REVIEW: Sennheiser HD 800 - Page 5

This is a nice review, so long as it is viewed through the prism of the writers historical preferences for darker/bassier headphones. While in such a context, the HD800 might not be worth $1400 to an individual, to others with different preferences, it is a bargain, in the light of it's overall performance, vis-a-vi the many extremely expensive, discontinued headphones it competes with.

Skylab, you nailed it. A very gutsy review, and I congratulate you for your honesty.

Just like to add, I have only ever heard the HD800’s balanced. I terminated the cable as soon as I received them. In balanced mode I still agree with Skylab’s review with regards to treble and bass behavior.

Thank you so much for the wonderful review!! I completely agree on the bass behavior and its similarity to DT880

nice write up. the one point i would disagree on, and this is for me personally, is that i feel the HD800 will turn out to be a headphone of exceptionally good value. just a few weeks with it and i already am confident enough in its ability and sound that i am selling most of my other headphones. that is something i have never done before - not with the HP1000, L3000, PS1. this may well be the only dynamic headphone one needs.

I would like to repeat my impressions from the 3 hour listening session i had with the hd 800(which had some burn in)

I don't own them and probably i will never buy them so i have no reason to try to hide any weaknesses i noticed.

I tried them with my sony dvp ns 705v,musical fidelity x can v8(no psu,stock tubes don't know which brand),monster interconnect interlink 200(nothing special)I used some rock/pop rock/pop/ballads and some other music mostly of the 70's/80's(all cd,not mp3)Some of them are a bit sibilant on some set ups i have heard them.

I agree with skylab that the mids are very good,and the vocals sound really nice with hd 800.I also agree that the soundstage and imaging were indeed very good,noticably better than the hd 600.

I had no problem regarding the bass,it was well defined,with good impact and control and i also noticed some lower bass notes that i have never noticed with the hd 600.All in all,i liked the bass responce better than my hd 600's.(hd 600 sounds a bit muddy in comparison)

Regarding the treble now,i dissagree with skylab.I didn't find the treble to be hot or sibilant,at least compared to my almost 7 years old hd 600.I found it to be very clear,detailed and i didn't feel that the treble was too emphasized or harsh.(and i'm pretty sensitive to sibilance/harsh treble,i've experienced sibilance with my hd 600 many times in the past)

Now the downsides:I noticed a slight metalic feel in the upper mids/treble and a very slight hollow effect(sorry for my english)that it seemed to be associated with the sound stage,or like the soundstage was a bit like a 3d effect aplied with some software or something like this anyway,and it felt like not 100% right to my ears.It was like some instuments didn't have the body or the right weight as they should be.Like they were a bit distand but without the overall sound being laidback.

But i guess these downsides may be related to my lesser quality equipment(player,cables,no psu,stock tubes)although i've seen some other members here reporting this "metalic" treble and "hollow feel".

So, they "akg'd & beyer'd" the Senns?

One thing I always like to read your review is your balance objective impressions, most importantly is your structure, well written, easy to read.

Thanks for excellent review!

ROFL! My thoughts exactly when I read it.

Skylab, thank you for this complete, impressive and most accurate review. Together with some very informative comments along the thread, I think I have never read a review which gave me such a clear definition of the sonic signature of a headphone.

Still, I have two questions I would like to formulate based on what I have read so far:

- Could you quantify more accurately the bass extension of the HD800... Do the bass goes as low as 20Hz effortlessly. You can always have different opinions regarding bass quality (some prefer the weight or slam that most closed headphone offer or even HD650, other will like it fast and tight like K501/K701/Electrostatic), but objective measure of the bass extension would be nice to know how much quantity they offer.

- My second concern is regarding the imaging capability of the HD800. There has been already many impressions shared of a "diffuse" sound, with voices more spread than what would be natural... Bottom line: do the size of the soundstage is achieved sacrifying pinpoint imaging of the different emisive sources.

Thanks

QQQ is on to something: the Sennheiser sound is now more AKG-ish or Beyerdynamic-ish?

So were AKG and Beyerdynamic "right" in their "sharper" or more incisive voicing all along?

If you search on "HD650" and read the first reviews, why is it that the most ardent supporters of the 650 are now some of the most ardent supporters of the HD800, considering how different they sound?

And does anyone else think that a headphone can be so "transparent" or detailed that it ends up being less musical or less enjoyable? Is there a point where transparency gives all music the same hard crisp edge that the voices on The Fox Business Channel have? Is technology now allowing us to get too hard-sharp-crisp-incisive?

And if I balance my lawnmower, or if I swap air filters or spark plugs on it (Champion or AC, domestic or Japanese plugs, new or used or NOS?) , will it cut my grass better?

Very impressive review. Not one-sided, not biased, thorough all throughout. Makes me want to save for my own HD 800.

I really enjoyed the 3 hours demo i had with the 800's.They are more analytical and detailed compared to the 600's,and a bit less warm overall but i don't think it was less enjoyable.
At least this is my opinion,and with my set-up

s..t! Im ordering them today! I cannot stand everyone talking about them without having the experience myself..... lets see how much time it takes....

When you'll first put them on your head,try not to think what everybody else(me included)say in this site and try to jugde them with your own ears.
Try not to be affected by other people's opinions.Give them some time,don't hurry to come to conclusions.And then if you think they do the trick for you,then keep them.Otherwise do what you think is better.