[x7007]

Hi All,
Planning to buy these, I mostly use my headphones (HD6xx, HD598) on portable gear (X7II + ifi xCan).
Does HD800s have less bass (quantity) impact than HD598?
Powering them on X7II + xCan makes sense?

not sure about the bass but it sound natural and not warm compared to my Beyerdynamic dt990.
It does give more feeling to it if you have a good hearing, it is always the hearing of the beholder.

 

[Lay.]

Hi All,
Planning to buy these, I mostly use my headphones (HD6xx, HD598) on portable gear (X7II + ifi xCan).
Does HD800s have less bass (quantity) impact than HD598?
Powering them on X7II + xCan makes sense?

I was about to write how bass light headphones the HD598's are but when I hooked them to HDV820 and compared them against HD800S... wholy s****! Never heard so good bass from them before.

That said... HD800S has so much cleaner and faster bass that there might be more impact but not necessary more quantity. You can EQ HD800S really well if more bass is desired. I would still try to demo them before buying.

 

[Jmask5]

Listened to these again today vs. Sundara and Clear and these were way better. Every time I listen to these compred to anything else I always come away impressed. Best headphone I have listened to. I need to save my money.

 

[Ichos]

I haven't heard Sundara but I have listened extensively to the Clears as a three days demo at my home.
I found HD800s far superior with better overall tuning and technical ability.
The Clears were good at low volume listening but after a given volume I found them ringing and resonating.

 

[prymortal]

Spoiler

Heres my Freq Graph for anyone interested.

Since this thread is for impressions i'm going say something controversial... & keep in mind this is my FIRST impressions of the HD800s.
I expected a (extra) large soundstage because its common in reviews "This is the largest soundstage in a headphone i've heard" well its not the larest i've heard, its defintly not HD668B extra large its more K712 large (this is going off memory), I'm speaking in terms of how far out the sound goes in it to its limit, But it has a lot of more "play" & movement of instruments from the imaging in the depth of the soundstage than those & many other i concider close in size.
Now that was first impression the more i listen to them the more its starting to open up, not get larger just getting more noticeably "airy" so a "false sense of expanse" i guess is how i would descirbe it.
EDIT: I just noticed the Height in the soundstage... Thats impressive.

When i was first told about the "holy grail" HD600 they never menchioned no soundstage & very warm mid sounding bass, so in my head the HD800s sounds exactly how i picture the HD600 would sound at the time. Don't get me wrong i was never dissapointed in the HD600 (or HD660s just the HD650/XX), I just expected much more & i'm glad I found the HD800s because that expectation has been meet in full now.

That out of the way, I find everything impressive from the light, fast but just punchy bass to the highs that just go up, but never hit the peaks. Weridly i find the mids a bit hidden for a Sennheiser headphone but they are there, Guess its just a bit of getting used to since they are new.

I actually only bought it to game with.... But looks like im going to be using it for everything now!

 

[Phronesis]

Spoiler

Heres my Freq Graph for anyone interested.

Since this thread is for impressions i'm going say something controversial... & keep in mind this is my FIRST impressions of the HD800s.
I expected a (extra) large soundstage because its common in reviews "This is the largest soundstage in a headphone i've heard" well its not the larest i've heard, its defintly not HD668B extra large its more K712 large (this is going off memory), I'm speaking in terms of how far out the sound goes in it to its limit, But it has a lot of more "play" & movement of instruments from the imaging in the depth of the soundstage than those & many other i concider close in size.
Now that was first impression the more i listen to them the more its starting to open up, not get larger just getting more noticeably "airy" so a "false sense of expanse" i guess is how i would descirbe it.

When i was first told about the "holy grail" HD600 they never menchioned no soundstage & very warm mid sounding bass, so in my head the HD800s sounds exactly how i picture the HD600 would sound at the time. Don't get me wrong i was never dissapointed in the HD600 (or HD660s just the HD650/XX), I just expected much more & i'm glad I found the HD800s because that expectation has been meet in full now.

That out of the way, I find everything impressive from the light, fast but just punchy bass to the highs that just go up, but never hit the peaks. Weridly i find the mids a bit hidden for a Sennheiser headphone but they are there, Guess its just a bit of getting used to since they are new.

I actually only bought it to game with.... But looks like im going to be using it for everything now!

Interesting comments ... of course, perception of stage involves some design trickery related to size, position, and angle of the drivers, frequency response, and overall acoustics. In the end, you just have a couple drivers right next to your ears, with no room acoustics.

To my ears, the HD800S gives a wider and therefore larger sense of stage than most headphones, but on a minority of tracks the sense of stereo separation can be a bit much, leaving a perceived hole in the middle if there's not enough sound content which isn't panned L or R. But on most tracks, I prefer the sense of stage of the HD800S over other headphones I own and have tried.

 

[LarryMagoo]

HD 800S for gaming? What a waste of a great HP....

 

[ZappaMan]

Does anyone who has both hd650 and Hd800s ever use their 650 and if so - why?
I don’t have a lot of time to listen, but just find the 800s superior.... but would like to get another point of view.

 

[Arniesb]

HD 800S for gaming? What a waste of a great HP....

Nope. If youre play a lot its not if ure play 5 hours a week then yes i agree.

 

[prymortal]

Interesting comments ... of course, perception of stage involves some design trickery related to size, position, and angle of the drivers, frequency response, and overall acoustics. In the end, you just have a couple drivers right next to your ears, with no room acoustics.

To my ears, the HD800S gives a wider and therefore larger sense of stage than most headphones, but on a minority of tracks the sense of stereo separation can be a bit much, leaving a perceived hole in the middle if there's not enough sound content which isn't panned L or R. But on most tracks, I prefer the sense of stage of the HD800S over other headphones I own and have tried.

absolutely, I'm aware my .... Not sure the word, "Sense of perception" of the soundstages seems to differ from a lot of peoples, i generally just hear the edge of it, while others hear the closeness, distance & space between.

Nope. If youre play a lot its not if ure play 5 hours a week then yes i agree.

That was my thoughts on it as well.
On top of the up to 8 hours per day i also occasionally test for a few game companys & while Audio isnt something they need us to test for i have found it to be handy in certain games when optional feedback is allowed to be given.

 

[prymortal]

Does anyone who has both hd650 and Hd800s ever use their 650 and if so - why?
I don’t have a lot of time to listen, but just find the 800s superior.... but would like to get another point of view.

I'm in the process of selling my HD600 & HD660s after getting the HD800s if that helps. I already sold the HD650(xx) & HD58X because they couldnt compete with the HD660s (In my opinion!)

 

[Arniesb]

I'm in the process of selling my HD600 & HD660s after getting the HD800s if that helps. I already sold the HD650(xx) & HD58X because they couldnt compete with the HD660s (In my opinion!)

I like to add as well. For me when u have warm amp like Violectric, beyerdynamic a20 or tube amp then such setup have all HD650 strenghts and more.
If its neutral setup then for me HD650 would be great addition for poorly mastered music.

 

[Whitigir]

I am a fan of Hd800s and I love it more and more everyday. Hell, I am trying a funny thing here, but using a cheap turn table and a good record and my Mini-Dynalo, or Mini-GSX from headamp....the performances would toss many stuff out there to shame

 

[Thenewguy007]

I expected a (extra) large soundstage because its common in reviews "This is the largest soundstage in a headphone i've heard" well its not the larest i've heard, its defintly not HD668B extra large its more K712 large (this is going off memory), I'm speaking in terms of how far out the sound goes in it to its limit, But it has a lot of more "play" & movement of instruments from the imaging in the depth of the soundstage than those & many other i concider close in size.
Now that was first impression the more i listen to them the more its starting to open up, not get larger just getting more noticeably "airy" so a "false sense of expanse" i guess is how i would descirbe it.
EDIT: I just noticed the Height in the soundstage... Thats impressive.

The HD800 is a chameleon when it comes to the equipment that feed it. If you move up with your chain to higher end stuff, the HD800 scales with it.

I've heard the HD800 with a moderate soundstage & weak bass, but with good equipment, it improves in those areas significantly.

 

[Ichos]

@prymortal

What is the set up you are using with the HD800?
I believe that a properly driven HD800 has the best soundstage existing on the market today.
And by best I mean not only wideness but also depth , height and proper positioning of the musicians.
As always poorly mastered material will sound as the stage is out of real proportion or bad placed instruments or throw at your face and other things some people are bitching off but that's not a fault of the headphone itself.
Blame the material and / or your equipment.