[Audio Jester]

I heard that they almost released the HD650 with a bright green cable...but they decided against it and sold the technology to AKG instead.  

LOL. I can imagine it was pitched as the "Green Lantern" upgrade.

 

[pdrm360]

1993 - HD580 released
2003 - HD650 released
2009 - HD800 released

I'm not seeing the 'every 5 years'. Note that the HD600 is virtually the same unit as the HD580, just different housing/headband/etc.

 
2012 - HD700 released  

 

[Sonido]

Well if Nomax, the prognosticator of the AKG K812, is to be believed, something new from Sennheiser that will "be an answer to the K812" is going to be revealed this year. I think he hinted something along the lines of a low impedance, easy to drive TOTL headphone comparable to the K812, hence "an answer" to the K812. If this is true, not sure if the concept of an easy to drive headphone appeal to many on here. HD800p anyone?

 

[Maxvla]

I think they already tried that with the HD700 and failed miserably.

 

[62ohm]

  Well if Nomax, the prognosticator of the AKG K812, is to be believed, something new from Sennheiser that will "be an answer to the K812" is going to be revealed this year. I think he hinted something along the lines of a low impedance, easy to drive TOTL headphone comparable to the K812, hence "an answer" to the K812. If this is true, not sure if the concept of an easy to drive headphone appeal to many on here. HD800p anyone?

 
The day Sennheiser released a 32ohm headphone with the Caliber of HD800 is the day the earth stood still...

 

[BournePerfect]

The day Sennheiser released a 32ohm headphone with the Caliber of HD800 is the day the earth stood still...

Yep.

 

[erikfreedom]

the reason why it took so long between each sennheiser flagships in the past is that in those times, there was not a lof of uber high end cans on the market and not much competition. now things are much more different. competition is extremely ferocious.
 
especially with audeze and hifiman relentless attacks. but sennheiser has built the hd 800 with enormous potential for longevity.
 
but competitors are getting there slowly but surely.
 
it may take some time before a new flagship from sennheiser appear. sennheiser still sell a boatload of hd 800 every year.
 
it is gonna take a monumental pair of cans from sennheiser to dethrone the hd 800. absolutely monumental.

 

[Dillan]

  the reason why it took so long between each sennheiser flagships in the past is that in those times, there was not a lof of uber high end cans on the market and not much competition. now things are much more different. competition is extremely ferocious.
 
especially with audeze and hifiman relentless attacks. but sennheiser has built the hd 800 with enormous potential for longevity.
 
but competitors are getting there slowly but surely.
 
it may take some time before a new flagship from sennheiser appear. sennheiser still sell a boatload of hd 800 every year.
 
it is gonna take a monumental pair of cans from sennheiser to dethrone the hd 800. absolutely monumental.

 
Yea I think you are right completely here.
 
They aren't going to make the mistake of creating something that is "just enough".
 
Their new flagship will indeed have to be really something.
 
Also I may have done my research wrong when I quickly checked over it, but I am still pretty sure that Sennheiser releases a new flagship on "average" every 5 years. Including the orpheus and baby orpheus. (could be wrong on that though so don't hold me to that)
 
Though I wasn't really hinting that they would follow some sort of pattern.  Like someone mentioned, there are a few more factors to pay attention to these days.  A few being the 800 selling so many, and the new "fierce competition."
 
I think they are going to wait until they are more than ready and I don't feel there is a huge rush to release anything.
 
However it does make you wonder what their next top of the line product will be.
 
Something truly incredible I would think.


 

 

[TwoEars]

I think HD800's are going to be around for a very, very long time.
 
With their ring drive technology and large light membranes they are pretty much the perfect transparent transducer, almost impossible to improve upon.
 
It's recordings, DACs and AMPs that are flawed... not the HD800.
 
 
 

 

[PleasantSounds]

We're all speculating here as there's no reliable info available regarding HD800 being superseded by a new model. But that doesn't mean it's not going to come.
 
The business reality is such that even if there's no significant technical advancements, a new flagship is bound to appear in the not too distant future. It may be based on the same driver in a new housing, or sport a completely new one. It may not necessarily be better than the HD800, but it will be priced higher (or the HD800 discounted) and labelled the new flagship. 
 
The reason for that is simple: there is a significant group of customers that will feel compelled to upgrade, and that means additional sales to Sennheiser. This happens quite often in the industry - those who followed the AKG K701 and its successors should already be familiar with this pattern. Large companies have model release schedules that drive sales forecasts and keep revenue flow more stable. Not releasing a new flagship every few years would be a suicide for any business. So my advice is: start saving 

 

[azazell86]

It's all about the amp goddammit you need a tube amp to tame those highs

 

[TwoEars]

  We're all speculating here as there's no reliable info available regarding HD800 being superseded by a new model. But that doesn't mean it's not going to come.
 
The business reality is such that even if there's no significant technical advancements, a new flagship is bound to appear in the not too distant future. It may be based on the same driver in a new housing, or sport a completely new one. It may not necessarily be better than the HD800, but it will be priced higher (or the HD800 discounted) and labelled the new flagship. 
 
The reason for that is simple: there is a significant group of customers that will feel compelled to upgrade, and that means additional sales to Sennheiser. This happens quite often in the industry - those who followed the AKG K701 and its successors should already be familiar with this pattern. Large companies have model release schedules that drive sales forecasts and keep revenue flow more stable. Not releasing a new flagship every few years would be a suicide for any business. So my advice is: start saving 

 
The HD600 has been around for about 18 years, 19 if you count the 580 which essentially was the same headphone.
 
Even introducing the HD650 (which isn't better, just slightly different than the HD600) took ten years.
 
Don't hold your breath, Sennheiser doesn't do things like most other companies.
 
At lets not forget that both the HD650 and HD800 are still selling extremely well.
 
The HD800 is a nigh on perfect transducer, it was based on a lot of groundbreaking scientific studies about materials, electronics and acoustics. Sennheiser is only going to make a new top end headphone if there has been sufficient scientific progress to justify it. They need to have a new acoustic theory, groundbreaking nano technology or similar.

 

[WNBC]

In the end we can't say there WILL or WILL NOT be a new flagship/successor in the near future.  None of us work for Sennheiser.  Or at least will admit it publicly.  To say that one is not around the corner because the current one is excellent has as many holes as saying they will put out a new flagship to keep revenues steady or they have a history of not releasing hi-end new products quickly.  There is merit to each argument and no matter how much one thinks his or her feeling is correct we are just having fun here, though some people take it more serious than others.  The future might involve new CEOs, profits need boosting, or even a cooler a technological breakthrough.  Maybe the only thing we can agree upon is that R&D is going strong and they are always looking to improve on the technology for their entire lineup.     
 
At 500+ pages it is fun to get off track and explore the possibilities.  Just goes to show you that many of us enjoy the HD-800.  For me it was a 3 year journey.  Starting off with the HD-650 (version 1) then a dozen or more headphones and now the HD800.  I'm curious to try the HD-650 again at the end of my headphone journey.  Not to say I won't get other headphones but more likely planars as I'm happy with the HD-800 as my main dynamic headphone. 
 
Anybody try the 2Stepdance or Portaphile 627 with the HD-800?

 

[JeffA]

As to the talk about a new Sennheiser flagship … A poster named "Nomax" has strongly hinted in other threads that Sennheiser will be releasing a new flagship in the second half of this year. He has further hinted that it will not be a dynamic headphone, and will likely be priced around $2,500. I take these rumors seriously because Nomax was dead on in his prerelease rumors regarding the AKG 812 and the SPL Phonitor 2.

 

[WNBC]

Good to know.  I will look up this poster.  At $2,500 + new amping requirement the HD-800 will be here to stay.
 
 
Quote:

  As to the talk about a new Sennheiser flagship … A poster named "Nomax" has strongly hinted in other threads that Sennheiser will be releasing a new flagship in the second half of this year. He has further hinted that it will not be a dynamic headphone, and will likely be priced around $2,500. I take these rumors seriously because Nomax was dead on in his prerelease rumors regarding the AKG 812 and the SPL Phonitor 2.