The HD800 & HD800S thread

Something about Mr. Speakers Ether Flow that I been reading has left me unimpressed. Not sure if it should be one of the headphones to knock off the HD800.

 

At the SF Head-Fi meet I thought the Ether was the least dynamic sounding of the planars I tried. I tend to prefer dynamic drivers over planars, but LCD-3, LCD-X, and HEK were at least somewhat lively sounding enough that I'd give them another try. It's also odd that Tyll seems to be shifting his WOF criteria from headphones that perform well given their design goals in multiple price ranges to headphones that subjectively sound more pleasing and fewer price ranges. His personal preferences differ greatly from my own, so I don't think I'll be able to put much stock to his rankings anymore.

That said, I believe the Utopia was the one to knock off the HD800S, given that it's another detailed sounding dynamic. I've only heard it in meet conditions, so maybe I'll agree if I gave it another shot. Probably not enough to drop $4000 though.

 

About time.

 

IMHO I've still yet to hear anything that beats the HD800 in soundstage AND resolution. To me, I can fix the frequency response niggles with DSP, so I'll still take it over the others on Tyll's list, which he mainly prefers due to better matching his preferred frequency response.

 

maybe if sennheiser actually applied themselves more than once a decade and hadn't just half assed the 800s this wouldn't be an issue

 

Tyll Martyr'd the HD800 so Sennheiser would be forced to make an HD1000 with true HD650 tonality.

Oh wait, I just woke up from a dream.

 

Quietly preparing a nice grave for my HD800S

 

10 y ago HD650 was dull and veiled garbage. Wait 10 years and HD800 will be awesome again.

 

I honestly doubt it. Besides I think they should just make a new headphone instead of trying to fix what's broken.

 

The Ether Flow didn't knock it off the WoF. The fact that three headphones that are better balanced now surround it, and in comparison---in stock form and not EQed---it's weak sauce. And Sennheiser can, and should, do better.

 

No idea...just being proactive.

Hell, the slot may be open for a Beyerdynamic.

 

Is It really that likely that Sennheiser would release sucessor to the HD800S so soon?

I mean it take them 5-6 years to release S-version...

 

What makes you think they haven't been working on it all along?

 

They are working on something, the smiles and grins at the High End Show said it all. It's also simply natural in the business sense. The same way that R&D for the PS5 is alive since years. It never stops.

Only Beyerdynamic seems to have stopped.

 

yeah, I totally understand that for something like the WoF you have to review the gear "as is" without taking into account EQ/mods

 

Nothing. They probably are in progress of making something as we speak. The question was: Would they release it "so soon" after HD800S release, is it possible that in 2016/2017 we see new flagship....?

And, what elements they can improve from the S-version? Can the "thin and analytical" -sound (this is how you described it) be improved, without the cost of the soundstage that HD800 is known for?

They are planning to release new amp/dac designed for HD800S in october. Would this be the reason? And they have been working on it for almost a year now. So those who are waiting for it, are waiting for something extraordinary.

 

I think the new DAC/amp unit will just be a black HDVD800 with a slightly updated DAC chip to add DSD support. Per this post on HF, "The HDVD 800 previously used the PCM 1792 chip but the new version is reported to use PCM 1794."

Axel Grell video:

 

This was almost a year ago. Axel said in the video that it will take "some more month" = Some more month is a year now?

They originally planned to release it in June. That was postponed to October. Some, have speculated that it was because Sennheiser was/is thinking about including MQA-support to it. (Hopefully not) or they are waiting to clear stock from the old HDVD 800 or they are featuring something else with it...?