[ubs28]

The HD800S I have still has a 6.5khz peak if I do frequency sweeps with Sine waves. 
 
If I play notes when the HD800S is in my Access Virus TI synthesizer, every note seems of equal strenght. But not sure if every single note covers the entire frequency range like when doing a full sweep with a size wave.

 

[James-uk]

The HD800S I have still has a 6.5khz peak if I do frequency sweeps with Sine waves. 

If I play notes when the HD800S is in my Access Virus TI synthesizer, every note seems of equal strenght. But not sure if every single note covers the entire frequency range like when doing a full sweep with a size wave.

That isn't surprising seeing as The peak is still there, just subdued slightly. How are you finding the overall experience with music vs HD800 ? For me personally the tweaks have made the HD800 obsolete and the HD600 also questionable for headtime , the S hasn't bothered me with any of my collection yet , yes it's sometimes boring and clinical with some recordings still, but it's not offensive like the old ones could be at times . When I want a more fun sound I will probably reach for the HD650s still though.

 

[james444]

  Great to hear all of the new impressions. There is nothing like new toy day  I know I'm fairly old (42) but I just don't hear the peak with my HD800. When I use Audacity to generate different frequencies on my Macbook I hear a flat response all the way to about 7 khz then I hear the loudness dipping between 7 and 9 Khz before rising strongly @ around 9.5-10KHz.
Im worried that some people will look at the graph above and think that the 6KHz peak is a fault but for many people (especially above age  35) the rise is what you need to hear a flat response. The ear is really sensitive @ speech frequencies hence the dip around 3-4Khz to compensate for this. Then the rise above 4kHz is required to counteract the ears natural rolloff above this value. The older you are the greater the roll off. Helmholtz resonators and acoustical absorbers have been around for probably over a 100 years, they are nothing new and I guarantee that Sennheiser had this expertise when designing the original HD800. If the original HD800 has a fault @ 6kHz then they had all the time in the world to rectify this when the headphone was first designed (didn't it take many years and resources to design the HD800/ panel of experts involved?). I have a strong feeling that all experts involved were 35 years old + and indeed when the HD800 was first conceived headphones were not a young persons game like they are now. The original HD800 would have been designed for a target market of 30 years +  who had the funds to cough up a large amount of $ for the product. So what am I trying to say here...don't freak out that your HD800 has been superseded. The HD800 may be more suitable for some and the HD800S more so for others. Do your own test with an easily acquired signal generator (Audacity is a good one and free I think) and find out if what you currently have suits your ears or not.

 
Interesting theory, but imho not very plausible. Pretty much every graph on age related hearing loss shows a progressive rise with higher frequencies (examples here and here). So, if you'd design a headphone for the 30+ target market, why would you tune it with a 6kHz peak and a gradual downslope above that frequency?
 
I'm in my fifties and my hearing is definitely affected by age related hearing loss (don't hear much above 15kHz any more). Yet I still perceive the HD800's high mids and low treble as quite forward and sharp, and clearly preferred the new HD800S in a direct A/B listening comparison.

 

[TenMoonsNorth]

Sennheiser talked of a masking effect. This is where the 6Khz peak masks other frequencies due to it being much louder than the rest. I think it's very clear that Sennheiser thinks the tuning of the HD800 was correct except for that peak. Whether you agree it is neutral is different but you can just EQ it to sound how you want.

 

[Whazzzup]

I can't wait to climb that peak.

 

[Nicklikesmusic]

   
Interesting theory, but imho not very plausible. Pretty much every graph on age related hearing loss shows a progressive rise with higher frequencies (examples here and here). So, if you'd design a headphone for the 30+ target market, why would you tune it with a 6kHz peak and a gradual downslope above that frequency?
 
I'm in my fifties and my hearing is definitely affected by age related hearing loss (don't hear much above 15kHz any more). Yet I still perceive the HD800's high mids and low treble as quite forward and sharp, and clearly preferred the new HD800S in a direct A/B listening comparison.

 
 
All I can say is that with my HD800 (graph attached) and my 42 year old ears I hear a flat response from 1Khz to around 7Khz. At this point it dips then picks up and gives its strongest amplitude at around 10KHz-12Khz.
What I hear at 6 kHz could be 10dB lower than someone in their early twenties. i.e. my headphones could make a young 15 year old females ears very uncomfortable at 6kHz. But for me I do not hear this. Why do they roll off at higher frequencies when our hearing decreases with frequency, I don't know maybe an acoustics engineer could answer.

 

[ubs28]

That isn't surprising seeing as The peak is still there, just subdued slightly. How are you finding the overall experience with music vs HD800 ? For me personally the tweaks have made the HD800 obsolete and the HD600 also questionable for headtime , the S hasn't bothered me with any of my collection yet , yes it's sometimes boring and clinical with some recordings still, but it's not offensive like the old ones could be at times . When I want a more fun sound I will probably reach for the HD650s still though.

I haven't listened to it much but my first impression is that it sounds close to the original HD800 but a bit smoother sounding. 

 

[phonomat]

  +4⁴

+5. Waitaminnit, what were we plussing again?
 

*snip* The older you are the greater the roll off. *snip*

Seriously though, this is great news. Even at 40, it means I'm basically just too young for my Hugo/TH900 combo (which I find excessively bright). Things can only get better! Maybe I'll just lock them away in my cabinet and return to them in 25 years. By then, I'll hopefully have more time on my hands to enjoy 'em as well ...

 

[Whazzzup]

 
+4⁴

+5. Waitaminnit, what were we plussing again?

*snip* The older you are the greater the roll off. *snip*

Seriously though, this is great news. Even at 40, it means I'm basically just too young for my Hugo/TH900 combo (which I find excessively bright). Things can only get better! Maybe I'll just lock them away in my cabinet and return to them in 25 years. By then, I'll hopefully have more time on my hands to enjoy 'em as well ...

You don't have to wait that long. Course everyone's ears are different but I didn't have the high fr issue so much, but if you don't mind mods, get the Lawton level 1 dampening kit diy. It tightens the base with nice sub bass extension still there and smoothed those highs.

 

[phonomat]

You don't have to wait that long. Course everyone's ears are different but I didn't have the high fr issue so much, but if you don't mind mods, get the Lawton level 1 dampening kit diy. It tightens the base with nice sub bass extension still there and smoothed those highs.

I have indeed been thinking about that, but in the meantime I have upgraded to the Pioneer SE-Master1, and boy, is it ever an upgrade. It's so much better on all accounts except sub-bass, I'll probably end up selling the TH900 rather than investing further in it. Although I will be missing dat bass ...

 

[MattTCG]

That isn't surprising seeing as The peak is still there, just subdued slightly. How are you finding the overall experience with music vs HD800 ? For me personally the tweaks have made the HD800 obsolete and the HD600 also questionable for headtime , the S hasn't bothered me with any of my collection yet , yes it's sometimes boring and clinical with some recordings still, but it's not offensive like the old ones could be at times . When I want a more fun sound I will probably reach for the HD650s still though.

 
Are you still using the BHC or have you moved on to something else?

 

[Beagle]

 
the rise is what you need to hear a flat response. The ear is really sensitive @ speech frequencies hence the dip around 3-4Khz to compensate for this. Then the rise above 4kHz is required to counteract the ears natural rolloff above this value. The older you are the greater the roll off.

 
Nonsense IMO

 

[TMRaven]

Sennheiser engineers were in their teens and 20s when designing their flagship HD600 and 650.  When they designed their HD800 they were in their 50s and 60s.  Yes, they aged 40 years in a matter of 10-15 years.

 

[James-uk]

Are you still using the BHC or have you moved on to something else?

Benchmark dac1 usb.

 

[Dobrescu George]

  Sennheiser engineers were in their teens and 20s when designing their flagship HD600 and 650.  When they designed their HD800 they were in their 50s and 60s.  Yes, they aged 40 years in a matter of 10-15 years.

wait... what?
 
There are different teams that design different things in every company... I think I was not paying enough attention to the entire thing, no?