[Law87]

Just following up with a picture.
As you can see there is condensation build up on interior of the glass. I'm still waiting a response from Sennheiser (but it has been a holiday weekend).

I'm suspecting that this is normal and probably affects all closed back headphones in some shape or form, but due to glass being used in it's design, it's just more obvious.

I will say that since the weather has changed over the weekend and it's warmed up considerably, I've not had any condensation build up (when listening).

This is leading me to believe it's a combination of climate/atmospheric conditions (very cold last week) and / or excessive moisture in the air at the time when I've been listening .
I'll run some further tests in my listening room with a dehumidifier later.

(Quick Edit) - It took about 10 to 15 mins for the glass to clear.

did you buy this second hand or direct? It may be random but your inside doesnt look like mine...

I notice your dip is a little off, look at pic....

see pic, my pic is left and InnerFidelity is right, that dip align with the Sennheiser logo, may be just a design or the way you took the pic.

 

[KrankorUK]

Purchased direct from Sennheiser. I think it was just the alignment of the previous photo

 

[Svatopluk]

Noted condensation is due to temperature change, just glass being glass.The covers are small, unlike a big old window, they can not produce enough condensation to cause a problem.
My grandmother would always say: "Worrying is like paying interest on money you never borrowed."

 

[KrankorUK]

Just wanted to say a thanks to everyone.
I'll draw a line under this chapter now as a simple "environment" condition, nothing more, nothing less.

Rather embarrassingly (and yes I should have realised this a lot earlier), my office/study where I used these headphones is adjacent to a bathroom!
I've not been able to reproduce the problem since moving them to another part of the house.

Go figure?

Thanks again to everyone that chipped in.

 

[TSAVAlan]

Just wanted to say a thanks to everyone.
I'll draw a line under this chapter now as a simple "environment" condition, nothing more, nothing less.

Rather embarrassingly (and yes I should have realised this a lot earlier), my office/study where I used these headphones is adjacent to a bathroom!
I've not been able to reproduce the problem since moving them to another part of the house.

Go figure?

Thanks again to everyone that chipped in.

Remember to avoid taking a bath with your HD820

 

[Seyumi]

Is the general consensus still that the HD800s’s are still a better overall headphone than the HD820’s? Almost every single professional and personal review I’ve read seems to confirm this. I’m in the market for either headphone and will be pairing it with an HDV 820 DAC. I’m more a “fun” listener person than a “critical” one. I also like to PC game a lot as well (not competitive, just for fun). I’m also more of an EDM listener than a classical one. I’m torn between which headphone I should get and I can’t really afford to make the wrong choice. I’m leaning more towards the HD800s again from what I’ve read. Thank you.

 

[Law87]

Is the general consensus still that the HD800s’s are still a better overall headphone than the HD820’s? Almost every single professional and personal review I’ve read seems to confirm this. I’m in the market for either headphone and will be pairing it with an HDV 820 DAC. I’m more a “fun” listener person than a “critical” one. I also like to PC game a lot as well (not competitive, just for fun). I’m also more of an EDM listener than a classical one. I’m torn between which headphone I should get and I can’t really afford to make the wrong choice. I’m leaning more towards the HD800s again from what I’ve read. Thank you.

I had both, sold my HD800s. eventually I like to own the HD800s again but if I have to pick, HD820. Define overall? if its a little bit bigger soundstage then yes, Bass is tighter? yes. The HD820 fall short in those two department, but it makes up for quantity of bass and to me fuller upper mids. HD800s upper mids seems a little thin to me. Not a day have I gone by that I regret selling my HD800s for HD820.

are you pretty new to this hobby? if so, I would definitely not go all out on a HDV 820 and an HD800s. The HD800s can be driven with other amp/dac combo that is half the cost or even a quarter.

do remember that the HD820 have better isolation than the HD800s due to the design. No one in here can tell you exactly what you want to hear, you need to go out to meets and listen to the headphone, everyone ears is different. You might not even like Sennheiser product as some people think its bright...

 

[Seyumi]

I had both, sold my HD800s. eventually I like to own the HD800s again but if I have to pick, HD820. Define overall? if its a little bit bigger soundstage then yes, Bass is tighter? yes. The HD820 fall short in those two department, but it makes up for quantity of bass and to me fuller upper mids. HD800s upper mids seems a little thin to me. Not a day have I gone by that I regret selling my HD800s for HD820.

are you pretty new to this hobby? if so, I would definitely not go all out on a HDV 820 and an HD800s. The HD800s can be driven with other amp/dac combo that is half the cost or even a quarter.

do remember that the HD820 have better isolation than the HD800s due to the design. No one in here can tell you exactly what you want to hear, you need to go out to meets and listen to the headphone, everyone ears is different. You might not even like Sennheiser product as some people think its bright...

I am a bit new to the hobby yes. I'm trying to get a nice "endgame" pair of headphones and DAC to go along with it. I've been researching for dozens, if not hundreds of hours for the past few months. It seems like Sennheiser headphones are always the most talked about & recommended, with the HD 800/800s always taking the #1 spot. I was pretty dead set on going that route but the HD 820's have me intrigued since it seems it may be a little bit more up my alley. I don't necessarily need a sound isolation. I just want the best headphone possible, but if the HD 820 is a little less "boring" than the 800s than I may go that route.

 

[Law87]

I am a bit new to the hobby yes. I'm trying to get a nice "endgame" pair of headphones and DAC to go along with it. I've been researching for dozens, if not hundreds of hours for the past few months. It seems like Sennheiser headphones are always the most talked about & recommended, with the HD 800/800s always taking the #1 spot. I was pretty dead set on going that route but the HD 820's have me intrigued since it seems it may be a little bit more up my alley. I don't necessarily need a sound isolation. I just want the best headphone possible, but if the HD 820 is a little less "boring" than the 800s than I may go that route.

You will learn there are no such thing as one best headphone for everyone. Start small, for you to even think about an HD800s series without trying Mid-fi solution may lead to disappointment. Again this game is all relative, one person best is not another best, plenty of people say the Mrspeakers AEON are good, but I think they are horrid. Another example is, if you wear someone prescription glass that was not prescribe to you, you will feel like crap, while the person that was prescribe that glass will be able to see "perfect" vision.

I am not recommending you choosing the HD820 over HD800s. I am recommending you actually listen to them, make your decision base on what you like and stop reading reviews.

Sennheiser has been in the game for a long time, its another reason why they get so much press.

 

[Law87]

if your pocket are deep and have $3500-4000 then yea go ahead. HD800 and HD820 are not even Sennheiser best. Sennheiser have a 50k headphone call the Orpheus.

 

[AppleheadMay]

I am a bit new to the hobby yes. I'm trying to get a nice "endgame" pair of headphones and DAC to go along with it. I've been researching for dozens, if not hundreds of hours for the past few months. It seems like Sennheiser headphones are always the most talked about & recommended, with the HD 800/800s always taking the #1 spot. I was pretty dead set on going that route but the HD 820's have me intrigued since it seems it may be a little bit more up my alley. I don't necessarily need a sound isolation. I just want the best headphone possible, but if the HD 820 is a little less "boring" than the 800s than I may go that route.

Don't get fooled too much by endgame, there's always going to be a "different better" and more expensive sure isn't always better.
That said, the conclusions you seem to have come to are right there at the top.

The HDV 820 is one of the best amps I had and heard at any price point, it has a good DAC and a great amp with lots of power and wonderful sound signature that not only pairs really well with the Sennheiser HD8xx range but does great with many headphones, even hard to drive ones.

The HD 800S is the better of the two headphones and more neutral and correct, the HD 820 is a bit more fun. The prior has a bigger (huge) soundstage but the latter can't be called lacking in that department either although it's noticeably less big. The closed one has more bass but unless you're a basshead that defines the quality of a pair of phones by the amount of pounbding bass pumped into his ears the bass is more than enough paired with the right amp.

What the HDV820 does for the HD 8xx phones is provide them with a good amount of clean and deep bass, warm up the mids a bit (enjoyable and "fun") and deliver extended but smooth highs, not bright at all. You haven't truly heard these phones unless you have heard them with the Sennheiser amps or some amps that can be called comparable in what they do with these phones. Sure, a lot of people will advicse you to take a cheaper Schiitt amp but I'm not too fond of them as they can induce brightness. IMO.

I have both the HDVA 600 and HDV 820 and am selling the latter to fund the purchase of a Luxman P-750u and both Sennheiser amps are very comparable. the 600 has no DAC.

EDIT: Add a Sennheiser HD600 or HD650 for a different sound and you'll be in audio heaven. If you go used you should find all of this together for 2,3-3K, the 820 option being moire expensive than the 800 option.

 

[Law87]

^ lol see? he says soundstage is a big difference, I say its a small difference...all relative to the user.

Stop reading reviews and go to meets and listen...

 

[AppleheadMay]

^ lol see? he says soundstage is a big difference, I say its a small difference...all relative to the user.

Stop reading reviews and go to meets and listen...

You probably should read that again then.

And if he's in the same situation as me then he might not have the chance to go to any meets or find a decent store that can let him audition many options.
No meets at all over here and hardly any dealers that have anything decent in stock. They want you to buy first and try later.

 

[Law87]

You probably should read that again then.

And if he's in the same situation as me then he might not have the chance to go to any meets or find a decent store that can let him audition many options.
No meets at all over here and hardly any dealers that have anything decent in stock. They want you to buy first and try later.

ok you said its "noticeably less big" I disagreed

I rather advise someone to exhaust all meanings before telling them to go buy something that A. May or may not financially benefit them or B. doesnt live up to their expectation. Helping but throwing out "hey I'm also selling this product your looking for" is not helping out someone starting new to this hobby, just saying, I know how to read between the lines.

 

[AppleheadMay]

ok you said its "noticeably less big" I disagreed

I rather advise someone to exhaust all meanings before telling them to go buy something that A. May or may not financially benefit them or B. doesnt live up to their expectation. Helping but throwing out "hey I'm also selling this product your looking for" is not helping out someone starting new to this hobby, just saying, I know how to read between the lines.

Noticeably less big but not lacking is what I said.

That is of course sound advice but I never had a chance to audition most of the gear I bought as there are no meets or decent shops that I can go to without taking a couple of holidays to do so. A bit of HF-third-world where I live it seems. Beats 'n' Bose all around.
So when I see people looking for info I realise they might be in the same situation.



I suppose this was very helpful then?

if your pocket are deep and have $3500-4000 then yea go ahead. HD800 and HD820 are not even Sennheiser best. Sennheiser have a 50k headphone call the Orpheus.

Going with cheap stuff is more often than not a bad idea and neither is advising a +$50000 option any good.

There was nothing to read between the lines by the way, I put it right there in the open.
He can save up to 1500 if he gets the full set he wants used and that's what I'd advise him to do as I bought far too many gear new at the insane prices we seem to get nowadays and when you want to sell newly bought expensive gear you lose a really big chunk of the price.