[ciber]

I guess lots of people did not know Drop at all. This release of 8XX is carefully planned by Drop and Sennheiser. The purpose is to take away the high end headphone market share from its competitors ( such as T1, Arya, LCD-X, Focal Clear) without impacting the sales of HD800S. The 8XX has to be different than 800S, and it is intentional to add more bass. While 800S is widely considered as the king of the Classic Music, the 8XX is more towards Jazz, Gaming and Pop music. Most of the Drop community members already have more than one headphones, 58X, 6XX, and they want you to keep buying headphones from them, especially the high end headphones.

 

[Sense]

I guess lots of people did not know Drop at all. This release of 8XX is carefully planned by Drop and Sennheiser. The purpose is to take away the high end headphone market share from its competitors ( such as T1, Arya, LCD-X, Focal Clear) without impacting the sales of HD800S. The 8XX has to be different than 800S, and it is intentional to add more bass. While 800S is widely considered as the king of the Classic Music, the 8XX is more towards Jazz, Gaming and Pop music. Most of the Drop community members already have more than one headphones, 58X, 6XX, and they want you to keep buying headphones from them, especially the high end headphones.

I have no problem with pop or rock on the 800s.

 

[SchwizzelKick66]

I guess lots of people did not know Drop at all. This release of 8XX is carefully planned by Drop and Sennheiser. The purpose is to take away the high end headphone market share from its competitors ( such as T1, Arya, LCD-X, Focal Clear) without impacting the sales of HD800S. The 8XX has to be different than 800S, and it is intentional to add more bass. While 800S is widely considered as the king of the Classic Music, the 8XX is more towards Jazz, Gaming and Pop music. Most of the Drop community members already have more than one headphones, 58X, 6XX, and they want you to keep buying headphones from them, especially the high end headphones.

Makes sense to me and I'm fine with it. If the 8xx turns out to be a quality product like the 58x and 6xx, for sort of market altering prices, then it's a win for headphone consumers in my book.

 

[tkddans]

While 800S is widely considered as the king of the Classic Music, the 8XX is more towards Jazz, Gaming and Pop music.

Interesting take! I found that classical and jazz difference too (so far). I need more listening.

 

[cgb3]

General question about all of the HD800 models, how do the connectors hold up on these? Are they durable or fragile? Are they always stiff and hard to remove, or do they loosen up after a while? And how are the aftermarket connectors compared to the genuine senns?

I make headphone cables.

I substituted my cables shortly after my HD800S purchase. I have no reason to belive the stock cables are probamatic. I do prefer my own cables.

HD800 connectors are expensive, even off brand examples. This is the cheapest (close to original) version I've found:https://www.moon-audio.com/sennheiser-headphone-connectors-hd800.html. I've made many cables with this product.

I have a number of connectors I ordered from Ebay. Technically, as good as original (perhaps a bit better, one may achieve a better solder joint with this connector), the barrel looks a little cheesy, but I cover it with thick tube heat shrink.

The physical lock is a very secure bayonet type.

Personally, I much prefer mini XLR.

 

[FLTWS]

Mailed my 8XX back this morning, both my HD800S and HD800 (both with proper amp-ing) sound far better to my ears.

 

[SchwizzelKick66]

Mailed my 8XX back this morning, both my HD800S and HD800 (both with proper amp-ing) sound far better to my ears.

In what ways did the 8xx sound inferior?

 

[FLTWS]

Too much bass, depressed and veiled midrange, highs were off because of the excessive amount of bass, I spent 3 days with the 8XX and burned it with stock cable for 24 hours straight on day 1. Having the OG and S and using them often the differences in sound were immediately noticeable. I also want to note that I am primarily classical genre oriented, if it doesn't sound right to me with acoustic instruments, it won't suit my sonic preferences. I have several aftermarket cables for the Senn's but they won't alter the sound to the extent I would have wanted so I didn't try swapping them in.

 

[LFC_SL]

How is your eyesight?

The ring is definitely dark blue. It is noticably different from the other dark areas of the headphone. No QC issue here.

In fairness to the poster in Crin's YouTube review the blue is quite dark against the black, in video form at least. Photos may be more contrast-ey than real life (?)

Colour scheme aside why did Drop and @Sennheiser introduce a hole in the mid range frequencies (?) Other options:

1. Keep same HD800 or HD800S signature but with Drop price cut (maybe not that useful for non USA buyers who have to pay duties and VAT and have no local servicing support)

2. Maintain most of the same sound signature and tame the 6k peak

If the new owners are reading this, a lot of the headphone enthusiast community would be very interested in the Sennheiser HD800 soundstage with the Sennheiser HD600/HD650 tonality. After over a decade there is still nothing on the market with the HD800 soundstage. Maybe that is difficult due to the unique ring driver design and suspension but please not a mid range scoop

p.s. yes I realise the TH900 in my signature has recessed midrange. That is a guilty pleasure. Sennheiser can and should do better with their consumer flagship that people still discuss today

 

[Sense]

Colour scheme aside why did Drop and @Sennheiser introduce a hole in the mid range frequencies (?)

The world may never know!

 

[GenEricOne]

So I just received my HD8XX today and have some thoughts after a few hours of listening.

Background things to know about me and my preferences:

1. My favorite headphones are the DCA Aeon 2 Noire
   • Massdrop TH-X00 PH probably 2nd favorite, though I admit I haven't listened to them in awhile
2. I've been trying to get more into open backs for music listening now that I no longer need to isolate sounds with new living arrangements
   • I've also been trying the HiFiman Ananda and HEDD HEDDphone recently, though don't necessarily love either
3. I have HD700 that I love for gaming, but the pads are starting to fall apart
   • Finding replacement pads has been a pain so I've been considering an HD8xx-series just for gaming
4. I've also considered finding a one-headphone-for-everything
   • I was hoping for HD8XX, based on the earlier frequency response graphs, might be that headphone? Low hopes, honestly.
   • Realistically, I'm content to have an HD8xx-series for just gaming
5. I love scratching the soundstage itch but like the itch-scratch cycle I've never been satisfied by any headphone, including the HD700
   • There's always moments of soundstage that hit just right but it never lasts
6. I love sub-bass, and specifically sub-bass. I typically leave my Lokius's bottom dial turned up all the way and rarely touch the others. Sometimes I turn down mid-bass or make headphone-specific tweaks.
   • The Lokius has been in passthrough mode for a few days in anticipation of this test. I've just been using the HEDDphone the last week-ish.
7. EDM is generally my favorite music but have grown to loathe the hallmark sounds of Dubstep. Most of the time I listen to new and unfamiliar music, though I do have multiple playlists of favorites/familiars.

So I connected the HD8XX to my Phonitor XE via 1/4in and put my Lokius to passthrough (no EQ) and fired up my Headphone Testing playlist (lots of songs I like, some songs that highlight things I don't like, all familiar).

And the HD8XX sound like ass. Terrible ass.

And not quite like the newly released EQ charts would indicate.

For starters, there's no mid-bass or sub-bass. The mids are recessed as expected, the bass is even more non-existent, and the highs are all-consuming. The highs aren't unpleasant (no sibilance) just excessively loud.

• The vocals in "Be Like You (ft. Broods)" by Whethan are exhausting and overbearing. There's other screeching instrumentals coming in/out. Everything else feels missing, too. This is a song I like, not a problematic song.
• The bass riff at the ~1min mark in "Killmonger" by Ludwig Göransson is politely wheezing at best. Sounds like a HomePod--something that knows it can't reproduce it and doesn't even try. A lot of the bass detail is completely missing. I can't turn up the volume any higher, the highs are already too much (is this the infamous 6k peak?).
  • I double check in "Why So Serious?" by Hans Zimmer, same complete lack of sub-bass. It basically goes quiet at the 3:25 mark.
• "Poison (ft. Sydnee Carter)" by SLUMBERJACK sounds lifeless. I think the EQ charts are accurate based on this song, except still no bass. The soundstage moment late in this song has a head-turning "whoa" moment on first listen. It's gone on the second listen.
• "The Future (Proper Villains Remix) [ft. Jenna Sousa]" by Bassnectar sounds wrong. The bass is missing and the vocals are imbalanced. The build up at 1:15 kind of stumbles in the mids? Wasn't expecting that.
• "Show Me" by SNBRN & Coyote Kisses is also pretty lifeless with occasional splashes of too-much highs. These are simply not EDM headphones.
• "L'Odeur Animale" by Hooverphonic sounds exactly like the recent EQ charts. Like a lot of Hooverphonic, the vocals are prominently featured and the HD8XX is not well suited to this.
• The soundstage in the beginning of "Haunt Me V.2" by Kaskade & The Moth & The Flame is oddly lacking? Didn't expect this.
• "Make You Happy" by Betablock3r feels lifeless, but I can't turn it up any more to try to make more of it.
• I have similar thoughts about a lot of other songs. Timbre isn't even that good at any point, either.

At this point, I'm extremely bummed out by how bad these are. Nothing sounds right.

Time to try these on the Lyr 3 as I don't have an XLR cable to see if it's part of the problem with the Phonitor XE.

• Re-listening to "Make You Happy" by Betablock3r and there's a little bit more life! Timbre is much improved. EQ is still flawed, but these headphones now have positive qualities now!
• Re-listening to the bass riff at the ~1min mark in "Killmonger" by Ludwig Göransson and at least it makes the right sounds now, with all the texture and subtlety. But there's still nowhere near enough of it, even compared to the HEDDphone.
• "ID" by Boombox Cartel & Flosstradamus immediately makes me want to turn down the volume. I don't. As the various layers come in it's clear these are still not great for my preferred music. The drop at 1:05 is just anemic. There's some slam in the mid-bass but no sub-bass. I flip the Lokius on for a second and the HD8XX can do it, so that's good news. Lokius back to passthrough.
• "Hideaway" by Jacob Collier demonstrates the soundstage well. Not sure the soundstage was as good as I was expecting, though. It's not nearly as open/far as I expected or have heard from the HD700.
• "you should see me in a crown" by Billie Eilish sounds pretty good. The recessed mids emphasize her vocal style in an interesting way (where the recession emphasizes her style).
• "Stay for It (ft. Miguel)" by RL Grime is a really interesting song for these as well. The song desperately needs more dynamic range in its mastering, but the way the vocals climb (in volume and pitch) is oddly well matched to the HD8XX and Lyr 3. The instrumental part of the song has more life than other songs.
• Re-listening to "Be Like You (ft. Broods)" by Whethan is still problematic. There's just too much of the vocals and very little of anything else. It's better than on the Phonitor, though.
• The drop in "Chasing Heaven" by Bassnectar & Levitate is extremely congested (by nature). The HD8XX do well but don't crack it/solve it despite lacking the copious amounts of bass that contribute to the congestion.
• Sibilance-prone songs ("LSD" by Ghastly and "Body and Soul (ft. Yael)" by Borgore) don't have sibilance.

So things have definitely improved with the Lyr 3, but still not really impressed. No reason for these to crack my music-listening rotation yet.

Some quick testing with the Lokius enabled on mostly unfamiliar songs (only heard 2-3 times, max) reveals some oddities:

• It never gets the level of sub-bass I want for music listening.
• Trying to fix the recessed mids by turning up the 2k knob gets very shouty very quickly. Confusing. The Lokius's bands might be too wide to fix the 2k hole. Will play with it more later.

I'll let these burn-in overnight on the Lyr 3 and will retest with the Lokius enabled tomorrow, trying to focus more on the technicalities rather than the tuning. But there's a decent chance these are going back, and I've never returned any headphones before. The lack of bass has me rethinking using any HD8xx-series for my gaming headphones, too. I'm not a competitive gamer, I want immersion and a headstage to complement the open-world of the games I play most.

Other factors:

• Love how they look. The blue is extremely subtle, need a lot of light to really notice it.
• Comfort is solid, though the pads are really thin. There's a pretty big air gap naer my temples from the arc of the D-shaped pads going so far forward with no give in the pads. I did buy fenestrated Dekoni pads, but wasn't really planning on using them to try to rescue these.
• Build quality is good, definitely much better than the HD700 and HD6XX I have.

 

[xanlamin]

Wow! There was a post further up this page that said bass was too much. How was the fit?

 

[GenEricOne]

Wow! There was a post further up this page that said bass was too much. How was the fit?

Fit was imperfect for me, there is a sizable air gap at my temples.

 

[Sense]

The 800s is the same design headphone. I found that it fit well. I position my ears at the bottom back of the cave that is the ear cups. Very comfortable.

 

[Pigeon X]

I just got mine yesterday. I have some early thoughts. This is a very good sounding set. it does not sound broken. but it also doesn't sound quite as tonally realistic as the hd800s does. so yes, the tonality is not quite natural sounding, but it is a very normal sounding tonality for headphones... just not quite the tonality I expect from senn. The tuning aside, I think the bigger concern for me is that they sound like reflections are getting trapped more than I'd expect with such an open design- kind of feels like we're in semi-closed back territory. Again - not a problem in general. Just not what I wanted these to be. The resolution is great but string pulls don't have that realistic twang that they should have. Feels like perhaps there is some distortion is the mids that's rounding off the detail. Again reminiscent of a more closed back sound. Treble detail is right where I expect it though.

So far my impression is that the 8xx is a great sounding headphone... but it sounds very much like... a headphone. Which makes it a great contender in its field. Just not when I was expecting more of speaker-like sound. They definitely sound at least $1100 worth of good still. I'm truly enjoying them.

They did some genuinely impressive things with this headphone. It is extremely comfortable to listen to. Really nothing offensive. Which should be a no brainer at this level, and yet I have some sort of major sonic issue with every other headphone I've listened to or owned in the 1000+ buck range. I think a lot of people are overlooking how unique it is for a headphone to produce such highly detailed, spatially accurate, and listenable sound without a deal-breaker. I Know, I know, the tonality is the trade off. I do hear it - its not ideal - but its also a lot less of a problem than some reviewers make it out to be, especially if you're not critically comparing to something else. I could never mix on these though. They are not accurate or realistic.

On a stupid, irrelevant note. my unit is number 804, which irritates me, since I ordered within the first 10 seconds of this drop and I was hoping for a low serial number. I know, this is dumb, nothing to do with sound, nothing to do with senn, but it bothers me, and this adds to my overall experience shopping with Drop.