B R U H. I would be pissed

It’s because they make music sound very unique, I’ve found almost no track sounds 1:1, while they all have that “bubble” the 800s is known for, the portrayal is different for every song. It’s hard to describe unless you’ve heard it for awhile, then you might understand. But yeah, they almost never get old because of their uniqueness.

Bear in mind, these are headphones. They will never replicate speakers in a room. I think the reason why I’m still impressed is that I use them maybe an hour or two every day, I give myself a decent break from them compared to other people in this hobby that would use headphones a lot more often. Taking these mental breaks is important to not feeling the urge to buy something every few months lol

They’re definitely a lot more spacious sounding than the hd600s. They’re the closest I’ve heard to a speaker setup in headphones. So long as you temper your expectations, I think you’ll be blown away. I’ve had my pair since last June and I still get shocked every now and again by them

My information and insight is a bit outdated, it seems. It’s been a solid year or so since I’ve actually researched the differences. I actually bought the hd800s last year when it was on sale.

I just checked out the video too. I must have missed it in your original response. So…my bad I guess. I stand corrected. Although, I simply wouldn’t get the 8xx for its msrp. Wait until it’s on sale. I saw it go on sale for like $700 last year. Might do that again sometime soon

All I gotta say is, be mindful of what music you play. I’ve got a small list of songs I play that sound great on them. Nothing special, just bring out their spacial qualities a bit. Otherwise you may not be blown away initially

Only advice I can give you is this…I see you’re going the hifiman upgrade path. I would highly suggest you stop it there, and let your next purchase be the hd800s.

Why? I have both the hd800s and Arya. They’re both stellar headphones, it’s hard to find out which I like better, I tend to lean towards the hd800s because the staging is a bit better, it diffuses everything with a tad more separation. The Arya seems like the ideal “next” headphone to get in your arsenal. But I’ll be honest, knowing Hifiman’s track record, I’m scared to death that my Arya’s are gonna break any day now, man. I have yet to hear of anyone say that their Arya just stopped working one day, but for the money, I just wouldn’t recommend anybody take the chance.

Yes, their customer service is superb. But at one point, they’re just gonna call it tough titties and move on. Whereas with the hd800s, you know you’re getting a quality product that will likely last you your whole damn life. I mean, you already love what you’ve heard too, that may as well be the one you get. It’s the safer choice. They also take eq like a champ.

Don’t worry about proper amplification. Just make sure you have a decent amp and dac, nothing crazy. EQ is what you need to understand and utilize if you want to get the best out of them. DAC and amp differences are extremely minimal or completely null in comparison to what you can achieve with eq.

You could also pay half the price for the hd800 and eq those instead. They handle bass a bit better after eq (meaning you could get away with a lot more before distorting). But I must warn you, stock 800’s are bright as all fuck. Unless you have eq, you’ll get murdered with treble

The ananda’s are really easy to drive. I would say the edition XS are also worth the money at $500, but they’re already so close to ananda territory and the latter is obviously better. There are definitely headphones over $300 that are worth it, it just depends on what you get. Most of them are not really worth the hassle.

Endgame for me is definitely the hd800s. It’s got all the soundstage I’ll ever crave, after eq it’s one of the best sounding setups I’ve ever had besides my higher end speaker setup, and they have resolution that gets close to TOTL stuff. It doesn’t have much bass at all though, but it’s still plenty wooly for everything out there.

What I would recommend is either an open boxed ananda at $600, or try and find a used hd800 for $700-$900. There is no harm in getting the original hd800. It’s brighter sounding, but you can take the same approach as the S version and just eq it and get the same result. Bass is cleaner sounding on those if you want a nice bass shelf. You would hardly take a loss on them, if you end up not liking them. Just because you could sell them for what you paid for them really. But it’s worth investigating. They’re a sandbox for eq because of how massive they sound on a lot of music. There’s plenty of tweaking to be had that suits your ears.

Their literal only weakness is lack of bass and dynamics, which the sundara isn’t exactly known for anyway. But if you want all the soundstage a headphone can offer, those are it. Ananda or OG hd800 would be the best bang for your buck, those are my recommendations.

You don’t need an amp for the ananda, they’re pretty portable. However, you would need a decent dac or amp for the hd800. Nothing crazy. Don’t let anybody tell you that you need a $1000 amp and dac, so long as you have a decently spec’d dac and amp to use, you’re fine

Speaking from experience, you’ll spend a lot of money real quick if you let this hobby do so. I went from the hd58x, the ananda, then the Arya. After nearly a year, I then got the hd800s. For the price, the ananda gets like 90% of the way there, if not more, compared to the Arya.

Like some have already said, going from the 6xx to the sundara isn’t exactly a jump, more like a sidegrade. To really get an actual upgrade, you’d probably need to go for the ananda instead. That could easily be your endgame and you’d be done

Yeah I love mine, they do literally everything I want them to, except that kick in the chest bass, which for me gets old pretty quickly anyway. Although, my recommendation is just get the hd800s and invest in a butt kicker so you can have both the kick in the ass low end and the headphone. It would be a much better portrayal of bass than the Arya. I think the hd800s’s diffused bass is more realistic. With the butt kicker, it’d be as realistic as it could get with headphones

Honestly, the hd800s is my preferred choice, but only after eq. Even stock, it’s very neutral sounding, a little peaky at 6k but it’s nowhere near as bad as people make it out to be. With proper eq (that sounds good to you), I personally think they’re the better listen. Not as engaging as the Arya, but amazing for relaxing and listening, since everything is nicely diffused and never close/intimate to your ears.

The Arya aren’t as wide (they’re pretty close, but you’ll likely notice it if you compare them) their presentation is ever so slightly more engaging. Bass is better, but it’s also really nice on the hd800s (just don’t expect the same level of quantity without eq, although I’m satisfied with the warmth as is). The Arya is a bit taller/bigger sounding, but it’s difficult to pick up on after A/Bing them. They’re very similar sounding headphones, but the hd800s are technically better and more resolving overall. They’re also slightly bigger sounding of the two, if soundstage king is the mantra you want to have in your rig. You can’t go wrong with either though

Send everything back except for the AirPods Pro 2, nothing wrong with the rest of the bunch, you just happen to have a pair of true wireless buds that are both very good for portable use and sound quality. I believe they sound better than the other headphones too, and is in the same league as IEM’s costing up to $150.

Sell the rest and get a good mid tier headphone instead, like the sundara or edition XS open box

Yup. I just can’t bring myself to try anything else…except maybe the Raal sr1a, just because the staging is on another level, and it’s an overall upgrade. Everything else seems like a bit of a downgrade, if the presentation is what you’re accustomed to

Yes, I would recommend that myself. It’s the best price to performance, as it comes rest close to TOTL without the hefty price tag, plus that soundstage. However, if you’re a fan of bass and dynamics, they’re not so great for that. But everything else is chef’s kiss

Some eq’s that aren’t linear phase can actually shift the stereo image too much. But nowadays, most digital eq do not present this problem, so as long as you don’t drastically change the FR, there’s really no reason not to use it