Sennheiser HD800S Unveiled!
Oct 27, 2015 at 4:17 PM Post #646 of 6,504
Seems to me this is their nice way of saying we haven't figured out how to make anything better yet. So we"ll offer this as a consolation piece.

 
At a certain performance level further improvements are naturally difficult. For specific music types e.g. acoustic jazz, classic with the right set up of a musical DAC and a transparent headamp, the HD800 is just amazingly close to the live acoustic event. Modifications usually address shortcomings of the set up or the music recording/mixing/mastering, not necessarily the headphones. I am obviously very happy with the HD800 in my set up and for my music preference. So I certainly will not jump on the HD800S. If there is a chance to listen to a sample, sure I am up for that but I am in no rush to sell my HD800 (unmodded btw).
 
Oct 27, 2015 at 4:49 PM Post #647 of 6,504
  It will be interesting which direction Sennheiser will go.  As an aside, how do you like your Analixus modded HD800?


Arnaud posted earlier in the thread (see post #325) that Sennheiser experimented with the Analixus modification and he went on to state, "...for the felt mod, it turns out Sennheiser felt this was kind of ruining their efforts to make a resolving transducers with too much attenuation of the highs and also affecting staging because of the dissymetric absorption in the earcup."  I would like see a white paper from Sennheiser explaining their findings with the Anaxilus. As for how I like the HD-800 with the modification, it made the sound "a little bit better" for $2.16. 
 
Oct 27, 2015 at 4:59 PM Post #648 of 6,504
Nice commentary, good read. You should look into doing journalism. But yes, on your points, FYI i'm low on cash but demand quality, so people like myself are in a bit of a quagmire. If the reviews come in that this new 800S is the holy grail and has amended it's shortcomings, and maybe drop the price a little, then fortknox could have a problem on their hands:D .

I can get the cash if i absolutely have too for this 800S, but it better be nirvana! I'll pay top dollar for anything that performs, holy grail type stuff where the consensus is bordering 'unanimous' and i then get to 'confirm' with my own ears. Unlike the consensus around the HD650 headphone, going by the threads you'd swear it's a must have, until i auditioned it for myself, and then flop city. It's a possibility for me this new S model, but even better if they rejig the HD700 with a new variant and get that purring, that could be more doable. Anyone hear any rumour that Senny might be doing the same to the HD700??


I wish they would improve the 700. They should just replace the current 800 with the s model and improve the 700 a bit as well and just keep one version of each. Just call it an upgrade. I'd be more interests in an improved 700 as there is no way I'm paying more than about $800 for headphones, definitely not over a grand. They should improve upon the 700 enough to where it's clearly and easily seen as an improvement over the 650. Right now, most would probably agree that it isn't better enough to justify the added cost. 650s have dropped in price to about $400-$450
 
Oct 27, 2015 at 5:07 PM Post #650 of 6,504
  I am very eager to get my hands on the HD800S as soon as they are available. Unfortunately it seems like it won't be coming out anytime "soon" this year.


 
So...it seems the official announcement will happen during CES.  Sorry, but my crystal ball has nothing else to predict.
 
Oct 27, 2015 at 5:34 PM Post #651 of 6,504
 
Arnaud posted earlier in the thread (see post #325) that Sennheiser experimented with the Analixus modification and he went on to state, "...for the felt mod, it turns out Sennheiser felt this was kind of ruining their efforts to make a resolving transducers with too much attenuation of the highs and also affecting staging because of the dissymetric absorption in the earcup."  I would like see a white paper from Sennheiser explaining their findings with the Anaxilus. As for how I like the HD-800 with the modification, it made the sound "a little bit better" for $2.16. 

I do remember reading that post earlier.  It will be interesting to see how much of a difference the HD800S has over the Analixus modified HD800.  It would be hard to justify the HD800S as an upgrade when you can do something nearly the same for $2.16 and about 30 minutes of your time.  But, I'm sure Sennheiser is aware of this and I guess we'll all have to wait till 2016 for additional information and reviews/comparisons
 
One of these days, I will have to check out both to see if the treble is too hot for me.  The HE400i is about as bright as I can take treble wise.  Glad you are enjoying your modded HD800 even if they're only "a little bit better"
 
Oct 27, 2015 at 5:49 PM Post #652 of 6,504
Well, no sense in hanging out in this thread (chat room) until next year then. I thought it would be coming out soon. C Ya. 
 
Oct 27, 2015 at 5:57 PM Post #653 of 6,504
I find the name of the headphone pretty annoying.  I'll have to say I have a Sennheiser HD800, instead of the sometimes used I own a pair of HD800s.


There are two ways to solve the potential problem of differentiating between both versions. You found one yourself. The other is making use of the shift key when addressing the update. We have an HD800 and we have an HD800S. Simple as that. I'm not saying it's ideal, but at least for the time being it is what it is.
 
Oct 27, 2015 at 6:25 PM Post #655 of 6,504
I agree ..  I get my ears syringed every couple of months. You'd be amazed the difference it makes. 


Wait Paddy, trying to picture this (as hard as I am trying not too:beers:), is the syringe incoming or outgoing?
 
Oct 27, 2015 at 6:43 PM Post #656 of 6,504
  I do remember reading that post earlier.  It will be interesting to see how much of a difference the HD800S has over the Analixus modified HD800.  It would be hard to justify the HD800S as an upgrade when you can do something nearly the same for $2.16 and about 30 minutes of your time.  But, I'm sure Sennheiser is aware of this and I guess we'll all have to wait till 2016 for additional information and reviews/comparisons

 
I experimented with forms of the mod that offered the least amount of dampening, but I still found it a tradeoff. Whatever I gained in attenuating unwanted frequencies was proportional to the amount I lost in high-end resolution and soundstage. I'm glad to have Sennheiser confirm that. Personally, modding didn't provide a solution for me because the very reason I like the HD800 is the treble resolution and soundstage. I would think the HD800S is Sennheiser's attempt at a pure gain without any detraction from what makes the HD800 great. 
 
I would be more excited about it were it not for Sonarworks excellent freq. correction software. Unless, you have some purist or practical constraints, adding EQ into the chain is a real solution. The software DSP available these days is insanely good. 
 
Oct 27, 2015 at 6:44 PM Post #657 of 6,504
Wait Paddy, trying to picture this (as hard as I am trying not too:beers:), is the syringe incoming or outgoing?

there are 2 ways it can be done ... with a machine or manually. I had both and the machine gets more out. You would be surprised the stuff that can get stuck in the ear canal that cotton buds don't reach. So basically luke warm to hot water is pushed into the ear canal at a certain pressure and the the debris is then sucked out. 
 
I found it hard to sleep the night it was done... i kept hearing things in the house - lol
 
Oct 27, 2015 at 7:41 PM Post #659 of 6,504
If it's gonna be that long before they come out then maybe I'll be able to get my hands on a pair.
 
For now I guess I'll stick to my plan of getting a Fidelio X2, while my budget is still pretty tight.
 
Like I said, I'll bet the HD800S will be just a couple hundred more than a HD800. From there I would think most people's logic would be "Well if I'm already putting down $1,500 on a headphone and this one is just a step lower than the best, I may as well go all the way and put in the extra couple hundred bucks to get the latest and greatest" - which I'll bet would be what they would hope people will think. I really don't feel that Sennheiser would go over $2000 with this. I kinda feel like it'll be a $1800 or so in MSRP if the HD800 is $1500. They know it would cut a lot of people out of it and they'd get some bad criticism for raising the price so much over what can mostly be achieved with a three-dollar mod to an HD800. The people that buy these are self-proclaimed "audiophiles", many of whom use enthusiast websites like Head-Fi where they actively communicate, make reviews, and influence buyers, and they don't wanna tick-off that userbase or something. Sennheiser is an established and well-respected name now and I doubt they'd do anything that could muddy that.
 
Besides, I see tons of threads where people are saying "I'm not buying if they're over $2k". I'm sure they've seen those threads and it'll influence their decision. If keeping it below $2k makes the projected sales skyrocket then they'll keep it below $2k, assuming manufacturing them or their R&D isn't/wasn't far more expensive than the HD800, though I can't see how/why that would be, but neither am I an acoustical engineer or something.
 
But hey, I'm just a newbie and a kid, I dunno crap, this is just my applied reasoning and logic.
 
However, if we were playing "The Price is Right", my guess would be $1799 MSRP.
 
That is, unless, they were to bump-down the HD800 to around $1200, in which case perhaps the HD800S would assume the former HD800's price. I suppose that's what we should all be hoping for, but I won't hold my breath or anything.
 

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