August in Sennheiser History...

[ruinedx]

Its not tonnaly correct when bass is absolutely rolled of and Highs too. With eq i can make my HD800S sound trully flat. Focal clear for me sound flat whitout any eq.
Besides Speakers have much better mids while sound much wider, so i dont think sound is simmilar to speakers either.

If you EQ the hd800s "truly flat" it ruins the soundstage. The frequency response is part of the psychoacoustics in achieving the wide soundstage. The focal clear soundstage is absolutely poor compared to hd800s.

I like realistic sound and 99% of headphones sound fake to me because they have a collapsed soundstage that sounds nothing like naturally listening to sound.

There are tradeoffs in achieving the natural sound of hd8xx and it does require more careful gear matching, but the results are incredible if you do it right, and no EQ is needed.

 

[Arniesb]

If you EQ the hd800s "truly flat" it ruins the soundstage. The frequency response is part of the psychoacoustics in achieving the wide soundstage. The focal clear soundstage is absolutely poor compared to hd800s.

I like realistic sound and 99% of headphones sound fake to me because they have a collapsed soundstage that sounds nothing like naturally listening to sound.

There are tradeoffs in achieving the natural sound of hd8xx and it does require more careful gear matching, but the results are incredible if you do it right, and no EQ is needed.

I know right. My HD800S sounded perfect with Violectric V280, but any less mids and it would ruin balance. Would love to try HD820, but mids worry me a lot.
Would like to see new flagship succesors with Enclosure simmilar to HE1.

 

[ruinedx]

I know right. My HD800S sounded perfect with Violectric V280, but any less mids and it would ruin balance. Would love to try HD820, but mids worry me a lot.
Would like to see new flagship succesors with Enclosure simmilar to HE1.

The liquid platinum is a fantastic match for hd800s/hd820 also, perhaps even better than v280 as you can gently impact the FR, soundstage, etc by tube rolling without the artificialness EQ sometimes imparts. And the LPs sound sig gives the mids a little more character. Even with stock tubes it's a great match

 

[Arniesb]

The liquid platinum is a fantastic match for hd800s/hd820 also, perhaps even better as you can gently impact the FR by tube rolling without the artificialness EQ sometimes imparts. But even with stock tubes it's a great match

Dont like tubes or r2r dacs or anything with soft attack. Might try HD820 someday too see if mids are decent, cause im pretty sure that Bass and Highs aint lack anything.

 

[ruinedx]

Dont like tubes or r2r dacs or anything with soft attack. Might try HD820 someday too see if mids are decent, cause im pretty sure that Bass and Highs aint lack anything.

Soft attack might not be a good match for focal clear but with hd800s/hd820 tipped up attack it actually balances it out astoundingly well. LP is only preamp tube and solid state amp so not as extreme as full tube. The mids on LP are sublime and make up for any FR dip on HD8xx. Those reasons are why it's a great match.

I listen to goatrance, synthwave, etc and can tell you the HD820 + LP has zero issue with attack.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

It would be very very good headphones, but when HD800 and S version ALREADY have weak mids and considering that HD820 inreased bass then it is recipe for non existant mids.Yes these all sound wide, but all of them have poor mids. I hope Sennheiser will gonna have common sense and will prefer tonal balance instead of going for big soundstage aka Boring mids.

The 800 has weak mids? I have never heard that before.

 

[ruinedx]

The 800 has weak mids? I have never heard that before.

With a bad amp match it's possible for the treble to overshadow the mids. I think that is what he was referring to.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

With a bad amp match it's possible for the treble to overshadow the mids. I think that is what he was referring to.

I read several comments just now in the thread and nothing @Arniesb said matches my impressions of the same gear. I guess I'll have to just agree not to get into it

 

[Arniesb]

Soft attack might not be a good match for focal clear but with hd800s/hd820 tipped up attack it actually balances it out astoundingly well. LP is only preamp tube and solid state amp so not as extreme as full tube. The mids on LP are sublime and make up for any FR dip on HD8xx. Those reasons are why it's a great match.

I listen to goatrance, synthwave, etc and can tell you the HD820 + LP has zero issue with attack.

The 800 has weak mids? I have never heard that before.

It litteraly have dip mids so what are you trying to prove? If lower mids is all you need then ok it have nice mids. Thing is it dont have much presence from 1.2khz to 4khz.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

It litteraly have dip mids so what are you trying to prove? If lower mids is all you need then ok it have nice mids. Thing is it dont have much presence from 1.2khz to 4khz.

I have no idea what you are talking about, really. I don't care about somebody's measurements. When I listen to an orchestra it sounds like it should. The only thing I need to do is tame the 6-10 KHz region a bit if I'm in the mood to listen to Joni Mitchell. Using the RME I can do it without any ill effects.

If the 800s had no presence in the 1-4 KHz region then female vocals would not be strident. As far as I hear the 800 has bass, mids, and treble as they should be. It's analytical and cold and for me not very comfortable. But saying it doesn't have bass or that the mids are weak just doesn't match what I'm hearing.

 

[Arniesb]

I have no idea what you are talking about, really. I don't care about somebody's measurements. When I listen to an orchestra it sounds like it should. The only thing I need to do is tame the 6-10 KHz region a bit if I'm in the mood to listen to Joni Mitchell. Using the RME I can do it without any ill effects.

If the 800s had no presence in the 1-4 KHz region then female vocals would not be strident. As far as I hear the 800 has bass, mids, and treble as they should be. It's analytical and cold and for me not very comfortable. But saying it doesn't have bass or that the mids are weak just doesn't match what I'm hearing.

Ok then ignore my coment if you think its perfect. If anybody have different opinion then he must be wrong according to you?

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Ok then ignore my coment if you think its perfect. If anybody have different opinion then he must be wrong according to you?

No, I don't think the 800 is perfect. I just don't hear any of the shortcomings you mention. But I'm also not going by what I read. I'm going by what I hear.

If you read carefully I did not say you were wrong. I am certainly not saying you're right, though. So it's hard to know who can't accept whose opinion.

 

[Arniesb]

No, I don't think the 800 is perfect. I just don't hear any of the shortcomings you mention. But I'm also not going by what I read. I'm going by what I hear.

If you read carefully I did not say you were wrong. I am certainly not saying you're right, though. So it's hard to know who can't accept whose opinion.

Ok lets just agree to dissagree. Many people listen to different genres and even cables can change things so... Can very much agree that HD800series dont lack anything when it comes to orcestra or classic or just audiophile genres in general.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Ok lets just agree to dissagree. Many people listen to different genres and even cables can change things so... Can very much agree that HD800series dont lack anything when it comes to orcestra or classic or just audiophile genres in general.

Yeah, from my point of view the 800 is a very special kind of tool and I don't find them very enjoyable for most kinds of music. Lucky for us there are many kinds of headphones in the world

 

[ruinedx]

Yeah, from my point of view the 800 is a very special kind of tool and I don't find them very enjoyable for most kinds of music. Lucky for us there are many kinds of headphones in the world

HD8xx is like a Ferrari Enzo, can't just run it on joe's gas over a pothole filled road, but feed it right and it will perform like no other, IMO.