[Shoewreck]

I want to see a woody HD800. Regretfully, that would require a great level of craftmanship, beginning right from wood selection.

 

[PooJou]

I don't know about you guys but anything that colour "silver" looks cheap to me. Sure it's a good thousand pound headphone, but it still looks kinda dodgy? Like I guess there is an element of form over function going on there, but couldn't they make it look a little less space-agey?

(Personal preference, I like how the HD600/650 look more than the HD800)

 

[KevM2]

I'm not a big fan of the looks of the HD800 either, but my primary concern is how it sounds. Is it a night and day, huge difference over HD650 or is it just a sizeable improvement? I'd love to hear impressions of these things from a B-52.

 

[davidhunternyc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zuerst /img/forum/go_quote.gif They should have used carbon fiber... mmmmmmm carbon fiber mmmmmmmmmmmmmm and some titanium too... mmmmmmm titanium mmmmmmmmmmm

Now we're talking!

 

[Mercuttio]

Wait a minute, that thing's plastic?

Was there too much left over from all the un-purchased silver cell phones?

 

[nvkid909]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevM2 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm not a big fan of the looks of the HD800 either, but my primary concern is how it sounds. Is it a night and day, huge difference over HD650 or is it just a sizeable improvement? I'd love to hear impressions of these things from a B-52.

quite, i much prefer the design of the 650's to their other 'plastic' dressed models. the design looks a little funky to me, like they've been designed to look space age or something, they must've thought the 650's look old?

oh well, at that price i shan't fret over them any more!

 

[csroc]

There's plastic and then there's plastic that costs well more than many metal alternatives but may have favorable properties. The problem with plastic is that everyone lumps all plastics together, even though a manufacturer could be cheap or could spend the money on using the right plastic material for the right job.

I personally agree that it looks a bit cheesy, maybe even cheap. I would have preferred it just in some sort of black-impregnated plastic rather than silver painted.

 

[Mecc]

Silver-Painted Plastic Gadgets Must Die

I prefer an all black version, but that's so 80s. The design was more for acoustic rather than aesthetic reasons, I would hope. I actually think the HD 800 looks pretty cool and futuristic. I'd just get forget about it after the first day and not care. It comes down to sound and comfort for me. Headphones were designed for private listening. It could have been worse, imagine the white ipod gloss look on them (K701).

 

[davidhunternyc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by arnaud /img/forum/go_quote.gif Weight is one of the KEY parameters in car design. I work on car acoustics performance and I can guarantee you that 100g is a BIG think for any car maker. That's even more relevant in today's environment where it's all about efficiency for a large portion of the vehicles on the market.

I find this comment rather interesting; like the automotive designers actually have a real say in what the final production version of a car will look like. I know several automotive designers and they are so discouraged with price cutting and executive overriding, not to mention the habit of raiding the parts bins of previous cars to haphazardly "design" the interior. Did I mention bailout? And you really think that GM is concerned over 100 grams? I want to bring up a car that has at least a relatively positive reputation; the Mini Cooper. It is a car I appreciate for what it is, however, the interior looks like it was put together at a tupperware party. Was all the plastic used to save weight, to cut costs, or was it used because of its inherent expressive properties? Here is the reason why I brought this car up as an example: when you go in to buy a Mini Cooper the customer has the ability to "upgrade" the interior. You have the option to purchase the chrome package which is mostly spray painted plastic to look like chrome but there are some real "genuine" chrome add-ons as well. And if this doesn't get your blood flowing, there is a huge aftermarket which you can upgrade endlessly and perhaps finally get that tupperware interior up to snuff. Thousands of dollars later, what results is a beautiful car interior with real chrome and metal accents, and wa-la, no added weight to the car! Hmmm, precisely what should have been done in the first place.

 

[davidhunternyc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by csroc /img/forum/go_quote.gif There's plastic and then there's plastic that costs well more than many metal alternatives but may have favorable properties. The problem with plastic is that everyone lumps all plastics together, even though a manufacturer could be cheap or could spend the money on using the right plastic material for the right job. I personally agree that it looks a bit cheesy, maybe even cheap. I would have preferred it just in some sort of black-impregnated plastic rather than silver painted.

Yes, there are ways to use plastic that looks good. The HD800 did not need to be made out of extruded titanium. Aluminum spray paint over plastic is just ugly.

 

[James63]

Well I worked as an R&D Engineer in the Polymer industry and now work as a Process Engineer in the Polymer industry....

The company I work for is on the bleeding edge of polymers (plastics) and our customers only want a cost saving and we sell to a high end market (value added for demanding customers)... There is NO magical plastic... Plastic is strong for its weight, not volume. It is also cheap per unit of weight. We sell some of the best engineer polymers (PBT/PC, ABS/PC, Nylon/ABS,for well under $2.00 pound.

Now I have never done a vibration test on any of our materials. It may be true what they say about aluminum and resonance... but is sounds like a cop-out. Look a Thiel Audio 3.7 speakers, they are $13,000 a pair and use an aluminum front baffle because it was "better than wood", or look at Magico mini II speakers. They are $25,000 a pair and also use aluminum front baffles...

Anyway yes plastics are good for some applications but metal is still better for many many applications. Other wise you would ride a plastic bike and drive a plastic car....

 

[Shahrose]

there's different types/qualities of plastic. apparently they used very high quality plastic for these headphones. sennheiser did what's best to keep the weight low. even light-weight metal is heavier than light-weight plastic and so i'd rather have the plastic.

 

[davidhunternyc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by James63 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well I worked as an R&D Engineer in the Polymer industry and now work as a Process Engineer in the Polymer industry.... The company I work for is on the bleeding edge of polymers (plastics) and our customers only want a cost saving and we sell to a high end market (value added for demanding customers)... There is NO magical plastic... Plastic is strong for its weight, not volume. It is also cheap per unit of weight. We sell some of the best engineer polymers (PBT/PC, ABS/PC, Nylon/ABS,for well under $2.00 pound. Now I have never done a vibration test on any of our materials. It may be true what they say about aluminum and resonance... but is sounds like a cop-out. Look a Thiel Audio 3.7 speakers, they are $13,000 a pair and use an aluminum front baffle because it was "better than wood", or look at Magico mini II speakers. They are $25,000 a pair and also use aluminum front baffles... Anyway yes plastics are good for some applications but metal is still better for many many applications. Other wise you would ride a plastic bike and drive a plastic car....

Thank you James. I feel like my opening post is now vindicated. There are many great uses for plastic but for headphone design? I hate plastic.

 

[Wmcmanus]

I don't have any problem with the design or the materials used in the HD800. From the pics, they look just fine to me. Nothing to get excited about but nothing to get all up in arms about either. In Tyll's opinion, the materials and construction methods used seem excellent (feel, fit and finish) and he's handled more headphones than anyone I know. I'm not planning to use my HD800 while skydiving or scuba diving, so they'll probably outlive me.

 

[scompton]

I'm curious, is carbon fiber considered plastic? I believe it's used now in a lot of applications where metal used to be used.

As for plastic in cars, there's a hell of a lot of it outside of the frame and drive train. A lot of cars have very few metal body parts now.