| HD800 (Super dupont mod) | HD800S | LCD X (pre 2016) | HE6 (Grill mod) | Audeze LCD 4 (2016 drivers) | |
| Detail retrieval | +Probably the most detailed phones, LCD 4 was very close | On par with the HD800 | -Surely loses against 800 | + Slightly (a tad) lesser than the HD800 | + On par with the 800, I felt they were also very detailed than the 800s on some occasions (except for orchestra) |
| Lows | +Good impact, quick decay and bass quality but not much quantity | More quantity bass but less quality than the HD 800. If you thought the original was thin, then 800S are for you. But don't get me wrong, they are not that bass emphasized as the Audeze's but on par with the HE6. | +Very punchy, goes very deep (typical planar magnetic) | + Nice punchy bass, good impact and short decay, heavier than the HD 800, similar to the LCD X and other planars around | +++++++ Best Bass ever in any headphones ever. Period. If you had the chance to listen to them please do. You will hate yourself and your other headphones. |
| Mids | +Very neutral, everything sounds as natural as it should be. ( Very neutral also means they are boring ) | Same but not boring. Why? Because of the bump in the lower end and less harsh in the treble. Now they sound very musical, not so musical as the LCDs but "musically balanced"  | -colored, some may like it, some may not | + Very nice neutral mids (not so boring as the HD 800, maybe because of a bit more upper lows?) | +++++++ Mids are very very nice though not musical as the LCD 3s but they are very natural, engaging, puts you to tears. |
| Treble | ! Pierces your ears on poor recordings, slightly sibilant, though on good recordings they sound very rich and has the sparkle | Sennheiser managed to tame the 6Khz spike like everyone else reviewed. But sibilance/harshness is still present on bad recordings. It shows how transparent are the 800S. | ! very easy to listen to, not very well extended though | + Very well extended, non fatiguing and rich sounding treble | + Some say they have recessed treble. I would say that they aren't bright as the 800 or some grados. They have everything in the treble region, the cymbals sound great. |
| Vocals | ! Again, sounds as it should be, no wow factor or initmacy of voices. | Same nice vocals. Very realistic. | + The vocals sound great on the X | + Again, very nice vocals, very close to the X, though not near the 3F | ++++++++ I'm running out of stars. You can make your favorite artist sing for you in your room with these headphones. |
| Soundstage, Imaging, Seperation | ++ No contest | Surely the soundstage is a bit lesser than the original but wider than all others. | ! Soundstage with planars have always been constricted within your ears (except for LCD4), has a good imaging | ! Constricted soundstage, typical to many planars around. This makes me think that the detail retrieval is lesser than the 800 on a quick A/B comparison, but further listening says no. | ++ Interestingly, these have a very wide soundstage. Not wide as the 800 but surely wider than any other planars I have listened to. |
| Comfort | + has a huge ear pads that covers your ears, never touches the driver, very soft material, feels like nothing on your head | At first it felt the same. But no, the HD 800S have a higher initial clamping force which I'm still getting used to. | - Heavy, uncomfortable for longer periods (maybe 3+ hours), though it can be improved with the carbon fibre or Lohb strap. I tried them both didn't work for me | + Not so heavy as the X. Around 500 gms (X is around 600) | -- ~650 gms (One reason I had to sell them, what a shame, they sounded great) |
| Amping | ! 300ohms (but when you are looking at these phones, you will already own a decent amp) | Same. No comments. | + Works from your phone too but a good amp will do justice | -- A big downside. Hard to drive. Needs a lot of power to shine. A speaker amp maybe but very difficult to find one that's cheap with less noise floor. ( I use them with my Mjolnir 2 w Telefunken tubes and they are powerful, LISST and stock tubes sounds grainy and less power) | + At 200 ohms on the newer drivers they need quite some juice but I'm sure when you are buying this you will have a nice power amp. |
| Looks? | + They both look cool | Wanted to get my older 800 to full black from colorware, but not anymore. | ++ I love the black aluminium though | - Just an another headphone | ++++++ It is like the Rolls royce of headphones. I used them always with the protective gloves that came along. |
| Value for money | + Easily the best own one that does it all phone | Some may say the 800S are expensive. While it is expensive, I'm very satisfied with the performance and I think they are worth the price. | ! They are overpriced for the sound quality they produce (Gonna get bashed for this) | ! The headphones themselves are worth the price. But the amping would make them more expensive. If you already own a decent amp 5W at 50 ohms atleast then it is worth considering. | - I bought it for €4000 euros. They are twice the price of LCD 3s but are they worth it? Yes for some, No for many. I was one of the many. |
| Quality | + Sennheisers are surely long lasting | Same | - Audeze had many driver failures (Not so many failures on the X though) but now they have the newer drivers, which time has to tell. | + This is my only Hifiman headphone. I had no issues of driver failures or breaking yet. | ! The build was top notch. With premium leathers, carbon fiber headband, and the wood. Stunning and very well made. But there were some issues with the driver failure. Audeze have addressed it with newer drivers, so it is still not a thumbs up yet. |
Yes. Had them both at one point. The LCD Xs are more flatter with a bump in the low end. The bass slam was the best in that price range, it had a very punchy, deep to the deepest lows. The vocals were a bit forward and so they sounded really nice. But that's about it, I hate to admit but I really didn't like them.
