[AlanU]

  @AlanU : Maybe you should climb the ladder for your HD800 as you did for your speakers.  With subpar equipement , the HD800 sounds a bit "empty". Better amps have the ability to better fullfill the space provided by the HD800. Then it sounds far more cohesive. It's a matter of how much resolution the amp can extract in order to let the HD800 does its job at best. IME and IMO.
 
For sure, you won't reach the overall coherency of the HD6X0 and HE60 . It's definitevely the sweet spot of those headphones. But my concern about those presentations is that , whatever I throw in them , good or bad recordings and mix and masterings, they always sound coherent while a HD800 will sometimes sound stellar and sometimes sounds awful. Sometimes the presentation is very forward, sometimes very distant. Sometimes the guitar sounds like it's 10 feet large and sometimes it sounds more realistically.  I never met another headphones that sound so differently accordingly to the sound take.  the HD800 helped me to understand where are the mics.
 
That's probably one of the reason why the HD800 is stellar with classical and a lot of acoustic music.... those are often recorded with distant mics that catch the sound as a whole, hence the realism of what the HD800 reproduces.
 
I definitely hope the 800S will keep this ability and fix as much as possible the screwed mids to treble articulation.

 
Sorrodje, I love to experiment so I'm always eager to try new things. I was initially thinking of just a simple headphone rig setup. Slowly upgraditis set in and I've started to get deeper into this "different" audio  headphone world. I'm pleased with the Burson Virtuoso but I know there is always much better. The current built in DAC is decent and quite refined "for what it is". However when I use my other DAC the SQ difference is quite a dramatic step in SQ. 
 
No sight of this new improved HD800S locally so my talk is certainly cheap and I just have to wait to audition a real set rather than talking "virtual reality internet banter"

 

[pearljam50000]

   
Strong and wrong statement. Experimented audiophiles know the "truth" is a volatile concept.

Well yes, but still, after trying a ton of speakers and headphones, you can know Intuitively what has the most realism, you can know when a violin sounds like a violin in real life, and not like a Cello , like it does on other headphones.
So to me, they are the closest to the real thing.
It's hard for me to explain but my English is not so good, sorry.

 

[Jodet]

  Well yes, but still, after trying a ton of speakers and headphones, you can know Intuitively what has the most realism, you can know when a violin sounds like a violin in real life, and not like a Cello , like it does on other headphones.
So to me, they are the closest to the real thing.
It's hard for me to explain but my English is not so good, sorry.

 
Your English is fine, what you said makes perfect sense. 

 

[Sorrodje]

  Well yes, but still, after trying a ton of speakers and headphones, you can know Intuitively what has the most realism, you can know when a violin sounds like a violin in real life, and not like a Cello , like it does on other headphones.
So to me, they are the closest to the real thing.
It's hard for me to explain but my English is not so good, sorry.

 
My english is far from yours and I perfectly understand what you mean. I still stay reluctant to believe that much my own intuition about what is realistic or not . I'm highly convinced than realism for me could perfectly be artificial for some other people .  For sure , for me the HD800 provides a very true to recording ( that's different from true to life or real instruments) experience. I even much prefer say that the HD800 is probably on of the headphone that fools me the best and let me think what I hear is real.  All we hear from our headphones or speakers is illusion after all.
 
So we can agree that this hobby is only the quest of the most realistic illusion for our own ears  right ?  

 

[JamieMcC]

  Well yes, but still, after trying a ton of speakers and headphones, you can know Intuitively what has the most realism, you can know when a violin sounds like a violin in real life, and not like a Cello , like it does on other headphones.
So to me, they are the closest to the real thing.
It's hard for me to explain but my English is not so good, sorry.

Fiddle, Violin, Viola, Cello, String Bass.
 
The Viola is often mistaken for a violin it looks similar and shares a few strings but has a deeper range that can be confused with a Cello its a easy mistake to make for anyone unfamiliar with them.
 
 

 

[JamieMcC]

   
This is a perfect example that there is no perfect ears or there is a right or wrong in the headphone arena. My ears can be possibly trained or mislead by listening to other high dollar two channel systems vs headphones. There is certainly an illusion and holographic experience having your 2 channel speakers disappearing in front of you and making you feel like your in the "Blues Alley" nightclub. My experience I get with the HD800 is very good however it's not even close to my 2 channel's emotionally moving SQ. 
 
A room filled with music sounds real to life while I still cannot get that similar experience with my headphone rig. 
 
Not saying the HD800 setup I have is not engaging with no realism....quite the contrary. However feeling the air movement and listening to speakers that have disappeared in a room with a 2 channel setup is higher up in the pedestal for emotional engagement. I use my headphone rig so that I can escape from my kids so it's my alternate option for sanity
 
I'm still eager to take a listen to the new HD800S when it hits the streets in my local area.

 
Its easy to underestimate how revealing the hd800 are. I think probably many a comment made about them is more of a reflection on the associated equipment used with them.    With two young children in the house I also use headphones for evening escapes from kids and tuning out wife as well!  
 
Listening  with a speaker set up is a different type of experience especially a system that can project a nice floaty image into your living room I have some Fostex FX120 full range speakers coupled with a flee power 2watts Sets amp that does a superb job of this within their limitations. But funnily enough I actually prefer listening to them in a near field configuration.

 

[inseconds99]

Not sure if this was posted http://en-us.sennheiser.com/news-hd-800-s-one-step-closer-to-the-perfect-sound
 
This was put on Sennheiser's website today, says the 800s will be available mid December!

 

[tomatoshoe]

  Not sure if this was posted http://en-us.sennheiser.com/news-hd-800-s-one-step-closer-to-the-perfect-sound
 
This was put on Sennheiser's website today, says the 800s will be available mid December!

 

 

[XERO1]

  Not sure if this was posted http://en-us.sennheiser.com/news-hd-800-s-one-step-closer-to-the-perfect-sound
 
This was put on Sennheiser's website today, says the 800s will be available mid December!

 
It looks like Sennheiser has officially named them the 'HD 800 S', with a space between the '800' and 'S'.

 

[TMRaven]

At least it's less confusing... I guess?

 

[iDesign]

  Not sure if this was posted http://en-us.sennheiser.com/news-hd-800-s-one-step-closer-to-the-perfect-sound
 
This was put on Sennheiser's website today, says the 800s will be available mid December!

The press release confirms the only changes are the absorber, XLR4 cable, and paint color. All of the other changes people speculated about over the past 107 pages in this thread are wrong. The HD 800 S seems to be an attempt to reinvigorate sales of an aging headphone that was released in 2009-- hence why they are forcing a release date that is just before the holidays. 

 

[cddc]

 
The press release confirms the only changes are the absorber, XLR4 cable, and paint color. All of the other changes people speculated about over the past 107 pages in this thread are wrong. The HD 800 S seems to be an attempt to reinvigorate sales of an aging headphone that was released in 2009-- hence why they are forcing a release date that is just before the holidays. 

 
XLR，paint job, absorber and new tuning to address some issues in bass and treble...I think it is not big enough to match the change from HD600 to HD650
 
So there will be HD850 eventually...my guess

 

[Gandah]

   
XLR，paint job, absorber and new tuning to address some issues in bass and treble...I think it is not big enough to match the change from HD600 to HD650
 
So there will be HD850 eventually...my guess

If indeed there is a HD850 and is equal to the differences of 600 to 650........For my ears, it maybe the best endgame headphone ever made
 
I adore my HD650 love it

 

[cddc]

  If indeed there is a HD850 and is equal to the differences of 600 to 650........For my ears, it maybe the best endgame headphone ever made
 
I adore my HD650 love it

 
me too 

 
love my HD650...and waiting for HD850

 

[Youth]

   
me too 

 
love my HD650...and waiting for HD850

 
Same