[AppleheadMay]

So they left the mesh from the HD800 in there and covered it to make it closed?
Not sure what I have to think of that.

 

[joseph69]

The glass is concave...not convex as Tyll says, but then the Send rep gives the correct glass description, jeez.

 

[Beagle]

They look pretty amazing. I can’t imagine the bass staying on the light side. That’s usually something closed headphones don’t lack.

Probably a good sign. If you hear the bass right away, usually there's too much of it. I remember first hearing the HD560 Ovation and wondering where the bass was, then over time I realized it was there, just in proper proportion.

 

[headr]

I think there's a fair amount of subjective bias at play too, especially when you hear a headphone without the context of other headphones at something like a convention.

Going in, knowing it's a closed headphone, you might be preparing your ears to be bathed in an ocean of warm enveloping bass response. When what you actually receive is perhaps perfectly neutral, your first reaction might be that it is bass light, almost entirely due to the chasm between your expectations and reality in that moment. Will be really interesting once we get these side by side with their cousins to get some proper comparisons.

Tyll does express what others have also confirmed from their limited impressions, this is a tonally balanced headphone, which fixes issues with the HD 800. That feat alone in a closed form factor is extremely laudable.

The scary thing is, what if this thing really does justify it's price?

 

[paradoxper]

Can we just stop stretching for the sake of noise.

How about we let Sennheiser announce they're in the final voicing and then we can speculate even more how it hits harder than the HE-6 now.

 

[329161]

Would be great to see some of this technology trickling down to some of their lower end closed backs

 

[Naim.F.C]

So they left the mesh from the HD800 in there and covered it to make it closed?
Not sure what I have to think of that.

Them charging so much for this iteration whilst still keeping the same basic design and manufacturing process is what really takes the biscuit. It's one giant cash cow. They are just taking peoples money because they can at this point.

Like hell the HD820 costs that much more to manufacture, and no way the R&D costs are so huge because ultimately this is the same fundamental headphone with some glass on it, new earpads and a slight tune.

This 'hobby' (at the high end) really is one of the worst out there in terms of value proposition. The only other such things that immediately come to mind that are as unscrupulous or value exploitative are fashion and watches.

 

[ibage]

Forgive me if it's been asked already, but are the drivers in the same family as the HD800/S, or a new beast? Im curious as to whether or not they kept the 300ohm impedance or continued on their recent trend of 150 drivers.

 

[trellus]

Forgive me if it's been asked already, but are the drivers in the same family as the HD800/S, or a new beast? Im curious as to whether or not they kept the 300ohm impedance or continued on their recent trend of 150 drivers.

It’s 300 Ohm and apparently the same driver or certainly at least in the same family as the 800/S.

 

[Beagle]

I think there's a fair amount of subjective bias at play too, especially when you hear a headphone without the context of other headphones at something like a convention.

Going in, knowing it's a closed headphone, you might be preparing your ears to be bathed in an ocean of warm enveloping bass response. When what you actually receive is perhaps perfectly neutral, your first reaction might be that it is bass light, almost entirely due to the chasm between your expectations and reality in that moment. Will be really interesting once we get these side by side with their cousins to get some proper comparisons.

Tyll does express what others have also confirmed from their limited impressions, this is a tonally balanced headphone, which fixes issues with the HD 800. That feat alone in a closed form factor is extremely laudable.

The scary thing is, what if this thing really does justify it's price?

I just hope they don't add unnecessary bass just 'cause it was found to be lacking during a two minute audition. That would be a shame. The designer has to trust their original instincts and not stray from their goal.

 

[ibage]

It’s 300 Ohm and apparently the same driver or certainly at least in the same family as the 800/S.

Ouch. So the extra $1K is for the housing and the glass? Seems a bit steep.

Edit: Yeah, I feel stupid. Didn't see the impedance on the side of the headphones themselves...

 

[trellus]

Ouch. So the extra $1K is for the housing and the glass? Seems a bit steep.

Edit: Yeah, I feel stupid. Didn't see the impedance on the side of the headphones themselves...

Yeah, you’re not the only person making this point.

I don’t know enough about headphone engineering, and in any case, I suspect a year from now the street price will be substantially less, but probably still more than the 800S.

 

[headr]

You can't just look at a headphone driver's impedance and make assumptions about their tuning. The HD 600 and HD 650 had the same driver size and impedance as well, but they weren't the same.

There are a lot of assumptions floating around this thread right now. We have to wait a little while longer to get definitive answers to a lot of these questions. Pretending this is just two glass panels slapped on a HD 800 is a bit absurd at this point.

 

[franz12]

I think there's a fair amount of subjective bias at play too, especially when you hear a headphone without the context of other headphones at something like a convention.
.....

The scary thing is, what if this thing really does justify it's price?

I highly doubt it. I don't think it is going to be even close to Focal Clear ($1500) in terms of sound fidelity. Unless you desperately need a closed phone or a big fan of senn's darkish sound signature, you won't give away $2400. And at 1/3 price, there is Aeon closed ($800).

Basically, you can buy both focal clear and aeon closed, and spend the rest $100 on bacon.

 

[AppleheadMay]

Them charging so much for this iteration whilst still keeping the same basic design and manufacturing process is what really takes the biscuit. It's one giant cash cow. They are just taking peoples money because they can at this point.

Like hell the HD820 costs that much more to manufacture, and no way the R&D costs are so huge because ultimately this is the same fundamental headphone with some glass on it, new earpads and a slight tune.

This 'hobby' (at the high end) really is one of the worst out there in terms of value proposition. The only other such things that immediately come to mind that are as unscrupulous or value exploitative are fashion and watches.

Couldn't agree more.
Like this disgusting tasteless thing .... https://www.innerfidelity.com/content/make-it-rain-100000-focal-utopia-tournaire