[AndrewH13]

Interesting post. Sorry if this is a dumb question, but do the 95%/100% statistics mean the version folks are listening to at CanJam NYC is not the final production version?

Seems an extremely logical question to me!

 

[Beagle]

Interesting post. Sorry if this is a dumb question, but do the 95%/100% statistics mean the version folks are listening to at CanJam NYC is not the final production version?

Could anyone tell the difference?

 

[Sennheiser]

Interesting post. Sorry if this is a dumb question, but do the 95%/100% statistics mean the version folks are listening to at CanJam NYC is not the final production version?

Not a dumb question at all! It was a hand-made pre-production model. The final target is to fine tune the bass, so that a frequency curve chart would show a slope down near 100 Hz now and in the final version WILL slope downwards at 100 Hz with a small scooped portion to prevent the bass from bleeding into the mids. Constant pursuit of perfection! Even as-is with the hand-tooled pre-production version we had for CanJam, the vast majority expressed fondness or amazement with the sound, comfort, and aesthetics. We even had someone come back the second day and say it really clicked with him on the second listen!

Edit: to clarify, the bass below 100Hz is elevated relative to the HD 800 S, which is a benefit of the sealed acoustic chamber of a closed headphone, and carefully tuned to fit our research into the average human expectation of a natural-sounding sun bass. Among other things, we use bass ports that allow the lower frequencies to have more energy. The ports are still sealed so the midrange and high frequencies cannot pass through, similar to how people can hear subwoofers through walls but not the higher frequencies.

 

[csglinux]

Not a dumb question at all! It was a hand-made pre-production model. The final target is to fine tune the bass, so that a frequency curve chart would show a slope down near 100 Hz now and in the final version WILL slope downwards at 100 Hz with a small scooped portion to prevent the bass from bleeding into the mids. Constant pursuit of perfection! Even as-is with the hand-tooled pre-production version we had for CanJam, the vast majority expressed fondness or amazement with the sound, comfort, and aesthetics. We even had someone come back the second day and say it really clicked with him on the second listen!

Edit: to clarify, the bass below 100Hz is elevated relative to the HD 800 S, which is a benefit of the sealed acoustic chamber of a closed headphone, and carefully tuned to fit our research into the average human expectation of a natural-sounding sun bass. Among other things, we use bass ports that allow the lower frequencies to have more energy. The ports are still sealed so the midrange and high frequencies cannot pass through, similar to how people can hear subwoofers through walls but not the higher frequencies.

Got it - thanks! It certainly is one of the coolest-looking headphones out there. Congrats

 

[Sennheiser]

Got it - thanks! It certainly is one of the coolest-looking headphones out there. Congrats

Thank you too! It’s so great to be able to talk about these now, and to see all the smiling faces and even seated-dancing that occurred at the show! Our babies are off to a great debut :’)

 

[McMadface]

Great post!

At first, Axel tried just sealing the back of the HD 800 S so it would be a lower cost, back when he was younger and blissfully naïve. Unfortunately, the sound was... not good, and a more complex solution was needed.

Axel gave a seminar discussing the development process on Sunday, explaining the sound didn’t start to approach flagship-levels until the team hit upon the idea of looking at it as an open headphone in a small room. Make that room smaller and smaller, negate the effects, and massage the development of pads, comfort and weight, an idea with paper filters that were eventually discarded, a stiff “lens” to redirect sound resonance towards absorbers to really try and keep the “open” sound, and also playing with different bass ports to really enhance the sub-bass while also creating a dip around 100 Hz so that the bass wouldn’t blur the mid details. The team even considered how the design could compensate for glasses frames without losing bass. About 5 years later, we’re like 95% towards our target and will be at 100% upon release this summer!

It makes sense that glass was chosen due to its refecting properties rather than its sound isolation properties. The energy of the treble and mids are redirected to the absorbers while the bass is able to radiate... That is if I'm understanding you correctly.

You guys really knocked it out of the park with the looks. Definitely one of the best looking headphones out there. The 800/S always reminded me of RoboCop, in a bad way. The 820 reminds me of the Emperor's Throne Room in the best way possible: I'm on board the most technologically advanced battle station in the galaxy while my friends are suffering with primitive tech on the surface of a forest moon.

 

[Rchandra]

I wonder if sonys z1r had any influence on sennheiser to make a closed back version of the hd800s I am really looking forward to compairisons of the two headphone as I enjoyed the sony z1r a ton.

 

[Audioholic123]

Well i'll admit, the HD820 does look cool..

 

[PointyFox]

I forgot to mention, the HD820 has different ear pads. They're a little thicker and more cushiony.

 

[Mark Up]

Other than their $60,000 flagships (the best headphones I've ever heard, as expected) these were the second best at the show, and I tried every over ear there. The best closed back headphones I've heard in terms of both incredible accuracy, and fun. Comfortable and lightweight. They did everything we like about the HD800S with perhaps a touch less legendary spaciousness, but slightly warmer highs, fuller mids, punchier yet clean mid bass and more and better extended sub bass. Didn't get to fully test how low it goes in the lowest subs as preferably I do, but what I heard impressed me. They need to find a way to get that tech down to the HD six-series. Maybe a semi open HD670 and closed HD680? They were great.

 

[zolkis]

If it sounds like the HD800S and it's closed with relatively good isolation, count me in. Measurements will tell, perhaps bass extension is better than people think. I risk saying we are used to slightly bloated bass with closed headphones, and actually I would not mind if the HD820 had a downwards tilting few degrees linear slope from 20 Hz, but I am sure Sennheiser avoided masking the mids with bass and the resulting clean openness is a good thing to savor, especially with classical music. Will it be an end game headphone? I doubt, but probably better than most closed cans at the moment, especially for instrumental and classical music.

(Edit for clarification: by "downwards tilting" I meant a line that is highest at 20 Hz and is downwards sloping from there so that the difference between the 25 Hz and 1000 Hz points is 3 to 6 dBs.)

 

[zolkis]

Other than their $60,000 flagships (the best headphones I've ever heard, as expected)

Off topic, but for me it's hard to say whether the new Orpheus are the best. The booth experience was good, but not as good as the moments I've had with the Stax 009 (in a suitably warm sounding system) and especially with the Phenomenon Libratum 3 (in almost any system).

No chance for side-by-side testing, but it's good news that a similar or better class of (remembered) listening experience can be achieved with headphones/systems costing much, much less. All respect for statement products for that.

The morale of the story is, when someone will be alone with the HD820, without the Orpheus 2 lurking around, it will probably be as good listening experience as it gets .

 

[amartignano]

The final target is to fine tune the bass, so that a frequency curve chart would show a slope down near 100 Hz now and in the final version WILL slope downwards at 100 Hz with a small scooped portion to prevent the bass from bleeding into the mids.

Please be careful when scooping that important frequency region

 

[FastAndClean]

just boost the sub bass around 3db over the mid and upper bass and it will be great

 

[csglinux]

If Sennheiser are taking suggestions... I prefer a gentle linear rise from the mids all the way through to the sub-bass.