About the Sennheiser HDVD 800
Hear your music like never before
Hear your music like never before
For more than 65 years, Sennheiser has been building top-quality headphones for discerning listeners. Now at last, they have created a digital headphone amplifier built to power their finest high-end designs. Engineered and manufactured in Germany, the HDVD 800 stands ready to deliver an extraordinary listening experience to the owners of Sennheiser HD 800, HD 700, HD 650, and HD 600 headphones, as well as other high-end headphone models. If you want to hear the best that your 'phones have to offer, treat yourself to this amp.
Cutting-edge design for crystal-clear, low-distortion sound
Sennheiser chose a fully symmetrical, or balanced, design for the HDVD 800. This advanced type of circuitry provides two completely independent signal paths for the right and left channels, extending all the way from the inputs to the outputs to provide exceptionally quiet, low-distortion sound free of interference. That extremely low noise floor lets your music emerge from a dead-silent background to reveal fresh layers of detail and dynamics hidden within your favorite recordings. You can take full advantage of the symmetrical design using the HDVD 800's two four-pin XLR outputs and headphones specially wired for balanced operation. The amp also features two standard 1/4" jacks for normally wired headphones, and can power up to four pairs of headphones simultaneously for doing quick comparisons or having group listening sessions.
Top-quality performance from your digital and analog sources
The HDVD 800 handles all of your music sources with the utmost care, and includes both symmetrical and asymmetrical analog inputs for your audio components. But this amp was designed especially for use with digital sources. It features optical, coaxial, XLR, and USB inputs for your digital gear, and a high-quality Burr-Brown digital-to-analog converter that turns digital audio files up to 24-bit/192kHz resolution into clear, precise analog signals. (Free USB driver download required for Windows® PC playback.) This allows the HDVD 800 to play both standard and high-resolution music, amplifying the entire spectrum of high-res audio sources without any loss of detail. The amp's symmetrical XLR outputs also provide an easy connection to a compatible audio system for use as a stand-alone preamp/DAC.
Built by music lovers for music lovers
As beautiful to look at as it is to listen to, the HDVD 800 features a glass panel embedded in its aluminum housing to provide a clear view of the top-quality components inside — each carefully selected for its sonic performance, and used only after passing stringent listening tests. The amp's premium ALPS quadruple potentiometer volume control provides precise channel balance and is mechanically connected to the volume knob by a long shaft. This unusually long potentiometer shaft allows the signal path between the audio source and the potentiometer to be kept very short, preventing any possible interference of the signal. To top things off, the amp's front panel and control knobs are milled from solid metal, adding both a luxurious feel and long-lasting durability.
Product highlights:
- built-in Burr-Brown digital-to-analog converter
- all digital inputs support up to 24-bit resolution at 192kHz sampling rate for playback of high-res music files
- symmetrical (balanced) circuitry throughout reduces noise and distortion for maximum sound quality
- premium ALPS quadruple potentiometer volume control for precise channel balance
- rear-panel 5-stage gain switch for optimized use of low impedance headphones
- sophisticated metal housing protects against signal interference and vibration
- controls machined from solid metal for long-term reliability
- three digital audio inputs: one AES/EBU (XLR), one optical (Toslink), and one RCA coaxial
- USB (Type B) input for connecting a computer
- 1 pair symmetrical (balanced 3-pin XLR) line-level inputs
- 1 pair asymmetrical (unbalanced RCA) inputs
- two 4-pin XLR symmetrical (balanced) headphone outputs for compatible headphones
- two full-sized (1/4") headphone outputs
- 1 pair symmetrical (balanced 3-pin XLR) preamp outputs for connection to a compatible audio component
- plays up to four pairs of headphone simultaneously
- dedicated Sennheiser USB Windows driver required for playback on a PC (included on supplied CD and available free Sennheiser's website)
- no driver required for Mac OSX 10.5 or later
- requires detachable AC power cord — see Accessories
- THD: less than 0.001%
- frequency response: 0.3Hz to 100,000 Hz
- 8-9/16"W x 2-3/16"H x 14-3/8"D
- weight: 4.85 lbs.
- warranty: 2 years
- MFR # 505590
What's in the box:
Sennheiser HDVD 800 owner's manual
- Digital headphone amplifier
- Manuals on CD-ROM
- Quick Guide
- Safety Guide
Customer reviews for Sennheiser HDVD 800
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More details on the Sennheiser HDVD 800
Features & specs
Design | ||
---|---|---|
Type | --- | |
Built-in Rechargable Battery | --- | |
Built-in DAC | Yes | |
Amplifier Output Specs | ||
Output Power | --- | |
Output Impedance (Unbalanced) | --- | |
Output Impedance (Balanced) | --- | |
Audio Specs | ||
Bit Depth (USB) | 24 | |
Max Sampling Rate (USB) | 192 kHz | |
Bit Depth (S/PDIF) | 24 | |
Max Sampling Rate S/PDIF | 192 kHz | |
S/N Ratio (Unbalanced, in dB) | --- | |
S/N Ratio (Balanced, in dB) | --- | |
THD (Unbalanced) | --- | |
THD (Balanced) | 0.001% | |
Supported File Types | ||
PCM | --- | |
DSD | --- | |
DXD | --- | |
MQA | --- | |
Inputs | ||
Total Inputs | --- | |
USB | Type B | |
Optical Digital | 1 | |
Coaxial Digital | 1 | |
3.5mm Digital | None | |
Stereo RCA Analog | 1 | |
Stereo 3.5mm Analog | None | |
Stereo XLR Analog | --- | |
Headphone Outputs | ||
3.5mm Unbalanced | --- | |
1/4-inch Unbalanced | --- | |
4.4mm Balanced | --- | |
XLR4 Balanced | --- | |
Other Headphone Outs | --- | |
Line Level & Digital Outs | ||
RCA Line Out | None | |
3.5mm Line Out | None | |
XLR Line Out | --- | |
Subwoofer Out | None | |
Optical Digital Out | None | |
Coaxial Digital Out | None | |
Wireless Connectivity | ||
Bluetooth | --- | |
Wi-Fi | --- | |
Apple-compatible | --- | |
Android-compatible | --- | |
General Info | ||
Width (inches) | 8-9/16 | |
Height (inches) | 2-3/16 | |
Depth (inches) | 14-3/8 | |
Weight | 4.96 lbs. | |
Parts Warranty | 2 Years | |
Labor Warranty | 2 Years |
Product Research
Features
Overview: The Sennheiser HDVD 800 digital headphone amplifier helps you get the most out of your high-end headphones. You can connect up to four pairs of dynamic headphones at one time--two by 1/4" jacks, and two by XLR-4 jacks. There are multiple input jacks, both analog and digital, for connecting source units.
Symmetrical Signal Processing: The HDVD 800's symmetrical signal processing provides exact signal transmission over the entire frequency spectrum with very low harmonic distortion. Very short signal paths are used, resulting in a wide dynamic range, wide bandwidth, and high transient response. The use of high quality components gives you the pure musical enjoyment from any source.
Built-in D/A Converter: The HDVD 800 is equipped with a high quality Burr-Brown digital-to-analog converter with a resolution of 24-bits and a sampling rate of up to 192 kHz for crystal clear, distortion-free audio quality. The sampling rate is automatically adjusted between 44.1 kHz and 192 kHz.
USB Input: The headphone amplifier features a USB Type B input so it can be connected to a computer and use it as a high-quality sound card. If your computer has a Windows OS (XP, Vista, 7, 8), you will need to install the driver from the included CD-ROM. (The driver is not needed for Mac OS X 10.6.4 or later.)
Input Connections: The rear panel is divided into three sections: Digital, Analog, and Power. The available connections are as follows:
- Analog Section:
- XLR-3 Balanced Input: Separate 3-pin XLR connectors for left and right channels
- RCA Unbalanced Input: Left and right RCA connectors with an input attenuation rotary switch
- XLR-3 Balanced Output: Separate 3-pin XLR connectors for left and right channels
- Digital Section:
- USB: Type B USB port (USB Audio Class 2--24 bit/192 kHz)
- Optical: S/PDIF input, Toslink digital connection (depending on the connected hardware and the file being played, the HDVD 800 may not be able to play 192 kHz files using the optical input)
- Coaxial: S/PDIF input, RCA digital jack
- AES/EBU: XLR-3 Digital Input
- Power Section: IEC 3-prong mains socket
Input Selection: The input can be selected using the rotary, 6-position switch on the front panel. An LED will glow to indicate which input has been selected. The input positions are labeled: AES, COAX, OPT, USB, UNBAL, and BAL.
Specifications:
- Frequency Response: 0.3 Hz to 100 kHz
- Crosstalk Attenuation: min. 93dB @ 1 kHz
- THD+N: <0.001%
- Gain:
- RCA Input/XLR-4 Output: adjustable 14dB, 22dB, 30dB, 38dB, 46dB
- XLR Input/XLR-4 output: 16dB
- Dynamic Range: >115dB @ 600Ω load (A-weighted)
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Customer Q&A
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Head Phone experience with this receiver is unmattached, and once you have used the system you may agree too.
TonyB from Manhattan, NY