessary given the fact that I listen to MP3s? I have a FLAC music library that I backed up years ago, but it's old and out of date compared to my MP3 music library which is current and up to date. When I purchase music, I get the digital download in 320 kbps joint stereo MP3s. My understanding is that the HD-DVD 800 has a fine dual output headphone amplifier and DAC that's well suited for high resolution loss less audio files. However, I don't listen to my FLAC music library any longer. I haven't even imported them to my J River Media Center.

I'm on the fence about this one. I'm thinking that this is not worth it, but I'll keep an open mind. $2,000.00 USD is a lot of money for this product. There are comparable products that offer more features and sound performance for a whole lot less.

 

I found a local audio dealer that carries the Sennheiser HD-DVD 800 and I brought my Sennheiser HD-800 headphones to give it a listen. I brought my Lenovo IdeaPad Y510P PC along with some FLAC and MP3 music albums.

I agree that if you like the Sennheiser house sound, then the HD-DVD 800 is the only way to go. The headphone amplifier is quite powerful and it provides supple power to drive a variety of headphones with authority. It's a very neutral and accurate headphone amplifier and DAC. I used the USB 2.0 cable and port to conduct my listening. The first thing that I heard was the wide and deep out of head sound stage. It builds on the strengths of the HD-800 by widening the sound stage so that it becomes more like high end speakers. The imaging is precise and natural and I heard a deeper sound stage that is holographic in terms of reproducing layers of depth accurately. One of the best thing is that the dynamic range is wide with more power driving the HD-800s so that subtle changes during soft and loud sounds is more natural and realistic. To this end, the power of the HD-DVD 800 driving the HD-800 is unmatched which gives music more power and energy to play unencumbered. The other thing that I noticed is that it reproduces a natural sound in terms of tonal balance. It sounded much like live music bursting with energy, dynamics, and clarity. The HD-DVD 800 produces a great cohesive natural sound much like the HD-800 and this combination is exquisite in that there are no sonic compromises in any particular audio band that jut out of place. The DAC is up to snuff. I listened to my FLAC loss less 24 bit 192 kHz music albums and I heard the clarity and dynamics in a new light that makes me reconsider my MP3 music library. It sounded so smooth, rich, and lush with high resolution music and it was very intimate and natural. I got closer to the musicians with high resolution music more so than standard CDs. MP3s were far inferior to my ears. Even with MP3s, the HD-DVD 800 and HD-800 combination wrought out the maximum sound fidelity given their low bit rates as much as possible. It was possible to listen to my entire music libraries in a new light with this combination.

 

Awesome! That's exactly what you need to do. Go listen to the amp yourself. Now you know how it sounds. No amount of reading reviews could substitute for actually listening. Listen to some more gear so you get more experience and confidence. Try to also get a listen to good high end gear that is beyond your price range just so you know what that level of gear is capable of (some expensive high end gear is very good, some not so good). Then buy what you like based on what you hear rather than trying to micro-analyze published reviews and reviews by people in various forums. After listening to a variety of gear, the sound you like and are gravitated towards will become apparent. Buy that sound and enjoy.

 

I have the Sennheiser HD-DVD 800 for this weekend from a local authorized Sennheiser dealer. I've got the Grace M920 on loan for next weekend. I heard it at my local audio dealer yesterday and I'm convinced that the HD-DVD 800 and HD-800 combination is the right sound that I'm going after. The HD-DVD 800 make the HD-800 shine. I've also got the Sennheiser symmetrical stock cables on loan from my local audio dealer this weekend as well. Balanced audio sounds better. The bass weight and impact are significantly improved while the instrument separation is clearer. Overall, it's a better sound going fully balanced. The HD-DVD 800 is an excellent product that competes with other high end headphone amplifiers and DACs in its price category. The thing that I like most about it is that I plan to simplify my home audio system. I plan to put away my Resolution Audio Opus 21 and Ray Samuels Audio Emmeline HR-2 in my closet to be replaced by the Sennheiser HD-DVD 800. I want something that's a bit more modern and simpler. Simplicity is the best way to go as there are fewer things in the audio system that will be compromised.

I am definitely going to buy the Sennheiser HD-DVD 800, but I am keeping an open mind about the Grace M920. I'd like to be able to play DSD-128 files natively, but it's not a priority for me. Getting the source material is wickedly expensive. It's more expensive than 24 bit 192 kHz FLAC loss less audio files because DSD is a niche within a niche in of itself.

The Sennheiser HD-DVD 800 are made for the Sennheiser HD-800. The combination is the most synergistic sound that I've ever heard in my life. It just makes sense to me. It's unmatched in terms of audio pairings.

Granted, I've not heard everything out there, but I've heard a small selection of top of the line headphone audio systems many of which I can't afford. I think that $2,000.00 USD for the Sennheiser HD-DVD 800 is a very fair price given its synergy with the Sennheiser HD-800. It also drives my other headphones and earphones quite well. The AKG K 702 sound splendid with the HD-DVD 800. My Shure SE-846 CL sound awesome with the combination. I like the fact that I can drive up to four headphones at the same time with one product. That's convenient for testing. It makes for a good platform to test different headphones at the same time.

The sound is extremely accurate, neutral, and transparent. This is reference grade audio quality all of the way. The sound stage is huge and it's multi-layered. The texture of each note is rich in timbre. The bass depth and power are unmatched. It makes music sound like naturally occurring live music. I've had the most joy listening to the HD-DVD 800 and HD-800 combination in a long time in my 15+ years of being a headphone audiophile.