[raypin]

  @raypin who is your dealer and how much did you pay for them? 

 
mmm......my dealer here quoted a reasonable price. By reasonable I mean that it was in line with my expectations re: a totl HP like the 800. Sorry can't reveal the price. Suffice it to say that I did not hesitate to pre-order, at the quoted price,  without the benefit of an extended audition. I love the HD800. I hate the HD 800. I expect to change that to: I love the HD 800 S. I love the HD 800 S. My only apprehension: I hope the HP is more scratch/chipping-resistant than the 800.

 

[phonomat]

 
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. 

That might be true but does not have anything to do with the last part of your statetent, I think, which would be a must for any manufacturer of anything -- if you want to sell something, you want it to be available before Christmas. Marketing 101. In fact, it would have been most peculiar if they had not aimed for this, notwithstanding the number or nature of the modifications.
 

   
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 gues

Of course, but didn't we know that all along? I mean, that is why the named it HD 800 S and not HD 850 in the first place. It's just a tweak, a different take on the same headphone, if you will. Seeing the FR graphs, it could indeed be S for same ... 

 

[stvn758]

Everyone has different ears that hear sound differently, that means every headphone is a compromise. I'm surprised there isn't more research into it.
 
Manufacturers could release several shaped pads for different ear shapes so people could get the best out of their cans. The soundstage on my Ultrasone 2500 sounds better than the HD800's, they're not angled drivers but they are at the bottom of the cup. Maybe that's down to the way my ears bounce sound around before entering the ear drum. Maybe the huge Senn driver is just too big and bloated, a smaller one might have worked wonders.
 
One size fits all seems a bit out of date at least for expensive flagship models. If it took Sennheiser this many years to R&D the 800's are we hearing the results of a large sample study of listeners or just what the bloke who engineered them likes?

 

[ubs28]

 
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. 

Aging headphone, what are you talking about? The Sennheiser HD800 is a superior headphone to the $3000 HE-1000 in terms of technical performance. Even Tyll from innerfidility also said that. 

 

[Dobrescu George]

  Aging headphone, what are you talking about? The Sennheiser HD800 is a superior headphone to the $3000 HE-1000 in terms of technical performance. Even Tyll from innerfidility also said that. 

I agree with you here, regardless of the date it was produced, HD800 is not an aging headphone.
 
After all, if we would talk about Senn Orpheus, they were released a few decades ago, and are still one of the best headphones in the world with only Orpheus 2 beating them

. (I had no heard either, but this seems to be the general opinion about them)

 

[Arniesb]

Everyone has different ears that hear sound differently, that means every headphone is a compromise. I'm surprised there isn't more research into it.

Manufacturers could release several shaped pads for different ear shapes so people could get the best out of their cans. The soundstage on my Ultrasone 2500 sounds better than the HD800's, they're not angled drivers but they are at the bottom of the cup. Maybe that's down to the way my ears bounce sound around before entering the ear drum. Maybe the huge Senn driver is just too big and bloated, a smaller one might have worked wonders.

One size fits all seems a bit out of date at least for expensive flagship models. If it took Sennheiser this many years to R&D the 800's are we hearing the results of a large sample study of listeners or just what the bloke who engineered them likes?

Do you have Ed12? Otherwise you are joking. I said Ed12, because David Mahler said Ed12 have ONE of the most impressive sound stages of all time. But other than that Ultrasone are not impressive in that regard.

 

[stvn758]

Do you have Ed12? Otherwise you are joking. I said Ed12, because David Mahler said Ed12 have ONE of the most impressive sound stages of all time. But other than that Ultrasone are not impressive in that regard.

 
I was just making a general observation about ears, didn't actually read your post. 

 

 

[Arniesb]

I was just making a general observation about ears, didn't actually read your post.   

The soundstage on my Ultrasone 2500 sounds better than the HD800's. I heard 2500, 2900 and 900pro so your these wors are like joke to me. Other time you gonna say that grado s325 Soundstage is impressive ha ha ?

 

[stvn758]

The soundstage on my Ultrasone 2500 sounds better than the HD800's. I heard 2500, 2900 and 900pro so your these wors are like joke to me. Other time you gonna say that grado s325 Soundstage is impressive ha ha ?

The  Sennheiser is obviously technically better but it's soundstage seems to go sideways where as the Ultrasone has more depth, it's at the front as well.
 
As I said in my original post different ears hear differently. 

 

[Dobrescu George]

The soundstage on my Ultrasone 2500 sounds better than the HD800's. I heard 2500, 2900 and 900pro so your these wors are like joke to me. Other time you gonna say that grado s325 Soundstage is impressive ha ha ?

 
Ultrasone is pretty good when it comes to soundstage and other characteristics. 
 
I am into their sig dj and sig pro headphones, and sig dj can be considered very good, from all aspects. 
 
If sig dj was open, it could come close to HD800, but it is limited by the closed back design. I do not know how 2500 and 900 sound like, so I cannot comment on it, but Ultrasone should not be disregarded from start, they are quite good

 

[phonomat]

Do you have Ed12? Otherwise you are joking.

 
 

The soundstage on my Ultrasone 2500 sounds better than the HD800's. I heard 2500, 2900 and 900pro so your these wors are like joke to me.

Not really clear why you'd find it that amusing. Perhaps S-Logic doesn't work for you. But then the joke would be on you, kind of.

 

[Arniesb]

Not really clear why you'd find it that amusing. Perhaps S-Logic doesn't work for you. But then the joke would be on you, kind of.

IT is joke because he said his 2500 have better soundstage than HD800. Do you agree with him? I have not heard Hd800, but even T1 destroy 2500 in soundstage performance.

 

[stvn758]

IT is joke because he said his 2500 have better soundstage than HD800. Do you agree with him? I have not heard Hd800, but even T1 destroy 2500 in soundstage performance.

 
You're talking about the Edition 12 by Ultrasone I assume?  I misread your original reply, looked like you were continuing a conversation with someone else in the thread.
 
As far as soundstage goes it's not related to quality, what soundstage the Senn's have is technically better but the 2500's have a far more surround sound effect to my ears, I have both here now and after the fortune I've just spent I would love to say the Senn's are the be all and end all. 

 

[Dobrescu George]

IT is joke because he said his 2500 have better soundstage than HD800. Do you agree with him? I have not heard Hd800, but even T1 destroy 2500 in soundstage performance.

That is strange. 
 
What were you powering 2500 with? Maybe the synergy between them and your DAP at that moment was not great. 
 
2500 should have way more soundstage than most headphones out there. In fact, some Ultrasone headphones come second after HD800 in terms of soundstage. There are very few headphones open or closed which have great soundstage, and ultrasone has that S-logic think which could not work with you as @phonomat stated. 

 

[Arniesb]

That is strange. 

What were you powering 2500 with? Maybe the synergy between them and your DAP at that moment was not great. 

2500 should have way more soundstage than most headphones out there. In fact, some Ultrasone headphones come second after HD800 in terms of soundstage. There are very few headphones open or closed which have great soundstage, and ultrasone has that S-logic think which could not work with you as @phonomat
 stated. 

With O2, not great, but have quite large soundstage. Maybe realy S logic dont work for me.