[16610]

Hello friends,

Sure lot of you know this guy on YouTube called Z Reviews? He has done a bunch of sounds demo's which at first I thought doesn't make a lot of sense. But actually it does help me hearing the big differences between some cans without actually having them on my head.

I plugged in my IEM's, set the video on HD (which improves sound too) and I start to compare.

For example HD800 vs. HD600.

The difference in detail is huge. The HD800 sounds just so much better (which is quite obvious).

Now my only question is: is this mostly due to the cans, or the $2k tube amp to which the HD800 is hooked up to? I.o.w. can a similar sound be achieved on the much cheaper HD600 and if yes, how?

What do you think about this way of comparing cans?

 

[god-bluff]

Sorry I don't understand how can one get any idea how those headphones sound viia a you tube video using a third pair of headphones totally different to the 2 on the video through whatever amp etc the listener has at hand ?

Virtual listening; a new concept to me

Maybe I'm thick?

Edit +. tried it and suprising I don't think that sounds anything like my HD600s, listening to it as I am via. a pair of £20 headphones on my mobile phone. Although I must admit I have never listened to them under water.

Conclusion: It's a load of bollox

 

[16610]

I can definitely relate to that. Instinct wise you'd say it's complete bull.

But both cans are placed on the same block with microphones. Both have a different sound stage and level of details.

Now let's say you take a simple video camera (a GoPro), and take a video of two televisions. One is an 4k OLED screen, the other one a simple 1K LCD screen. Picturing the same scene. Would you still be able to tell the OLED screen is the better one of both? I think so

 

[HumbleMan]

Based on prior experience, I don't believe there are additional details in music that I'd hear in an HD800 that I wouldn't hear in...well, a lot of other headphones. I'm always happy to be proven wrong if anyone can locate anything in particular that they've been able to hear in their HD800s (or any other headphone in existence) that they were only able to hear in those particular phones. I've got access to a large music library and will gladly report back with what I can and can't hear.

 

[16610]

Based on prior experience, I don't believe there are additional details in music that I'd hear in an HD800 that I wouldn't hear in...well, a lot of other headphones. I'm always happy to be proven wrong if anyone can locate anything in particular that they've been able to hear in their HD800s (or any other headphone in existence) that they were only able to hear in those particular phones. I've got access to a large music library and will gladly report back with what I can and can't hear.

Do you have both? In that case, I might know something

 

[JayKay47]

Hello friends,

Sure lot of you know this guy on YouTube called Z Reviews? He has done a bunch of sounds demo's which at first I thought doesn't make a lot of sense. But actually it does help me hearing the big differences between some cans without actually having them on my head.

I plugged in my IEM's, set the video on HD (which improves sound too) and I start to compare.

For example HD800 vs. HD600.

The difference in detail is huge. The HD800 sounds just so much better (which is quite obvious).

Now my only question is: is this mostly due to the cans, or the $2k tube amp to which the HD800 is hooked up to? I.o.w. can a similar sound be achieved on the much cheaper HD600 and if yes, how?

What do you think about this way of comparing cans?

You can't compare the two unless they are plugged into the exact same chain.

 

[Astonish]

Sorry I don't understand how can one get any idea how those headphones sound viia a you tube video using a third pair of headphones totally different to the 2 on the video through whatever amp etc the listener has at hand ?

Virtual listening; a new concept to me

Maybe I'm thick?

Edit +. tried it and suprising I don't think that sounds anything like my HD600s, listening to it as I am via. a pair of £20 headphones on my mobile phone. Although I must admit I have never listened to them under water.

Conclusion: It's a load of bollox

Agreed it's like watching 4k video comparisons on a 1080p screen

 

[MindsMirror]

The difference in detail is huge. The HD800 sounds just so much better (which is quite obvious).

This is not a valid observation though. What you are hearing in those videos is his DAC, his amp, his headphone, his microphone, his DSP settings, his music, your DAC, your amp, your DSP, and your headphone, all compounded together. As far as sound quality, at best you are hearing the quality of the weakest link in that chain. It's impossible to judge from that what is due to the headphones and what is due to everything else. All you can judge is the relative difference in those headphone's response, assuming all those other pieces are kept the same.

You probably think the HD800 sounds more detailed in those videos due to the different treble response, but all that tells you is that you think you prefer the response of the HD800 + everything else in that chain vs the HD600 + the chain. When you subtract all the other pieces and listen to the HD800 or HD600 alone on your own ears, your impression may be different. For example, if you are listening to a recording of a bright sounding headphone through your own dark sounding headphones, you might think that sound is excellent and neutral, but when you get them on your own ears you will realize that they are too bright. If you had listened to a recording of a perfect headphone, you would think it sounds too dark and you would make the wrong decision. It is a little more nuanced than that, but I hope you get the idea.

 

[16610]

You can't compare the two unless they are plugged into the exact same chain.

So how come I could hear much clearer and present vocals in the HD800 video? While the HD600 sounds more flat.

From 11:50 in the HD800 video you can hear the kick on the plate very crispy. Now hear the same in the HD600 video at 8:35

In the HD600 video you can hear it too, but it's like it's a bit shy and hidden behind the sound of the drum.

I could only hear the difference with my SE535. Obviously you can't on the internal speakers.

 

[16610]

Agreed it's like watching 4k video comparisons on a 1080p screen

Of course you cannot see the level of detail of 4K on a 1080p screen. But you can definitely see on a 1080p video that the 4K screen has much, much more details..

Set this video to 1080p and check it out...

 

[MindsMirror]

He didn't show a 1080p OLED TV beside the 4K OLED TV so I don't know how you concluded that you can see the 4K screen has much more detail. Besides, image and video is a completely different domain to audio so you can't exactly draw comparisons. It has a spatial aspect to it, you can move your 1080p camera close to a 4K TV to show that there is more detail compared to a 1080p screen. You can't do that in audio.

 

[JayKay47]

So how come I could hear much clearer and present vocals in the HD800 video? While the HD600 sounds more flat.

From 11:50 in the HD800 video you can hear the kick on the plate very crispy. Now hear the same in the HD600 video at 8:35

In the HD600 video you can hear it too, but it's like it's a bit shy and hidden behind the sound of the drum.

I could only hear the difference with my SE535. Obviously you can't on the internal speakers.

A youtube video is hardly a true represenation. Get both headphones and run them from the same source and amp, then you will have your answer.

 

[HumbleMan]

Do you have both? In that case, I might know something

My current rotation is in my signature, but I've listened to both headphones. As I noted, I didn't not hear anything in the HD800s that I couldn't hear in a number of other headphones. It's one thing to prefer the presentation in one headphone over another--we all have preferences. But there weren't any details I heard in the HD800 that were missing in my comparison phones--or vice versa. Headphones aren't going to pull out sounds that were never on a recording to begin with.

And as several have already noted, audio and video are not the same. Our eyes are far more sensitive than our ears at detecting differences and provide much, much, much more information to our brains than our ears. This is why you see very few people calling high resolution TVs scams--unlike with headphones, there are actually significant differences in resolution there. This isn't the case with headphones and audio. Using a 4k camera will give you details you can see on a 4k TV that you miss on a 1080p TV. There is no equivalent in audio where high-resolution audio recording will provide details on "high resolution headphones" that aren't audible in "low res headphones." Headphone manufacturers try to convince you otherwise with 5k/10k/50k headphones, but it's never going to happen because that's not how audition works.

 

[Me x3]

Hello friends,

Sure lot of you know this guy on YouTube called Z Reviews? He has done a bunch of sounds demo's which at first I thought doesn't make a lot of sense. But actually it does help me hearing the big differences between some cans without actually having them on my head.

I plugged in my IEM's, set the video on HD (which improves sound too) and I start to compare.

For example HD800 vs. HD600.

The difference in detail is huge. The HD800 sounds just so much better (which is quite obvious).

Now my only question is: is this mostly due to the cans, or the $2k tube amp to which the HD800 is hooked up to? I.o.w. can a similar sound be achieved on the much cheaper HD600 and if yes, how?

What do you think about this way of comparing cans?

The methodology is flawed because of multiple variables.
Different DAC/Amps would make a slight difference, but even using the same DAC/Amp, the measuring system is not perfect so it tweaks the original sound.
On top of that you'll hear them with your headphones that will tweak the sound once again, so what you get is not how the headphone actually sounds.

You can only get a very slight idea on how the two headphones compare (A is brighter than B for instance)

SE535 is on the darkish/smooth side of neutral and so is the HD600, so what you get listening to HD600's signature through SE535's signature is a "double darkish" signature which surely is way to dark.

Anyway, HD800 is more detail oriented than HD600.
If you want HD800's kind of signature on a smaller budget then check the Beyerdynamic DT880 Pro. They are very similar in terms of sound signature.
Latest K702 is slightly different in terms of tonality but it's surprisingly close to HD800 in overall performance.

 

[chillysalsa]

Listening through a video like this is also effectively adding the frequency responses of your headphones/chain to that of the responses of equipment in the video. In some cases this may sum up pleasantly, but usually never does.

Owning both, I can say the HD800 is far more detailed with more of a "speaker like" soundstage, but I also enjoyed every moment during 10 years of HD600 ownership with them as my #1.