[hackstu]

I've noticed that people are receiving their HD 820's with red warning stickers on the Gorilla Glass, mine didn't have any stickers on them does somebody know why?

 

[Doctordoom16]

Either:

1. You listen really quiet. In this case, nothing can really help

2. You haven't tried something that isolates really well, like Ultrasone signautre DXP

Ultrasone signature pros have great sound isolation. And they are an excellent headphone .I modded them to dual exit for balanced .and if you arenpatiareyou can get them for under $800. Awesome. Love them. Not as good as the 820 but my go to around town in 2.5 balanced on my ibasso dx150 w amp 3 .great combo on Street, subway, or office .and they fold up nice .

 

[Bern2]

I've noticed that people are receiving their HD 820's with red warning stickers on the Gorilla Glass, mine didn't have any stickers on them does somebody know why?

You probably got the ones I returned....the earcups aggravated the scabies....

 

[Beagle]

I've noticed that people are receiving their HD 820's with red warning stickers on the Gorilla Glass, mine didn't have any stickers on them does somebody know why?

Maybe they called off the warning?

 

[Dobrescu George]

Ultrasone signature pros have great sound isolation. And they are an excellent headphone .I modded them to dual exit for balanced .and if you arenpatiareyou can get them for under $800. Awesome. Love them. Not as good as the 820 but my go to around town in 2.5 balanced on my ibasso dx150 w amp 3 .great combo on Street, subway, or office .and they fold up nice .

Nice, I'm glad you found happy with them. They've also become my daily go-to for quick travel, including metro and light walks. Seems that I have to walk a lot nowadays because it is healthy, and Ultrasones sure are a happy partner

 

[Dobrescu George]

That's the thing, I do listen quiet because I don't want to ruin my hearing. If I have to turn up the volume to drown out background sound then that seems rather redundant to me.



I can see them being okay in some of those situations but certainly from my experience these are very much the minority of places, my office is always very loud unfortunately and none of the trains I use ever have quite carriages and even the sound of the train is loud enough to drown out the detail in music with over ear headphones. The London Underground for example goes up to 110dB in one place and frequently up to 85dB which is pretty damn loud.

If over ears work for you then fine but I think I will stick with my K10 CIEMs... World would be a boring place if everyone liked the same thing

You are doing the right thing, one should always protect their hearing

I think that if you listen really quiet, nothing will do it for you, but Ultrasone headphones from the signature series get the closest (Signature Pro, signature DJ, Signature DXP, Signature Studio). Those are the over-the-ear headphones I go to for isolation from the outside noise. I can't hear street noise with them, with music at very moderate levels.

I do listen loud typically though, because I listen in short burtsts of metal music, so I can't guarantee that they will absolutely fit your needs, but as far as I know, you should have great success with isolation with those , or at least they are among the best you that exist

 

[itchyears]

Would HD 820 owners say the noise isolation is good ? ie others in the room can't hear what you are hearing.

I own a pair of AKG K550s with pleather pads which seal around the ear to prevent sound leakage and they work well, but I see the HD 820s have a kind of leather on the outside cup and micro fiber cloth on the inside, just wondering if the noise isolation is still good, considering its 19x the price of the K550s hopefully its good !

 

[QueueCumber]

Would HD 820 owners say the noise isolation is good ? ie others in the room can't hear what you are hearing.

I own a pair of AKG K550s with pleather pads which seal around the ear to prevent sound leakage and they work well, but I see the HD 820s have a kind of leather on the outside cup and micro fiber cloth on the inside, just wondering if the noise isolation is still good, considering its 19x the price of the K550s hopefully its good !

My GF complains about me wearing open-back HPs but doesn’t complain about the 820. Either she can’t hear them, or she’s a shill for Sennheiser....

 

[Doctordoom16]

Would HD 820 owners say the noise isolation is good ? ie others in the room can't hear what you are hearing.

I own a pair of AKG K550s with pleather pads which seal around the ear to prevent sound leakage and they work well, but I see the HD 820s have a kind of leather on the outside cup and micro fiber cloth on the inside, just wondering if the noise isolation is still good, considering its 19x the price of the K550s hopefully its good !

they leak more than the sony z1r, more than my ultrasone sig pro, but obviously less than the open back hd800s. I would say that in a dead silent room w moderate levels of volume, they can be heard. If the tv is on in the background probably not. They are in my opinion below average for sound iso both in and out

 

[Dobrescu George]

Would HD 820 owners say the noise isolation is good ? ie others in the room can't hear what you are hearing.

I own a pair of AKG K550s with pleather pads which seal around the ear to prevent sound leakage and they work well, but I see the HD 820s have a kind of leather on the outside cup and micro fiber cloth on the inside, just wondering if the noise isolation is still good, considering its 19x the price of the K550s hopefully its good !

This thread does mention some leakage here and there, they'd probably still be less leaking than HD800S

 

[Beagle]

they leak more than the sony z1r, more than my ultrasone sig pro, but obviously less than the open back hd800s. I would say that in a dead silent room w moderate levels of volume, they can be heard. If the tv is on in the background probably not. They are in my opinion below average for sound iso both in and out

The 820 leaks more than some open/semi-open phones I've owned.

 

[itchyears]

Much appreciated for the replies, my gut told me it may not be as good for isolation this is probably why AKG stick with the pleather material on the cups since it can form a seal around the ear and isolate well.

Quick check of ultrasone sig pro and mdr-z1r headphones and they say they both have real leather so isolate better.

The search continues, may take a look into akg k872

 

[buke9]

Have the 872’s and they don’t isolate real well either.

 

[itchyears]

Have the 872’s and they don’t isolate real well either.

yeah was just reading it on the headfi post, guess the search continues. Which hp do you prefer out of those 2 ?

 

[raypin]

Mm...in a room with the A/C on, at night, no TV, and at moderate listening volume (on my Chord Hugo 2, the volume color is yellow green), it can be heard but barely...no louder than a whispered conversation. Certainly not loud enough to disturb someone’s sleep. Of course, if someone is sitting beside you and actively listening, he/she will hear the sound leakage. If you want absolute zero sound leakage and absolute 100% super duper sound isolation, no closed-back will ever pass that standard. Get an in-ear, or better yet, a CIEM.

The 820 passes my standard for sound leakage and sound isolation...for a closed-back.

To my ears and if I were to compare it with my other closed-backs: the Ether C, Z1R, Audioquest Nightowl Carbon, the 820 is the best closed-back in the world right now.....and shares that top spot with the Audeze LCD XC (I still remember my mind-blowing XC/Chord Dave/Chord Blu MK II audition during CanJam Singapore 2017). I really, really wish Audeze will release a successor to the XC. I’ll buy it, blind (not misguided faith but based on my personal experience with other Audeze headphones except for the EL 8.).

Favorite pairing (transportable) with the 820 is the AK 380 cu, Nordost Heimdall 2, optical cable and Chord Hugo 2.