Sennheiser HD 800 Headphones

Covenant

Headphoneus Supremus
[size=large]Introduction[/size]
I’ve been a “headphone audiophile” for the better part of 5 years now, searching for the elusive holy grail of headphone systems. During that time I’ve had the pleasure of auditioning some of the best headphones from every significant manufacturer, including the AKG K701 and K1000, Beyerdynamic T1, Stax Omega 2, Sennheiser HD600/HD650 and HE60, Grado RS-1, PS-1 and GS-1000, Audio-Technica W5000, W11JPN, and L3000, Ultrasone Edition 9, and others. Some of these I’ve even owned myself for periods of time.

Audio nirvana is a very personal thing. What sounds magical to me and sends chills down my spine might well sound artificial and grating to another. That is the nature of this hobby. With almost every top-tier headphone system I have tried, something has been lacking. Sometimes this “something” could be quantifiable – overly harsh treble response, lack of bass impact, flat or unrealistic soundstaging, and so forth – but often it could not be. The headphone simply didn’t move me, didn’t connect with me emotionally throughout the gamut of diverse musical genres I listen to. The Sennheiser HD800 is one of the very few headphones that have done so.

I have very eclectic musical tastes, ranging from psytrance and electronica, to Celtic and new age, metal, pop, progressive rock, modern jazz, and even some blues and easy listening. Sting and The Corrs are frequently queued right alongside Tool and Shpongle on my playlist, for example. Any headphone that aspires to a long term place in my rig, therefore, needs to be first and foremost a capable all-rounder. One-trick ponies often have a big initial “wow” effect; “The bass on these is incredible!”, “I’ve never heard so much detail before!”, and so forth. This kind of focussed excellence is often found in high end headphones whose manufacturers are known for having a “house sound” that appeal to a niche market. Grados, for instance, tend to excel at rock. Their unique combination of lush, tonally rich midrange and fast, well-textured bass impact make them ideally suited to the genre. But you won’t often find a classical music lover relying on the RS-1 as their primary headphone. Grado have addressed this in their own way, with the GS-1000 being the soundstageous departure from their typical house sound, but such an approach doesn’t appeal to me personally. I’m not a headphone collector, and I don’t want to be reaching for a different headphone every time a new song starts on my playlist. Is a headphone that excels at everything and has no glaring weaknesses an unrealistic expectation? Not any longer.


[size=large]Build quality and comfort[/size]
An aspect of high end headphone listening that’s often overlooked is comfort and build quality. To me, this area is every bit as important as how a headphone sounds. What good is it to find a headphone that sounds sublime, only to be prevented from losing yourself in it because your ears are being rubbed raw?

The HD800, thankfully, doesn’t suffer from this shortcoming. In fact, it’s one of the most comfortable headphones I’ve ever worn. It might lack the luxuriance of leather padding found on some high end Ultrasones, or even the Denon imitation pleather, but it makes up for that with huge earcups that do not touch the ears at all. And despite the size of the headphone, the HD800 is remarkably lightweight, which contributes to the feeling of the headphones simply disappearing when one puts them on.

The stock headphone cable is also one of the very few that I’ve actually liked. It seems very resistant to kinking, is not microphonic at all, and is lightweight enough not to cause cable drag. A cable that gets out of the way and doesn’t remind you it’s there is a good cable.

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[size=large]Listening Impressions[/size]
It’s far too easy to simply forget about critical listening with the HD800 on, and just enjoy the music. However for the sake of this review I’ll bust out the reference tracks and see how the headphone performs when put under the microscope. The HD800 was burned in for at least 100hrs prior to critical listening, and run through the following system:

Foobar configured with WASAPI for bit-perfect output, playing FLAC > HeadAmp Pico DAC > Jaycar 80W pure class A discrete amplifier > HD800 with stock cable.

First up is Shpongle’s Dorset Perception, a complex electronica passage that excels at testing a headphone’s imaging abilities. Throughout the intro of this track the HD800 keeps up with the increasingly chaotic soundstage, isolating each musical image in its own space and minimising “bleed” between them. I was able to take in the whole picture, as well as isolate and listen to each individual instrument in the soundfield without much effort on my part.

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Moving on to Porcupine Tree’s Heartattack In A Layby, a test of ambiance and midrange presence. There’s a deep reverberation present in this track that underlies the vocal, and the challenge for a headphone is to present this reverberation in such a way that it emphasises the vocal rather than swamps it. Again the HD800 performs admirably, Steven Wilson’s voice rendered faithfully amidst the layers of electric guitar. More importantly, the overall emotional message of the track is communicated, creating an eerie feeling of transposition out of oneself and into the story of the music.

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Alright, let’s try something with some grit. Onto Metallica’s Enter Sandman, from their celebrated Black album. An unhealthy few decibels of increased volume later and I was out of my chair yelling “Eeeeexit light! Eeeeenter night!”, much to the annoyance of my neighbours I’m sure. The power metal of Hammerfall was likewise rendered with sufficient crash-of-rhinos impetus to get me head banging. Sure, the Denons and Grados can rock harder, let that never be questioned. But the HD800 CAN rock, and it can rock well.

METALLICA-Black_album.jpg
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Lastly, Loreena McKennitt’s The Highwayman to test the HD800’s capabilities with female vocals. Her sweet, effortless voice is rendered with such conviction on these headphones that this proved another moment of eerie transposition for me. The palpability of Loreena’s voice, combined with the wide, holographic soundstage of the HD800’s transport me to the lonely road in the moonlight, up to the old inn door... linked arm in arm with Loreena as she sings the story of the Highwayman. I do not feel the HD800 lacked anything in conveying the atmosphere of this track.

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[size=large]Conclusion[/size]
The HD800 is one of the best all-rounder high-end headphones I’ve heard. To my listening experience, it has 3 main competitors – the Stax Omega 2, the Sennheiser HE60, and the bass-heavy AKG K1000. All of them perform similarly (or even slightly better) than the HD800, but all cost considerably more, only one of them is still in production (the Omega 2), and they all demand very specialised systems to drive them. This is not to say the HD800 isn’t a picky beast to drive as well, because it certainly is. Sennheiser designed them to be as open a window into the music as possible, and that goal is what they have achieved. If anything is lacking in your connected equipment, you’re going to hear it.

Regardless, anyone who (like me) values a headphone which excels at many things rather than one, and has the ability to connect the listener to the emotional message of their music definitely owes it to themselves to try the HD800. I doubt you will be disappointed.
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treebug
treebug
How did they sound with your Soloist Covenant?
Covenant
Covenant
Hi treebug, I do not actually own the HD800; the pair used for the above review was a loaner.

mikemalter

1000+ Head-Fier
Just a short review to add my experience of the HD 800.
 
There are times when I am simply startled at the aliveness of the music.  There will be silence after a musical passage or between pieces, and when the music starts up again, it's like when someone walks into a room and you don't hear them and then they start talking to you.
 
The sound is so real, so natural so alive, for that moment it is as if the ensemble were next to me.
 
I did jetteson the stock cord and replaced it with a Cardas single ended for better results.
 
I am very happy I got them.

491838

100+ Head-Fier
Pros: God tier clarity (especially for the price)
Bright sound signature can be fixed with EQ
Wide stage
Cons: Lean bass
Slightly sharp timbre
Mixed bag in terms of comfort
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The Sennheiser HD800 - God tier clarity. Is this an "affordable" end-game headphone 11 years after its release?

The short answer is pretty much yes but it depends on your sound signature preference and whether or not you’re willing to use EQ. See, the HD800 is a fairly controversial headphone, which is seemingly either hated for its bright sound or adored for its benchmark levels of clarity and detail for the price. Seeing how cheap it is on the used market, these are undoubtedly the best bang for your buck, especially if you’re willing to EQ them. With this mini-review I’m attempting to dispel some of the myths surrounding this headphone and to perhaps give more evidence (anecdotal/subjective nonetheless) of its strengths. I am going to start with the most important aspect which is sound.

The HD800’s stock sound signature is actually fairly balanced save for two main flaws, namely the infamous 6K(ish) peak and the slow build up to the 3K ear resonance peak, which give this headphone a somewhat sibilant sound with mids that are a bit withdrawn compared to most headphone targets. The sound target that I prefer is the Harman over-ear response, albeit with a less extreme bass shelf and a bit more upper treble above 10K. The oratory1990 EQ profile for this headphone provides that with some minor tweaks (my personal EQ profile that’s based on oratory’s will be attached to this post) and I also like how it doesn’t touch the upper treble because I think that’s the hardest part to EQ and it’s probably best left untouched on this headphone even though the treble at 10K and above is likely the source of some additional sharpness but also great levels of detail.

It’s worth noting that plenty of people enjoy this headphone without EQ and I honestly expected it to sound a lot harsher than it does based on most people’s impressions but perhaps I’m not as treble sensitive as I thought. However, I strongly recommend trying the oratory EQ, perhaps tweaking it to your liking, to make this headphone sound even better. Much better. This is one of the best headphones to use with EQ seeing as the unit to unit variation of the HD800 is very minor (in terms of frequency response) and there is no “detail loss” or “distortion” increase caused by the careful tweaking performed by this particular EQ profile (just don’t overdo the bass shelf and lower the gain to appropriate levels to avoid clipping). High end headphones like the HD800 respond very well to EQ and the difference between my profile and the stock sound is quite noticeable. The thin bright highs are mostly gone and the mids and upper mids have the proper levels now and render vocals and acoustic instruments with impeccable clarity. I am now going to give a more in-depth description of the sound properties of this headphone and my impressions are mostly based on my usage of this headphone with EQ, so bear in mind that the perception of detail can improve quite a bit when a headphone is tweaked to have a more agreeable frequency response.

One of the first things that struck me about the sound of this headphone the moment I put them on was the impressive clarity that they provide. It’s a bit difficult to describe but they have this seemingly unique ability to render instruments and voices (especially post EQ) in an unadulterated way. I noticed this a lot even when watching YouTube and listening to random people talk into high quality microphones. It feels like their voices are physically there and nothing else is “added” to them. No warmth or other artifacts that are FR related. Just pure sound. My other similarly priced headphone purchase was the Audeze LCD-2 Fazor, which will be the main point of comparison for this review, but the clarity on those with oratory’s EQ, which attempts to bring all headphones to a common sound target (i.e. the Harman OE target), was nowhere near as good. I think Audeze headphones have this inherent warmth to them that’s impossible to EQ out which prevents them from sounding as clear as the HD800 even though they might have similar detail capabilities (or better even). I’m guessing it has something to do with the big leather pads. The HD800 earpads are much much thinner and are made of some type of microfiber as opposed to leather and they probably influence the sound a lot less as a result. It probably also helps that the HD800 driver enclosure is a big open space but the metal mesh inside is credited as the culprit of the treble resonances that this headphone has.

Funnily enough, the $300 Etymotic ER4 is the closest thing in my collection to the HD800 in terms of clarity, but it achieves this because it is a deep insertion in-ear headphone with a highly neutral frequency response, albeit slightly on the dark side of neutral with treble that is not as “airy” as most open-backs. In my estimation, the ER4 achieves about 50-60% of the clarity and detail of the HD800, which is very impressive considering that the former is about 1/3rd to 1/5th (based on the original $1500 HD800 price) of the price of the latter. The LCD-2, while it was more detailed than the ER4 by a significant margin, had a warm/muddy sound that I couldn’t adequately fix with EQ and perhaps no one could. It’s quite bizarre to listen to a headphone that’s clearly very detailed but also lacks clarity at the same time. It had in fact significantly worse clarity than the much cheaper ER4, especially in the upper treble, hence why I decided to sell them and look for something else. My attention was naturally directed towards the HD800 next since it is in a similar price range to the LCD-2 and whilst I’ve never personally heard another Sennheiser other than the HD600, I decided to buy a used HD800 on a whim to see if they are as good as people say or perhaps as bad as others say. The truth is bound to be somewhere in the middle.

The bass response and bass detail of the HD800 are actually surprisingly good for a dynamic driver headphone, especially an open-back one. It extends about as deep as your Audeze planars but it rolls off a bit in the lowest range. For that reason, I use a conservative 3 dB bass shelf at 100 Hz to elevate the sub bass a little. The oratory EQ recommends a slight removal of upper bass (above 150 Hz) to get that flat response that’s more common on planars. Dynamic drivers typically have some kind of “hump” in that region that gives them a bit of extra warmth that you may or may not like. I didn’t find the stock HD800 upper bass to be as warm as the HD600 and the detail and distortion characteristics (at least as far as they are audible) are rather excellent. In fact I’m not even sure if the LCD-2 had better bass in any sense of that word. It had flatter bass, sure, and it was also thicker/bigger sounding but was it more detailed than the HD800’s bass? I’m not sure but I would have to compare them side by side to have a better idea (my LCD-2 has left a while ago to meet its new owner). I do, however, remember the LCD-2 bass sounding a bit weird. Like the rest of the LCD-2 range, the bass seemed to lack a bit of clarity and oratory pointed out to me in my short chats with him that the strange Audeze mids might have contributed to this thick bass timbre that I don’t experience on the HD800 even with some bass boost. The HD800 bass sounds significantly clearer (especially when it comes to bass drums) and more “directional” as opposed to the big “ball” of bass on the LCD-2. In measurements, you can see that the LCD-2 and other planars have significantly lower distortion (0.1%) than the HD800 but it’s hard to assess how that translates into perceived bass quality. Perhaps with the flat tuning and low THD on the Audeze you get bass that is a bit more transparent (i.e. true to the source) but the timbre thickness added on top of that kinda negates that advantage seeing as the clarity of the HD800 is insanely high, from top to bottom. In terms of bass impact, I’ve had conflicting views on the two. On some songs that leverage the sub bass extension of the LCD-2, the Audezes seem to have more impact but on less bassy songs, I find that kick drum impact in particular is more evident on the HD800. So which one has more dynamic impact? I would lean towards the HD800 honestly. Don’t let that rolled-off bass fool you. These still have a good amount of bass presence even in stock form (i.e. no EQ) and I can still hear the deepest bass on movie soundtracks for instance. Funnily enough, it seems that while sine sweeping in the bass I could hear the very low bass better on the HD800 (below 30 Hz) than on the LCD-2. Perhaps the increased distortion on the HD800 enhances the bass a little but its superior clarity is also responsible for it.

The mids and treble of the HD800 are a bit more contentious but they can be relatively easily fixed with EQ in my opinion and the results are stunning. The levels of clarity that the HD800 drivers provide are completely insane. I’ve found myself really enjoying 80s heavy metal for instance with these. Once you correct the response of this headphone with EQ, the mids and highs really shine on well recorded acoustic and heavy metal music. The clarity of guitars, electric guitars, cymbals, and yes, voices, is incredible. You really can’t help but bang your head to the music. As far as detail is concerned, things get a bit more confusing. I think the LCD-2 had smoother sounding mids and treble which translated to softer sounding vocals and cymbals/hi-hats, but the HD800 has its own flavor of smoothness that is occasionally disturbed by its unrelenting sense of clarity and peeping upper treble sharpness.

The LCD-2, with its significantly subdued mids and treble, provided a softer less offensive sound at the cost of ultimate clarity. Yes, even with EQ, the LCD-2 didn’t fully recover from its warm/dark stock sound so its more forgiving presentation led some people to believe that it was more detailed as a result (rather paradoxically). Hence why people describe the LCD-2 drivers as having better “decay”. It seems to me that this sense of speed or decay is largely influenced by a headphone’s stock frequency response. The LCD-2 appears “quicker” precisely due to its holes in the treble that can’t be completely filled in with EQ. It’s weird that people describe them that way because the HD800 sounds snappier to me due to their clarity and essentially zero holes in the treble with its stock response that’s more easily fixed with EQ while preserving clarity. Cymbals and snare drums in particular sound very precise and articulate on the HD800 as a result and have more impact and presence than the darker sounding EQ-ed LCD-2. Although, as I mentioned before, the HD800 retains a bit of its sharpness even post EQ, but too much EQ would undoubtedly be detrimental to the clarity of this headphone, so I prefer not to EQ the upper treble.

I think in reality the LCD-2 would have been closer to my preference with EQ (I prefer a warmer neutral sound) had it not been for its glaring flaws, namely the 0.9-1K resonance that most Audezes share (probably due to the thick leather pads) and the “fuzzy” sounding upper treble that provided less clarity than my much cheaper ER4 IEMs. I just couldn’t get along with them because they sounded too muddy for the price and resonant in the mids (even post EQ), which made them annoying to listen to even on good recordings. I am much more willing to accept the slight sharpness of the HD800 since its clarity and upper treble detail is so much better. I think that the LCD-2 drivers had a lot more potential, perhaps there was more detail lurking behind that dark/warm sound signature, but it was ultimately spoiled by the weird tuning. So the HD800 is effectively more detailed because it has such superior clarity overall. My $1K (or below) headphone recommendation for its sound with EQ goes to the HD800 as a result even if its bass might be a little weaker than planar bass in terms of extension. I also believe that the HD800 timbre with EQ is only slightly sharper than the stock HD600. I didn’t like the HD600 too much on modern music due to its brighter and “grainier” upper treble but they had OK detail capabilities for $300 (less than the darker sounding ER4 in my opinion).

In terms of soundstage and imaging, the HD800 is definitely superior to most things though from memory, I would say it only sounds about 20-30% wider than the LCD-2 on recordings that really leverage that width. On most other recordings, it’s actually harder to grasp how wide they are. In fact the LCD-2 was in some sense more immersive with its bigger images that are likely the result of a bigger driver. For image/instrument separation, things are again a little weird. The HD800 has separation that’s more comparable to speakers. It doesn’t necessarily have the same kind of separation that planars have (perhaps because the LCD-2 enhanced its separation abilities with the holes in the treble) but you can hear every instrument very clearly and they are well defined within the soundstage. Depth is quite a bit better than the LCD-2 as well, no doubt the result of the superior upper treble detail and clarity. The HD800 has a much better ability to project a coherent soundstage in front of your face (or more often, right in front of your forehead), especially on songs that have a lot of echoes and reverb in them (things that enhance the cues about the location of sounds in space). The claims about this headphone having a “holographic” sound are a bit exaggerated in my experience but they do actually work really well with binaural recordings. I didn’t think they sounded diffuse or anything like that. There is a limit to how well a headphone can image and these headphones are not far from that limit I think. All in all, these get a high recommendation from me for soundstage, imaging, and depth. They are very immersive as a gaming headphone and that constitutes at least 50% of the reason why I bought them haha but there are aspects that I wish could have been improved in terms of comfort.

I actually quite like the design of this headphone overall. It kinda has an early 2000s futuristic look to it that I enjoy (because it reminds me of that time period) but it is a bit more fragile than the LCD-2 in terms of build. The metal parts can scratch quite easily and the headband is still made of plastic. The pads also wear out fairly quickly (I’d say they probably need to be replaced every 2 years with moderate usage) like most Sennheiser pads do, but it shares spare parts with the HD800S so you won’t have any issues finding some, at least for a few more years if you buy a used HD800 (they’re not made anymore). The cable is annoyingly long and heavy and it is a bit of a chore to use as a result. Anything above 1.9-2m is too long for me but perhaps people in 2009 didn’t sit at a desk like I do now and they needed the extra length.

The comfort is a bit of a mixed bag for me. The pads are very large and will accommodate ears of any size essentially but they do sit a bit awkwardly on your face, like someone is gently cupping their hands over your ears. They don’t get as sweaty as the LCD-2 but the headband is where my real problem with the comfort of this headphone begins. I don’t know what it is about Sennheiser headbands but they seem to have a tendency to KILL the top of my head after 30-60 minutes of usage. The weight distribution seems to be concentrated mostly on the top part of my head which makes them quite painful to use (for me) for extended periods of time. The HD800 comfort is bad enough that it occasionally even makes me nauseous if I also happen to have a bit of a headache prior to wearing them. Moving the headband back and forth does little to alleviate this issue. So if you’re thinking of buying a pair bear in mind that the comfort may not be the best. I found the twice as heavy LCD-2 much more comfortable overall because it had a better headband (the 2017 one) that evenly distributed the weight thus avoiding any problematic hot spots on top. However, given how much I like the way the HD800 sounds I am still trying to adjust to the comfort problems and perhaps taking them off periodically to avoid the pain is not such a bad thing.

As for power requirements, these are not especially hard to drive in my experience. They are slightly easier to drive (it seems) than the LCD-2 despite the 300 ohm impedance and also easier to drive than the HD600. So you COULD essentially power them off of a phone but you probably shouldn’t. I would recommend getting something like the JDS Atom amp and DAC stack at the very least to get the most out of these headphones. They likely benefit from an amp in the bass and (perceived) dynamic range in particular though I didn’t find their sound to change drastically from a solid state source to another like some people are suggesting. Instead of chasing the perfect source I would much rather use EQ where things can DRASTICALLY improve if it’s done properly.

In conclusion I would say that these are terrific value for the money under $1K used but mostly if you use EQ, otherwise you might have to audition them first (its stock bright sound isn’t for everyone). The clarity and detail of this headphone has definitely stood the test of time and they still compare favorably to other much more expensive headphones and thus they have earned their permanent spot in my headphone collection. I will at some point hopefully have the chance to compare them against other flagships like the LCD-4 or the STAX 007 but until then these are more than satisfying for me in most regards.


FR and tweaked oratory EQ profile.

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techboy

500+ Head-Fier
Pros: fast, clear, excellent transients, huge soundstage, very real
Cons: fatiguing and extreme treble, not as lush as HD 650
Sennheiser's HD 800 - You nailed it Sennheiser!
 
I'd like to clear a few things before you read the review.
 
1. Sennheiser India was kind enough to lend me their HD 800 for a home demo, for an undetermined length of time. Knowing fully well that I won't be buying them. As I can't afford them at this point in time. So I'd like to thank you Sennheiser India for this kind gesture. 
 
2. The demo unit is a piece from 2009. One of the first 250 HD 800 headphones that Sennheiser built. So it is the old version. And doesn't need more burn in either. 
 
3. You'll be disappointed to know that most of the review was done with the Sonarworks Headphone Plugin. SW is a VST plugin that corrects the headphone's frequency curve to bring it as close to neutral as possible. I also enabled the Linear Phase option in SW alongside. 
 
4. The reason for doing this was because in its stock form, the HD 800 was way too bright. And coming from the HD 650 I was unable to adjust. Nevertheless, the HD 800's sound fantastic even with SW enabled. 
 
The Test Setup
 
Headphones - HD 800 (old), HD 650 (2013 - silver), HD 700 - All burned in heavily due to their age.
 
Amplifier - Project Ember Hybrid Tube Amp by Garage1217.com (with supercharger) -> Sylvania 6SN7WGT
 
DAC - Asus Essence One Muses Edition
 
Software - JRiver with Sonarworks for HD 800, HD 650 and HD 700 (HD 800 setting)
 
Music - Recent Bollywood
 
Now. 
 
You should get ready to read the review. :)   
 
REVIEW
 
Long story short, you'll be delighted to know the HD 800 blows away both the HD 650 and HD 700. 
 
The HD 800 is clearer, cleaner, faster, more detailed, has much less distortion and just better all around. 
 
In comparison, the HD 650 sounds ***led and distorted. It almost seems like a toy compared to the HD 800. Now. You may not like to hear this. But this is indeed the truth. 
 
The only advantage the HD 650 has over the HD 800 is that it is a touch more musical and lusher. But the HD 800 is plain and simple better. And so much better than you'll never touch the HD 650 if you buy the HD 800 once. 
 
After hearing the HD 800 for a few days, I'm finding it really hard to go back to the HD 650. 
 
You name it. Breaking through congested passages. A larger soundstage. Better sound isolation. The HD 800 nails it nearly every time. 
 
Even with SW, the HD 800 is a bit brighter than the HD 650. But no big deal. Without Sonarworks, yes, you'll find it hard to listen to the HD 800 if you're not used to a bright sound. 
 
But that too has perhaps been fixed in the 2013 revision of the HD 800, perhaps. 
 
Anyway, both headphones were used with Sonarworks. 
 
And there isn't much of a contest. 
 
You should take the HD 800 over the HD 650 for anything and everything. For all types of music. 
 
Comfort
 
HD 700 >= HD 800 >> HD 650
 
Both the HD 700 and HD 800 are very comfortable. The HD 650 isn't in the same league. Although it is pretty comfortable on its own. 
 
Mids
 
HD 800 is cleaner and clearer. HD 650 is lusher. But HD 800 is in a different league altogether due to its lower distortion. 
 
Treble
 
HD 650 has recessed treble. 

HD 800 has forward treble. 

With Sonarworks, I prefer the HD 650's treble over the HD 800's treble. But only because the HD 800 is still brighter. It is still better in every other way. 
 
Bass
 
Again, HD 800 has less bass. But better bass. You know that!
 
Soundstage
 
The HD 800 feels like it has a 50-100% bigger SS as compared to the HD 650. 
 
Everything else
 
The HD 800 is clearly a big step up. 
 
To wrap it up
 
I'd even say if they could take care of the bright treble of the old HD 800, it would be perfect. 
 
The HD 800 deserves to be priced 3-5x the HD 650. IMO. Your mileage may vary. 
 
And the above impression hasn't been formed over 10 minutes. Initially, I was a bit disappointed. But having heard the HD 800 for a while, going back to the 650 was shocking. 
 
There is a big difference!
 
I recommend the HD 800 wholeheartedly. To everyone. 
 
P.S. HD 700 vs HD 650 review- 
http://akshaytalwar.blogspot.in/2016/03/sennheiser-hd-700-sennheisers-queen-in.html
 
Source:
http://akshaytalwar.blogspot.in/2016/04/sennheisers-hd-800-you-nailed-it.html

TwoEars

500+ Head-Fier
Pros: Perhaps the world's most transparent headphone. Incredible details, extension and precision. Unmatched spacial presentation.
Cons: Extremely sensitive to what's down the line, requires meticulous setup. Hopeless to demo, needs extensive listening to judge.
I've owned the HD800's for the better part of two years, by now I have hundreds and hundreds of hours of listening time behind me. It is never easy to review a flagship product but the HD800 is harder still, it is not a random thing that I've held off doing this review for so long.
 
The first time I demoed the HD800 I was of course incredibly exited to try Sennheiser latest and greatest headphone, who wouldn't be? I was impressed by the build quality, the "all-day-long-disappear-on-your-head" comfort, the attention to detail, the very German "rightness" of it all. As I listened to some of my favorite demo tracks in the hi-fi store I was amazed by the details, spacial presentation and precision. But at the end of it all I also came away more than a little perplexed, and there was no instant buy that day. Some of my favorite recordings had sounded a bit dry, hollow and sterile. Almost as if they had been stripped of emotion.
 
So at the time I simply concluded that the HD800 was competent, but that it wasn't for me. And no great loss since I carried on with my HD650's, a pair of headphones which I to this day still hold in very high regard.
 
But after a year or so I started thinking about the HD800's again, I guess curiosity is the only way I can describe it. Was I sure there really wasn't anything special with the HD800? This was Sennheiser we were talking about, could Sennheiser really be wrong? So I started reading about the HD800's, and how divided the opinions on them were. This didn't seem to be a "normal" pair of headphones which you could just demo for an hour or so. These headphones required you to actually buy them, install them in your system, set them up the way you want them, let the headphones break in and then let your ears acclimatize themselves.
 
But even armed with this knowledge I still wasn't completely sold on buying them, it's a lot of money to put down on the table when you're not sure if you're going to like something or not. But one day I spotted a mint second hand pair from a professional reseller at a price that was just too good to pass on. So I decided just to go for it -  "heck for that price I can probably sell them for the same again if I don't like them" I said to myself.
 
And away from the pressure of the demo room I slowly began to warm to the HD800's and appreciate what's so special about them. This isn't really a headphone that's built to be a headphone, this is a set of headphones that's supposed to sound like a pair of speakers standing in front of you.
 
I have never before or since had a pair of headphones that image so well, it is simply uncanny and something that has to be experienced. Since they are so transparent they also respond extremely well to tweaking. If you change a cable, change the source or give them a +2 dB bass boost you can really hear the difference. This is both good and bad; it is good because they respond very well to changes down the line. It is bad because they are extremely demanding; if you have unclean power in your home, a low quality DAC, a humming amp or a low quality recording you will hear it.
 
And in this regard the HD800's are extremely unflattering, they will show absolutely no mercy towards bad recordings. On the other hand; if you give them top-notch components and a good recording they will blow almost everything else out of the water. This is why I like to think of the HD800's as a highly strung F1 car. They can be a pair of demanding son-of-a-somethings, but if you get them set up right... boy do they perform.
 
As such I highly recommend the HD800's, I've derived tons of listening pleasure from mine. It is a headphone that I like to think can do things which no other headphone can. But it is also a headphone that's best purchased when you've already owned a couple of other headphones, and you already have a very competent DAC and AMP setup. Even then it might not be a pair of headphones that you want to use all the time, or for all your recordings. But with the right setup, and the right recordings, you can experience "moments of greatness" which few other headphones can match.
TwoEars
TwoEars
Thanks guys.
Shape77
Shape77
Thank You for Your review!
saalboy
saalboy
Great review, thank you. I'm using HD800 paired in balanced mode with Pono Player. It's probably not the best combination but worth of considering. Have to say that I can't go back to my long time favorite HD600, the difference between HD800 and latter is immense, not only in price.
With Anaxilus mod (2mm narrow felt) my HD800 have the same characteristics we love about HD600 but with super wide soundstage, tight base and crisp clear highs which take the music to all new level. My ears are in heaven, especially with acoustic music. All sampled and electronic sounds which we find mostly in pop music have a little dirty effect to it no matter the source.

MickeyVee

Headphoneus Supremus
Pros: Soundstage, Detail, Layering, FR Response
Cons: Unreleting Accuracy
There are so many review of the HD800 and for my review, I wanted to take a different approach, a more personal, emotional view.. YMMV.. here we go..
 

 
 
First, let me address my POV on some of the key points of other reviews/comments/forum posts:
  1. Sibilance/ 6Khz peak:  I simply don't hear it.  I came from the HD700 and definitely heard the treble peaks there.  The HD800 seems pretty flat to me across the spectrum. I'm definitely going to try the Anaxilus 2.0 mod, but I'm in no real hurry.
  2. Source/Amp Dependant:  Oh Yes.. maybe thats the magic behind the HD800.. they definitely scale up.  They're listenable through something as simple as the AudioQuest DragonFly and scale way, way up form there.  Give that, my thoughts are based on the HD800 and Woo Audio WA7 combination.  This is as much a review/thoughts on the WA7 delivers as it is specifically to the HD800. 
  3. MythBuster: You don't have to have TOTL source/DAC/Amp to enjoy the HD800! I won't recommend a FiiO E10 with them but in the $1K range, you can start to hear the potential. Choose carefully and you will be rewarded.
  4. Cables: Although I have the fabulous Q silk cable, I decided to conduct this review with the stock cable.  This provides a better baseline. USB cable is the NuForce USB and that's about it.
  5. (Update) Source: 2012 MacMini with Audirvana Plus on top of iTunes.
 
There are two district areas of my home office. The main setup is my desk with my MacMini, Woo WA7 and HD800 where I generally hang out listening to music while surfing, working or processing pictures in LightRoom and the other side where I have my recliner and immerse myself in the music with the lights out and the room lit by a single candle and the glow of the WA7 fireflies.  In my office chair, I can get analytical and pick apart my system and in my recliner I can just sit back with a dram of Single Malt and just enjoy.  This review is about the latter.
 
HD800-WA7-ForReview-SS.jpg
 
 
My HeadFi journey has been relatively short compared to others and I feel like I'm reaching my end state. Not quite there yet, but I feel like I'm getting there. For me, the HD800 is about the music, it's layers, depth, air, detail and how the music was recorded along with the artists individuality. The only way I can explain this  is by my reflections of some of my favourite songs.  So, here it goes..
 
The Longest Road, Deadmou5 ReMix by Morgan Page (iTues download).  The song start with a brilliant baseline centre stage and brings in keyboards escalating and surrounding it in multiple dimensions.  The vocalist, Lisse, is dead centre stage during the main parts of the song and moves off to both sides for the chorus.  Her voice is haunting and I can imagine see her face and expressions throughout the track. The music, it's dimensionality and simple layers takes me beyond the music into another world.  I can feel and almost see her passion and know that she's having fun with this.  Yes, its an iTunes download and I wish the bass was smoother and more solid but there's more to it than the technicalities.
 
Somewhere Down the Crazy River, Robbie Roberstson (CD rip to Apple Lossless).  Robbie's voice is deep and passionate taking me down deep into the souther states somewhere down the crazy river right into Nick's Cafe. He tells the story and I'm right there.  The music is dimensional all around me while with the voice and lyrics paints a realistic visual picture for me.
 
Adele 21 (CD rip to Apple Lossless).. what can I say.  This lady has been hurt bad and is reflected in her voice and music.  Simply Brilliant.
 
Eva Cassidy  (CD rip to Apple Lossless)... simplicity, brilliance and one of the greatest voices I have ever heard.  Her voice music is dreamy and suck me right in. Could listen to her forever.
 
Black Magic Woman, Patricia Barber (SA/CD rip to Apple Lossless).  This has to be one of the best recorded tacks I have ever heard.  Sexy and sultry voice with a band that is as incredible as she is.  I'm not a musician and don't know instruments very well but when I listen to the track, I can envision the bass player, the organist and guitarist, hear/see their fingers as they finesse their instruments all in harmony making great music.
 
The Girl From Ipanema, Frank Sinatra (CD to Apple Lossless).  Wow!  I had no idea that recording were that good in the 50's.  Frank has to have one of the greatest and smoothest voices ever recored.  The guitar, piano and string are simple in structure but definitely realistic and enveloping. I can listen to each individually or bring my self back to hear the entire ensemble. 
 
One More Night, Cutmore Club Mix, Maroon 5 (iTunes download).  Ok, I just want to crank it, get up and dance when this track is on.  Not a great recording but the bass is powerful and the passion comes through in the lyrics.; probably because I can relate.  Who gives a cr@p about the technicalities, this is just fun! Absolutely love it!!
 
 
Fleurs Du Mal, Sarah Brightman (CD to Apple Lossless): As much as I love her voice and the symphonic rock melody of this track, the recording just sucks.  What a pity!  This could be a reference track for the HD800 but the poor recording/mixing is evident. The HD800 brings out every poor detail and that can be said of most poorly recorded tracks. Congested and distorted. The HD800 lays out the simple truth.
 
I could go on and on with other examples with some of my favourites being Dire Straits, Enigma, Moodswings, Supertramp, Loreena McKennitt, Michael Buble and more. 
 
For me, the HD800 is about the emotion it brings it like no other headphone I have owned.  I love to hear and listen to the different layers in complex music as well as appreciate simple compositions.  I love the ability to pick out and place voices and instruments in 3D space and then move back and hear/see how they come together in a great song. I could listen to a single track and get something new out of it each time I hear it be it 10 times or 300 times. 
Sometimes is just about listening beyond the technicalities. For example, I probably have similar comments with the HiFiMAN HE500 which is a brilliant headphone but somehow comes across dry and unemotional.  The music is there, it's good but just sounds like a good recording.. something is missing for me.
 
 Is the HD800 perfect, not really.  I find it lifelike and deeply immersive with the right type of music.  The air, detail, layering and soundstage all contribute but taken as a whole, there is something special there.  This is the first headphone that I have owned where I can listen at low volumes and hear everything or just crank it and have fun without fatigue.
 
At times, I'd like to get the feeling like I was in a club back into the 80's dancing to When I Rome (The Promise), Frankie goes to Hollywood (Relax), Simple Minds, Pet Shop Boys.. or just losing myself in Deadmou5 or Lindsey Stirling… you get it. The HD800 does not do that (so much) for me so I'll be looking for a compliment to them. Maybe different source/amp or another pair of complimentary headphones depending on my budget.  For everything else, they're definitely a keeper for me. If you've got the budget to tailor your source/amp to your liking, this could be pretty much an end game.
 
Takeanidea
Takeanidea
Am glad you mentioned about the HD800 at low volumes being so good. That's something that I always noticed but don't think it's raved about enough.
Takeanidea
Takeanidea
Am glad you mentioned about the HD800 at low volumes being so good. That's something that I always noticed but don't think it's raved about enough.
Dionysus
Dionysus
Knowing that you come from the HD700 and moving up to the 800 gives me an excellent insight to the upgrade. I am currently giving the 800 a lot of consideration, your review is again insightful thanks.

DefQon

Headphoneus Supremus
Pros: natural bass, build quality, comfort, fast and detail, alike high end stats.
Cons: peaky treble, highs can be slightly bright on some tracks, paint chipping, may be expensive for some
The HD800's has been around a long time so I'm going to wrap up this review in a few paragraphs. 
 
Having owned 3 HD800's at one stage, Serials 51**, 136** and Purrins 103**. 
 
Going through all 3 before selling the first two and keeping only Purrins HD800 I bought off him, the early serial based HD800's are to my ears a bit more bass light and more warmer then my original serial 136** and purrins 103**.
 
I ended up selling mine and the early serial based HD800 and was thinking of selling purrins one due to moving onto speakers but I thought maybe I should keep it because its got the magical touch from purrin due to all the CSD plots he does LOL.
 
Anywho, the HD800 paired with my Beta22 amp sounds extremely good, revealing some detail that I've never heard from my tracks similar to the amount of revealing detail some Stax rigs I've auditioned and owned. Certain music can sound slightly too bright, some music with vocals can result in the voice sounding like it's pronouncing everything with a "Sssss".
Following the threads here or Innerfidelity (thanks to Tyll), performing the Anaxlius mod with a thicker but more denser felt material can fix the treble problems a bit, generally a bit of eq can fix this problem.
 
Most people say the HD800s are too bass light or no bass at all, but with proper amping, you can put on some bass heavy tracks and put your hands over the outside filter dome and you can really feel the bass vibrations. I actually gave the bass of the HD800's a pro because it actually sounds very natural, if I wanted bass, I'd just grab my LCD2's or some of my other bass heavy can's. 
 
Surprisingly for a plastic build, it is surprisingly well built and durable, the only thing I can complain about it really is the paint chipping problems that people have, the silver paint really is prone to chipping off no matter how much care is taken with the headphones, which is why I'm in the process of repainting mine through a professional painting service, unfortunately I've emailed Colorware before to do a one off type of job and they said the reason they stopped the custom painting services through Colorware is due to warranty problems and modded headphones.
 
Other then that there really isn't anything else to say about these headphones, if there is one headphone you should try before moving onto high end electrostats it is the HD800's as there detail, accuracy and speed of its dynamics are similar to that of high end stats like the 007 MK 1/2's. etc.
 
Pair the HD800 with a top of the line solid state amp such as the Beta 22 and you will be wowing at every song you re-listen to that you've heard probably heard a hundred times.

YoengJyh

500+ Head-Fier
Pros: It makes my LCD2.2 leave in dust
Cons: It keeps me away from other flagship headphones for certain period
But why i give 4.5 stars?
 
Because Stax009 is better to my ears.
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XxDobermanxX
interpolate
interpolate
This is not Facebook. Geez it reminds me of the iVerge forum. 
YoengJyh
YoengJyh
I have been using my HD800 more than 3 years now. HD800 is the only headphone on my head at all times. Thanks Sennheiser!!

dreamwhisper

1000+ Head-Fier
Pros: Imaging, soundstage, neutrality
Cons: For casual listening the large soundstage is a little bewildering
Me and my non-head-fi friend spent an evening listening to the HD800.
 
We've both spent a lot of time with the HD650, but I had the SR-007 and HD800 available that we took turns listening to.
The HD800 was powered by a Headamp GS-1 and Assemblage 3.1.
 
Here are some notes:
The HD650 has a 2-blob soundstage, which the HD800 don't have, and that makes the soundstage larger, and can be a little bewildering to listen to if you're trying to pick out detail and passages.
 
Stax 007 provides details with greater ease. But it's really apples and oranges, the Stax and HD800 couldn't be more different.
Since the HD800 is so critical and detailed it helps to take a step back and try to hear the music as it comes, without being hyper vigilant as you listen to it.
This involves a new methodology of listening where you consciously focus on absorbing the information.
This is why me and my friend decided it was best to use random music choices to keep us interested.
 
In general, I agree with what someone else said about having other gear that you can enjoy before you acquire the HD800 for casual music listening.
Because it's nice to take breaks from focusing on absorbing the HD800's musical information.
If you don't have any other headphones, or simply can't enjoy music without hyper vigilance the HD800 likely isn't for you.
In this way it follows logically that it would be helpful to have some experience with other headphones in the hobby before approaching the HD800.
Compared to the 007, the HD800's detail and resolution power don't seem to match as well with a soundstage so big. There's so much information, but it isn't always possible to process it all meaningfully.
This is something I commonly experience on other dynamic headphones. My friend has only really heard an HD650 and some low range AKG's so he couldn't comment.
 
But even he was able to respect the HD800 for what it can do in analytical applications, where it's imaging can really shine, music production, movies, and turning up loudly to simulate being at a music festival.
 
I've decided that the HD800, if personified, would be symbolized by a person with a sort of refined sensibility, who subscribes to moral standards and etiquette.
They like to be 'understood' and not just 'listened to'. They like to be 'felt' as well as 'heard'.
 
Is this some sort of poetic expression for the meaning of life?
And the 8 in 800 an upright expression of infinity. Are the two 0's side-by-side really a symbol of infinity.
"HD8∞." It's an interesting proposition.
If I had an infinite amount of disposable money I wouldn't be surprised if I could discover new ways of appreciating the HD800 with IC upgrades, new cables, tube amps, etc.
But I wouldn't be surprised if really all I was doing just that, discovering new ways of appreciating it.
There's so much information to absorb. So much to experience and take in. d(*-*)b
That said, if I turn up the volume to a higher-than-usual level it sounds like my favorite electronic music festival, so a little drum and bass now and then doesn't seem to offend the HD800's puritanical pursuit of truth and justice in the universe.

EDIT: These headphones with a Dynahi is jaw-dropping. A little bit fatiguing, but it gives me most awe of any headphone setup I've heard. This shows imo that the headphones can scale well with equipment upgrades.
dreamwhisper
dreamwhisper
Not sure what you mean.
I mean 'feel' as in physically sense the impact and vibration of the headphones. I'll edit that haha.
Jeff Y
Jeff Y
*cough*jk*cough* :)
jk47
jk47
i wonder how much your experience is determined by the dac and amp.  i have a metrum hex to a metrum aurix amp and don't experience the hd800 at all in the way you described.  it's just beautiful, beautiful music.

bedlam inside

100+ Head-Fier
Pros: Sound Stage Presentation, natural balance and tone, generally top notch sound quality
Cons: They are way too expensive for just a pair of headphones
Like with the HiFiMAN Headphones these are tantalising. If they cost 400 squid and could be driven well by a smart-phone or laptop headphone output, I’d buy them on the spot. At three times the price and only suited to home use, I can neither justify the expense nor do I have the slightest inclination to do much headphone listening at home. And I want the “magic” the HiFiMAN planar’s weave too.
 
Combine the best of the Sennheiser and the HiFiMAN Phones, sell them at £ 700 and there is a good chance that the queues in front of the headphone shops start approaching those in front of Apple stores when a new iPhone comes out.

Read the whole review here:

 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/648968/a-headphone-shootout-from-a-speaker-listener-testing-eight-headphones-from-80-to-1-200#post_9114896

stainless824

100+ Head-Fier
Get a different cable. One fault is the stock cable of the hd800, it's 36AWG, perhaps the bottleneck you are finding with this headphone. Get a different cable because the anemic bass and the hot treble on this is mainly due to this fault in engineering, using 18awg will make it a lot better
nicholars
nicholars
Maybe you should go and work for Sennheieser and inform the engineers what they are doing wrong... All that R&D and they used too thin cable! Solved!
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DarKen23
DarKen23
Theres nothing wrong with the stock cable. Does it fair better with aftermarket, sure. Doesnt mean the stock is bad. Go stick the 1/4' plug into a vintage pioneer receiver, I doubt youd shame the stock cables again.
Headzone
Headzone
Trolls are not funny anymore.

neilsberman

New Head-Fier
Pros: Best overall sound quality ever. Period.
Cons: Expensive, open on the sides, and a tad thin in the middle ranges in my opinion.
Let me say I am a serious regular music listener, not a techie. The earphones are worth it if you can afford them. The solution to the thinness was to pair it with a TEAC NP H750 headphone DAC and a Marantz 2285B amp, where you can boast the mid ranges independantly. If you listen to what I listen to, which is 1965 to 1980 basicly, it sounds amazing.

.Sup

Headphoneus Supremus
 
So finally some impressions from me heh
 
For the past two weeks I'm listening to HD800 exclusively, I needed a month to adapt to the different sound signature of 800s. At first I was very annoyed about the lack of bass they have compared to HD600 (and some people say HD600 don't have enough bass already) but now I don't miss it, there's plenty now, its tight but not as deep as HD600. I understand why Sennheiser would want to reduce bass, in my opinion because everything else is now more forward sounding, more open, vocals wouldn't be as realistic as they are with more bass impact. 
I have to repeat I don't miss any bass and I have tried them with variety of music. They work great even with bass heavy Trance and Electronica. R&B sound fantastic as well and my favourite Jazz is jaw dropping. 
 
Some say HD800 are bright headphones but I disagree, they are however very detailed and certainly not veiled in anyway like the HD600. I have to admit vocals were never so close to reality before and soundstage is just amazing with HD800. Its like music is floating in my cans. 
 
The first thing I noticed when I put them on my head is how much heavier they were compared to HD600 which are my reference cans. They aren't too heavy just heavier, noticeable. I used to say HD555s were the most comfy cans. Well I have a new reference when it comes to comfortability. These are huge and my ears don't even touch the cans. 
 
The pads don't seem to be velour and are of much high quality and more skin friendly-they don't itch. Build quality is decent but in time the build flaws become apparent. The cable is very nicely build, don't know how many strands it has but its twisted and I don't see myself buying a new one unless I go balanced someday but that doesn't seem to happen any time soon since I enjoy them a lot with my current setup.
 
My setup is as follows: ND-S1 dock (which is the most neutral transport I have ever heard besides my Yamaha S-1000 cd transport) then the setup continues in either DacMagic with RA PSU>Auditor or Audio GD Ref5>LD IV SE.
 
I mostly use the 1st setup as its much more musical but the Ref5 has the detail. Interesting how some components just don't have synergy. LD IV with DM is grainy while REf5 and Auditor are harsh with HD800.
 
HD800 need a nice stand as they are very fragile cans. What more can I say, people who listen to them are jaw-dropping and I, myself now enjoy these fully. Are they worth the money? No, hugely overpriced, HD600 offer much more value at 1/5 of its price (Europe) but I don't imagine my setup without them (HD800). :)
 
 

gevorg

1000+ Head-Fier
Pros: natural, revealing, holographic, neutral, lightweight, comfortable
Cons: fussy with amps, mediocre stock cable
Contrary to a common complaint, HD800's are not bright and do not *need* a tube amp/coloration. In most cases, the cause is the recording quality, which can be "tamed" by EQ.

Although HD800 has an expansive soundstage, you can bring it to another level by using a crossfeed like Redline Monitor. Overall presentation will be even more natural and easier to listen to.
Sweden
Sweden
I suggest trying out another soundstage DSP with the HD800, TB Isone.
Redline have nothing on this one. It actually makes the HD800 sound like a speaker rig. 
gevorg
gevorg
I have both. TB Isone is great but it has a steep learning curve and needs occasional adjustment from one genre/album to another. For someone who is new to DSPs, I think a well designed crossfeed is a good start to test the waters (plus Redline a little more than a crossfeed).

Takeanidea

Headphoneus Supremus
Pros: Accuracy Comfort(moddable with 30 minutes fully reversible work)-revision Nov 2015-rev 2016 Bass lifted treble spike toned down
Cons: Price- First hours of listening were a little worrying-(treble may eventually grate)Revision Nov 2015 new rev Nov 2016 grating treble all but gone
Hi there,
This review is based on my honest impressions of the HD800. I have no technical background little technical knowledge but I listen to music an awful lot. This comes from the heart and I in no way intend to cause any personal offence to any of the gear anyone else has. I simply wish to put on record what my personal findings have been on this set of phones and the reader can compare to other reviews out there.
First of all, I have to say it has not been possible to find a way to give you an unbiased comparison of these headphones against any others on the market. This is because double blind testing only works when you are using ancillary equipment.
If you know your existing headphones then you know how they feel on your head so this immediately destroys any chance of knowing what the true differences are. Leaving aside all the tricks your ears can and will play on you....
This is a good and a bad thing. On the one hand it gives reviews like this an added importance to the prospective buyer and on the other hand theee is no esy of proving whether any of this is correct.
The closest one might get to a really good comparison would be those people lucky enough to have a sound card dac or headphone amplifier that had 2 headphone outputs. Switching between headphones could therefore be done faster and the memory of the sound characteristics of each arguably clearer in one's mind. I believe jude has a benchmark dac that has this facility. The added complication is that every headphone has a slightly different sensitivity so volume matching is arguably needed. I have not got these facilities they are more suited to the regular reviewers out there.
I have had the hd800s since early December 2012 so have listened to them for several hundred hours. I have owned denon ahd2000's westone um2s shure ecl5s ue triple fi 10s monster gratitudes klipsch x10is srx mk3 pros and audeze lcd2's during this time. A comparison between these headphones is all I can do. There might be headphones out yhere that blow the hd800s out of the water for the type of sound quality I like but that's the mystique of our hobby- we will never truly know what the best out there is. David Mahler must be getting there with the number of top end phones he has I guess. But for mere mortals....
The hd800s are my favourite headphones. Whatever I plug them into whatever music I listen to. When it is practical to listen through them (they leak a huge amount of sound) they're amazing. The music is reproduced in a way I never believed was possible until I heard them. The audeze lcd2's are renowned for the live feel and the bass they produce and their beautiful finish. All of this I believe to be true from the time I owned them. My ears much preferred the sound of the hd800s and I will try to explain why.
There is something about the precision of the mix of the music the wideness of the sound that I have not experienced with any other headphone in the same way. The hd800s to my ears excel in this aspect. You will read numerous articles which will make you think twice about spending so much money on these phones. I have read they need hugely expensive headphone amplifiers , dacs, cabling, modding, 100s of hours of burn in time, special recordings, special ears probably. The list is endless. Who knows maybe some of that stuff is right especially for those who have pursued those paths to the nth degree.
Some of these paths are expensive toll roads, from my viewpoint I think I'll catch the bus :D
I am therefore not going to describe the hd800s as having shortcomings of needing any of the above because my ears are telling me they don't. Which is surely good news if youve just spent $1500.
Other criticism I've read is that they sound harsh or the treble has too much 'sparkle'. Not to my 46 year old ears they don't. Not one bit. The higher frequency stuff sounds just great. Another criticism levelled is that they lack bass. Again, I have found this to be untrue. All instrumemts are presented accurately so if there's metallica softly tapping way at the drums on enter sandman or the orchestra limbering up on jeff waynes the eve of the war it's worth taking some time out to hear it if you haven't before.
The only detrimental thing I can say beyond the obvious that they leak sound is that when I first listened to them out of the box they sounded very thin and strained like a cheap pair of iems. This was quite worrying to me. They started to improve after a few minutes and certainly gave me a sigh of relief after 30 minutes when I realised my new phones werent broken. Whether this phenomenon was what is described as burn in or whether it was down to the headphones being cold having been stored in a box for a long time I could not tell you. I left the phones connected to an ipod night and day for a week listening to them when I had a chance. This was just as much to make absolutely sure there wasn't a manufacturer fault than it was to burn them in and it did the phones no harm at all in the process. In hindsight I had nothing to fear but for those of you buying new I would advise it for the peace of mind that you haven't got a broken pair
I find most of the headfiers out there are on a budget. Am I right? If I had a budget of $1500 and I wanted to get the best sound quality I could I would buy a pair of these 2nd hand and spend the rest on wine, women (your loved ones deserve a treat for letting you get these), and song.
I hope I have not trodden on anyone's toes or caused anyone any upset in writing this. It was a simple impulsive wish to share some of the pleasure I have had in owning this amazing set of headphones. :)

AMENDMENT 10/11/15


I thought I would tell you of what life is like after a few years of use. I have dropped these phones a few times and had to repair the stock cables at the termination, they have been taken around with me during my journey to and from the various places I live so they show signs of wear.


Terminalrepair1.jpg
Terminalrepair2.jpg


The HD800s still live up to their initial impressions, I have bought and sold many other phones; LCD2.2, T1, Stax Sigma Pro, IE800, X11i, Alpha Dog, Encore Pro Studio, Stance S1,T20 etc. I have listened to many other phones including the SR009, Orpheus, K1000, Abyss, GS1000i, PS1000, Ultrasone, Noble, LCD3,W1000,HE560 and HE1000. Whilst some of these have been better sounding to me (SR009,K1000,HE1000,Orpheus,Abyss,HE560) I have not been tempted to spend those sorts of sums on replacement.
Some 2 months ago I decided to mod the HD800 using the Anaxilus Mod. I was really disappointed with the results, to me they sounded muffled, lost too much of their soundstage and were too prominent in the bass. Rather than discarding all the research and damping material I decided to tone down the effect of the mod. I put wool felt over the metal rings of the driver reducing the thickness of the original mod by a factor of two thirds.


FeltMod1.jpg
FeltMod2.jpg


The cutting is crude, the felt doesn't 100% cover the surface of the ring. It doesn't even stick hard and fast the surface. Yet the felt does what it needs to do.
This has made a noticeable difference in bass response and ringing around the upper treble region, although a word of warning ; the upper mids and treble region is where I believe the magic of the illusion of the huge soundstage is created. Of course the size and angle of the drivers plays a part in the soundstage too , the mod does pull it in. The soundstage is further refined and pulled in with an EQ I have set up on my Audivarna Plus music player.


ScreenShot2015-11-09at14.04.55.png


I am reaping the fruit of my labours with these phones, in spite of the HD800S launch. The S Model is intended to rectify some of the perceived shortcomings of the 800 Model, I have to say I have changed the stock sound of mine using damping and eq to the point where I have no interest in replacing them with the S Model.
There has been one recent major purchase; this is the HE6 and a huge speaker amp based on the First Watt F6, @dill3000 diy built "The Mini Beast". More on that in another review. The HE-6 is a different tone and the soundstage is altogether different. The HD800 is still with me and enjoying a new lease of life despite the HE-6.

Revision Nov 2016
More modding
The half felt half lambswool has now been replaced with a full lambswool layer to the ring around the drivers of my HD800.
IMG_20161123_153647000_HDR.jpg

Listening to the S model made me realise there was still more that should be done with these phones. My friend @dill3000 pointed out to me @Sorrodje had another layer of sophistication to add to the mods already done out there.
[VIDEO]https://youtu.be/Ydot90j8gmo[/VIDEO]
Dillan got some resonators and I set to work on the drivers. 10 minutes later and I was finished. They work! Wonderful work @Sorrodje. Thank you. You have made the great even greater.
The HD800 , at £1099 , is looking at ever more of a bargain. Although , even with the mods , I would put my money on the S model for the extra £100. the soundstage is not quite so wide and the imaging perhaps not quite so pin sharp, but I think the tonality still just edges it.
aizik1992
aizik1992
my question is how they work on bus,street any public place i believe they would still sound great but is it worth the price? and if they aren't too loud from the outside?
guntur
guntur
Well. I am sure these are meant to be used at home. Though I do wish we could carry them everywhere!! It would be worth the price if you can carry these babies everywhere 'carefully' and secondly find a place where you wont be disturbing others and where others don't disturb you!!
reihead
reihead
Love this kind of review revisions after some months or years
Thank you very much
Very informative

Luric

New Head-Fier
Pros: Sharp, Clean, Quite Neutral, Wide Imaging
Cons: This is a Machine not an instrument, I think.
After I bought HDVD 800, it felt like I should change my control headphone. Sure, I was in love with AKG K812 for a long time. But, if using HDVD 800 as a main headphone amplifier and DAC, HD800 made me feel right. So I bought CH800S cables, too. (Oh, that was 'uselessly' expensive.)
 
HD800 sounds really nothing with balanced connection. I mean, Nothing is Nothing. In my personal and subjective view, Highs too dry, Lows too simple. But why? It makes sense all the time. When I'm reviewing headphones, HD800 acts as a control with high satisfaction. This headphone tells you what is different and what is a character in other headphones.

ag8908

500+ Head-Fier
Pros: Outstanding in every way, sound, comfort
Cons: Nothing other than price
Will fill this in later but based on the fact that it absolutely kills every single song and genre of music that I've throw at it, the final rating is clear.
 
Edit 1: After listening to this and the Aude'ze LCD XC for four days, I've reached a point where I will never grab for the LCD XC if the HD800 are available. The HD800 simply sound more natural (all of the other headphones I have sound "synthetic," like they almost auto-tune or digitize the sounds very slightly if that makes any sense. With the HD800 it sounds like the band is singing and playing right in front of you.). The imaging on the HD800 is also incredible. It's like there are 10 speakers spaced all around your ears, each firing off in turn. Therefore, I called Aude'ze and the retailer and asked if I could please return them. The Aude'ze person said I would have to pay a 15% ($300) restocking fee, which I mention here only because it shows Sennheiser's superiority (they don't charge a restocking fee if you return the item within their 30 day money back guaranty period). Sennheiser is first class all the way.
 
Edit 2: OK I found a design flaw. On the outside of the headphones, around the drivers, there is this very thin aluminum foil type cover/enclosure that I keep accidentally touching with my fingers when taking the headhones on and off, and which seems like a weak material that will eventually tear as a result of this touching.
 
Edit3: To give you an example of the auditory magic performed by the HD800, open "the way you make me feel" by michael jackson, bad 25th ann. album, on spotify at 320 kbps. The whole song sounds great but focus especially on the drum that kicks in every 10 seconds or so. You hear this particular drum beat in the first four seconds of the song, at about 11 seconds, at 20 seconds, at 27 seconds. . . . The HD800 reproduces it amazingly, even providing that special and very faint echo that is produced by a real drum. If you can find a headphone that produces that drum beat better, please post it in the comments. The reason I like the HD800 is that it can make well recorded music like this shine like no other headphone.
 
Edit4: On the other hand, with the HD800 you'll find yourself opening your favorite song from the past, hoping for the magic described above, only to discover that the song was poorly recorded. In these cases you need the right amp to mellow things down. Perhaps a tube; for me my Yamaha stereo receiver's output jack works well. But I am not going to ding the HD800 for making bad recordings sound bad, because I think it's solely the fault of the recording engineer but it's a complaint you'll hear from many HD800 users. Fortunately, there are enough very well recorded songs out there for me to enjoy the HD800.
 
Edit5: I just discovered a great use for its super long wire, using it to listen to TV and movies! More outstanding sound.
 
Edit6: One other advantage of this headphone is that, because its drivers are so far from your ears, there is less risk noise induced hearing loss.They are more like speakers in that sense.
 
Edit7: Out of curiosity, I took the time to set up my stereo receiver properly in 5.1 surround mode. I used its microphone to perfectly calibrate each of the speakers, placed all around me, left/right rear each 3 feet away, and the others 10 feet in front, all perfectly calibrated so that no one sounds louder than the other. There is also a subwoofer in this mix. What did I learn? That this setup (which costs about $1,000 total including the receiver) beats the HD800 in every song. The HD800's benefit is that it sounds more "natural" and realistic than other headphones, but if that's what you want you should just stick with speakers, which offer better detail (and details are presented in proportion, not like headphones which make details sound louder than they should), better spatials, better sound -- just better. My conclusion from this is that although the HD800 are the best headphones I've ever tried, they can't beat a proper speaker system, which makes sense because no amount of magic engineering could turn a 1-2" driver into something that can compete with perfectly placed full sized speakers. I include this so that no one, who has the room and privacy to enjoy speakers, wastes their money on an HD800. Headphones are for people in apartments, people with families and people on the move. If you have the room, go with speakers.
nigeljames
nigeljames
I agree totally with your comments. I put off buying the HD800's for ages because people had said they were not good for rock/metal or for fast music.
Now I just wonder what those people were smoking!! 
whitedragem
whitedragem
Keep enjoying the low fidelity sources you seem to prefer.
 
Glad the headphones you have decided to keep offer you a sense of superiority, (I had to read your review based on the smack talk you put on other members review')
 
 
Based on what mistafuntasitco had to say regarding the same headset, basedon a year of use..
 
Your limited real time, especially given you seem to be figuring out basic stuff like how to run a headphone amp from your laptop.. surely makes your experience definative.
 
 
 
Whilst I have never been one to wish to bash, I just find the immaturity you bring to this forum kinda amazing. Ten drivers worth of amazing (in a well setup surround setup, speakers cease to have actual physical locations, and sound just extends seamlessly from the front plane around the room as programmed to do.
 
There is no doubt that Jacksons music sounds phenominal.
 
In fact many gold manufactured discs, oweing I believe to their higher reflectivity/ease to read, give phenominal,bass (the really long soundwave that errors in recreating will quite quickly diminish the integrity of).
 
I hope that some time at headfi digesting some of the other passionate takes of similar hobbyists might widen your understanding significantly.
 
Oh and I have little issue with compressed music (by file size) for some genres, as the playback has lost very little.
 
I have no time, however, for mass market compressed (make the music louder to stand out equally well from the radio in the background) styles of music.
 
headphones (great and small) benefit from great sources, being the file, the equipment and the user knowledge to match the right genres/recording with the right equipment.
 
long time forum goers here, as well as people who have lived through the last four decades of format demise keep several setups to meet the needs of differing song requirements for enjoyable playback.
 
Anyhow, I just hope you can chill out a little on a need to burn other people who's opinion differs to yours, no matter your level of expertise, cause even the 'lambs' need some helpful steering/honest answers to their quite often overwhelmed new experience and hobby.
 
Outside of this forum some people just don't get that spending more than,$30 has any real worth to the audio. May the song remain the same...

shabta

500+ Head-Fier
Pros: Incredibly Detailed, Amazing Sound, Especially Classical
Cons: cost is high
Will enter Later

sdotfire

100+ Head-Fier
Need to update when they arrive this friday, will have multiple sources to test them out on.

Skylab

Reviewerus Prolificus
Pros: A world-class high-end headphone from Sennheiser
Cons: Expensive; can be a little bright
REVIEW: Sennheiser HD 800

DSC02023-1.jpg


Overview

Reviewing a statement product is tough – especially one that was as highly anticipated as the HD800. There is already a huge buzz on head-fi about them, and many have already declared them the best dynamic headphone on the market. But most of these proclamations have been from owners, One potential difference between my listening to the HD800 and other people's so far is that I am fortunate to have been loaned a pair for a fairly lengthy period (1 month) - I did not buy them. So I do not have to deal with either buyer's euphoria, or worry about remorse, coloring my view on the headphone's performance. While I admit I *want* to like these, as I would like another pair of really great headphones, and I could afford to buy them if I liked them enough, my intent in listening to them is to analyze them with no pre-conceived notions, and since I have nothing to lose either way, it allows me a certain freedom to be scrutinize them very carefully, as I believe a "statement" product from a company like Sennheiser should be.

Please note that I am NOT saying that the views of the people who own them are not valid, or any less valid than my opinion. ALL opinions are equally valid. But mine does come from a slightly different point of view - not as an owner, but purely as an analyzer. I do want to add that initially I was considering buying them if I liked them enough. I'm not sure whether that has any bearing on my comments, but I am a big believer in full disclosure, so there it is.


Review Methodology

I spent a LOT of time with the HD800 in a wide variety of contexts. All my comparisons were done at my calibrated listening level of 80dBA (using the Rives Audio Test CD and my SPL meter for calibration).

And just so folks do not think that what I am hearing and have described below is either a factor of my amps, my cables, my sources, or my recordings, let me say this: I used 6 different sources (all with their own set of high-quality cables), 9 different amps, and lots and lots of the world's finest recordings . 3 of my sources are one-time Stereophile Class-A rated - two digital, one analog (the cartridge). I have amps from $400 - $1200 that I played them on, both tube and solid state. Sources included the Denon DVD-5900, Sony SCD-555ES, and my Vinyl rig of Benz-Micro Wood L2 on Denon DP-59L > Audio Electronics PH1 DJH. Amps used were SinglePower Extreme and MPX3, Decware CSP-2, Graham Slee SRG w/PSU1, and Audio-GD C-2-C.

Further, and unlike other headphone reviews, I also used my speakers for reference for this review. I also decided, in addition to other headphones, will that the very, very natural sounding but highly detailed B&W Nautilus 800 Signatures would be valuable in getting a good handle on the HD800’s performance. So I compared the sound of the HD 800 to the B&W N800’s as well as the JVC DX1000 and the Beyer DT880.

Also, I used truly excellent recordings in my evaluations, of wide variety. I've listened to my audiophile standards, which include a lot of jazz, some folk and bluegrass, and some extremely well recorded pop/rock records. I have developed a list of such recordings for evaluation use over the years, as many of you have.

I find Patricia Barber records, for example, excellent evaluation tools, as they are extremely well recorded, have both female vocals and piano, and have both quiet and explosive (for jazz) parts, and wide dynamics. Some of my initial concern about the HD800's treble was a result of listening to Patricia Barber's new record.

I believe this is more than sufficient to eliminate the other variables, and to decide what characteristics belong solely to the headphones themselves.



The Sound


The Midrange

The midrange on the HD800 is fantastically good – the best I have ever heard from a headphone. It is just as full-bodied as the DX1000’s, and yet lacks the DX1000’s very slight coloration. The mids are incredibly open and transparent. They are, to me, the “rightest” mids I have ever heard in a headphone. They make the Beyer DT990’s slightly recessed mids sound just silly by direct comparison (and I like the DT990 overall – a lot).

Mary Fahl and Julie Flanders’ harmonizing in October Project’s “Ariel” (from their eponymous record) is just as engaging as can possibly be. The mids are just slightly forward, but not ever congested. Male vocals are very natural and not overly chesty, or dry. The midrange has great body, but it does not have any noticeable coloration that I can hear. Many cans with body in the midrange accomplish this with a coloration which benefits some music more than others. To an extent the JVC DX1000 are like this, although over time I have grown to love the DX1000’s mids. But the HD800’s are better. The midrange performance is just beguiling. For some, it may be worth the price of admission all by itself.

Just listen to Joan Osborne’s vocals on her cover of The Grateful Dead’s “Brokedown Palace” (from “Pretty Little Stranger”) – I have never heard her voice sound so natural – it’s effortless, unstrained, and has a presence to it – it sounds like a read voice coming from a living, breathing woman, not a 2-D facsimile.


Soundstaging

There is also no doubt in my mind that the HD800 are the imaging champs of the dynamic headphone world. I have owned or heard almost every significant dynamic headphone there is – Sony R10, At W5000 and L3000, Senn HD650/600, Grado RS1 and GS1000, all the ones I currently own, and many, many more I have owned and sold. And I have never heard a headphone image like the HD800. Depth is phenomenal, and somehow width is even better. I really feel like the sound is IN FRONT of me, not stuck “inside my head” like with so many headphones. The soundstaging is better with the HD800 than with the DX1000, and that is saying something – I think the DX1000 image sensationally. But the HD800 is terrific in this regard.

With the HD800, it is easy, not “work”, to imagine real performers in real space. It’s very tempting to keep closing my eyes when listening to them, because the imaging is so convincing. For anyone who has avoided headphones because they don’t image like speakers, spend some time with the HD800. No, they don’t image like speakers – but I can’t imagine anyone who would CARE, because the way they do image is just spectacularly enjoyable.

Simple Minds’ “See the Lights” presents the band in a perfect half-circle around you. I saw them live in their heyday, and hearing them on the HD800’s really brought me back to that show in a way that was almost startling.

The HD800’s have the LEAST amount of isolation of any headphone I own. I wonder if this is a factor in their great soundstaging? Not sure, but however they did it, this is quite an achievement, and here again, maybe worth the price of admission by itself.


The Treble

So we have established that the midrange is terrific, and the soundstaging is amazing. But the treble...ummmm...well...this is more problematic. IMHO, the HD800 has a slightly hot treble. Hundreds of hours of break-in has not changed this. I hear it on some vocals as a pronounced sibilance that I don't think should be there, and I hear it on cymbals that have a slightly over-exaggerated splashiness.

I want to make clear that the treble is extraordinarily clean. There is no grain, spit, grit, or (god forbid) “veil” of any kind here. The treble is very pure in nature, and it has no texture that detracts from transparency. In fact, I would classify the treble as being astonishingly transparent (which is different from being neutral).

When I began to listen to the HD800, and I began to examine the transparency, versus the linearity, and I spent a lot of time trying to determine what was going on, because this is very difficult to accurately assess. How is one to know if the HD800 is just being accurate about the recording, or over-emphasizing it? So I had to listen very carefully to a LOT of music, and do a lot of comparison, to nail it down. Some examples:

> “Burn Down This Town", by Roseanne Cash, from Black Cadillac. The HD800 are over-emphasizing the sibilants on this recording, IMO. An over-emphasis on sibilance, it is very important to understand, is the symptom, but not the "problem".
>“Out of the Woods” by Nickel Creek, from their eponymous album, there are some additional emphasis on Sara Watkins’ sibilants that I do not believe to be an accurate reflection of what is on the recording – this is a very smooth SACD, and it should not have sharp sibilants on it when played back, but they are there with the HD800.
>“So Far Away” by Dire Straits from Brothers in Arms - there is a crispness to the attack of the snare that I think is artificially crisp, and the song in general has an aggressiveness that I don’t think is an intrinsic part of the recording, based on how it sounds on other transducers.

These are just a few examples. It's easy to say "well it's just on the recording" if one does not have any other high resolution transducers with which to determine whether that is the case. But in direct comparisons I have done with the ultra-high resolution B&W N800's, I come to the same conclusion that there is some extra treble energy on the HD800's. This might be something people like – heck maybe even the majority of people, and that is fine, but in the context of a very expensive headphone, I would be happier if the treble were more neutral even than it is.


I don't want to make too big of an issue with this, but it is a real phenomenon that multiple people have noticed. At a minimum, it points to the need for very careful system matching to get the most of out the HD800's, although anyone buying $1,400 headphones should be carefully considering system matching anyway. But if you have a bright source and/or amp, you could be in trouble.

I definitely prefer the treble of the JVC DX1000, which I find to be smoother. The DX1000 are very slightly rolled off in the extreme upper treble - they have a roll-off above 10kHz. That is the VERY upper end of the treble range, and does not affect the area where the HD800 is hot to me, which is more in the lower-to-mid treble. The DX1000 are not rolled off there, but they are flatter versus the reference 1kHz level in the mid-treble than the HD800. If the HD800 were only tipped up where the DX1000 are rolled off, this would just lead to a little more "air". But that is not what I hear going on.

The HD800 has even a little hotter sounding mid-treble versus the DT880, which are *far* from rolled off in the treble - in fact they are sometimes criticized for having too much treble themselves. But the DT880 does not have quite the same problem that the HD800 has with treble (although the DT880 is a little hot in the treble for sure). Their treble flavor is different. This can be seen in the HR Frequency response graphs:

HD800vDT880vD7000.png


The DT880 actually has less of a treble peak, versus the level at 2 or 3kHz than the HD800 does, and the DT880’s peak is above 8kHz, versus the HD800’s being at 6. So not surprising that they sound different in the treble. Interesting that the HD800 frequency response, in the Headroom graph, certainly doers correlate very strongly with what I seem to be hearing. That is a very noticeable peak of almost 8db at 6 kHz versus 3kHz. I cannot see how anyone can argue that such a peak won't have SOME audible consequence. Of course headphones like the Grados have even peakier treble, but there is no argument that Grados have a hot treble.

It’s important to note that measure headphones is tricky, and while Headroom knows this and does a lot to minimize the issues, one cannot make judgments about a headphone’s sound based on looking just at frequency response charts. In this case, though, there does seem to be a correlation.

So on this issue, I have concluded that, at least as I hear it (but also seemingly supported by the frequency response and by the experience of some others), there is a treble coloration with the HD800, in that more than being just "very revealing”, the HD800 has an elevated treble response that is a departure from neutral . Yes, this may periodically enhance sibilance, but it has other effects, like a little extra sizzle on cymbals (which I have also noticed), and generally delivers a slightly “tipped-up” sound. For many, this will come across as just a “revealing” nature, but for others, it will be bothersome. I found it to be enough of an issue that it has dissuaded me from buying them, given the asking price.

And again, to try to minimize the ruffled feathers - this is all in the context of a $1,400 headphone, which I believe deserves microscopic scrutiny given the asking price. I'm already willing to state that the midrange and soundstaging are the best I have ever heard in a dynamic headphone. But the treble performance is still a slight disappointment for me given this is an expensive, "statement" headphone.’

None of what I am hearing will mean that there won't be LOTS of people who will LOVE what the HD800 does in the treble. Heck, there are some headphones that are KNOWN to be terrifically bright (the AT W5000 come to mind), and yet they have a lot of fans. Given that what we are discussing is such a small thing, relatively, there will be some people who won't be at all bothered by it, and some who will indeed LIKE it. But from what I can hear, it's there, and it should be known.


The Bass

I find the bass quantity to be slightly on the light side. The QUALITY of the bass is stupendous – very well defined, tight, and with great definition and attack. But the DX1000 manage this trick at least as well as the HD800, and manage to have bass weight as well. I find the bass weight of the HD800 to be similar to that of the DT880, which I personally always wish had more bass. I am willing to accept that this is may be just a preference for me, but it nonetheless is something to be aware of – if you like a punchy sound, the HD800 are not always going to please you.

Again let’s look at en example. Listen to “A Secret Place” from Megadeth’s “Cryptic Writings” – the kick drum simply lacks impact. Listen to this track on even $500 speakers – it will sound more like at least I think a kick-drum should. It isn’t imactful on the HD800 – it’s overdamped, and subdued, versus what it sounds like through the N800’s, and the DX1000. It only sounds similar on the DT880. Yes, the impact of the striking of the drum is VERY clean, and very tight, but the drum itself seems to lack body.

The bass is also definitely less than the HD650, and based on my brief comparison, also less than the HD600. Some people may prefer the HD800’s bass performance. It may be "better" bass on the HD800 than the 650, but it is less for sure.

I think it’s very possible that the overdamped bass is what actually makes the treble stand out a little. Or maybe it’s the other way around. But there is a well known trade off there. The famous loudspeaker designer Henry Kloss once did a demonstration where he took a speaker that people thought had too little bass, and he padded the tweeter down by 2db, and all of the sudden – WOW – bass. No change was made to the woofer or the woofer level.

The HD800 have a very tight-fisted punch in the bass – but they punch at something like bantam-weight or junior welter-weight at most.


On the issue of amplifying the HD800

Much has been made about the inductance of the HD800, and the need for certain types of amps. Some people swear they sound great on tube amps, and some insist that due to the inductance, any amp with a high-ish output impedance will not sound as good as they should, and that this includes many OTL tube amps. It's a complex issue, and that doesn't mean the HD800’s *won't* sound good on any given OTL amp. But on the SinglePower Extreme, the treble emphasis was slightly worse that it is on the SS Audio C2C, which I would not have expected. I have never considered the Extreme to be at all rolled off, and of course I cannot measure its output impedance, although SP claims it to be 20 ohms, which isn’t very high, so it's likely IMO that the amp isn't contributing to the treble emphasis I hear, and that the slightly laid-back C-2-C might be masking the HD800’s treble list slightly.

I also tried the HD800 with the Darkvoice 337 ( Tung-Sol mesh-plate 6SJ7GT + GEC 6AS7G) and the 336SE (Shuguang Treasure CV181 + Sylvania 6AS7G). In both cases the treble emphasis was just a tiny bit more obvious, and just slightly more pronounced, than with the SS Audio-GD C2C. I tried the Graham Slee SRG+PSU1, and the treble was between the Extreme and the C-2-C, but on all of these amps, the feeling of a bit too much treble energy never went away. On the other hand, I felt the treble performance on the Decware CSP-2 was basically identical to the C-2-C. So in the end, I think too much was made of this issue of amp type (as is almost always the case).

The HD800 do not, IMO, change their own character radically from amp to amp. Being as revealing as they are, the HD800 certainly will let you know the difference in the sound of different amps, or different tubes. And of course it is difficult to generalize about tube amps, since you can often get the exact sound you're looking for by tube rolling. For example, if I took the 5998's out of the Extreme, and put in RCA grey-plate 6AS7G's, the sound would be very different, and I probably wouldn't notice any treble elevation in the HD800, since the RCA is a soft-sounding tube.

So the point is that with OTL designs there is a potential issue that should be noted - nothing more than that. And since one can alter the sound by using different tubes, tube amps still offer nice flexibility in this regard, and a great tube amp can still sound great with the HD800. My favorite combo ended up being the Decware CSP-2 and the HD800. The Decware, with Amperex 6DJ8’s and a Sophia Princess mesh-plate 274b, when combined with the HD800, provided enough lushness that the sound was just beguiling, and I didn’t worry much about the tipped-up response – the music was enthralling.


Build Quality and Fit

I found the HD800’s very comfortable to wear for long periods of time. They are big, and they were right at the limit of earcup size for my head, but they were within the limit. I of course heard the “pinging” of the spring that people have commented on, but I wasn’t bothered by this. The cable isn’t at all microphonic, which sure is nice.


Conclusions

I've been living with the HD800 for a couple weeks, and I while I think they are truly excellent in many ways, there are some things that bother me in the context of a $1,400 headphone. After several hundred hours of burn in, and hours and hours of listening and comparing, on a very wide variety of amps, I still find the treble to be a bit too aggressive, and the bass to be a bit polite. This is a flavoring, and many will like the flavor. But it is a flavor, and it's not going to be for everyone.

That said, the soundstaging and midrange are so good that the slightly tipped-up response, for many people, will be worth overlooking, and some people will of course LIKE the slight tip-up. And with the right system matching, it might be a non-issue. For me, they are not more enjoyable than the DX1000, and so I’m not going to be buying a pair, given that they cost $1,400. But for you, dear reader, they might be just exactly what you are looking for, and they are certainly world-class performers that have some incredibly special qualities.

I’m sure I’m going to suffer many slings and arrows for criticizing these, even though anyone who actually reads the whole review will see that I’ve actually RAVED about the HD800’s in MANY ways – best mids and imaging of maybe any headphone currently made; crystal clear treble; super-tightly define bass. I simply don’t think they are completely free from personality. As always, this is only my opinion, but it was very carefully arrived at, if nothing else. In the case of a headphone that costs $1,400, I think we have the right to expect a lot; I don’t think we have the right to expect universal perfection, as there is no such thing. So what I have done is tried to describe the flavor of the HD800 as I hear them. Perhaps at least to a few people, this will be of some small help.
catspaw
catspaw
How well does EQ work on the HD800? Do they distort if you add bass and sub-bass?
NightFlight
NightFlight
@catspaw Yes, you can make the HD800 distort like any other driver if you make it hit it's max throw. I've done it by accident playing around with absynth tools on my PC.
harry501501
harry501501
Even though I've no intention of buying these (I never fell in love with the Hd 558 or HD 650), it was a pleasure reading one of the most detailed yet easy to read reviews I've viewed on Head Fi. I'm trying to work on my vocab for a future review of the LZ A4 IEMs, and this review is a step in the right direction. It's excellent.
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