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paddyirish1989 OP t1_je9rqvq wrote

Reply to comment by mqtpqt in I'm after a DAC that can replicate Xbass? by paddyirish1989

I use turbo. If I have it on normal I notice that the bass distorts quite a bit a times with Xbass enabled. The HD800s require alot of power

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blorg t1_je9vtcv wrote

Have you considered this might be the headphone rather than the amp?

HD800S does have quite a lot of distortion in the bass and XBass is a bit over +12dB in the sub-bass, it's a lot.

If you're pushing that into it and then turning it up high, it's possibly just distorting because you're trying to make the HD800S into a basshead headphone that it's just not.

Having said that, with that +12.3dB bass shelf suggested by Oratory to replicate xBass, with the HD800S I can get up to physically feeling it wobbling my head with something like Trentemoller's Chameleon without obvious distortion. It's a bit excessive though. Fiio K7 is a good choice for amp, it will do over 500mW clean into 300Ω out of its balanced output. This is a lot.

If you're looking for large amounts of bass though, there are better options than the HD800S, I'd get a new headphone rather than a new amp. Edition XS or LCD-X are good choices. I own and enjoy the HD800S for what it does well but this is not its forte.

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No-Context5479 t1_je9sfrq wrote

Who told you they require lots of power? Lol it needs 210mW of power to get to fill 120dB SPL.

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paddyirish1989 OP t1_je9sn2t wrote

As I said of I turn down power mode the bass starts to distort when I turn up the volume to compensate. It's clean with turbo power mode enabled

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No-Context5479 t1_je9tlbe wrote

You just need a better DAC/AMP that doesn't have distortion issues and then use Equaliser APO to create the low shelf filter for bass side... (I can help with that)

But it's not because the HD800S is hard to drive... It isn't

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paddyirish1989 OP t1_je9tw0e wrote

No worries. I have just installed APO Now so still learning. Would you recommend a sennheiser hdvd 800? I have seem a cheap used one on market place?

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blorg t1_je9ue17 wrote

If it's under $200 maybe.

Fiio K7 at $199 is a good pick, DAC and amp in one unit.

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No-Context5479 t1_je9u7wj wrote

What's your budget? And no I don't recommend the HDVD800.

And yes I'd DM you the preset that mimics the iFi Boost

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paddyirish1989 OP t1_je9uldl wrote

Around $1000 Aud, maybe higher in a few weeks. What would you recommend? Also why not the HDVD800?

Also I've managed to almost replicate the bass boost by ifi. Will definitely do some more tinkering. Thank you

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mqtpqt t1_je9sm89 wrote

huge disagree; i've used the hd800s off a apple dongle and it does get to slightly under listening volume

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