[QueueCumber]

Not a fan of the Stellia. IMHO, 820 is a much better sounding headphone across the board....

 

[kiling92]

"reading the web" and "many people" can mean hype.
I wasn't a big fan of the Stellia, I had it for a few weeks and posted my brief opinion here in the HD820 thread a few months ago.
Basically, it's no Utopia at all (great phone) and the bass was uncontrolled, even driven balanced with my Luxman.
Yes, my sample was burned-in. And it looks damn bling, not my style.
So my opinion: you'll add 1000 and lose the better phone.
And there will be different and contradictory opinions of course.

It'hype!right!I thought..if I don't like the stellia I sold them and buy again the 820.
I'm reaching for the best closed back headphone (sorry for my English lol)
In the 820 I felt a lack in the bass,but with wm1a EQ now I think is a complete close headphone.

 

[treebug]

AppleheadMay, how are you finding the HD820 with your P-750u? I have the same amp and am considering the HD820.

 

[AppleheadMay]

AppleheadMay, how are you finding the HD820 with your P-750u? I have the same amp and am considering the HD820.

Just like the HD800S the HD820 pairs very well with the Lux but then many phones do.
For me it's my favorite closed back of all I had and heard though I could love Fostex/Denon just as much (owned a bunch), they have a totally different sound signature (much more fun oriented) from Sennheiser but over time I moved away from them preferring a morew correct sound.
I must say I do not lack any bass with the HD820 (nor with the HD800S for that matter), I like deep bass but strongly prefer clean bass to over-emphasized (bloated) bass.
The HDVA600/HDV820 amps were also great with it, adding more bass as they were made for these phones and Sennheiser knows these aren't bass monsters. But I found you could here the intention to emphasize the bass, it was (just a little) exaggerated. Though these amps were really good overall and a nice value for money they can't reach the control you get over these phones from the Luxman though.

 

[treebug]

Many thanks! Will have to try and demo the HD820 as I worry the fit may not be right from what I've been reading. Hoping for a little more bass with them through the Luxman than I get with the HD800. I have the Denon D9200 which sounds excellent through the Luxman, in particular it's huge soundstage (for a closed back) and details.

 

[AppleheadMay]

You’ll surely have more bass: 800<800s<820 where bass is concerned but indeed some people have a problem with the fit which will reduce bass for a closed back.
I never heard the 9200 and am curious I must say but I was talking about the Foster/Fostex/Denons, the older ones up to D7000 and TH-900.
I had two of the newer ones (in my profile) but didn’t find them as good as the older ones but will read up a bit on the 9200.

 

[AppleheadMay]

I read up a bit on the D9200 and as usual I read very mixed comparisons with other amps.
Some who love the Z1R find it great, others like me that hate the Z1R find it great as well.

Knowing I found the Stellia an OK pair of vlosed but didn't like the uncontrolled bass and knowing I find the Z1R about the worst pair of closed cans I ever heard ...
- Would you recommend me the D9200?
- What makes you look for another pair of closed cans if you already have the D9200?

 

[headblid]

Can't stress the clamp force comment enough. @Sennheiser, if you are listening, you really ought to do something about the fit of the 820, I can imagine people just not having the patience to fiddle with it every time they put it on in order to find a decent seal.
Not sure if it's the pads or the clamp force but something must be done about the fit.

Re: official advise from Sennheiser, see post Post #2499 of this thread. I tried elastic bands, didn't do anything for me.

@Sennheiser, again, instead of going and updating the yoke on the HD800S where nobody every complained, please spend the time figuring out how to get a better fit on the HD820...

Cheers,

I’m kind of in agreement with this. I’ve pad roll on a few of my headphones and always came back to the stock version or an alternate pad offered by the manufacturer. It’s much easier to EQ than roll pads to get a certain sound signature, but others may feel differently.

The HD820’s offers outstanding sound quality. It just needs a little more clamp force to improve the seal.

Does anyone know the method that Sennheiser recommends to improve the clamps force? Thanks in advance!

 

[FourT6and2]

Yeah, I think the bad clamping force comes down to the loose connections between headband and yoke. Everything is just floppy. If the headband and yoke were tighter and more solid, you'd get better clamp force.

 

[headblid]

Indeed,
It would a good move from Sennheiser to propose a fix that does not involve bending frames.
I love the HD820 and have an HDV820 and HD800S as well - Every time I pick up the 820, the fit issues make me think about looking for a different chain altogether... until I get a good seal then I forget about the fit ... like a bad ex situation...
I am not sure Sennheiser realizes how many buyers never heard the HD820 as they were intended to be heard and walked away as a result...

Yeah, I think the bad clamping force comes down to the loose connections between headband and yoke. Everything is just floppy. If the headband and yoke were tighter and more solid, you'd get better clamp force.

 

[Koolpep]

I just tried the HD820 - thankfully my German head seems to fit nicely into the German headphone-shape - that headphone is endgame (for me) WOW!! Can't wait feeding it with my balanced setup (waiting for 4.4mm to XLR adapter) but wow - this is a full on new toy syndrome - I didn't expect that, since I had the HD800S at home for a couple of weeks from a friend but the 820 is way more up my alley.

Am in heaven....

 

[FourT6and2]

I just tried the HD820 - thankfully my German head seems to fit nicely into the German headphone-shape - that headphone is endgame (for me) WOW!! Can't wait feeding it with my balanced setup (waiting for 4.4mm to XLR adapter) but wow - this is a full on new toy syndrome - I didn't expect that, since I had the HD800S at home for a couple of weeks from a friend but the 820 is way more up my alley.

Am in heaven....

Why are you waiting for an adapter? The HD820 comes with both a 4.4mm cable and an XLR cable.

 

[Koolpep]

Mine didn’t. It came with two cables: Single ended 6.3mm and balanced 4.4mm - on Sennheisers website it says the same:
https://en-ae.sennheiser.com/high-end-headphones-audiophiles-hd-820
Quote:
What's in the box?

• Headphones HD 820 (closed, dynamic headphones)
• connection cable: ¼” (6.35 mm) stereo jack plug (connected ex works), unbalanced
• 4.4 mm stereo jack plug, balanced
• USB flash drive (SD-U16L version) with instruction manual (as PDF file) and individually diffuse-field frequency response curve
• instruction manual
• storage box
• microfiber cloth

 

[FourT6and2]

Weird. Maybe it's your specific market. Here in the USA, it comes with three cables: 1/4", 4.4mm, and XLR. But looking on the USA website, it doesn't mention the XLR cable anymore. I wonder if they stopped including it. I just bought my HD820 within the last two months and it came with all three though...

 

[AppleheadMay]

Weird. Maybe it's your specific market. Here in the USA, it comes with three cables: 1/4", 4.4mm, and XLR. But looking on the USA website, it doesn't mention the XLR cable anymore. I wonder if they stopped including it. I just bought my HD820 within the last two months and it came with all three though...

Same here in Europe.