The Audio Technica ATH-AD700X? I had them and theyāre ok for gaming but you can do better. Theyāre only around $100 so, theyāre good but in comparison to the HD800S thereās not really a fight. The HD800S kills them and they should at the price difference. If you donāt want to spend 1k+, Iād look at the 1000X, DT1990, DT880 and DT990 for gaming. Iāve only tried the DT1990 out of those though. Others on the forum can speak for the 880, 990, and 1000X. And check out the gaming section on the forum.
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Yeah, I have 700X, 900X and Erupt, and had 1000X, DT770, 880, 990, K701, K712, HD700, HD600, 650, 660, Sundara, X2, MDR-MA900, Mobius, HyperX Cloud 2, SHP9500(others I canāt remember) previously. Iām 100% set on getting an HD800, with confirmations like this lol. I have to knowā¦ I have to finally escape the ājust pretty goodā tier ;p
But primarilyā¦ Iām wondering how the AD700X sounds compared to HD800. Is HD800 even brighterā¦? I would guess not. Iām sure HD800 has infinitely better bass, as well.
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I think the hd800S slams fairly hard, especially on a tube, they open up. If you A/Bs the 700x and HD800S youād laugh. But were talking $100 vs $1100-1300ish. The only reason i sold my HD800S was because i had the Verite and Clears. Iām one that liked it and especially for gaming. Couldnt justify keeping all three. Plus i wanted to try others.
I wonder what that drop around 60-80Hz that they both have is all about. Interesting how the AD700 has more frequency variation across multiple runs, but both vary a lot in the treble. HD800 is very consistent pretty much from 30-2000Hz. And AD700 looks much less chaotic for left/right channels after 10K lol.
Hi guys, I just wanted to write my short impression on these fantastic headphones, I own the HD800S for a few days now, (latest revision, months ago the HD800S received a silent revision from Senns, the 4 pin XLR cable is no longer included but a balanced 4.4mm has taken his place, in addition to the 1/4" cable, the yokes of the headphones have been changed, sonically speaking nothing should have changed but I am not sure since I have not listened to other HD800S previously), I got them because I absolutely wanted to listen to this given their fame in the world of audiophiles and I realized that all the opinions of the various people must be taken with a grain of salt in this hobby, because each of us has their own preferences and each of us hears, listens and evaluates things in a different way and often subjectivity also takes over the objectivity of thingsā¦ Personally at the moment I am using them with my THX 887 / D90 stack in single ended waiting for the balanced XLR cable for them, but I must say that despite being used to much darker and warmer headphones like the LCD2C the HD800S even on the āuncoloured,analytical and unforgivenā THX amp NEVER sounded harsh to my ears, I think this is a subjective matter as I said but personally I have no problem with the treble of these headphones at all and there is absolutely no āmandatoryā need to put them under a tube amplifier as some people say to tame the treble, perhaps this was valid for the previous HD800 (which I have never tried, so donāt know for sure) or for people very very treble sensitive, I actually find the treble on point and I can no longer listen to my LCD2Cs with pleasure as they are not very exciting and too dark in comparison to the Senn, another point that I wanted to clarify is the low range, being used to the Audeze or Arya you will think it is āunderwhelmingā or ālackingā in this department, especially hearing other opinions, actually I think that the low end of the HD800S nothing is missing, it is solid, precise, detailed, balanced and perfectly represents the textures and when called to do so it also has its nice rumble and slam, obviously the planars manage to have another type of impact on some tracks and especially the Audeze exceed in quantity but I love the representation of both, this is the beauty of having more headphones IMHO. Having said that, these headphones are one of the best that I have ever tried and objectively certainly impressive from a performance point of view even at the retail price (they can be found for less now, fortunately), the level of details is really exceptional, the soundstage and the big presentation are unique, imaging is pin point level (in gaming they are unrivaled, really, as an avid gamer these headphones are truly an experience in both single and competitive gaming). I didnāt listen to a lot of classical/orchestral music previously, but with these headphones I discovered the pleasure of doing it and Iām discovering new musical genres from which I was not attracted at all before, any well-recorded music sounds godlike on this, only āflawā if so it can be said, is that you will immediately notice that you are listening to something not so well recorded in some circumstances, so yes, itās a bit of a double-edged sword in this case.Having said that, my advice is to always try on the headphones before giving a judgement because the evaluation of a person as neutral as it may be, may still be different from your first-person experience. Aaaaand I write too muchā¦ lol
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Lol all good. We all do. Some more than others, either way interesting impressions thnx for the fun read
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some really cool custom hd 800s form colorware
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Glad to hear youāre liking them so much. I personally didnāt really start to like mine until I got the Tuba. I find the relaxed treble to make some songs a bit less exciting. But overall I find many more songs to be more enjoyable so itās worth it. The Asgard 3 is also a great option because it will give it a fuller sound.
I guess Sennheiser is prioritizing this connector now for balanced. And yet most desktop amps often only have XLR. Itād be nice if having both would become standard. 4.4 mm is nice because itās also good for portable applications. Monoprice really missed an opportunity to differentiate its amp from the 789 by not including it
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Do you have any cheaper DACs and amps to try them withā¦?
Nope, I sold all my old stuff but I have higher end amps coming that I will compare with the 887, maybe I will decide to sell the THX or I will keep it anyway. Iām curious to try them on a good full Class A amplifier, I donāt understand the sense of trying them with a lower end setup anyway, itās a fairly demanding headphones from the point of view of quality amplification.
I ran these off a JDS Labs Atom for a couple weeks while I waited to buy a RebelAmp. They sounded perfectly fine on it. I assume it would be the same for the other 100 buck amps too. I also ran this combo with a Khadas Tone Board, for some time. Also sounded good.
As long as you are running quality equipment, they will sound as they should.
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HD800 or S? I have an ATOM, so thatās good to hear. 
800S. Iāve never heard the original.
Hi guys,
So I plan to get the 800S just for soundstage, imaging, and details for gaming only for both single player immersion and competitive multiplayer and want to run them balanced only. I will complement them with the Arya for everything else balanced also later.
What ānon thxā dac and amp I should go for that is warm by nature (but donāt want to lose any soundstage imaging or details) that will give them their full potential (from my reading balanced +750 mw for 300ohms?) Donāt want tube only.
The shortlist I came up with is:
Dac: D90?
Amp:
- A90 (I read somewhere @M0N says its not as wide and detailed as the others?)
- Rupert RNHP (from their spec sheet I donāt see anything for 300ohms, are those +750mw in that area?)
- Liquid Platinum
My main goal is to use them for 800S, (the arya later on with the same amp and the SE option is nice for my 1990 when I need it)
Returning products and stuff is hard for me because sometimes tax and reshipping alone cost half the price of the headphones lol so Iāll make my decision from your opinions guys.
Thanks alot.
I would personally not go with the d90 here. The d90 was nice, but not for the price it commanded imo, I personally think it isnāt too much of a step up from the d70, it felt like a marginal upgrade compared to other options in the price range. I think that if you wanted to prioritize soundstage width while remaining slightly warmer and smoother, the bifrost 2 would be my pick here imo. If you wanted something a bit tighter in stage but more accurate in that space, and a bit less smooth and more fun the ares ii is also a very nice pick. Both the bifrost 2 and ares ii were noticable steps up from the d90 when I had them all in
Itās good but not great for the price. I didnāt try it with an 800s since I didnāt have one on hand, but I thought it was just ok with mostly whatever I plugged into it. The stage was there for example, but it just didnāt do anything that really impressed me for the price, felt a bit handicapped somehow almost
So this does power the 800s well, it sounds really nice too, but the thing that might bother you is that itās not as wide of an amp as other options, although it has very good depth. It preforms very well for mid-range and treble, timbre, naturalness, and is a pretty tight and controlled amp, but might not be the highest preforming in the bass. I think you can get a more spacious stage with pairing the bifrost 2, so imo it would be a good choice for what you are looking for with the 800s
Now this is definitely warm and wide, pretty spacious amp with very nice impact. Itās also very smooth. Not the most detailed for the price (close but not as much as letās say the rnhp), but still very satisfactory, and would be pretty nice although some might want a tad more clean sound in some cases. I would pick the ares ii in this case as the bifrost 2 might relax it a bit too much for your tastes.
Honestly for what you are looking for, while it is more money, the violectric v280 (used itās not too much more, but the used market has somewhat dried up recently) seems like a very nice pick. Very good power and control in the 300 ohm range, pretty spacious and accurate stage, detail is very good, and itās neutral with a hint of warmth. The main downsides would be probably good but not great timbre, and itās somewhat source picky at times. Dac wise, I might actually be inclined to use a soekris dac1421 or dac 1541, as they pair very well and turn it pretty neutral with still slight warmth, but soekris is coming out with new products soon so idk about availability
I would mention some tube amps in the 1k range but since you are also powering an Arya with the same amp thatās most likely not a good choice.
Something else to look into would be the questyle cma800r, as that pairs pretty well with the 800s for neutral smooth sound. Average stage width but pretty accurate in that regard
The auralic taurus mk2 is also a very nice match with the 800s and is pretty clean and clear yet sweet sounding and enjoyable, pretty spacious and exciting
Now taking into account that you will power an arya and 1990:
I actually might not suggest the rnhp anymore. It will push the Arya fine, but it just doesnāt have enough impact or control in the bass with the Arya to satisfy me compared to other options. The 1990 is a very nice match on the rnhp though
The liquid platinum is very good with the Arya and solid for the 800s if the sound is up your alley, but the single ended output of the liquid platinum is somewhat poor in comparison to the balanced out, so that would let down the 1990
The v280 would cover all your bases, and still sounds very good single ended (not as good as balanced but definitely more than passable)
The cma800r is pretty great with the 800s, might be a bit lacking in raw impact with the Arya but still a nice combo imo, and works nicely with the 1990 imo
The auralic taurus mk2 has plenty for both the 800s and arya and would be very enjoyable, but the thing is that running it unbalanced on the unbalanced mode sounds sort of dull compared to the very punchy and spaciousness on balanced mode and the 1990 isnāt ideal. Itās not worse per se, just different and not to my preference in unbal mode
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Iāve been enjoying my HD 800S with the Asgard 3 (w/ a Multibit card included). It provides a nice warm and wide presentation as well. I have had it for a few weeks now. This again was purchased based on a lot of discussion around what @M0N and a few others were suggesting in another thread that got me interested.
@M0N thank you so much for all this information 
@Rick_Jones good to know that its enough
ok so I leave topping stuff, and RNHP (because of the soundstage and low bass impact)
Iāll leave the v280 + 1541 dac for last if the rest are weak options (2760$ 
)
Couldnāt find auralic taurus mk2 on their website or anywhere
I looked at schiit stuff and found powerful single ended (if the SE is powerful enough I donāt really need balanced right?) their Lyr is a hybrid with 900mW @ 300ohms SE. What do you think of this Lyr paired with Bifrost2 or ares2 (1200$ total)
or the liquid platinum is better than lyr?
there is also JOTUNHEIM balanced if going the balanced route.
[note: if 1990 will interfere with my choices for 800s and arya I wonāt decide based on that I have a dedicated magni3+ for it and sounds good enough]
Pardon me about the wall.
The bass impact and definition is very good with the 800s, but the arya it isnāt ideal
Hmmmm, used it would be around the 2k mark, but the used market is rather dry at the moment. I do see this v200 which while it isnāt as good as the v280 is still very solid for this price. I would pass on the v800 dac since imo I think the soekris or ares ii is actually a more enjoyable match
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/fs-violectric-v200-amp-and-v800-dac.934290/
For a dac, there really arenāt any used soekris on the market right now, but I think the ares ii is still a pretty good pairing here too
I think itās been discontinued but on the used market have been selling for around 800 from the last two that sold recently in the US, but I donāt think one is for sale at the current moment
The lyr 3 + bifrost 2 is a very good combo, but personally I actually kinda prefer the liquid plat more than the lyr 3 mainly because I think the plat recreates space better, but in your case the lyr might make more sense here if you want to continue to use the 1990
I honestly think the asgard 3 outperforms the jot, so personally I would just skip the jot until it gets an update
It will if you are focused on a balanced amp imo
Also regarding the 800s, itās really not that hard to drive power wise, itās just picky on what it sounds good with. The arya is somewhat demanding though so having something that does current well is important
Nice narrowed my options even more. So:
- ares ii + liquid plat ( if I want balanced )
- bifrost2 + lyr ( if I want SE )
last 2 questions:
- so the asgard 3 can power arya too? and lyr also is good with it?
- how is asgard 3 compared to lyr?
Going to guess thats where you want to stay budget wise? Those would be pretty solid options. To compare the two chains, I think the plat + ares would end up being a slight bit wider and more spacious with more impact, a bit more relaxed and laid back, and a bit more fun overall, I think it compliments the arya a bit more than the 800s. The lyr 3 + bf2 is going to be a bit more forward and clean and tighter sounding, but still pretty enjoyable, I think this would compliment the 800s more.
the A3 can power the arya but imo I would want a higher quality amp to get the most out of it, both the 800s and arya scale very well. The lyr is an improvement upon the asgard 3 technicality wise but actually a bit more clean than the asgard 3 in terms of voicing, but an upgrade for sure
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