I haven't messed with EQ on my 8XX. I'd be glad to try it out sometime soon and report back if you're truly interested. I'm a bit of a purist for the most part, except for my DT990. I appreciate the differences in the way my headphones sound and I like to swap them out depending on my mood. I do kind of wish I'd spent a little more on the 800S just because of all of the talk about how much better it is, but I find the 8XX to be fun in its own way. There's a lot of criticism of the 4-5dB scoop in the upper mids, which can make vocals sound a little distant, but it doesn't bother me nearly as much as the peaky treble on the 560S that nobody else seems to be bothered about. I think people were hoping the 8XX would be more like the 6XX where there was actually very little change in the sound from the 650, and the disappointment really soured the 8XX.

Would you mind sharing your experience with your 1070s? I was super close to pulling the trigger on them for my first over-ear planars but went with dekoni Blue s to experience that. Numerous flaws pointed out in most of what I read, but those huge drivers! Tell me friend, how do they sound? Thx 6XX, dt770, letshuoers12,dx3 pro+

How is Aria better than Chu though? It sounds absolutely awful to me. Worst audio I've ever heard including $5 junk.

I was going to grab the topping dx3 pro+, but the fiio k7 is looking really good for a very similar price. What do you have powering the XS?

I'm not benchmarking, I'm just making the point that rendering audio well is very very very easy.

Wait until you see the thread in the summitfi subforum on headfi about the 3800 dollar 100mbps hifi Ethernet switch.

I shit you not it's there and there's actual people defending the product. There's tons of people there that buy into crap like that and in the screenshot from op's post. It's unbelievable how crazy some of the stupid shit is that people post on that website.

Its not only pure ohm,i own game zero trust me,you need to boost some bass on eq,try with g3 and tell me.

I have no personal experiences with the 8XX, but here's a video I watched a little while back about this mod that might be helpful for you:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiVeFTL0VQg

No I meant, why are you benchmarking with the computationally most easily decoded platform to test system performance when codecs like Opus, transcoding in real-time, into multiple streams does in fact require <some> processing power. I run a Plex server and all my Music is being transcoded to Opus C-VBR 150 to multiple end-users on the same PC I use as Daily Driver for gaming and rendering tasks.

I don’t know how that would help. The Taskstar have a higher Impedance at 60 ohms than the Sennheiser and they work just fine

That has, in fact been done which demonstrates windows direct has noise in the audible range. While WASAPI does not. In fact, with WASAPI and ASIO, there's no need for sample rate conversion at all.

The difference between ASIO/WASAPI and DS is that DS always use the Win mixer.

All audio is dithered by the mixer.

If the sample rate of the audio differs from the one set in the sound panel, it will be resampled.

ASIO/WASAPI (exclusive) will bypass the mixer.

No dither and no resampling if the hardware is able to play the sample rate of the audio. This is about the protocol. The media player might do all kind of DSP like volume control + dither.

I don’t know for sure but maybe someone with an 800S can comment. My guess would be that you could add a little bit but you may run in to the excursion limit of those dynamic drivers. They will definitely not have the slam of the Focals or Audeze but it will be better.

It is also worth noting that buying used is a great option. Typically speaking, a headphone loses a big chunk of initial value once it is purchased but after that the price stays pretty flat. So assuming you are patient and pay reasonable prices for the headphones you can easily use them for a few months and then sell them and buy another headphone in that range until you find what you like.

I’d recommend getting yourself a amp/dac set up first. That way you have a decent baseline to try different headphones on afterwards. To me, the 8xx/800s is the upgrade to 560s; it’s more of the same signature basically just better. I also have the Edition XS & love them but they sound pretty different than 560s. To me, they slap way harder w a decent amp & just sound more fun w pretty good detail & soundstage as well. They sound great w pretty much any kind of music

I've downgraded from an arya stealth and ifi zen stack HFM signature to a 560s eith a zen dac air.

Honestly i'm not really missing the arya as much as i thought i would.

Sure the sound quality isn't anywhere near the same level but the 560s still is good enough to make me enjoy my music plenty enough (enjoy your music, not your gear)

When i first got my arya and put it on for the first time i was blown away by the sound quality but that feeling goes away too quick to justify the price.

Hearing all your favorite songs with that sound quality is fun when you put them on for the first time but then it becomes normal and not as much fun as the first time you put them on.

So basically no, it is not worth it IMO.

If you really want an upgrade there is also the hifiman sundara which to my ears can come pretty close to the arya.

You called using asio over windows direct drivers "placebo" even tho noise from sample rate conversion has been demonstrated as audible.

Clarity of 560s and focal clear, is similar?

Damn he broke

Thanks, I got it working.

I have the 560s & the sticker modded 8xx & was A/B’ing then yesterday trying to decide which one to keep.

Comfort wise, 8xx wins hands down. The bigger cups fit around my ears better & have much less clamp than 560s. Also the build feels more premium

Sound: the imaging & soundstage is just plain better on the 8xx. Not by a massive amount but it’s for sure noticeable right away to my ears. The low end on the 8xx is lacking compared to the 560s. I feel like the 560s takes bass EQ much better than the 8xx. Also to my ears the 560’s sounds brighter, not in a bad way at all just overall a tad brighter so up to your preference

I got my 8xx here on avexhcange for $675 so it wasn’t as bad as a new 800s. Also look up the sticker mod, it brings the sound of the 8xx right up to the 800s. There’s one posted on avexchange just this morning actually w a balanced cable even

I decided to keep the 8xx & return my 560s. I really enjoy them but the 8xx just feels like an upgraded version of the 560s, similar strengths just done better

is it a big upgrade if you are coming from the aria?

If this had more bass like 10 dB if bass instant buy for me.

>I don't even understand what they are saying.

Don't be alarmed, neither was the person saying it.

Here we go again! The answer is no one knows. If it exists, it's not measurable. Is our ability to measure limited? Possibly. Is it just placebo/other factors? Possibly. Humans can't deal uncertainty.

Thanks, I think I'm going to order it. I mostly listen at home anyway. The S12 and Timeless look great too, but I think they are brighter than what I'm looking for.

I don't even understand what they are saying.