Ok, so i briefly auditioned a pair of HD800s today.
From everything I've read about them, i expected to hate them: analytical, dry, bright, ruthless, etc... not adjectives i like about my music.
But what I hear absolutely blew my mind. These are only headphones i have heard which actually put the sound in the front of my head and come close to sounding like a pair of speakers. They lack the thick, creamy midrange of the LCD2s, but handily beat the LCD2 when it comes to transient response and attack.
Listening to Munch's stirring rendition of Bolero - my favorite test track - left me with chills down my spine. As did the first movement from Dvorak's 9th by Georg Solti.
The end result? 3 headphones are now out of a job - the HE500, the TH600 and the AKG-Q701.
From everything I've read about them, i expected to hate them: analytical, dry, bright, ruthless, etc... not adjectives i like about my music.
But what I hear absolutely blew my mind. These are only headphones i have heard which actually put the sound in the front of my head and come close to sounding like a pair of speakers. They lack the thick, creamy midrange of the LCD2s, but handily beat the LCD2 when it comes to transient response and attack.
Listening to Munch's stirring rendition of Bolero - my favorite test track - left me with chills down my spine. As did the first movement from Dvorak's 9th by Georg Solti.
The end result? 3 headphones are now out of a job - the HE500, the TH600 and the AKG-Q701.