[peter123]

I think HD 800S has a decent amount of bass, given the right amp.

Yes I agree but I still find other headphones to be better with hip hop and metal. As always YMMV and all that

 

[Swiftfalcon]

Hi guys! New to Head-fi after reading posts for so long i thought i would join in the fun! I just ordered a pair of HD 800S for myself as a holiday gift after eyeballing them for the last year or so. After everything i have heard about them i really can't wait to try them out! Got a bit of a situation though, so i'm a bit worried. Most of my hifi gear including my O2 amp/dac combo is sitting overseas and i won't pick it up for another month. I was hoping the O2 Amp/dac combo from jds labs will be enough to run these cans, what do you guys think?
At the moment the only amp i have is a Dragonfly Red through a jitterbug, do you think it will be okay to run the HD800S on this for a month? Will it handle it, or will i go insane? Real pity i don't have my O2 once again....

Almost any source can power the 800S to volumes requisite for casual listening. 300 ohm impedance can sound like a lot, but even my iPhone easily drives them. In fact they are easier to drive than the 35ohm 400i
Going off of my experience with mojo, you can enjoy 800S with the dfr but it will sound like a mid fi phone. The 800S are capable of recreating studio or live experiences only with appropriate source.

 

[Audiofiend1]

Yeah i'm not really concerned with perfect audio from the Dragonfly red, it just needs to get me through the month and i'll be okay. I'm also looking into getting the WA7d firefly, anyone know if this is a good pairing amp for the 800s ?

 

[Swiftfalcon]

I’ve read woo wa 7 is one of the best amps out there and it pairs great with 800S. Never heard it though. I myself have pulled the trigger on a bryston bha 1 as an upgrade over jotunheim and am waiting for the shipment.

Nice review of 800S here

 

[ezekiel77]

I’ve read woo wa 7 is one of the best amps out there and it pairs great with 800S. Never heard it though. I myself have pulled the trigger on a bryston bha 1 as an upgrade over jotunheim and am waiting for the shipment.

Nice review of 800S here

Nice review by @Army-Firedawg, and front-paged!

 

[chungjun]

Curious, is HD800S made all in Germany?

 

[occamsrazor]

They called themselves thegreatsound, if I remember correctly. "Feels a bit fishy" is pretty accurate, especially when handing faceless strangers over £1k. The original post was aimed at anyone that hasn't seen the offer or is in two minds about committing.

Offtopic but found this post via an internet search. Just curious if anyone bought anything from "thegreatsound" and if so how it was... Thanks.

 

[Quinto]

Offtopic but found this post via an internet search. Just curious if anyone bought anything from "thegreatsound" and if so how it was... Thanks.

I bought mine there..worked out fine, although I had to ask for an invoice a few times and the box was not sealed as advertised, but the headphones looked unused and they work great... so, considering the price, I'm happy.

 

[vrln]

Curious, is HD800S made all in Germany?

Yup, at the Sennheiser headquarters at Wedemark. Built like a tank just like the HD 800. All parts ooze high quality and most are modular.

Just joined the HD 800 S club myself after getting a HDV 820 as source. Initially the plan was just to switch the source from a previous Benchmark DAC to this as I wanted a better headphone amp section (used headphones way more than my desktop monitors). Well, ended up selling the monitors and moving from HD 600 first to a HD 660 S and now to the Sennheiser flagship. Going to keep the HD 660 S though, they complement these nicely and sound good out of portable sources too. Awesome synergy as expected. Best I´ve ever heard the HD800(S) sound with the exception of maybe the Chord DAVE that I once auditioned at a local audio store. Still ruthlessly revealing, but no brightness and very low listening fatigue. The HD 800 treble peak issue is completely solved. Very natural and open.

Sure high end headphones get expensive, but if you compare to speakers I´d still claim you get nowhere near this sound quality without a budget several times this.

 

[Ultramus]

Just got my HD800S this week, have to say I am pretty pleased with it thus far. Prior to buying the Mjolnir in the first place for the HE-500, I had also heard it with the HD800, and it was definitely sibilant and almost artificial sounding for classical. When the HD800S not only tamed that ringing, but ALSO came with the balanced cable necessary for my rig, it was a no brainer. While strings and percussion are very very similar between the two headphones, the HD800S shines as soon as you get to higher register woodwinds and especially brass. Not to mention the imaging is fantastic. With all the recent high end headphone additions in the $1k+ bracket, the 800S feels like a steal, and honestly priced where it should be. I don't really know how the Susvara, H1K, Utopia, et cetera match up, but I have heard both the Stax 007 and 009s and they didn't wow me either, I really can't imagine it getting much better than this. I'm sure lots of y'all's rigs dwarf mine but ultimately, this headphone is seriously, seriously good, the fact it can scale even higher is testament that Senn know their stuff, and the build quality is superb, I don't have nearly the same confidence in the boutique makers at this point(and the Senn warranty feels damn good).

Interested to know how many others are running the Mjolnir and their thoughts on it, right now I couldn't be happier.

 

[MickeyVee]

My initial impressions of the HD800S were not totally positive. I borrowed them for a week about a year ago when a friend of mine got his. I have an amazing setup with the McIntosh MXA70 {basically the MHA100 but with the matching speakers} and I was pretty satisfied that I was at end game. The HD800S seemed a little veiled, a little darker actually, the bass sloppy {that's a very relative term} and the soundstage seemed constricted. Nah, will stick with my HD800.

Well, I was out looking for a better pair of headphones to mate up with my AK300 as I really was not satisfied with the HE400i and the HD800 sounded awful with them. I was auditioning the HD660S and after some time, decided that they were a little shouty for me and l could not handle them for longer term listening. I really wanted to like them but... right under me in the glass showcase was the HD800S so what the hey, let me try them. Wow! They sounded pretty good with the AK300 and that really surprised me. For the next half hour, I switched back and forth between the HD800S and the HD660S, really hoping that I could live with the HD660S and finally asked the sales associate to put the HD660S away. He kind of grinned and complied. The HD800S sounded so smooth but with the constricted sound stage {not surprised with the AK300} and the bass was pretty engaging. I was pretty surprised, taken aback and delighted. Then I started wondering, can I live with these long term? As I get older, I'm reducing my volume listening level and do find the HD800 sharp at times but quite liveable. The McIntosh really helps here. Then I checked out the price, they were on sale and $450 under retail. Holy cr@p! Needless to say, I purchased them.

So, day two into the HD800S, they are really growing on me. With the McIntosh set at +2.5db bass boost, they sound full, engaging and more musical with about as much bass as I would want. When called for, the slam is really there and the bass is much better on all my favourite tracks. Yes, the soundstage is smaller and to me, they seem a little darker but smoother and I am really enjoying them. The trade offs are worth it to me. The HD800 and HE400i are now up for sale. I'm now a one headphone guy plus a couple of IEMs. I'll get a custom balanced shorter cable for the the AK300 and actually do like the stock cable on the HD800S. My ADL cable with the fancy Furutech carbon/rhodium plugs and OCC and silver cable are going to.

 

[devilboy]

.

 

[devilboy]

+1 @ Ultramus

 

[joseph69]

My initial impressions of the HD800S were not totally positive. I borrowed them for a week about a year ago when a friend of mine got his. I have an amazing setup with the McIntosh MXA70 {basically the MHA100 but with the matching speakers} and I was pretty satisfied that I was at end game. The HD800S seemed a little veiled, a little darker actually, the bass sloppy {that's a very relative term} and the soundstage seemed constricted. Nah, will stick with my HD800.

Well, I was out looking for a better pair of headphones to mate up with my AK300 as I really was not satisfied with the HE400i and the HD800 sounded awful with them. I was auditioning the HD660S and after some time, decided that they were a little shouty for me and l could not handle them for longer term listening. I really wanted to like them but... right under me in the glass showcase was the HD800S so what the hey, let me try them. Wow! They sounded pretty good with the AK300 and that really surprised me. For the next half hour, I switched back and forth between the HD800S and the HD660S, really hoping that I could live with the HD660S and finally asked the sales associate to put the HD660S away. He kind of grinned and complied. The HD800S sounded so smooth but with the constricted sound stage {not surprised with the AK300} and the bass was pretty engaging. I was pretty surprised, taken aback and delighted. Then I started wondering, can I live with these long term? As I get older, I'm reducing my volume listening level and do find the HD800 sharp at times but quite liveable. The McIntosh really helps here. Then I checked out the price, they were on sale and $450 under retail. Holy cr@p! Needless to say, I purchased them.

So, day two into the HD800S, they are really growing on me. With the McIntosh set at +2.5db bass boost, they sound full, engaging and more musical with about as much bass as I would want. When called for, the slam is really there and the bass is much better on all my favourite tracks. Yes, the soundstage is smaller and to me, they seem a little darker but smoother and I am really enjoying them. The trade offs are worth it to me. The HD800 and HE400i are now up for sale. I'm now a one headphone guy plus a couple of IEMs. I'll get a custom balanced shorter cable for the the AK300 and actually do like the stock cable on the HD800S. My ADL cable with the fancy Furutech carbon/rhodium plugs and OCC and silver cable are going to.

I haven't had my 800S very long, but I enjoy their overall sound quality very much. I also find them to be very smooth sounding, as well as being extremely comfortable.

 

[ubs28]

Yup, at the Sennheiser headquarters at Wedemark. Built like a tank just like the HD 800. All parts ooze high quality and most are modular.

Just joined the HD 800 S club myself after getting a HDV 820 as source. Initially the plan was just to switch the source from a previous Benchmark DAC to this as I wanted a better headphone amp section (used headphones way more than my desktop monitors). Well, ended up selling the monitors and moving from HD 600 first to a HD 660 S and now to the Sennheiser flagship. Going to keep the HD 660 S though, they complement these nicely and sound good out of portable sources too. Awesome synergy as expected. Best I´ve ever heard the HD800(S) sound with the exception of maybe the Chord DAVE that I once auditioned at a local audio store. Still ruthlessly revealing, but no brightness and very low listening fatigue. The HD 800 treble peak issue is completely solved. Very natural and open.

Sure high end headphones get expensive, but if you compare to speakers I´d still claim you get nowhere near this sound quality without a budget several times this.

Congrats. I really liked the look of the HDVD 800 with the HD 800, so the HDVD 820 must look pretty cool with the HD 800 S.

I don't think I will get the HDVD 820 myself though. But I will give it a listen when I have the chance.