The HD800 & HD800S thread

Sennheiser usually sells to dealers first before selling on their own website. German dealers like Jan got it first, and other European dealers are taking orders or already shipping as well. In the US, the dealers won't ship until after CES.

 

Mine was shipped from Jan 4-5 days ago. I don't care how, especially since my previous 3 HD800 orders from him were all flawless. Seems he's always had first dibs on Senn stuff too. Being in the industry as long as he has-and in Senn's backyard-haven't hurt I'm sure.

 

I guess if Sennheiser actually greatly improved the HD800S it would get a higher number. Like 590 -> 595 -> 598 or 560 ----> 580 (huge leap) -> 600 -> 650 (small leap but damping it makes it slightly dark. The guys on head fi years ago who said 540 and 560 > 580 were nuts.

 

Bought them for myself for Christmas and short one hour verdict (I know, it's too short)

-those who expect a HD850 as in a HD800 with HD 650 treble (latest unmodded version) will be slightly disappointed.
-those who are happy with the HD800 and prefer brightness (which in general is still but just want the treble to noticably flatten Mount Sixkilohertz, retain the soundstage will be quite happy. Since I use headphones for movies and games as well soundstage is very important to me.

-those who love modding and had to because of the treble should be careful to jump in quickly (I'm a mostly no mod guy, though I will attempt it for the HD 650). However there are other boni to be had.
-bass truly extends lower but (unfortunately don't have the HD800 anymore to A/B) I'm kinda excited to notice that control until down low got better as well.

this won't help much but point 1 ("HD850") is a definite and in general: the brightness is overall improved, leaving more room and space for details to shine while it was somewhat harder to find before. Hard to create an analogy. Imagine you have to go through less crap in a box to find something.

 

Can you measure stock HD800, modded HD800, and then stock HD800 S?

 

Hells yeah, looking forward to this

 

come on, post some pics......

 

HD800S in the house. This is the best I will be able to do as far as measurements go.



Initial reaction is similar to the first time I heard HD800; these things are bright. I need some time to adjust...

 

What amp? The hd800 sounds like schiit with 99% of amps.

I plugged an hd800 into a fiio e11k once and it sounded like beats by dr Sennheiser. Zero bass. Ear piercing treble, grainy and just terrible. Unlistenable.

 

The last time I heard HD800 was unmodded out of GSX MK2. I don't remember the DAC, Vega maybe. I definitely got the feeling the setup wasn't helping the headphones though and I won't really be able to provide a useful comparison there...

My current point of reference is unmodded HD650.

Subjective impressions after ~4 hours driven by Gungnir Multibit & Valhalla 2 (again, in comparison to HD650)

• Resolution: up a notch (although some would argue that I haven't heard HD650 properly amped...) and there seems to be more texture/definition/nuances in familiar recordings. Sense of space has expanded slightly in every direction. I'm not sure if I like this yet. HD650 has about the right level of 'intimacy' with recordings for me.
• Treble: bright and kind of tiring mainly because there just seems to be more information going on in the treble region. Hopefully I can adjust to this (I am not getting the brutal sibilance that I seem to remember last time I heard that HD800 though).
• Mids: well placed (maybe a touch recessed compared to HD650, but certainly not laid back) and seem reasonably natural, maybe too neutral (for me) in comparison to the slightly more euphonic mids of HD650.
• Mid bass: leaner. I like (makes me want to mod my HD650 even more, if this is where it can help).
• Bass: just seems tighter overall (maybe because of the reduction in mid bass?). Similar to the treble region, more information available. It doesn't sound like it hits any deeper or harder than HD650 though.

Overall I am happy with HD800S so far. It will be a leaner, more honest alternative to HD650. I don't see it replacing HD650 as my primary headphone any time soon as I just love it's tonality and slightly more relaxed presentation. In fact, I need to find more time to listen to music, as I don't really want to listen to HD650 any less.

 

Wait, you're saying HD800S isn't warmer and more euphonic than HD650? Has Head-Fi been lying to me?

 

A proper 300B or 2A3 amp is the droid you're looking for.

 

It's pretty much HD800, it just makes me want to hurt myself a little less. But hey, I can be your enabler if you want.

HD850 is here and it's neutral plus.

[insert gifs of women faking orgasms here]

 

Phew, first time listening to the HD800 had me like