SchwizzelKick66
100+ Head-Fier
Does anyone have experience with the 8xx and Sundara? Wondering how the two compare.
Official Unofficial 8XX Discussion Thread - UPDATE SENNHEISER HAS BEEN SOLD!!! GT(heck)IH
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This feels like a setup, but I’ll bite - a little. The Sundara is a very nice headphone for $349 - I owned a pair of the most recent ones for a month and they were not my cup of tea - lacked both bass slam and detail IMHO - so I returned them. To me, they were a bit boring. YMMV. The 8XX are a take on an acknowledged world class headphone, and while they too are a little weak on bass slam, they are MUCH more detailed and extended in both frequency extremes, and, even if you don’t love their tuning out of the box, are anything but boring. They are fast, full, detailed and dynamic. The Sundaras are flat by comparison, but it’s a decidedly unfair fight. Please, no insult intended, but you’re asking to compare a Camry to a Mercedes - they are simply not in the same league, and I doubt very many buyers would be choosing between those two particular models. If the difference is NOT obvious to you, by all means save $750 and get the Sundara. The 8XX is much more difficult to drive, but if your amp can handle it, they will run rings around the Sundara in virtually every respect. If your amp is not up to it, then, again, you’re probably better off with the Sundara. To reiterate, the Sundara is a very nice $349 headphone, but it was never intended to compete with an 800 series Sennheiser, even a Drop tuned version. I’m not suggesting in any way shape or form that the 8XX is the end game headphone for me (although it could be for some) but rather, that you are comparing apples to porter house steak and asking which is better. It’s a hard question to answer because the differences extend way beyond obvious sonic differences to things like build quality, included cables and necessary investment in ancillary equipment. There are more differences than similarities. I hope this sheds some light and again, no insult is intended to either headphone, both of which are good choices in their class.
mvneufeld
100+ Head-Fier
I felt the same way about the Ananda, which is also a nice headphone for its price. The Hifiman to compare with the HD8XX is the Arya. As for the Sundara, get it if you’re on a budget and can’t afford the HD8XX. It’s a very good $350 headphone. Get it if you have an entry level DAC & amp. Get the HD8XX if you can afford it and you’re willing to EQ it. Get it if you have a tube amp.
I actually preferred the Sundara to the Ananda which, to me, completely lacked bass slam. I was very disappointed because I really liked the Ananda but the lack of bass slam was a dealbreaker for me.
Anyway, back on topic, I guess I am going to have to send the 8XX on to the next lucky head-fier soon, so I thought some final words would be appropriate, especially since things have changed, a bit. As I wrote above, unfortunately, the 8XX arrived almost simultaneously with a “used - like new” pair of 660S, so I had two new to me units in the house to evaluate simultaneously, which led to plenty of consternation and confusion, and did not make it any easier to draw conclusions. Truth is, I was initially leaning toward the 660S because they were a little more obvious in certain ways - the life of the party so to speak. But, as is often the case, I soon grew tired of whatever ‘liveliness’ first attracted to them. Indeed, I noted that my listening sessions were much shorter than with my then-current favorites, the modified 650s (occasionally switched out for marble 600s, also modified, and also wonderful, but a little leaner than the 650s as we all know, and my preference is usually for more meat on the nones, so the 650s are my usual go to). Note that I have removed the rear foam from each of my 580/600/650, and that, together with my choice of amp (Burson Soloist, Class A SS), eliminates for me any last hint of ‘veil’ that others have focused on from time to time over the years. Needless to say, the 660S went back, and I was now free to focus more on the 8XX. And the more I did, the more I found to like about them. I found that they were ‘lean’ only in comparison to the overly gregarious (for me) 660S. In fact, all of the music is there, it’s just not beating you into submission or, consequently, giving you listener fatigue. They are not ‘bright’, as I have read about the original 800 but, rather, extended, detailed, light, airy and spacious. These delicious treble is well balanced against the trademark Sennheiser midrange and plenty of tuneful, extended, very deep bass. Indeed, unless you are looking for Audezectupe bass (which, in my opinion is overblown and can interfere with the resolution of other parts of the music, especially on the current, similarly priced LCD-2, the bass on the 8XX is extremely satisfying. For me, I couldn’t line with the LCD-2; I could easily live with these (and I just might).
As I have not experienced the previous 800 or 800S, these 8XX are aspirational for me - I am deciding whether it is worth spending $1100 (or whatever the going rate is) to own a piece of the legend. I am not comparing whether or not in my opinion they meet the standard of the the prior members of the 800 club.
Right now, as I listen to Remember Shakti, I am not only getting every nuance of John McLaughlin’s unique and virtuosic guitar filling the middle range, but I can effortlessly hear every last detail of Zakir Hussain’s tabla, from palm blast to gentle finger sweep, totally unimpressed by the constant background drone. And, because this is a fairly minimalist live recording, there is more than ample air, space, soundstage and imaging to satisfy all but the most severe hard case. If you need more soundstage than this, get a dedicated listening room and fill it with a $35,000 stereo. None of the detail presented by the 8XX is etched or overwhelming - it is simply offered up for the hearing, as it would be at a live concert. I am very pleased with this headphone. I could literally listen all night - not just because the sound is so beautiful, but because they are also incredibly comfortable.
And before anyone asks, as I’ve mentioned before, I am an old school audiophile, having been in the hobby (mostly vinyl and tube analog two channel) so I have very little interest in computer audio except for convenience and, as a result, I do not use EQ. I know that most of you find this appalling, but EQ in the digital domain has no relation to the soul crushing analog EQ I grew up knowing could do nothing but suck the life out of otherwise well-recorded music. So give it a rest and give a 62 year old guy who’s set in his ways a break. If you like to EQ, or your ancillary equipment requires it, have a blast. But please don’t even suggest that these (or any other headphones) were ‘made to EQ’. Why on Earth would any self-respecting manufacturer, no less a world leader, produce and market an intentionally flawed product? It doesn’t stand to reason.
Final conclusion - I very much enjoyed my week with the 8XX, and I very well may treat myself to a nice little gift.
Thanks again to @michaelDrrrrr for setting this up, and good luck to the next lucky 8XX listener. I hope you have as much fun with them as I did.
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This headphone is just amazing with classical music.
Timbre is way better and corrected from the HD800S.
mvneufeld
100+ Head-Fier
Strat1117 you’ve got excellent taste in music - insofar as it’s like mine 
. Frisell, Dave Holland, McLaughlin - and thanks for reminding me of Remember Shakti. You must know Dave Douglas and Joe Lovano… And I agree they sound superb on the HD8XX - just a great headphone for that kind of music.
. Frisell, Dave Holland, McLaughlin - and thanks for reminding me of Remember Shakti. You must know Dave Douglas and Joe Lovano… And I agree they sound superb on the HD8XX - just a great headphone for that kind of music.
ColSaulTigh
Headphoneus Supremus
Here's the list I put together other than Oratory as mentioned above:
AutoEq:
https://github.com/jaakkopasanen/AutoEq/tree/master/results/oratory1990/harman_over-ear_2018/Sennheiser HD 8XX
Crinacle:
https://drop.com/buy/drop-sennheiser-hd-8xx-headphones/reviews/2849368
Some played with it with these settings:
Gisslybuz:
https://github.com/grizzlybus/8xx_EQ
Daniel Lagoe:
https://drop.com/buy/drop-sennheiser-hd-8xx-headphones/reviews/2860547
The Daniel Lagoe is very interesting. It's totally unconventional (weired) curve. It smoothens everything out. The preamp preset to an odd -12db. Something you can try to see how far the headphone will tolerate.
If you bring the preamp of Oratory and AutoEq to -8 to -12db and compensate it with your volume knob, the sound is sweet, clean, no veil, and open.
These are just starting points. Adjust to taste depending on you associated DAC and amp. The 8XX is an excellent headphone that performs a lot more than its price.
The other thing I noticed is the 8XX benefits a lot from burn-in. Run it on a mix of pink and brown noise 24/7 for at least 3 days to achieve the best result.
So I just spent the last couple of hours putting all of these into Poweramp's PEQ and I have to say, they're all interesting and change the sound quite significantly. Gisslybuz is the most pleasing to my ears, albeit a tad bright (which I tend to like), but running through my xDuoo TA-30 (with some tube-rolling), they all have their benefits. Daniel Lagoe's also seems to work well, surprisingly. If anyone has any others not a part of this very comprehensive list, I'd love to give them a try.
As for the burn-in, I've only had these a week and only have about 10 hours total on them so far. I'll run some pink/brown through them when I go out of town on Sunday - Thurs next week and see what I've got when I get back.
Thanks for the info!
ciber
100+ Head-Fier
Just noticed Drop lowered the price of 8xx to $799, but you have to buy their XLR balanced cable for $199.
Sounds good.
The original balanced cable is $300 so the package would cost $1300 vs $1000 that it is now.
The original balanced cable is $300 so the package would cost $1300 vs $1000 that it is now.
ColSaulTigh
Headphoneus Supremus
... And of course, this was less than 30 days since I bought mine... Wonder if they'll do a price adjustment.
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They should definitely do, or ask for a cable!
SchwizzelKick66
100+ Head-Fier
It's showing $999 for me still.
Edit: nevermind, I get it. You have to add the balanced cable as you said. I'd rather just buy it at $799....lol.
Wonder how much I could sell the cable for...
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SchwizzelKick66
100+ Head-Fier
Yeah it's basically the same price in cart with the balanced cable added. You "save" $300 on the 8xx (from $1100) but add the $200 cable, so it's still $999.
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