Great comprehensive review. I am looking forward to comparing the 800 and 800 S just as soon my dealer gets his stock.

Thanks!

hehe. When I created this product page, I was hoping some proper reviews would appear soon after. Although I had already read some of these impressions from you elsewhere, this is a solid review that is greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your impressions.

A wonderful review. Thank you for touching upon such a diverse genre of musical tastes. And thank you for your honest expressions of your personal tastes. It helps the reader to gain a better grasp for how they might hear what you have described. Thanks!

What TOTL?

here's some news, Mobile Fiedilety sound Labs has done a remaster of Kind of Blue! I LOVE their label! They put out some of the BEST stuff
 
ehm, nice review though. I like your sub headings breaking it down by genre 

Awesome comparison and review. Thanks @shabta! 

Thanks for all the nice comments. I tried to make my bias clear enough so that the reader can decide if these headphones are worth a shot. 
 
Look forward to hearing what others think if they decide to give it a go...
 
@branislav TOTL= Top Of The Line
 
@Mshenay my music is badly organized across several discs. I have the MFSL Kind of Blue. I just couldn't find it at the time. It is even better than the 2013 hi-res. But just by a hair. Less than the difference between classic and youngster. 

Yeh I prefer your HD800S review than your HD800 review back in 2010...

Interesting review. I appreciate that you included several  REAL acoustic music examples in your review.
I will hopefully get to hear the new HD800S in Singapore soon.
With  a bit of luck not only via my HUGO but also DAVE.

Really nice review. Thank you. Ahem, everyone would flock to the S after reading it. I have my beloved set of hd800's so I solved the dilemma by purchasing a set of Fostex TH-900's.

thank you for this review it is very very good .

Great review. In the UK the 800S is only £100 more than the 800. As I understand the gap is much greater in the USA. Price of the Hifi Man X (not the HEK) is £100 more than the 800S. Hifi Man must be positioning the HEx against the 800/800S. I guess they see the HEK to be much better than the 800's. In the UK WE REALLY GET RIPPED OFF FROM HIFIMAN.

Really nice review! I thought about buying HD800S ,but later i thought maybe Airier presentation would be better for my liking?... After reading your review that HD800S is less picky for pristine recordings and good for every genre is a no brainer Thanks for such a great and detailed review.

It's a pity that the HD800S doesn't have a strap, a flexible inner headband that distributes the weight over a larger surface on the head than a rigid headband. Fortunately the weight is only 330 g. 

I wonder if I should buy an aftermarket cable for the HD800S?

Sure, the HD800S is very comfortable! Much more comfortable than the HE-1000 or LCD-4.

Thank you for the great review.

Should tell you that I really enjoyed reading this review.  After several months of mind numbing research on a the best headphones for me under $2k I have finally purchased a pair of HD800 S and have had them since last Saturday.  I am upgrading from some Grado RS1 vintage and some Shure 940s.  I have to say that I am very impressed.  On some tracks they just blow my mind.  I got them for accurate timbre and soundstage for classical music.  Wanted to find the best headphone for classical music I could get.  Did not think they would be the great progressive rock headphones.  However I am now realizing that are great for any genre if you value neutral uncolored sound.  They have met all my expectations and them some on classical music.  And they have greatly exceeded my expectations on progressive rock.  In fact they may end up being the progressive rock headphone I have always wanted.