It's funny that when this guy reviewed the HD800 (old version) there was no mention of any flaws. There simply was no better headphone, till a new model comes along. Wich you of course had to have.
Damn you and your logically organized, and comprehensive reviews without fan-boi hype! I've tried and owned a few of the models you reviewed. While I could have been satisfied with the fun HD600, or maybe the detailed DT-1990 pro...the HD800s are like the corvette Z06 among mustang Gt's. Nothing wrong with a well-equipped mustang GT. But a mustang simply doesn't have the performance envelope of the Z06. The HD800S seem to be the best, if not in the top 2 of existing headphones. I say that, because the 820 are NOT better, despite an extra $1000. The final audio Sonorus X have the same driver as my III's do. ZMF sound wildly irregular to me with an odd frequency balance. The 800S to me, are like having those ultra-premium big floorstanding speakers in an optimum room. "There is no replacement for displacement" and the 800S handle deep bass that others cannot , or cannot produce at all. I purchased my 800S as "refurb" and almost $500 off new. If you are the religious type, they could be described as the voice of God. Or at least, A God. They make many other cans seem pedestrian or toy-like. The 800S are properly revealing, and make other cans sound just plain veiled, and "dynamically constipated".
My headphone dream is to finally own an HD800S.. someday soon.. someday soon. Great review there Tyll and thanks for the accompanying video mod footage.
There's two major differences. The, probably, more noticeable difference is that each channel is capable of delivering more power. The second is that both left and right channels get their own ground and own hot wires, where they share a ground wire on the 1/4" and 1/8" connectors, which can, if you are even able to perceive it, cause cross talk and some other distortion. This last point is what makes them "balanced".
I'm so glad I don't have golden ears. I have the HD800 and have never found them to be tiring or to have this resonance at 6K. I guess when you don't look for problems, or listen for them in this case, you can stay blissfully ignorant and just enjoy things.
Some people don't have to have golden ears. Some people who claim they have golden ears prefer the HD800 than the HD800S (some of them go as far as to berate people who don't like the 6khz peak and tell them they have low-fi ears) and I don't have to have trained hearing or naturally golden ears to stay the fuck away from the HD800 unless its SDR modded or its the S, because holy fuck it hurts. The thing is, when you go to audio forums like SBAF, Head-fi, ASR, so on and so forth, yeah... alot of people don't understand preference. While the HD800 is one of the most resolving headphones in general, its not for everyone. While the K812 and the T1 (any generation) have their own problems and are apparently hated more compared to the HD800's flaws, there are people who genuinely love their sound signatures. I myself prefer the ADX5000 because despite that it has less bass than the HD800, the resolving mids and low to mid treble is wonderful despite that that I'd argue its slightly more sibilant than the T1 and the HD800.
@@gnomehanslan1430 i have the HD800S they are extremely bright, lean, sibilant, the 6-9khz peak isn't killed at all, look at the measurements on Rtings.com... This frequency response both measures far from flat, and also sound as bright as measurements suggest, i can't even begin to imagine how bad the HD800 sounds (un-modded)
@@thelonepainter4760 i tried both tube-amp, and class-A balanced solid state, using the balanced Pentaconn cable that were shipped with the headphone, both on vinyl, but also 22,4 MHZ Octa-DSD sound-files It's a lean headphone, though I agree they need a very warm amp and preferably vinyl, if they are to stand any chance. I was genuinely impressed by the size of the soundstage, never heard bigger or wider in a headphone, just a shame about the sound signature.. But Sennheiser came close, perhaps their next headphone will deliver on all ends!
Recently got the 800S and they sound amazing. I listen to mostly jazz, and classical LPs through a Rega RP3 and a Marantz amp. Having a good source like a reference pressing (Bill Evans mofi one step pressing) makes these headphones sound amazing...
I sold my HD800's because I couldn't get on with their thin sound, and I found my old HD650's to be much more fun to listen too. The HD650's sounded like cotton wool after listening to the HD800's, but once you got climatized to them it was okay. I would love to have a pair of HD880s, though, but I can't afford it right now.
Some of the comments are misunderstanding what's being compared here. The HD800 MSRP is $1,495. The HD800S MSRP was $1,595, now $1,695 as of 2019. The latest flagship from sennheiser is the HD820 closed back design has a MSRP of $2,695 as of 2019.
Thanks for the review Tyl!!! Really cool to hear someone go into the finite details of the modifications and the extent to which these alter the characteristics of the headphones.
The most common problem as far as frequencies response is in which technology drivers is wounded. The best solution in my opinion is super thin copper sheet. And of course low ohm regime as much as possible. I have handmade phones patented on 6 ohms regime and they sounds almost perfect.
+InnerFidelity - Tyll, how do you justify starting out this video stating that the HD800/S is the worlds best headphone, then spend the rest of the video talking about how it falls short, needs modifications, and is really preferred when used with EQ because it just doesn't have enough bass. (note - honest question, not trying to be "that guy") What about the HD800/S makes it the worlds best headphone over headphones (such as many of the ones found in the Big Sound 2015 roundup). It feels like there are a couple of major nits to pick with the HD800/S and most of the other TOTL gear you review, while you have complaints, most of the time it's stressed that they are minor. Cheers.
InnerFidelity Thanks, and I very much look forward to reading a response if you do a write up. I tend to value your opinions on headphones and so far it's lead me to purchase the NAD VISO HP50 and I love that headphone.
+Nick Burklow I am very interested in the "$500 or less" range in closed back headphones, and have been flirting with the NAD VISO HP50's. It's a toss up between them and the Shure SRH1540. Many find the Shure SRH1540's a little stale and too "reference" focussed, but I've never really found that an issue with headphones, as I like fidelity, not exaggeration. Have you heard the Shure's, and can you give me any input seeing as I've never heard the HP50's? Thanks a bunch
+Nick Burklow Other top of the line headphones have their own problems too. The Audeze can be too closed in, murky and laid-back for many. The soundstage of the hd800 is far superior, not to mention the comfort. If you want a top of the line headphone that works out of the box with virtually zero flaws look at HE-1000 or SR-009. Thing is though.... with mods I think the HD800 is equal to those and half the price. If not better in some aspects. But now I think the HD800S is the obvious choice for many. It really is stellar value when you look at what it's competing with.
+Nick Burklow Exactly. Did the same with the HE1000. He just EQed the troublesome stuff ("elevated treble", mids not "forward" enough) when it suited him. Didn't bother to do the same with other hp - i.e. AKG K812. Didn't mention doing any EQing in the video. Just outright dismissed them.
All I know is, I briefly listened to several heaphones at a HiFi shop with some other popular, albeit cheaper, headphones and while each of the cheaper ones were good you could instantly pick out each strength and weakness then I tried this headphone and honestly could not pick out a weakness.
and here i am watching a video about a pair of headphones i probably will never buy and listening to the differences in sound that i might never notice.
ezzony i'm pretty sure that is a fact, audiophiles have a trained ear and have probably used a wide variety of gear to compare with, in my case my best experience with audio are my V-moda headphones, so even tho i do notice better sound than with others i have tried, it is still far away from being able to tell the HD 800 apart of something close to its range in price or quality. It's like testing sports cars when you used just common trucks haha
I did it too dude... then I finally bought the HD800s... must say as a bass head, I've wanted more, but that clarity is just amazing when listening to classical & vocal focussed music. :)
Michael Hutchinson if i had the HD 800 the only thing I'd miss is portability. I honestly have no cash for headphones that expensive. No matter how amazing they are. Enjoy your music :) ✌
Look up the price of replacement drivers and it will blow your mind. You can get a pair of 800 drivers for under $400. Some people have made their own DIY headphones with them.
MadBorne I’m not sure on exactly how to do it. But you can get two 800 driver capsules shipped for $380. You would need to solder the plugs and insert the assembly into a frame. There were a couple of users on head-fi/Reddit that were able to accomplish it and create headphones that measured similarly to stock 800s.
I have a hard time understanding that anyone would want better headphones than the 800s, especially after using them with proper equipment, for me they are the end of the game.
wow... the company thought they could do a better job at modifying a problem, in a model of their own headphones... not by releasing a cheap and simple little fix for the existing pair... but forcing us to buy a whole brand new set of headphones and doubling the price doing nothing else but fixing the original problem!... WOW THANKS!...
You can't just simply change a driver to "add some extra 2nd harmonic distortion below 100hz" We're talking fundamental redesign of the driver itself.. Which would inevitably change a host of other parameters aswell.
LOL i love RUclips's closed captions. The text reads: "Hi, toilet and infidelity here today..." 😂
8 лет назад+4
I think the HD 800 has enough bass. As a mixer, I think that adding audible? distortion is an awful way to do it. like what the hell. these are 1,7k headphones. these are not reference headphones for sure. honestly even if I wasn't a mixer I would not wanna have these. just imagine if in a track you got a synth which is distorted in the bass... the 2nd harmonic's volume will be amplified a LOT and it can sound waaaay different. this is crazy.
8 лет назад+1
to clarify, like if you already have a distorted sound, the 2nd harmonic will be already audible, but these headphones will boost it another 20db? my god!
I'm one of those people that loves the stock HD 800 sound. Just the idea alone of having second harmonic distortion in the bass feels like a cheap way to create the illusion of more bass. I want all frequencies to be clean and precise. Harmonic distortion just feels unacceptable to me in kilobuck headphones.
Interesting, someone did some independent FEA on the original to figure out a damping solution; Sennheiser grabbed the ball and did a proper modal analysis. Why didn't Sennheiser do the proper modal analysis on the first model? Then again, just saw the LCD 4 review; there may be another candidate for more in depth modelling.
I did try the HD 800 S but feel uneasy about buying an expensive product which has been subject to the technological sticking plaster of resonators, etc. The bass is still lacking in substance and still has piercing sibilance with certain tracks such a Lipgloss by Pulp.
HI. I would like to ask you a question. Since this upgrade is similar to HD600 that goes into HD650, I wonder if HD800S aren't a bit less detailed then original one?
Wow. Tyll has a serious love hate relationship with the headphones. Every time he mentions the HD800, he trashes it for its brightness and its lack of good lows but praises its soundstage and yet Ive never heard him call this the worlds greatest hp until today.
Hallo I really need some help, I'm a pro drummer and I got the Shure se535 couple of years ago, and I want to buy the JH Roxanne [custom] because I want something in that price point that can be used on a stage but in home for listening to. but now that I see that the HD 800S cost jast us mach I want to buy them and stay with the SE535 to stage use. the problem is that I dont have a super nice amp\DAC [MICCA ORIGEN]. is it a problem? and after all this, is getting the Sennheiser HD 800 S instead of the JH roxane is a good choice? thank you! you guys are awesome!
Why don't headphone manufacturers develop covers to place over the open back headphones so that the user has the option to make their open back headphones into a closed back headphone for more bass if they so desire?
Because tuning starts at the driver - if you just box up a fully open headphone, it will sound like mud with way elevated midbass, while what you wanted is just to raise the sub-bass. If you open up a closed headphone, it will generally sound like junk too, very hollow. Drivers which at the first glance look the same and share the motor (voice coil + magnet + field guide) and membrane can still easily differ in density of felt on their back and size of back vent holes behind the membrane. Even for drivers which have seen use in a range of headphones - some described as 'closed' and other as 'open' - you will find that actually in both cases the enclosure is vented, so there's actually a fairly narrow range of tunings again, except this time they come with enclosure volume and vent type and vent cover material differences to make both work. Best you can do is slightly adjustable tuning without either being fully open or fully sealed, and one of the tunings will likely be significantly more compromised than the other, so why would you want the other?
Can you please do a review of Pioneer se-master1. I heard it is better than hd800s in every way. Besides I heard the utopia you have reviewed is already better than it. Thank you
Hello Tyll, At this time i have got the akg k712, and i want to step up my headphone game. at this point i consider the Focal elear, the mr. speakers ether and the hd 800/800S. i have got a eq system. But i do not want to modify my headphones. In this video you say that the hd800 with mod and eq is superior to the hd800S. I wonder if it is still true without a mod. and overall witch headphone you enjoy the most. Thank you very much.
Gilgamesh_The_God 800s had smaller sounstage , little bit better bass and less treble , clarity very close , maybe 800 seems clearer because of treble peak
Wow, so much messing around for trying to curb that peak on the HD800 model. I just swapped the cable for an after-market cable and voila - huge improvement - just like buying new phones, like the HD800 S some might say. I can't speak for all aftermarket cables but the one I got from Moon Audio was a very good move. Don't chop up your headphones. And before you upgrade your phones, just try a good aftermarket cable first.
I have about 20 RUclips music lists with thousands of songs I have loved over the last 57 years. Am I correct to assume that listening to HD on RUclips with the Sennheiser 800 is like using an atomic bomb to kill a rat? Or no? I don't want streaming online music, they don't have what I want, my lists on RUclips are way too extensive to move over even if there was a way. Your Opinion?
+VeryCoolAlan I personally liked the H90 + HEV90 better then the HD800 + HDVD800. I have not haired the HE1060 so i have no clue how it compares, but im looking foreword to listening to it. One note on the Orpheus (HE90) vs HD800, it has more warms and is less analytical then the hd800. I would love to have a HE90 + HEV90 as my listening set up, but for work i would pick the beyerdynamic T1 or HD800 (i need to get me one now)...
My HD-800 cans already have the Anaxilus Mod. If I install the SuperDupont Resonator do I need to remove the Anaxilus Mod or should they be used in conjunction? Thx.
This might be a stupid question but does the hd800s out perform the focal elear? I understand that they are different, but I'm looking for people's opinion.
3 years late, but here is your answer :). I just tried both in a store, and I preferred the 800s, but I'm biased and like the Sennheiser sound. The focal clear's had much much punchier bass than the 800s, but in a good way. Personally not my thing, but they were comfortable as hell and I would be very happy with either one.
Why? They bulldozed over the spectacular bass clarity. That definitely needs its own model designation. I am generally of opinion that these silent revisions do not belong pretty much ever - people should know what they're getting. Even if the revision is purely an improvement - say i know of headphones where silent revision brought up the high end extension without changing anything else - why would you want an older and inferior product to be mixed in with the newer, so you can't ever be quite certain what you're buying?
I would say it's not better, but sounds different. I didn't think I was going to like the 800s based on all these mixed reviews from people. But I was lucky enough to have a listening session and I immediately knew that HD650 had found a replacement. I stopped relying too much on reviewers preferences and to just our ears! I recommend people to have a listen where possible because everyone's ears are completely different therefore perceive sound differently. For me my end game has been HD800s and the Monoprice M1060, however my other half says nothing beats the HD650. My son & daughter prefer the X2.
What I would like to know is whether or not the hd800s is as picky with amps as the hd800 and could this new version be "listenable" with under $1000 or even under $500 amp dac combos.
yh I heard about that. some people went top of the line amps and found the slightly lower end amp from the same company was better. I guess since all they did was kill the high Peak these will probably be like that. considering the sound signature is the same. a neutral almost dull sound
In love with my one, It tears the fabric of reality and shows you the face of God, On a serious note, it tends to have boundaries to it, soundstage where the HD 800 does not tend to, The HD 800 seems to go on forever LOL But you will be spending quite a lot of your time searching for the source to make it sound good you will not have that problem with the S variant And by good I mean A perfect matching sound source
This is a pair of high-end headphones. When we speak of high-end headphones, along comes the price of a pair of high-end headphones. So as far as a pair of high-end headphones go, the price is relatively affordable and reasonable. Depending on how much time you spend listening to sound through the platform of your choice and depending on how important music and sound is in your life, spending money on things that you either spend a lot of time doing or on something that is important, can very easily be justified. Just as spending a lot of money on a good bed, because one spends so much time in ones life in it. It means it is well justified spending a lot of money on it. In fact you ought to be well encouraged to contemplate spending top dollar on a good bed and other things that you occupy your time with.
Please come back Tyler! You are missed! Hope you're enjoying your road trip!
crazy the dude said I'm out and actually hasn't been seen since
we already miss you tyll
It's funny that when this guy reviewed the HD800 (old version) there was no mention of any flaws. There simply was no better headphone, till a new model comes along. Wich you of course had to have.
We miss you Tyll! ❤
"The world's best headphone in stock form" thank you so much, that's what all I ever wanted to valadate using my HD800s without any mods or Eqs.
Damn you and your logically organized, and comprehensive reviews without fan-boi hype! I've tried and owned a few of the models you reviewed. While I could have been satisfied with the fun HD600, or maybe the detailed DT-1990 pro...the HD800s are like the corvette Z06 among mustang Gt's. Nothing wrong with a well-equipped mustang GT. But a mustang simply doesn't have the performance envelope of the Z06. The HD800S seem to be the best, if not in the top 2 of existing headphones. I say that, because the 820 are NOT better, despite an extra $1000. The final audio Sonorus X have the same driver as my III's do. ZMF sound wildly irregular to me with an odd frequency balance. The 800S to me, are like having those ultra-premium big floorstanding speakers in an optimum room. "There is no replacement for displacement" and the 800S handle deep bass that others cannot , or cannot produce at all. I purchased my 800S as "refurb" and almost $500 off new. If you are the religious type, they could be described as the voice of God. Or at least, A God. They make many other cans seem pedestrian or toy-like. The 800S are properly revealing, and make other cans sound just plain veiled, and "dynamically constipated".
Sennheiser better loan the new Orpheus to Tyll for an extensive review , or else!
I can finally say that I am listening to this with my sdr modded hd800's!!!
Wow, didn't realise this headphone was so awesome. Can't wait for Tyll to review the Sennheiser HE1060.
My headphone dream is to finally own an HD800S.. someday soon.. someday soon.
Great review there Tyll and thanks for the accompanying video mod footage.
that's pretty small dream... considering it's only 1600 USD
Yeah for you moneyed types it's fine.. dropping down 1600 for some is a big deal.
If you work at the black market 80 hours a week, it shouldn't be a problem to afford them in a couple of time.
Thanks for the exhaustive examination of the HD800s and HD800 and the difference between the two.
I miss this guy
Thank you for fixing the sound. Much better now.
Can you do a video on the benefits of the 4-pin balanced cable vs single ended?
dude, you have no Idea what you're talking about
There's two major differences. The, probably, more noticeable difference is that each channel is capable of delivering more power. The second is that both left and right channels get their own ground and own hot wires, where they share a ground wire on the 1/4" and 1/8" connectors, which can, if you are even able to perceive it, cause cross talk and some other distortion. This last point is what makes them "balanced".
I'm so glad I don't have golden ears. I have the HD800 and have never found them to be tiring or to have this resonance at 6K. I guess when you don't look for problems, or listen for them in this case, you can stay blissfully ignorant and just enjoy things.
Some people don't have to have golden ears. Some people who claim they have golden ears prefer the HD800 than the HD800S (some of them go as far as to berate people who don't like the 6khz peak and tell them they have low-fi ears) and I don't have to have trained hearing or naturally golden ears to stay the fuck away from the HD800 unless its SDR modded or its the S, because holy fuck it hurts.
The thing is, when you go to audio forums like SBAF, Head-fi, ASR, so on and so forth, yeah... alot of people don't understand preference. While the HD800 is one of the most resolving headphones in general, its not for everyone. While the K812 and the T1 (any generation) have their own problems and are apparently hated more compared to the HD800's flaws, there are people who genuinely love their sound signatures. I myself prefer the ADX5000 because despite that it has less bass than the HD800, the resolving mids and low to mid treble is wonderful despite that that I'd argue its slightly more sibilant than the T1 and the HD800.
Sergio Ortiz Most of us can’t listen critically and observe these issues. Experienced reviewers like Tyll can.
@@gnomehanslan1430 i have the HD800S they are extremely bright, lean, sibilant, the 6-9khz peak isn't killed at all, look at the measurements on Rtings.com...
This frequency response both measures far from flat, and also sound as bright as measurements suggest, i can't even begin to imagine how bad the HD800 sounds (un-modded)
@@Lasse3 they sound great with a warm amp.
@@thelonepainter4760 i tried both tube-amp, and class-A balanced solid state, using the balanced Pentaconn cable that were shipped with the headphone, both on vinyl, but also 22,4 MHZ Octa-DSD sound-files
It's a lean headphone, though I agree they need a very warm amp and preferably vinyl, if they are to stand any chance.
I was genuinely impressed by the size of the soundstage, never heard bigger or wider in a headphone, just a shame about the sound signature..
But Sennheiser came close, perhaps their next headphone will deliver on all ends!
Recently got the 800S and they sound amazing. I listen to mostly jazz, and classical LPs through a Rega RP3 and a Marantz amp. Having a good source like a reference pressing (Bill Evans mofi one step pressing) makes these headphones sound amazing...
I sold my HD800's because I couldn't get on with their thin sound, and I found my old HD650's to be much more fun to listen too. The HD650's sounded like cotton wool after listening to the HD800's, but once you got climatized to them it was okay. I would love to have a pair of HD880s, though, but I can't afford it right now.
That's the problem.. In the pursuit of clear detailed sound, they completely throw the entire balance of the spectrum under the bus..
Some of the comments are misunderstanding what's being compared here. The HD800 MSRP is $1,495. The HD800S MSRP was $1,595, now $1,695 as of 2019. The latest flagship from sennheiser is the HD820 closed back design has a MSRP of $2,695 as of 2019.
Thanks for the review Tyl!!! Really cool to hear someone go into the finite details of the modifications and the extent to which these alter the characteristics of the headphones.
The new mic and other gear is great!!!
Your review helped me to make the decision to buy a pair of 800s..big thanks :)
The most common problem as far as frequencies response is in which technology drivers is wounded. The best solution in my opinion is super thin copper sheet. And of course low ohm regime as much as possible. I have handmade phones patented on 6 ohms regime and they sounds almost perfect.
Awesome, simple Awesome REview, thank you for such a detailed review, big hug from this part of the world.
Man the peak 6khz problem is what I feel like many of their headphones have, I hear it on the 280 and 380 pros as well. Sibilance is overkill.
Nice shirt Tyll:). Going to buy HD800S later in summer, great review!!!
I found that Dekoni pads added just enough bass to really extend the bass.
Which specific pads did you go with?
@@Jamie-666 the filtrated our best do extend the base and they take a bit of the trouble Away
+InnerFidelity - Tyll, how do you justify starting out this video stating that the HD800/S is the worlds best headphone, then spend the rest of the video talking about how it falls short, needs modifications, and is really preferred when used with EQ because it just doesn't have enough bass. (note - honest question, not trying to be "that guy")
What about the HD800/S makes it the worlds best headphone over headphones (such as many of the ones found in the Big Sound 2015 roundup). It feels like there are a couple of major nits to pick with the HD800/S and most of the other TOTL gear you review, while you have complaints, most of the time it's stressed that they are minor.
Cheers.
+Nick Burklow Good fuckin' question...I might have to write a whole article about just that. Or not...but it's still a damned good question.
InnerFidelity Thanks, and I very much look forward to reading a response if you do a write up. I tend to value your opinions on headphones and so far it's lead me to purchase the NAD VISO HP50 and I love that headphone.
+Nick Burklow I am very interested in the "$500 or less" range in closed back headphones, and have been flirting with the NAD VISO HP50's. It's a toss up between them and the Shure SRH1540. Many find the Shure SRH1540's a little stale and too "reference" focussed, but I've never really found that an issue with headphones, as I like fidelity, not exaggeration. Have you heard the Shure's, and can you give me any input seeing as I've never heard the HP50's? Thanks a bunch
+Nick Burklow Other top of the line headphones have their own problems too. The Audeze can be too closed in, murky and laid-back for many. The soundstage of the hd800 is far superior, not to mention the comfort. If you want a top of the line headphone that works out of the box with virtually zero flaws look at HE-1000 or SR-009. Thing is though.... with mods I think the HD800 is equal to those and half the price. If not better in some aspects. But now I think the HD800S is the obvious choice for many. It really is stellar value when you look at what it's competing with.
+Nick Burklow Exactly. Did the same with the HE1000. He just EQed the troublesome stuff ("elevated treble", mids not "forward" enough) when it suited him. Didn't bother to do the same with other hp - i.e. AKG K812. Didn't mention doing any EQing in the video. Just outright dismissed them.
All I know is, I briefly listened to several heaphones at a HiFi shop with some other popular, albeit cheaper, headphones and while each of the cheaper ones were good you could instantly pick out each strength and weakness then I tried this headphone and honestly could not pick out a weakness.
Exceptional review, thanks a lot!
and here i am watching a video about a pair of headphones i probably will never buy and listening to the differences in sound that i might never notice.
ezzony i'm pretty sure that is a fact, audiophiles have a trained ear and have probably used a wide variety of gear to compare with, in my case my best experience with audio are my V-moda headphones, so even tho i do notice better sound than with others i have tried, it is still far away from being able to tell the HD 800 apart of something close to its range in price or quality. It's like testing sports cars when you used just common trucks haha
I did it too dude... then I finally bought the HD800s... must say as a bass head, I've wanted more, but that clarity is just amazing when listening to classical & vocal focussed music. :)
Michael Hutchinson if i had the HD 800 the only thing I'd miss is portability.
I honestly have no cash for headphones that expensive. No matter how amazing they are. Enjoy your music :) ✌
Can't wait to get my hand on the 800s that's going to complete my headphone collection.
lol 7 years old and still looks futuristic and simply mindblowing...althought i expect sennheiser to keep moving forward, they need a new design now..
I hope you’re doing well !!! Please comment.You are missed.
Best headphone is a stretch. One of the best, possibly.
I don't see how a little donut inside is extra $600 :/
Sam Yoo No. the sound does. I own both of them
Look up the price of replacement drivers and it will blow your mind. You can get a pair of 800 drivers for under $400. Some people have made their own DIY headphones with them.
@@k-lawn you have any link to that diy? or how u made them?
MadBorne I’m not sure on exactly how to do it. But you can get two 800 driver capsules shipped for $380. You would need to solder the plugs and insert the assembly into a frame. There were a couple of users on head-fi/Reddit that were able to accomplish it and create headphones that measured similarly to stock 800s.
@@k-lawn ohhh thanks. I tried to find those drivers but i cant find them. Send me if you got a link :3
The worlds best beaten by Focal? Or only in price?
Focal Utopia kills the 800s
@@vsingh8078 It better.
I laughed at 11:08. Expected, but unexpected.
I have a hard time understanding that anyone would want better headphones than the 800s, especially after using them with proper equipment, for me they are the end of the game.
thanks tyll for your videos.
Thanks for this super informative vid!
yeess been waiting for impressions on these even though i will never have the balls to save up for one :D
i got senheiser px100
for over 7 years now. and ive tried tons of headphones up to 400$
never found anything better..
Vadim Noir Because you didn't use good enough amp/dac idiot
congratulations on thirty thousand
+InnerFidelity - Tyll which amp or type of amp would you recommend for the HD800s?
schiit stack
Are you going to do review of that Sennheizer Orpheus successor headphones? Sennheiers HE1060.
wow... the company thought they could do a better job at modifying a problem, in a model of their own headphones... not by releasing a cheap and simple little fix for the existing pair... but forcing us to buy a whole brand new set of headphones and doubling the price doing nothing else but fixing the original problem!... WOW THANKS!...
Will there be a Hifiman He1000 vs Sennheiser HD 800 S video?
You can't just simply change a driver to
"add some extra 2nd harmonic distortion below 100hz"
We're talking fundamental redesign of the driver itself.. Which would inevitably change a host of other parameters aswell.
Still the best headphones!
LOL i love RUclips's closed captions. The text reads: "Hi, toilet and infidelity here today..." 😂
I think the HD 800 has enough bass. As a mixer, I think that adding audible? distortion is an awful way to do it. like what the hell. these are 1,7k headphones. these are not reference headphones for sure. honestly even if I wasn't a mixer I would not wanna have these.
just imagine if in a track you got a synth which is distorted in the bass... the 2nd harmonic's volume will be amplified a LOT and it can sound waaaay different. this is crazy.
to clarify, like if you already have a distorted sound, the 2nd harmonic will be already audible, but these headphones will boost it another 20db? my god!
I'm one of those people that loves the stock HD 800 sound. Just the idea alone of having second harmonic distortion in the bass feels like a cheap way to create the illusion of more bass. I want all frequencies to be clean and precise. Harmonic distortion just feels unacceptable to me in kilobuck headphones.
JTCPingas Same, idk why they did that.
hey how is the bass with the tube amp for hd800 because i am piss poor to spend another 700$ on headphones with slightly more bass like hd 800s?
Manuel Jenkin But it doesn't mean the stock 800 is good. It sounds like shit.
i rly would like to see a review of the hd700. what do you thing about it in comparison to hd600 and hd800?
Interesting, someone did some independent FEA on the original to figure out a damping solution; Sennheiser grabbed the ball and did a proper modal analysis. Why didn't Sennheiser do the proper modal analysis on the first model?
Then again, just saw the LCD 4 review; there may be another candidate for more in depth modelling.
Maybe this is a dumb question, but can eq can get same Highs that HD800 has?
Damn they are going to charge 600 more dollars just for adding a little donut?
Best headphones for mixing & mastering, used with Sonarworks calibration + Waves NX ?
Stax all the way!!
good to see that you got a nice mic :)
I wonder if they 5 times better than the Philips Fidelio X2?
its called the law of diminishing returns
a 10.000$ wine is not 100 better than a 100$ bottle of wine , just more refined
willy vlyminck 9500 is better
Something with these headphones bother me a lot: the headband says HD800, not HD800S.
Kammex The black color denotes the S model
But the headband says HD800, with its own serial number. Sennheiser couldn't etch an S onto it?
Exactly!
They don't make enough profit on this to make it worthwhile to etch the S on it Haha
I did try the HD 800 S but feel uneasy about buying an expensive product which has been subject to the technological sticking plaster of resonators, etc. The bass is still lacking in substance and still has piercing sibilance with certain tracks such a Lipgloss by Pulp.
Martyn Buy hd 800 and equalise it.
Hi , can you take some time to review the very popular Fostex TH-00 sold on Massdrop? Thanks
HI. I would like to ask you a question. Since this upgrade is similar to HD600 that goes into HD650, I wonder if HD800S aren't a bit less detailed then original one?
Wow. Tyll has a serious love hate relationship with the headphones. Every time he mentions the HD800, he trashes it for its brightness and its lack of good lows but praises its soundstage and yet Ive never heard him call this the worlds greatest hp until today.
Very informative video !!!!
Hallo
I really need some help, I'm a pro drummer and I got the Shure se535 couple of years ago, and I want to buy the JH Roxanne [custom] because I want something in that price point that can be used on a stage but in home for listening to. but now that I see that the HD 800S cost jast us mach I want to buy them and stay with the SE535 to stage use. the problem is that I dont have a super nice amp\DAC [MICCA ORIGEN]. is it a problem?
and after all this, is getting the Sennheiser HD 800 S instead of the JH roxane is a good choice?
thank you! you guys are awesome!
5:26-5:56 I didnt understand any of that but I appreciate it.
I use the HD700 and the sibilance is annoying at times also.
I have them too, and although it can be annoying, it is still a,great headphone.
Why don't headphone manufacturers develop covers to place over the open back headphones so that the user has the option to make their open back headphones into a closed back headphone for more bass if they so desire?
Because tuning starts at the driver - if you just box up a fully open headphone, it will sound like mud with way elevated midbass, while what you wanted is just to raise the sub-bass. If you open up a closed headphone, it will generally sound like junk too, very hollow. Drivers which at the first glance look the same and share the motor (voice coil + magnet + field guide) and membrane can still easily differ in density of felt on their back and size of back vent holes behind the membrane. Even for drivers which have seen use in a range of headphones - some described as 'closed' and other as 'open' - you will find that actually in both cases the enclosure is vented, so there's actually a fairly narrow range of tunings again, except this time they come with enclosure volume and vent type and vent cover material differences to make both work. Best you can do is slightly adjustable tuning without either being fully open or fully sealed, and one of the tunings will likely be significantly more compromised than the other, so why would you want the other?
Is the S harder to drive than the non S?
Someday I will buy the hd800, do the mod, and then re paint them to look like the hd800S ;)
Can you please do a review of Pioneer se-master1. I heard it is better than hd800s in every way. Besides I heard the utopia you have reviewed is already better than it. Thank you
Hello Tyll,
At this time i have got the akg k712, and i want to step up my headphone game.
at this point i consider the Focal elear, the mr. speakers ether and the hd 800/800S.
i have got a eq system. But i do not want to modify my headphones.
In this video you say that the hd800 with mod and eq is superior to the hd800S.
I wonder if it is still true without a mod. and overall witch headphone you enjoy the most.
Thank you very much.
Are these as clear as the 800? And how do the sound stage on these compare to the 800?
Gilgamesh_The_God 800s had smaller sounstage , little bit better bass and less treble , clarity very close , maybe 800 seems clearer because of treble peak
Wow, so much messing around for trying to curb that peak on the HD800 model. I just swapped the cable for an after-market cable and voila - huge improvement - just like buying new phones, like the HD800 S some might say. I can't speak for all aftermarket cables but the one I got from Moon Audio was a very good move. Don't chop up your headphones. And before you upgrade your phones, just try a good aftermarket cable first.
Have anyone encounter HD 800 s cable insulation pear off? i face with this problem the second times.
Suggestion for EQ to use on a modded 800? Suggested settings ???
I have about 20 RUclips music lists with thousands of songs I have loved over the last 57 years. Am I correct to assume that listening to HD on RUclips with the Sennheiser 800 is like using an atomic bomb to kill a rat? Or no? I don't want streaming online music, they don't have what I want, my lists on RUclips are way too extensive to move over even if there was a way. Your Opinion?
Hey Tyll! what about Abyss 1266 VS HD800S?
What about the Orpheus Tyll? Aren't those the best?
+VeryCoolAlan I personally liked the H90 + HEV90 better then the HD800 + HDVD800. I have not haired the HE1060 so i have no clue how it compares, but im looking foreword to listening to it.
One note on the Orpheus (HE90) vs HD800, it has more warms and is less analytical then the hd800. I would love to have a HE90 + HEV90 as my listening set up, but for work i would pick the beyerdynamic T1 or HD800 (i need to get me one now)...
Anyone use the ican se with this? Are there any better solid state amps for the hd800 from $300 to $500?
My HD-800 cans already have the Anaxilus Mod. If I install the SuperDupont Resonator do I need to remove the Anaxilus Mod or should they be used in conjunction? Thx.
+Arthur Ott You can use them both.
This might be a stupid question but does the hd800s out perform the focal elear? I understand that they are different, but I'm looking for people's opinion.
3 years late, but here is your answer :). I just tried both in a store, and I preferred the 800s, but I'm biased and like the Sennheiser sound. The focal clear's had much much punchier bass than the 800s, but in a good way. Personally not my thing, but they were comfortable as hell and I would be very happy with either one.
So which are the best headphones Stax SR900 The Focal Utopia or these?
Seems like it should be a silent revision "fix" as opposed to an actual upgrade
Why? They bulldozed over the spectacular bass clarity. That definitely needs its own model designation. I am generally of opinion that these silent revisions do not belong pretty much ever - people should know what they're getting. Even if the revision is purely an improvement - say i know of headphones where silent revision brought up the high end extension without changing anything else - why would you want an older and inferior product to be mixed in with the newer, so you can't ever be quite certain what you're buying?
Hello great review.
You say the HD 800s is one of the best headphones in the world. Are they better than the AKG K1000?
I would say it's not better, but sounds different. I didn't think I was going to like the 800s based on all these mixed reviews from people. But I was lucky enough to have a listening session and I immediately knew that HD650 had found a replacement. I stopped relying too much on reviewers preferences and to just our ears! I recommend people to have a listen where possible because everyone's ears are completely different therefore perceive sound differently. For me my end game has been HD800s and the Monoprice M1060, however my other half says nothing beats the HD650. My son & daughter prefer the X2.
Thanx for the information.
What do you think about hd800 and sonarworks reference?
Tyll, how do you think these things compare with LCD-3?
Can i send my HD800 to Sennheiser(Or somewhere) to get them modded to the HD800s ?
What I would like to know is whether or not the hd800s is as picky with amps as the hd800 and could this new version be "listenable" with under $1000 or even under $500 amp dac combos.
yh I heard about that. some people went top of the line amps and found the slightly lower end amp from the same company was better. I guess since all they did was kill the high Peak these will probably be like that. considering the sound signature is the same. a neutral almost dull sound
time for the focal elear and utopia.
Is it easier to drive the S than the old Hd800?
Plz review AKG 712 pro.
In love with my one,
It tears the fabric of reality and shows you the face of God,
On a serious note, it tends to have boundaries to it, soundstage where the HD 800 does not tend to, The HD 800 seems to go on forever LOL
But you will be spending quite a lot of your time searching for the source to make it sound good you will not have that problem with the S variant
And by good I mean A perfect matching sound source
A bargain at 1600 Euro ?? You must be from another planet😂
This is a pair of high-end headphones. When we speak of high-end headphones, along comes the price of a pair of high-end headphones. So as far as a pair of high-end headphones go, the price is relatively affordable and reasonable.
Depending on how much time you spend listening to sound through the platform of your choice and depending on how important music and sound is in your life, spending money on things that you either spend a lot of time doing or on something that is important, can very easily be justified.
Just as spending a lot of money on a good bed, because one spends so much time in ones life in it. It means it is well justified spending a lot of money on it. In fact you ought to be well encouraged to contemplate spending top dollar on a good bed and other things that you occupy your time with.
@@SuperSkandale There are headphones that are not as good that run $3000+
i want these
Which felt material do you recommend to do the mod
so.... they took the 700 driver popped it in the 800 took down the high end painted it black and done ?
Tom Hon Same driver as hd 800.Not hd 700.
THE CONQUERER I was joking :D
Which EQ Settings do you recommend fot this mod?
compared with de T1?