AMP good enough for my new headphone (HD800S)

[Ronnie Pickering]

Hi,

I’ve recently bought a Sennheiser HD800s and now I would like to know if my Topping A50s in combination with a topping D50s is good enough. I find it a bit complicated to know what is good enough with all the ohms and wattage calculations. To prevent me from buying something which is overkill I thought this might be a good place to ask this question!

Thanks!

 

[Jimbob54]

Hi,

I’ve recently bought a Sennheiser HD800s and now I would like to know if my Topping A50s in combination with a topping D50s is good enough. I find it a bit complicated to know what is good enough with all the ohms and wattage calculations. To prevent me from buying something which is overkill I thought this might be a good place to ask this question!

Thanks!

Dont see why it shouldnt be. Does it go loud enough without obvious distortions?

 

[Berwhale]

Yes, it's more than good enough.

...and welcome to the forum. You're not *the* Ronnie Pickering are you?

 

[Ronnie Pickering]

Yes, it's more than good enough.

...and welcome to the forum. You're not *the* Ronnie Pickering are you?

Good to hear, Thanks!

No, certainly not but had to choose a name

 

[Ronnie Pickering]

Dont see why it shouldnt be. Does it go loud enough without obvious distortions?

Yes, perfectly fine. But at this point I’m able to return the topping if that’s needed. Within a couple of days no longer.

 

[BillyKueek]

How is the HD800S? We are having an 11.11 sale soon and prices are down from the usual USD1,700 to USD1,100 so I am tempted.

 

[AdamG]

How is the HD800S? We are having an 11.11 sale soon and prices are down from the usual USD1,700 to USD1,100 so I am tempted.

Who is “We” ?

 

[BillyKueek]

Who is “We” ?

I meant the sellers in my country Singapore

 

[Ronnie Pickering]

How is the HD800S? We are having an 11.11 sale soon and prices are down from the usual USD1,700 to USD1,100 so I am tempted.

I'm really enjoying this headphone. I first thought I would need another headphone because according to my memory when I first heard the HD800s it was a bit low on the bass spectrum. However I think this was mainly because I compared it directly to the Focal Clear MG. (The Clear MG has punch but less details in the bass)

The HD800s headphone feels more open and is awesome with the mid and treble range. The soundstage is awesome as well.
For example a song like Chan Chan from Buena Vista Social Club feels like you're right beside the guys singing. Being able to determin the distance between you and all the singers individually.

I've applied a low-shelf filter on the 100hz frequency to give a bit more body to the bass and I like it alot. I believe this small boost is needed for songs like Alter ego from NTO or 4ware from Deadmau5.

EQ: https://audiosciencereview.com/foru...for-my-new-headphone-hd800s.27661/post-961342

 

[randomusername]

How is the HD800S? We are having an 11.11 sale soon and prices are down from the usual USD1,700 to USD1,100 so I am tempted.

one of worst headphones i ever had without eq
best i ever heard after eq
if you don't plan to use eq software, better buy sundara or something

 

[HRTF_Enthusiast]

I recommend magni heresy and modi 3+ if you are from the U.S.A.
A50S and D50S are incredibly overpriced and have less power than the schiit stack.

 

[Ronnie Pickering]

I’ve been looking into buying a schiit but in Europe they are very hard to get. Even on the eu store of schiit themselves they are unable to give information about when they have stock again.

 

[Skinner001]

I’ve been looking into buying a schiit but in Europe they are very hard to get. Even on the eu store of schiit themselves they are unable to give information about when they have stock again.

There are plenty of good options out there, Topping has a wide range across all of the price spectrum.

And in my experience QC is better than Schiit as is the BQ. Schiit can have quite a bit of variability when it comes to channel balance, pot quality, noise etc. Sacrificing a little bit of power for other things is a good trade off since most stuff does not require a ton of power anyway.

Love how some people think "built in the USA" automatically guarantees quality

 

[Morpheus]

Same headphone here, and I drive it with my RME ADI 2 Dac, first version. Excellent in high power mode, a bit anemic in standard. Anyway, always with PEQ. Without it, HD6xx all day rather than this, although less resolution..When EQued, this is something different from everything out there and well worth the trouble, but without PEQ, especially to get rid if that annoying 5,4Khz nastyness and get more bass, don't waste your money.. Qudelix is a very cheap, effective alternative if you don't apply PEQ at source.

 

[Zensō]

one of worst headphones i ever had without eq
best i ever heard after eq
if you don't plan to use eq software, better buy sundara or something

Care to share you EQ settings?

 

[Ronnie Pickering]

Care to share you EQ settings?

Talking about EQ i'm currently using it with a more advanced EQ which comes closest to the Harman Target Curve.
The light blue line is the target (Harman Target Curve 2018). The dark blue line is the result when using the EQ below the graph.

# oratory1990 Harman over-ear 2018
Preamp: -6.0 dB
Filter: ON PK Fc 23 Hz Gain 5.6 dB Q 0.93
Filter: ON PK Fc 61 Hz Gain 1.9 dB Q 2.48
Filter: ON PK Fc 1702 Hz Gain 3.2 dB Q 2.13
Filter: ON PK Fc 3286 Hz Gain 2.6 dB Q 3.95
Filter: ON PK Fc 5648 Hz Gain -4.6 dB Q 3.94
Filter: ON PK Fc 210 Hz Gain -2.3 dB Q 1.32
Filter: ON PK Fc 449 Hz Gain -0.7 dB Q 0.72
Filter: ON PK Fc 4393 Hz Gain 0.2 dB Q 0.22
Filter: ON PK Fc 10533 Hz Gain 2.2 dB Q 1.17
Filter: ON PK Fc 19366 Hz Gain -11.6 dB Q 0.38

 

[Zensō]

Talking about EQ i'm currently using it with a more advanced EQ which comes closests to the Harman Target Curve.
The light blue line is the target (Harman Target Curve 2018). The dark blue line is the result when using the EQ below the graph.
View attachment 163001

Thanks! I'm sort of collecting EQ profiles for the HD800S to see what is working best for everyone.

I'm also sometimes using Oratory's 2018 Harman EQ for the 800S, though I'm taking the settings in his PDF and manually entering the values as opposed to using AutoEQ. The results should be close enough to be essentially the same, I think. Interestingly, at this present time I actually prefer a simpler curve with only a +4 bass shelf at 105 Hz Q .71 and a -3.5 dip at 5.5 kHz Q 3.5. This leaves the mids and upper bass more intact, which sounds a bit richer and more expansive to my ear than the strict Harman EQ. YMMV of course, like most things with headphones.

 

[Ronnie Pickering]

Thanks! I'm sort of collecting EQ profiles for the HD800S to see what is working best for everyone.

I'm currently switching between multiple and indeed the simpler also sound great. Even though they are not following the harman target.

Custom based on the one mentioned by @amirm which I like as well.

# Custom
#Preamp: -7 dB
#Filter: ON LSC Fc 100 Hz Gain 7 dB Q 0.7
#Filter: ON HSC Fc 10000 Hz Gain -2 dB Q 1
#Filter: ON PK Fc 2705 Hz Gain 3 dB Q 1
#Filter: ON PK Fc 5400 Hz Gain -3 dB Q 3

Another one

# crinacle Harman over-ear 2018
#Preamp: -6.4 dB
#Filter: ON PK Fc 24 Hz Gain 6.0 dB Q 0.68
#Filter: ON PK Fc 61 Hz Gain 2.4 dB Q 1.56
#Filter: ON PK Fc 222 Hz Gain -2.0 dB Q 0.9
#Filter: ON PK Fc 2026 Hz Gain 4.0 dB Q 2.12
#Filter: ON PK Fc 19383 Hz Gain -9.3 dB Q 0.39
#Filter: ON PK Fc 4533 Hz Gain 0.7 dB Q 3.45
#Filter: ON PK Fc 5140 Hz Gain 0.9 dB Q 2.36
#Filter: ON PK Fc 5774 Hz Gain -6.1 dB Q 3.9
#Filter: ON PK Fc 10678 Hz Gain 0.7 dB Q 2.07
#Filter: ON PK Fc 12173 Hz Gain 0.6 dB Q 0.77

And another one.

# Rtings Harman over-ear 2018
#Preamp: -5.7 dB
#Filter: ON PK Fc 11 Hz Gain 6.1 dB Q 0.21
#Filter: ON PK Fc 201 Hz Gain -3.1 dB Q 0.63
#Filter: ON PK Fc 2618 Hz Gain 2.4 dB Q 0.62
#Filter: ON PK Fc 5944 Hz Gain -6.5 dB Q 4.87
#Filter: ON PK Fc 10111 Hz Gain 3.5 dB Q 1.81
#Filter: ON PK Fc 1076 Hz Gain -0.9 dB Q 2.91
#Filter: ON PK Fc 1635 Hz Gain 1.3 dB Q 4.89
#Filter: ON PK Fc 7589 Hz Gain 0.8 dB Q 5.45
#Filter: ON PK Fc 13158 Hz Gain 1.9 dB Q 1.76
#Filter: ON PK Fc 19921 Hz Gain -7.7 dB Q 0.51

By the way; compared to other headphones in the same price range the HD 800 s is able to follow the Harman curve the longest

 

[Philong]

I meant the sellers in my country Singapore

Can I have a link? Thx!

 

[QuantumKat]

I'm currently switching between multiple and indeed the simpler also sound great. Even though they are not following the harman target.

Custom based on the one mentioned by @amirm which I like as well.


Another one


And another one.


By the way; compared to other headphones in the same price range the HD 800 s is able to follow the Harman curve the longest

View attachment 163013

Any help on how to implement these EQs? What program are you using? Is there an easy way to save your settings and import them?

Thanks!!