The Sennheiser HD 800: The First Listen, The First Review - Page 300

uhhh. nice... all the sennheiser localisations sites are now in sync... Time to find another thing to bitch about...
Just split apart a HD 800 cable today - the TRS plug end that is - nifty stuff the wireing and plug assembly.. pictures will follow later...

Uh oh... Tell me this isn't true.

I agree

I got an inkling that there was a quality issue over one 'replaceable' part of the HD800, but I do think the silence is over something more sinister.

With Senn and Sony battling it out, there is no telling when the release date could be. If I were a Senn 'captain' I would be worried about the investment in stock of new HD800s to the point of stopping production until I had clearance to sell them without patent infringement.

Has anyone trawled the Sony patent library to gauge how damaging this might be?

Regards

Sceptre

"Patience.....
Whats(sic) another month or 2. If these cans are all their(sic) cracked up to be then I'd wait until....well......let's just say a long time. It would be nice if eveyone (sic) could just chill...take a step back and let Senn. do what they need to."


Whatever you say, Dad!

As several of you have been saying you are a little unhappy with Sennheiser's silence I have contacted the factory for an update.

My own understanding was that manufacture would start in the second half of April with the UK getting their first batch at the start of May (US slightly earlier).

The talk about component changes was very minor - after the initial pre-production run it was decided to change the earpads to a different microfibre material which was just as comfortable as the Alcantara initially publicised, but with better wear characteristics.

With any top end product, everything has to be absolutely perfect before you start manufacturing - in this case the Quality Control manager is King and nothing starts until he says so. If it's not 200% perfect it does not start!

I understand that some of the delay was in niggling little things that needed to be fine tuned to get them perfect - nothing out of the ordinary, just getting it absolutely right before it is put into full production.

There has been *no change* to the design at all (other than the earpad material I mentioned above) and delivered units will sound exactly the same as the pre-production units circulated up to now.

My current information is that the first batch of full production headphones will be with Sennheiser USA and Sennheiser UK (and maybe others as well) during May.

Personally, I am just as impatient as the rest of you, as I am waiting for my own pair as well - but I would rather have them perfect and a little late than rushed through to meet some sort of deadline.

I hope this answers everyone's questions OK.

Why am I getting nervous all of a sudden. I don't care if they sound good, I wanted the Alcantara! But seriously.....

Thanks for the update John. Hopefully this will put at least *some* of the blatant rumor mongering to rest

No, I have not seen them personally; but I understand that they will be - to all intents and purposes - the same, as far as anyone using them is concerned.

Will the cost of the HD800 go down since alcantara is no longer being used?

It's different - not cheaper; the change was not done for economy reasons.

wishful thinking on my part !

...especially since Alcantra was one of the selling points.

So we are getting something that we pre-ordered and now the construction has changed. Why weren't we informed of this? If we weren't lucky enough to have you as a member, then we would be getting something other than what we originally paid for. Bait and switch.

These headphones should have never been announced and released for pre-order, until everything was straightened out.

A little communication would go a long way. This is like advertising a movie before it is even shot yet.

"Coming, Spring of 2010", Saw 12.

i am happier it is more of a hardy material, and that the delay is nothing more serious/sinister, and will apparently be more resilient to boot which is always good with earpads

being pedantic, i would like to namecheck the new material though!

It's not the delay that is most bothersome, it's the total lack of communication. Communication is King! and thank you John for getting some information but it's not the same as Sennheiser making an actual announcement.