Sennheiser HD 820

That jig is for QC purposes only. IIRC Sennheiser has a B&K HATS, probably the same that Sony uses.

The FR certificates that Sennheiser hands out are based on a loudness equalization measurement.
You perform such a measurement by matching the loudness of a diffuse field in an echo chamber to the headphone at specific frequencies by ear. Matching loudness above 12kHz or below 100Hz is very difficult which is why the graph is limited to this certain bandwidth.
The loudness measurement is probably done using 1/3 octave sine like tones which is why the bar smoothing is valid. You don't measure with +/- 1mm accuracy and proceed by publishing your results in nanometers.

Of course they don't measure every 800 that leaves the factory like this. They only measure the reference sample and use that to compensate the measurements of all the other 800s.

While the idea of loudness equalization seems fine it is very limited in its accuracy. With such heavy smoothing you can't make meaningful statements regarding the headphone's behaivior, especially at higher frequencies where sudden dips and peaks are common unless of course you use more tones within the bandwidth to match the loudness at. Problem then is that the measurement takes too long. People get fatigued, making it unreliable.

This information is supplied without liability.

According to their graph my specific 800 is supposed to have a dip at 6kHz which is certainly misleading.

 

The 800 actually lists for 1399, and the “s” for 1699. Sure, street prices might be less, but those are senns prices. I’m not saying the s is 300 better; I’m just pointing out the prices.

 

What I'm most interested is if it's gonna be possible to somehow make a modular "accessory" to transform regular 800's and 800s's into good closed versions. That'd be amazing. 820's driver looks like it's physically larger, might be cause the glass is concave and acts as a lens. Also supposedly it "redirects sound" into traps or absorption chambers, so hopefully the idea won't be as hopeless as it currently seems.

If there's anything to be learned from hd600, 650, and 660s, it's that the design of the enclosure, age and fit of pads, etc. makes much more difference than the driver itself, of course, if the driver is good enough in the first place.

 

I had a Sennheiser rep on the phone today. It is as I expected, there are no measurements available for public yet as the HD820 officially has not fully exited development status. The units shown on CES and in Japan are prototypes. I will receive official measurements in summer...
But by that time Tyll will probably have the 820 in his database already anyway.

 

Well, I attended a short talk today about data analytics at Sennheiser



I learned that Senn looks at three market segments for sales analysis: EMBA, Americas, and APAC. Right now Senn is not using advanced analytics for pricing, but they are starting to use it for sales forecasting. Pricing is determined by the product manager and the execs. She didn't;t have specific info on the 820 and how it was priced, other than the PM was responsible for the pricing.

 

Interesting. Do you have more images of the presentation slides?

 

A few. She didn't use real data, and all the product names are like "headphone 350" and Headphone 351", so there is no way to know what's what and if the data is even real. Her point was that Senn is starting to use analytics to forecast, and using MicroStrategy and R.

 

<Redundant, presumptuous comment on a headphone that I am interested in but have not heard>

Like this post for a 20% discount on my next redundant, presumptuous comment!

 

Whatever they end up being, at least they look really amazing.

 

Agreed, they look like something more at home on the bridge of the Normandy, for sure.

 

I wonder how you knew just what to say to make me happy

 

Guys, I did not mean to shut down the discussion.

So here is my speculative musing, perhaps not too redundant. We have some sense that these may not be the most isolating headphones, although their limitations seems to have been revealed in seriously noisy environments. I am wondering however how impervious they are to leaking sound. This is relevant in the quietest of environments: an office for some, the living room for me. (Actually that is my office too.)

I listen pretty loud. If this is a closed HD800 that maintains through the glass refraction mechanism much of the open headspace of the original while allowing the listener to coexist with others in close quarters, that is already sounding like an attractive proposition. A fuller lower end and the taming of the treble peak will be further upside.

Yes, I am interested and looking forward to impressions.

 

I found this interview to be rather interesting. Sorry if it was already posted.

At 2:18 he talks about resonances in closed headphones and goes on to say that in the case of HD820s they are greatly reduced even though still there a little. He explicitly says that the open models are better in this regard, altough this one is going to have better bass response ( I guess he was comparing it to HD800/HD800s).

 

I´d be surprised if they don´t settle on something like 2200 euros or less (before eventually dropping a lot more). The HD 800 S are already sold at 1379 euros here in Finland, so yeah cheaper than the Clears. The HD 800 has been going for as low as 900 euros new and from authorized retailers sometimes. Sennheiser MSRP never stays for long, it´s just there to maximize profit from the early adopters. Since the original HD 820 price is set so high this time I´m expecting the discounts to basically start on day one... Maybe I´m wrong, but from what I´ve read I´ve gotten the impression that the MSRP holds up (for whatever reason) a lot longer in the US than in Europe though.

 

Got my HD800S from Hong Kong for $1,500 USD about 6 months ago. I expect the HD820 will be available for around 1,800 USD maybe a year after release, if not sooner.

 

You can buy HD800S for $1500 from Amazon right now. I remember seeing price on HD800 as low as $900 at one time but back up to $1100 now. I expect HD820 to retail at $2400 and sell on Amazon for $2200 best guess. Will take a while but I also agree you will see them under $2000 will take a few months.

 

I for one welcome isolated version of HD800. I do own the HD800 with Sorrodje's excellent mod and enjoy them at home use very much so. As a gamer & office space rocker I'd be more than happy to see new isolated champion. With spacious and accurate soundstage.

Then there's the price issue.. why in the world manufacturers have to announce phones with insane prices to elevate their status or whatnot. I could not stomach to pay well over 2000€ for any headphones.

Gotta audit them for sure. We'll see.

 

There's a phenomenon in marketing. A higher price can elevate the perception of the product and actually increase demand. A good example of this is Apple, but It happens a lot in high end audio.

 

Apparently I am opposite man (again? still?) as the price of the hd820 reduces demand for it in my house to zero.

 

This is what has come to be known as 'summit-fi'.