I haven't looked back since buying the HD800.  These things have a more speaker-like sound that trounces any other headphone I've put over (or in) my ears.  They improve dramatically with associated equipment upgrades, too.  I've always been a long time Sennheiser fan, and I am a serious amateur...

I had to dish out more than 4 grand in headphone gear before I had realistic speaker-like bass. My suggestion is just buy a pair of cheap low impedence cans and equalize them.

For solid top end with neutral mids and bass you could audition some Sony cans, the CD3000 has light bass, slightly plasticky mids and really tipped up treble. Famous FOTM cans on headfi, very easy to drive. Super colored imho, but if you like highs and don't want EQ they might do the trick, and...

It's funny, I have the exact opposite reaction from people who try the 800s, no casual listener ever seemed to like the 6xx series, but the 8xx really catches on

It all depends. The fidelity of unaccompanied music is more often than not ruined by some doofus in the studio, so you're better off just using a pair of HD650s most of the time that mask recording flaws and stupid noisy cuts. If you don't mind living with recording mistakes, the HD800 are...

I go to shuffle tracks on my playlist and have a cup of espresso

I disagree with the thread starter High end headphone rig cost 5 years ago: Top of the line Meridian player $4,000 Top of the line headphone amp $3,000 plus dynamics $500-$1,500 -OR- Sennheiser Orpheus $??? Total $7,500 - $15,000 depending on choice of dynamic or electrostatic High...

Anyone expecting impressive sound from an HD 600 who doesn't have the better part of a house down payment committed to their amp and source will be disappionted. Same with the HD650, and essspecially so with the HD800. If you like forward aggressive sound with that kind of equipment buy...

Save buying higher end DT8xx / AKG K6/7xx series headphones for when you have several grand in associated equipment... don't waste your money without the necessary associated equipment. Don't buy in little steps... save your money for the big time.

MEMO Re: people that think plastic is bad... Sennheiser would've chosen jello if it had lower acoustic resonance than plastic... you go with what gives you the best sound, its basic science

It's better than the Orpheus, which people readily respect and buy for sometimes ten times the HD800's price. The HD800 should be priced at $5,000 just to keep the riff raff from buying a pair, listening to them poorly amped, and then giving them a bad rep on head-fi.

The jury is out until I hear the Beyers... no other statement headphone I've listened to compares to the HD800, not even the orpheus. I'd love to drop a cool thousand bucks on another great pair of cans though

The HD800 sounds neutral and its best at about 70-88dBa. It's designed for the average volume, if you bother to read the instruction manual you're supposed to listen at this level. It's much similar to the HD600 and HD650 in this regard, you miss out on everything and the sound ain't so good at...

I'd own the timelessly classic HD600s, or Beyer DT250-80s, it's hard to decide... the DT250-80s are nostalgic to me, they got me started, and would surely survive nuclear winter they're so durable!!

Sir, may I retort (AKA Geek reads the first post in a thread for once): 10 Design Rules of Dieter Rams from Braun in the 60's: • Good design is innovative. ----I'd have to say that the HD800 ring driver is the most amazing innovation I've ever heard in a piece of audio equipment. No...

Excellent! I've always loved the Beyer sound, and I started off this hobby with a few sets of closed Beyers. Looking forward to a listen in the not too distant future! Perhaps a great second can to pair with my HD800s... although I really should be saving for a source / amp upgrade

Anything headroom makes. The bass extension on my old Maxed Out Home is so good with the HD800s that I can hear the semi truck rumbling the studio walls...

The HD800 is underpriced. Too many people spend 75% of their budget on the HD800, and then complain when it sounds bad on their unimpressive amp and source. The headphone only works for audiophiles that have a dead black, neutral amp with mega articulation & frequency extension, a really good...

I'm sure that they chose plastic for a reason! To my ears, the HD800 sounds better than the orpheus, I've heard them both, and the Orpheus with a really really really good source (Meridian GO8) playing absolute sound stuff and some deutsche grammophon recordings of various symphonies. I'm...

The HD800 reveals the true quality of a lot of the gear out there, and on top of this even really REALLY good gear that's not basically tuned for the Sennheisers makes the headphones a bit colored. They sounded bad for me until every component reached a certain standard. A very unforgiving...

HD800s or HD600s for high end listening. The 600 especially emphasizes the female vocal range; the 800 has a more realistic sound but doesn't emphasize the range quite as much as HD600s. I'd stay away from the 650s if this is all you listen to, although they are probably fine. I'm also a huge...

Bordins, Hit the nail on the head! The weak link in my setup was my source - I have high quality encodings, but a better DAC transformed the setup. I disagree about the HD800 sounding like HD650s - the 650s can't slam below 35hz very well, and simply make farting sounds and distortion when...

The orpheus is undeniably awesome... but the HD800 is better if you feed it with a good amp and dac.

Anyone tried this? Just for fun I loaded foobar 2000 with an equalizer and dropped everything +20dB that was above 110hz, and then smoothly tapered from 0dB at 55hz and below to 8db at about 70hz and 16db at 110hz.... I've been in cars with subs, this sounds the same, just heads-only. Shakes...

Oh, and on the DT880.. Awesome headphone, but it's not as refined as the HD800. The high end and upper mids are blurry, bass is a little bloated, when compared to the HD800 sound, but not in a significant fashion, i.e. I really do like the DT880 sound. Not totally colored beyond reality like...