mangakaninja2
New Head-Fier
(warning, some prefer the 800S some prefer the 800, there is no wrong answer and this is just my opinion and my ears, take with a grain of salt)
I did it! i purchased an HD800, making me an owner of both the HD800s and the HD800!
sold all my other cans and will not be selling either HD800 can. that's right im keeping them both, read on
I have owned at one point the following cans:
HD598, HD650, DT880, AKG702,SRH1840, T90, T1(1st) and found my sweet spot with the HD800s i bought last year. (SN 46xxx made in Ireland)
I listen mostly to Orchestral tracks, movie/anime/tv soundtracks, soothing vocals and quiet recordings.
(from Dvorak to Ryuichi Sakamoto and henry lai, I enjoy a wide collection amassed over the years) this will be a primitive comparative review of the HD800 models, i will not dissect or pretend to be well versed in distinguishing all the frequency bands from one another, rather this is more of a general impression opinion piece.
The HD800S blew me away with its presentation and epic stage, but after reading online too much i was left feeling: am i missing out? as chuckolatte ( a youtube reviewer) pointed out that the soundstage was reduced in the HD800s, my curiosity got the better of me and i began stalking the used market for a deal. After all Senny claim themselves that the hd800s is not an upgrade but a side-grade, a different take on their amazing hd800 hollow ring transducer.
found myself a pre-loved HD800 (s/n 38xxx )
after hooking it up to my Topping A30pro and Xduoo Ta26 for extensive listening, i can say it was the right call.
On first blood the I would be lying if i said i was impressed or wowed. honestly they sounded pretty much the same.lol
It's only upon further listening and A/B swapping the HD800S with the OG model that things took a turn... the different tuning was now unveiling itself to me and as I became conscious as to what to look for , it became strikingly apparent! the dryness, the exquisite tonal balance all around, the extension! wow. just wow. Upon first impression I would never thought they were so different! The Mids are one of the first thing one would notice. Any A/Bing these two Goliath is kind of wacky because the HD800 makes the HD800S sound Bloated in the vocal region. Not in a bad way, but not in a great way either. This feels like a compromise Senny took in order to please more listeners/customers and it can go either way depending on your playlist really. Maybe they realized that most of their customers weren't Classical aficionados and that Kpop had taken its toll on the IQ of audiophiles? how would i know.
The soundstage in the HD800S is wide and recessed in the corners around you, I now understand what chuckolatte said in one of his many comparison vids ( eg: )
The Sounds on the HD800 OG model comes from a little further away from your head and fades out in a seemingly endless fashion. It's hard to make out the limits of the stage, It is truly the biggest and most airy presentation out there. all my beloved soundtracks benefit from this immensely as I now tear up to grander than life 住友紀人's Thermae Romae's 恵みの湯. Dear god I could almost make out the faces of the angels coming for me.
Zimmy's The Lion king Orchestra suite is just more effortless and majestic as well. the Mids are not shoved in my face at the expense of everything else. There is respect for each other tonalities. No contest within the spectrum, there is harmony and peace.
The driver is not slouch on attack either, 2 steps from hell's Run Free will give any SS amp a good run for its money i think. Not that my A30 pro can't handle it, although it sounds punchier on high gain, the pot doesn't allow for a comfy listening volume there, so its either medium gain with close to channel imbalance or low gain.
One of the defining Features of the HD800S that sold a lot of people was the added Bass and warmth. I can confirm the HD800S is bass heavy, in fact it had too much bass presence in some of my more delicate tracks, causing a loss of focus on the main instruments. the OG HD800 fix this for me perfectly. Not only is the bass more laid back, there is also LESS DISTORTION in the bass, before owning an OG HD800 i`d never thought id be able to hear it but A/B testing it makes it PLAIN OBVIOUS. the HD800S is very distorted in the bass region, not only that but Senny boosted the whole region forward as well making it no so subtle upon swapping.
Phil Collins's One Family (tarzan soundtrack) has those very very low thumps starting around the 2:28 mark, the HD800s doesn't and is not able to hit as deep and with as much impact as the OG HD800. This is something you need to experience to understand but there is a cleanliness/ finesse to the OG HD800 that the HD800S lost in its tuning.
Treble is on the bright side with the OG. I'm going to be honest here and say that I prefer the HD800S's treble, but it's only by a hair and only because it's slightly brighter than the HD800S's darker tuning. That said, while looking for siblance, none was found, which is a relief as that's what made me part with the T1 and T90. Both of those being brighter than the HD800 to begin with. The beyerdynamic cans fatigued my ears like nothing else, and this could have been a concern for the OG HD800 but it is not!
Just like the HD800S the HD800 treble isn't forced, it sparkles, and there is a sense of dryness and airiness that one would be hard pressed to match. the HD800S just turns the treble down to 90% on the driver. Both offer exquisite presentation here and it comes down to preference really. 40% of my library will benefit from the extra dryness of the HD800 OG and the rest will sound better and more laid back with the HD800S treble.
That's it folks, I'm not going to sit here and pretend I'm the last word on those two amazing headphones, my journey is at an end and it's been a fun one. Never thought I'd be able to afford an HD800 one day, yet alone own 2 at once.
TLDR
Both are AMAZING headphones in my honest opinion, the HD800S tuning with its forward Mids makes it a more straightforward upgrade from the HD600 line. I believe Senny was out to please more people with its 800S tuning. You do get a more mainstream, digestible sound that will please most out there. What was sacrificed to create a more all rounded headphone in the process was the Lightning in a bottle that is the HD800. Calling the OG model an all-rounder is more of a stretch than its little brother, but in not doing so the HD800 OG is also more impressive at where it excels.
For vocals, Jazz, Louis Armstrong, 80's playlist, Santana, and any hybrid classical like Hiroyuki Sawano, I'd use my HD800S.
For everything else ( that being mostly classical, Joe Hisaishi, Orchestra Symphonic suites etc..) I'd use my HD800.
Disclaimer Both My HD800 OG 's S/N and my HD800S being recent, the 6k peak may be slightly differently tuned than yours, and i didn't feel the need to mod any headphone and ruin its beautiful tuning in the process. The newer HD800S (Ireland) in particular uses a newer process and has apparently slightly more bass than the previous HD800S. The above words are my opinion and mine only, feel free to be offended at your own leisure. discussion is welcomed!
bellow my foobar setup and my wallpaper...
I did it! i purchased an HD800, making me an owner of both the HD800s and the HD800!
sold all my other cans and will not be selling either HD800 can. that's right im keeping them both, read on
I have owned at one point the following cans:
HD598, HD650, DT880, AKG702,SRH1840, T90, T1(1st) and found my sweet spot with the HD800s i bought last year. (SN 46xxx made in Ireland)
I listen mostly to Orchestral tracks, movie/anime/tv soundtracks, soothing vocals and quiet recordings.
(from Dvorak to Ryuichi Sakamoto and henry lai, I enjoy a wide collection amassed over the years) this will be a primitive comparative review of the HD800 models, i will not dissect or pretend to be well versed in distinguishing all the frequency bands from one another, rather this is more of a general impression opinion piece.
The HD800S blew me away with its presentation and epic stage, but after reading online too much i was left feeling: am i missing out? as chuckolatte ( a youtube reviewer) pointed out that the soundstage was reduced in the HD800s, my curiosity got the better of me and i began stalking the used market for a deal. After all Senny claim themselves that the hd800s is not an upgrade but a side-grade, a different take on their amazing hd800 hollow ring transducer.
found myself a pre-loved HD800 (s/n 38xxx )
after hooking it up to my Topping A30pro and Xduoo Ta26 for extensive listening, i can say it was the right call.
On first blood the I would be lying if i said i was impressed or wowed. honestly they sounded pretty much the same.lol
It's only upon further listening and A/B swapping the HD800S with the OG model that things took a turn... the different tuning was now unveiling itself to me and as I became conscious as to what to look for , it became strikingly apparent! the dryness, the exquisite tonal balance all around, the extension! wow. just wow. Upon first impression I would never thought they were so different! The Mids are one of the first thing one would notice. Any A/Bing these two Goliath is kind of wacky because the HD800 makes the HD800S sound Bloated in the vocal region. Not in a bad way, but not in a great way either. This feels like a compromise Senny took in order to please more listeners/customers and it can go either way depending on your playlist really. Maybe they realized that most of their customers weren't Classical aficionados and that Kpop had taken its toll on the IQ of audiophiles? how would i know.
The soundstage in the HD800S is wide and recessed in the corners around you, I now understand what chuckolatte said in one of his many comparison vids ( eg: )
The Sounds on the HD800 OG model comes from a little further away from your head and fades out in a seemingly endless fashion. It's hard to make out the limits of the stage, It is truly the biggest and most airy presentation out there. all my beloved soundtracks benefit from this immensely as I now tear up to grander than life 住友紀人's Thermae Romae's 恵みの湯. Dear god I could almost make out the faces of the angels coming for me.
Zimmy's The Lion king Orchestra suite is just more effortless and majestic as well. the Mids are not shoved in my face at the expense of everything else. There is respect for each other tonalities. No contest within the spectrum, there is harmony and peace.
The driver is not slouch on attack either, 2 steps from hell's Run Free will give any SS amp a good run for its money i think. Not that my A30 pro can't handle it, although it sounds punchier on high gain, the pot doesn't allow for a comfy listening volume there, so its either medium gain with close to channel imbalance or low gain.
One of the defining Features of the HD800S that sold a lot of people was the added Bass and warmth. I can confirm the HD800S is bass heavy, in fact it had too much bass presence in some of my more delicate tracks, causing a loss of focus on the main instruments. the OG HD800 fix this for me perfectly. Not only is the bass more laid back, there is also LESS DISTORTION in the bass, before owning an OG HD800 i`d never thought id be able to hear it but A/B testing it makes it PLAIN OBVIOUS. the HD800S is very distorted in the bass region, not only that but Senny boosted the whole region forward as well making it no so subtle upon swapping.
Phil Collins's One Family (tarzan soundtrack) has those very very low thumps starting around the 2:28 mark, the HD800s doesn't and is not able to hit as deep and with as much impact as the OG HD800. This is something you need to experience to understand but there is a cleanliness/ finesse to the OG HD800 that the HD800S lost in its tuning.
Treble is on the bright side with the OG. I'm going to be honest here and say that I prefer the HD800S's treble, but it's only by a hair and only because it's slightly brighter than the HD800S's darker tuning. That said, while looking for siblance, none was found, which is a relief as that's what made me part with the T1 and T90. Both of those being brighter than the HD800 to begin with. The beyerdynamic cans fatigued my ears like nothing else, and this could have been a concern for the OG HD800 but it is not!
Just like the HD800S the HD800 treble isn't forced, it sparkles, and there is a sense of dryness and airiness that one would be hard pressed to match. the HD800S just turns the treble down to 90% on the driver. Both offer exquisite presentation here and it comes down to preference really. 40% of my library will benefit from the extra dryness of the HD800 OG and the rest will sound better and more laid back with the HD800S treble.
That's it folks, I'm not going to sit here and pretend I'm the last word on those two amazing headphones, my journey is at an end and it's been a fun one. Never thought I'd be able to afford an HD800 one day, yet alone own 2 at once.
TLDR
Both are AMAZING headphones in my honest opinion, the HD800S tuning with its forward Mids makes it a more straightforward upgrade from the HD600 line. I believe Senny was out to please more people with its 800S tuning. You do get a more mainstream, digestible sound that will please most out there. What was sacrificed to create a more all rounded headphone in the process was the Lightning in a bottle that is the HD800. Calling the OG model an all-rounder is more of a stretch than its little brother, but in not doing so the HD800 OG is also more impressive at where it excels.
For vocals, Jazz, Louis Armstrong, 80's playlist, Santana, and any hybrid classical like Hiroyuki Sawano, I'd use my HD800S.
For everything else ( that being mostly classical, Joe Hisaishi, Orchestra Symphonic suites etc..) I'd use my HD800.
Disclaimer Both My HD800 OG 's S/N and my HD800S being recent, the 6k peak may be slightly differently tuned than yours, and i didn't feel the need to mod any headphone and ruin its beautiful tuning in the process. The newer HD800S (Ireland) in particular uses a newer process and has apparently slightly more bass than the previous HD800S. The above words are my opinion and mine only, feel free to be offended at your own leisure. discussion is welcomed!
bellow my foobar setup and my wallpaper...
Last edited:
So I have heard both a lot.
