Sell a few headphones to get Sennheiser HD 800s?

[Guinibee]

Hello all,

I'm debating selling off a few cans, getting 800s, and being content for a while. I don't say "end game" cause something else always comes up, but I'd like to stop for a while.

I have Focal Clear MG, LCD-X 2021, DT1990, and HD 6xx. I also have Harmonicdyne Poseidon on Kickstarter.

My source is Schiit Modius and Asgard 3, but I have a Lyr 3, Jotunheim 2, and Bifrost 2 on backorder.

I mostly listen to hip hop, edm, chillhop, and some classical. I also play a lot of competitive and single player games. The Clear MG, and LCD-X are amazing with hip hop, edm, and chillhop.

My thought... If I cancel my Poseidon Kickstarter and sell 6xx along with the DT1990 I'll approach the price for the 800s. This gives me a headphone that is great for gaming and classical. Then my collection would be 3 high end headphones covering all my wants.

Sound like a good plan or am I crazy? Lol... This rabbit hole is too deep!

 

[pjones5]

Seems legit - that necessitates finding a buyer though! Unfortunately for you, DT1990 and HD6XX are some of the most common headphones out there and so there's a lot of competition in selling them. In my experience with selling my HD6XX, unless you sell them at 60% the cost of a new pair, you can forget about off-loading them. DT1990s might be different - thought I'd assume the same would be true. Plus, any online services like FaceBook Marketplace, Ebay, OfferUp, etc. that would give you greater exposure to buyers are also going to take a 12.9% sales fee and shipping ranges from $40 to $90.

Been in a similar spot, though on a much cheaper scale, and quickly found that my plan to sell and buy did not work out the way I had hoped.

Quick edit: I've also found that being content with the audio you've got begins by being content with the audio you've got. I've fallen prey to the rabbit hole many a time and any attempt to scratch the itch one last time for that one last pair of headphones never worked. If the itch has to be scratched, I dapple instead with cheaper alternatives (mostly IEMs) so I can enjoy some new sound without losing all my money.

 

[Guinibee]

Seems legit - that necessitates finding a buyer though! Unfortunately for you, DT1990 and HD6XX are some of the most common headphones out there and so there's a lot of competition in selling them. In my experience with selling my HD6XX, unless you sell them at 60% the cost of a new pair, you can forget about off-loading them. DT1990s might be different - thought I'd assume the same would be true. Plus, any online services like FaceBook Marketplace, Ebay, OfferUp, etc. that would give you greater exposure to buyers are also going to take a 12.9% sales fee and shipping ranges from $40 to $90.

Been in a similar spot, though on a much cheaper scale, and quickly found that my plan to sell and buy did not work out the way I had hoped.

Hmm good point. I have seen some DT1990s going lately for around $350 to $400 and some 6xx around $150, but you're right about the market.

I'll give it a shot anyway considering I just bought the 800s lol.

Quick edit to respond to your quick edit...
It really is one hell of a hole. Luckily, hd 800s is the only other headphone I really want right now, so I should be set after this one....at least for a while. My last real itch for the foreseeable future!

 

[iFi audio]

Sound like a good plan or am I crazy? Lol... This rabbit hole is too deep!

Nothing crazy in selling stuff you don't enjoy as much as you did to finance something else. If HD800S is what you're after now, that's what you should get

I remember HD800 so can't say how much of a progress HD800S offer, but I'd check how much your Focal Clear MG overlaps with it. They should be somewhat similar?

 

[Guinibee]

Nothing crazy in selling stuff you don't enjoy as much as you did to finance something else. If HD800S is what you're after now, that's what you should get

I remember HD800 so can't say how much of a progress HD800S offer, but I'd check how much your Focal Clear MG overlaps with it. They should be somewhat similar?

Kind of, but 800s has more treble, but the primary difference is soundstage and imaging. 800s is very wide and Clear MG is very "in your head". Clear MG has better bass as well. They're pretty similar with mids.

 

[iFi audio]

Kind of, but 800s has more treble, but the primary difference is soundstage and imaging. 800s is very wide and Clear MG is very "in your head". Clear MG has better bass as well. They're pretty similar with mids.

Yes, spatial wideness and openness are two things I remembered well after trying out HD800 years back and I think that these were (and still are?) its fundamental traits. If you're after wide imaging, then HD800 (...and probably its S version) is a good choice indeed.

 

[dunring]

I've had the HD800S and was running them with the regular cables on a Soundblaster AE-9 and went pale when I realized the epic soundstage when I popped into Destiny 2. It's about like an AKG K7xx in size if you've heard those, the difference is the level of detail. Instead of hearing boom or bang, on the 800s you can tell exactly what weapon they're using. They needed a little EQ for music but they just weren't every day type of headphones for me. If you sell on eBay make sure the auction closes around 5pm EST on a Sunday. I've given up trying to bid then because there's so many active bidders driving prices up. Great time to have it end if you're a seller though. My favorite overall gaming headphone is the Audio Technica ADA1000X (also tuned great for female vocals like Sia or Ellie Goulding).
I've bought and sold a couple of those, the DT1990 prices fluctuate, $385 on a good day if in good condition. The HD6xx sells for full retail when Drop runs out of them and they're 2 weeks away from a shipment. The problem is they go on cyber Monday sale for $169 so I'd sell those first since the used market for those tanks for a month afterwards. I just sold a Focal Elegia and it took over a month to sell. If you sell them, include a list of other comparable price headphones in the listing so you'll show up in the secondary search results when someone is looking for similar models but have never heard of Focal.

 

[Guinibee]

I've had the HD800S and was running them with the regular cables on a Soundblaster AE-9 and went pale when I realized the epic soundstage when I popped into Destiny 2. It's about like an AKG K7xx in size if you've heard those, the difference is the level of detail. Instead of hearing boom or bang, on the 800s you can tell exactly what weapon they're using. They needed a little EQ for music but they just weren't every day type of headphones for me. If you sell on eBay make sure the auction closes around 5pm EST on a Sunday. I've given up trying to bid then because there's so many active bidders driving prices up. Great time to have it end if you're a seller though. My favorite overall gaming headphone is the Audio Technica ADA1000X (also tuned great for female vocals like Sia or Ellie Goulding).
I've bought and sold a couple of those, the DT1990 prices fluctuate, $385 on a good day if in good condition. The HD6xx sells for full retail when Drop runs out of them and they're 2 weeks away from a shipment. The problem is they go on cyber Monday sale for $169 so I'd sell those first since the used market for those tanks for a month afterwards. I just sold a Focal Elegia and it took over a month to sell. If you sell them, include a list of other comparable price headphones in the listing so you'll show up in the secondary search results when someone is looking for similar models but have never heard of Focal.

Nice! Thanks for the reply!