[PointyFox]

Do you mean to say that if you remove them you can't reattach them easily?

I would hope there's a path back to putting them back on if A/B'ing the sound shows they don't affect the sound.

Unless someone with the HD820's can try the A/B test, and put them back on successfully, I'll have to try for myself someday...

For now my M15 + SendyAudio Aiva's are doing great, but the Aiva's will likely get lonely... eventually, but I did buy an extra pair of earpads.

Any suggestions on other alternatives to the HD820's? $2400 is a big lump sum, even a used pair of HD820's at $1800 is more than 3x the Aiva's cost.

Any other closed back's I should consider? Right now I've only the Sennheiser 598cs, Audio-Technica ATH-ANC900BT, and a bunch of broken Sony BT headphones - no more of those for me, and a pair of Beats Studio 3's, a bunch of IEM's (balanced mostly).

I need a companion closed back of the same sound class as the Aiva's - or better - for the M15 4.4mm High Current mode to feed.

ZMF Eikon and Sony MDR-Z1R.

 

[flailure]

Do you mean to say that if you remove them you can't reattach them easily?

I would hope there's a path back to putting them back on if A/B'ing the sound shows they don't affect the sound.

Unless someone with the HD820's can try the A/B test, and put them back on successfully, I'll have to try for myself someday...

For now my M15 + SendyAudio Aiva's are doing great, but the Aiva's will likely get lonely... eventually, but I did buy an extra pair of earpads.

Any suggestions on other alternatives to the HD820's? $2400 is a big lump sum, even a used pair of HD820's at $1800 is more than 3x the Aiva's cost.

Any other closed back's I should consider? Right now I've only the Sennheiser 598cs, Audio-Technica ATH-ANC900BT, and a bunch of broken Sony BT headphones - no more of those for me, and a pair of Beats Studio 3's, a bunch of IEM's (balanced mostly).

I need a companion closed back of the same sound class as the Aiva's - or better - for the M15 4.4mm High Current mode to feed.

They pop in and out very easily, they are not film, just sized to sit in the hole. They do not affect sound as far as I can tell, the reason they used glass in the first place is because of how stiff it is, even putting my fingers against the glass does not seem to have a noticeable affect on sound quality, (other than pushing against the headphone causing a better seal), ymmv, I removed the plastic covers though, for aesthetic reasons, and like I said before, they are built to survive. I feel these would survive a fall, certainly better than my audeze lcd, or any of the grado's that I have owned.

 

[hmscott]

Update: Sennheiser has dropped the HD820 price to $1800 and the HDV820 to $1799 - see below

IDK if this is a mistake or what... things may change.

Head's up, BHphoto is having a sale on the Sennheiser HD820's right now... $1999 new! $400 off:
$1,999.95 Price $2,399.95 Instant Savings $400.00
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1383780-REG/sennheiser_hd820_stereo_monitor_headphones.html

It's not my time yet, but maybe it's your time to get the HD820's

Hmmm, there's a bunch of places running a sale on the HD820's:
https://www.google.com/shopping/product/1756329938855251563/online?q=sennheiser+hd820

There's still a few vendors at the MSRP, but many (most?) are at $1999 or less, I wonder what's up?

Update: It's Sennheiser that's dropped the pricing on the HD820 HDV820, discount doesn't show until it's in the cart. It doesn't say anything about a discount on the product pages right now, but adding them to the cart shows the discounted pricing:
https://en-us.sennheiser.com/v4r/sajari_search?q=hdv+820

From that search listing I clicked "learn more" on the HD820's and HDV820's and added them to my cart:

 

[robo24]

That's the combo bundle price. Have to buy both to get that price. As far as what's up, it probably just isn't selling as well as they'd like and is widely seen as overpriced at $2400. $1800 really ought to be the standard price. Even at that it's $100 more than the 800 S.

 

[hmscott]

That's the combo bundle price. Have to buy both to get that price. As far as what's up, it probably just isn't selling as well as they'd like and is widely seen as overpriced at $2400. $1800 really ought to be the standard price. Even at that it's $100 more than the 800 S.

There has been a combo price for a while, but the HD820 alone wasn't $1999 last I looked:

IDK when the HD820 price dropped to $1999, but it was within the last couple of weeks as I was looking to get an open box HD820 for $1800, before I found the SendyAudio Aiva's on sale down from $599 to $479, they are back up to $599:
https://shop.musicteck.com/products...ar-magnetic-headphones?variant=18480633839678

That combo price with both the HD820 and HDV820 discounted even further is awesome, but it's not for me right now. Even the $1899 HD820's is a great price, but too many things for me to catch up with - besides if that's the prices now, what will it be in 6 months? Maybe everyone will be back to work and the prices of the HD820 / HDV820 will return to MSRP?

 

[flailure]

I was fortunate on mine, got them second hand for just a bit more than a new hd800s, and almost went hd800s truth be told, but I am so glad I did not. No more computer fan background noise, no more wife blasting investigation discovery in the background (though I worry with her watching wives with knives and I can't even hear her coming), and they sound fantastic, Soundstage is the perfect width for me, wide but not distant, and the tonality is great, little too much bass maybe, but for what I mainly listen too its perfect.

 

[hmscott]

I was fortunate on mine, got them second hand for just a bit more than a new hd800s, and almost went hd800s truth be told, but I am so glad I did not. No more computer fan background noise, no more wife blasting investigation discovery in the background (though I worry with her watching wives with knives and I can't even hear her coming), and they sound fantastic, Soundstage is the perfect width for me, wide but not distant, and the tonality is great, little too much bass maybe, but for what I mainly listen too its perfect.

That's great, I'm happy to hear you like the HD820 sound and isolation from outside sounds. That isolation and non-disturbance of others near me is why I am looking for an open back headphone. I love the open sound of open back, but there are others around me usually so I need to consider them as well. I could find a spot far away from others, but I prefer to be social, even with headphones on.

What sources are you driving the HD820's with? Do they take a lot of power as compared to other over the ear closed back headphones? Do you feel like running at higher than "normal" listening levels? How are the HD820's at low level volume settings? What other headphones that you have tried come close or how are the HD820's different?

I know Sennheiser tried to come close to the open back sound of the HD800's, how does the sound compare for you to the HD800's?

 

[flailure]

I've been working on writing a review on the hd820's for a while now, just between work and other difficulties, have not got it completed. As for sound, well, I was surprised, one of my favorite headphones back in the day was the original hd800, but I havent had them in a long long time. It would be unfair of me to try to compare the 2 from memory, so I wont do it, except to say that I hear some similarities. I have not really owned any high quality closed back headphones before, was always chasing the best sound possible, which to me was open back headphones. It really was just a whim that I purchased the hd820 over the hd800s that I was looking at, but the deal was there and I am glad I did. I've always just lived with the noise, and never realized how much of a difference it makes on my enjoyment level to cut it out. Never would have expected it, but there it is. But more than that, the quality of sound is very good.

One thing I remember clearly about the original hd800 was the soundstage, really wonderful, but on several recordings I found the soundstage would be too wide, sometimes a bit unnatural. I have heard other headphones with no soundstage but great sound, and some with really really wide soundstage but they were horrible. The hd800 were my favorite, but...I, without having those for comparison, think I prefer the hd820, wide soundstage, but closer to the stage, more intimate, and very natural sounding, with one exception. Sometimes on the hd820 when you get an instrument with a lot of bass positioned to extreme left or right, it does something funky sound wise, Only heard it a few times on some older recordings, but its not enough to make a big deal of, and it may be just revealing bad masters as well, and just something that I had not heard that way. And as for sound, well, its perfect for me, though, I think the bass may be a bit too much sometimes, it vibrates my jaw on certain recordings, but I cant complain about quality.

As far as what amp sounds best, I've plugged them in to 7 different amps and 12 different dacs the last month and would be hard pressed to name one where it did not perform well on. If I had to name one it sounded best on it would be my friends Apex tube (better imaging and detail), I forget exactly which model, but some of that could be expectation bias. I mainly listen from my lyr3 (warmer and more forgiving) and find I am not missing anything, but if we are being honest, it still sounds terrific out of my fiio the k5 dock with x7 dap feed (analytical, but slightly compressed), it does sound very underpowered straight from the x7 though, have not tried balanced yet to see if the extra boost there would be sufficient. I may get into more specifics when I get my review out, as I am borrowing gears and may or may not compare it to some of their headphones. Just havent had the time. Volume level, I tend to listen to these low as the bass gets very intense very quickly, but I have listened to them at a higher volume and believe they still sound good at higher levels.

 

[robo24]

That's great, I'm happy to hear you like the HD820 sound and isolation from outside sounds. That isolation and non-disturbance of others near me is why I am looking for an open back headphone. I love the open sound of open back, but there are others around me usually so I need to consider them as well. I could find a spot far away from others, but I prefer to be social, even with headphones on.

What sources are you driving the HD820's with? Do they take a lot of power as compared to other over the ear closed back headphones? Do you feel like running at higher than "normal" listening levels? How are the HD820's at low level volume settings? What other headphones that you have tried come close or how are the HD820's different?

I know Sennheiser tried to come close to the open back sound of the HD800's, how does the sound compare for you to the HD800's?

I have the 800 SDR mod & 820. I've not found the 820 amp picky or hard to drive. I tend to listen loudly but I can get away with lower volumes with them as with my other closed cans. My first experience with the 800 series was after owning the 700 for a few months, which I absolutely loved and still do. The 800 struck me as similar with the obvious treble spike. At the Sennheiser store I tried from the 660S on up to the 820. The 800 was a clear jump, the 800 S much more pleasant due to a bit more bass and somewhat tamed treble, and the 820 to me was another step up. Warmer sounding and more full sounding with just a slightly smaller soundstage. Also more comfortable.

As for others which come close, I'm not sure if you meant in terms of listening at low volume or what exactly. My other closed headphones are the ZMF Atticus, which are quite different in every way. Sound leakage is lower on them but they way far more. I have the ZMF Verite Open, which is the only one I'd say I prefer slightly more than the 820 and I have the Closed on order. The Verite is as or possibly more detailed, but the soundstage is more narrow, but taller. It sounds more full, and it feels a bit like something is missing when going back to the 820, or really any other headphone I have. They're phenomenal, but the Verite Closed seems to get even better reviews. They're both about the same regular price as the 820. My 820s don't get the head time they used to, but still every time I use them again I'm struck by how great they are.

I think a lot of the negative reviews are from people with long histories of have the 800 & 800S and getting used to their sound, so the 820 doesn't sound right and they are quite different. I didn't have that experience so maybe I would have felt the same way. Since I didn't, I feel the 800 SDR doesn't sound quite right. I care less about how something should sound, having no musical background, than whether I simply enjoy it or not. I enjoy the 820 immensely.

 

[PointyFox]

Strange that the Verite Closed gets better reviews. I heard them side by side with the open back and I greatly preferred the open back. The closed ones sounded ... closed.

 

[Beagle]

Same hear, I recently included mine in a trade for the Audeze 4z’s. I plan on getting the HD800S’s again, which I sold to get the HD820’s.

Which did you prefer the sound of, 820 or 800S?

 

[Slim1970]

Which did you prefer the sound of, 820 or 800S?

I liked the tone of the HD820’s better. They didn’t sound as etched in the treble like the HD800/S’s did. The HD820’s had a more natural sounding presentation with a much better bass response giving them a fuller sound. The only problem with them is that they moved all over your head because the clamp force was way to light.

 

[Beagle]

I liked the tone of the HD820’s better. They didn’t sound as etched in the treble like the HD800/S’s did. The HD820’s had a more natural sounding presentation with a much better bass response giving them a fuller sound. The only problem with them is that they moved all over your head because the clamp force was way to light.

I felt the same way with the HD800.

So somewhere in there, Sennheiser has a good sounding headphone.

 

[Slim1970]

I felt the same way with the HD800.

So somewhere in there, Sennheiser has a good sounding headphone.

They are very close. If they could improve the fit of the HD820’s or design a new headband for them then they’ll have a winner on their hands. I did like the sound of the HD820’s.

 

[Beagle]

They need soft pads like the Sony MDR-1R had.