I see, you prefer the bigger 6kHz peak then, given you like it better now without the SDR mod. Although I think it does make some other changes that are less significant when I compared the Oratory measurements of SDR mod vs stock.
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HD800 owners thread
- Thread starter Jimbob54
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The SDR mod shrinks the soundstage
I will eventually come here and investigate my own slightly tweaked oratory EQ and see where tweaking this again will lead me, check my signature haha. I EQ with Equalizer APO. Don't have the motivation/time/whatever to do it currently.
I still think there is something to get out of my HD800 that I SDR modded myself (bought the stuff from that french guy in 2022).
For the headband I went with the ZMF Co-Pilot (lambskin), I'm still really happy with it, but I should clean it more often/ give it a bit of love lol. For the earpads I'm using the new HD800/S pads from Sennheiser, tried dekoni pads but really detested them.
I still think there is something to get out of my HD800 that I SDR modded myself (bought the stuff from that french guy in 2022).
Hi,
received it yesterday, finished my install like 45 minutes ago.
I choose the "unmount everything" without peeling the mesh. That was easier than I expected but also pretty stressful. My headphones work but tbh, I don’t know if I can hear a difference. I do think that I have a little bit more bass to play around with using EQ (copying oratory’s values and adjusting them by hearing what I like more) which is why I did this, so I guess that’s it, besides a replacement for the headband padding and earpads that I want to do.
[..]
received it yesterday, finished my install like 45 minutes ago.
I choose the "unmount everything" without peeling the mesh. That was easier than I expected but also pretty stressful. My headphones work but tbh, I don’t know if I can hear a difference. I do think that I have a little bit more bass to play around with using EQ (copying oratory’s values and adjusting them by hearing what I like more) which is why I did this, so I guess that’s it, besides a replacement for the headband padding and earpads that I want to do.
[..]
The new HD800/s pads from Sennheiser are the best ones to use for the HD800 if you need new pads - Oratory said something like 50% of his units he's measured for his HD800 measurement are using the new HD800/s pads, rather the old woven ones that the HD800 used to come with. (Nowadays, both HD800 & HD800s are the same). I suspect Oratory's HD800s EQ is more accurate for HD800s headphones than Oratory's HD800 EQ is for HD800 headphones, because of the pad change, and praps he has measured more HD800s (bit of a guess). Of course the HD800s has always come with the same pad, so there's less variability there. Oratory says the HD800 woven pads don't make much difference vs the now new HD800/s pads, but solderdude measured some reasonable differences that would be noticeable, so I think the HD800 Oratory EQ is a bit less accurate than the HD800s Oratory EQ.
I’m considering purchasing the HE1000SE, HE1000 Stealth or ZMF Atrium (used) as a second pair of headphones to go with my HD800. My HD800 will primarily be used for certain albums (scores, atmospheric albums), classical, and movies/gaming.
I love my HD800 but I’m looking for something with more timber, texture and punch without giving up too much soundstage and detail. I don’t find the HD800 overly bright or fatiguing. I listen to mostly rock ranging from The Beatles to Nine Inch Nails to Gorillaz to Fleetwood Mac.
For reference, I also own the PS1000 and they are fatiguing. I plan to sell.
I’m leaning towards the HE1000 Stealth at the moment but I haven’t heard any of these headphones. I plan to hear them at Axpona but I’d love some opinions to go with my trial experience.
I love my HD800 but I’m looking for something with more timber, texture and punch without giving up too much soundstage and detail. I don’t find the HD800 overly bright or fatiguing. I listen to mostly rock ranging from The Beatles to Nine Inch Nails to Gorillaz to Fleetwood Mac.
For reference, I also own the PS1000 and they are fatiguing. I plan to sell.
I’m leaning towards the HE1000 Stealth at the moment but I haven’t heard any of these headphones. I plan to hear them at Axpona but I’d love some opinions to go with my trial experience.
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My opinion is "just use EQ". If you're only listening to headphones at stock then of course there are massive differences between them and I wouldn't recommend you anything other than HD560s or one of the Harman tuned Dan Clarkes if you're gonna use stock (& of course some of the excellent & inexpensive IEM's that measure close to Harman), but really the amount you can effect the sound using EQ it almost doesn't matter which headphone you're using (as long as you choose a decent one that measures well to start with) - at least in comparison to the gulf in sound quality you're restricting yourself to if using headphones at stock.
Good suggestion and a wise suggestion! I should explore EQ (something I have avoided until reading this forum) and other forms of manipulation (amp/dac) before making headphone decisions.
I suppose I’m just up for a change as I’ve had the 800 for a very long time and the PS1000 have been disappointing.
I’m off to Axpona tomorrow
Amp & DAC doesn't matter if you get a measuring one - they're supposed to be "transparent" ie they don't influence the sound at all - you'd choose some good measuring ones that Amir has measured on this site. For EQ on your HD800 there's the Oratory EQ's that I'm sure you've heard about, so probably your best starting point - it will make it sound very different of course so that might be a shock, but it for sure moves the sound of the HD800 into a more positive direction. You also probably don't need another headphone beyond an EQ'd HD800. In my experience about the only thing you'd be lacking is impactful bass, the HD800 has a bit of a problem giving impactful bass even when EQ'd up, but I'm thinking you'll probably not really want another headphone after you've tried EQ'ing the HD800.
Here's the modified EQ that I'm using:
I'm using a A20h on H2 (highest output) but -15db on the dial, connected to a SMSL M300SE v1.1 with FL5 (don't remember what it was).
EDIT: Here are the filters.
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I've developed an EQ that is useful to people that only have access to Graphic EQ (rather than Parametric EQ), and is used along with @solderdude 's passive filter that you can get from his website (https://diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com/headphones/measurements/brands-s-se/hd800/). Basically you can get it to hug Harman Curve very well by using this combination of Graphic EQ and solderdude's passive filter, and note the measurement I used of the HD800 was Oratory's latest published HD800 measurement from 10th June 2024, and here's the EQ:
Note that filter #9 is actually the exact effect of solderdude's passive filter, so you don't include that parametric filter in this EQ instead you use his passive filter which does the same thing - because as you know 6080Hz is not one of the fixed bands in a Graphic EQ. Yeah, it sounds fine with this combination, worth doing in situations where you don't have access to parametric EQ.
Note: I measured the effect of solderdude's passive filter using my miniDSP EARS rig so that's how I know what parametric filter corresponds to the same effect, which is the #9 filter you see in the pic.
Note that filter #9 is actually the exact effect of solderdude's passive filter, so you don't include that parametric filter in this EQ instead you use his passive filter which does the same thing - because as you know 6080Hz is not one of the fixed bands in a Graphic EQ. Yeah, it sounds fine with this combination, worth doing in situations where you don't have access to parametric EQ.
Note: I measured the effect of solderdude's passive filter using my miniDSP EARS rig so that's how I know what parametric filter corresponds to the same effect, which is the #9 filter you see in the pic.
I'm currently experimenting with another bass filter, PK 63 Hz +6dB Q3.0, changed the preamp to -13db.Here's the modified EQ that I'm using: I don't remember why I did something with the HS on 10000Hz. The 48/105Hz changes are pretty obvious, wanted more bass. Now the better question is what do I even want to change? I just said in my previous post that I think more is possible but what would that even mean? A subjective sound improvement? Idk.
I'm using a A20h on H2 (highest output) but -15db on the dial, connected to a SMSL M300SE v1.1 with FL5 (don't remember what it was).
EDIT: Here are the filters.
I came to this by using a spectrum analyzer (Spectralissime) routed with virtual audio cable so the eq gets applied to what I see in the spectrum analyzer.
I don't really know what I'm doing, but if I like how it sounds, it doesn't matter, right? haha
