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Sennheiser 800 HD still the best neutral openback for $1000 used?

Nabooh

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would be the valid choice then for the op since the hd800 is way cheaper if I remember correctly
It is, I had both, and with EQ and/or the SDR mod, it's hard to recommand the 800s over the 800, when the price difference is this large.

I got an HD800 for 550e on Ebay, got the SDR mod, disassembled and painted the HD800 black, and now I'm happy with it :)
 

MadMan

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I am a happy used HD800 owner as well. EQ the 6k peak at the very least, then bass to taste.

One this to note when looking at FR graphs is everything is relative. The 'peaky' treble is partly due to the dip from ~1k to 3k (note that this dip may enhance perceived soundstage too) which accentuates treble because there is then a very fast rise into the lower treble. I decided to do something I've not seen other people mention and EQ this slightly, and it makes upper mids more present, while also decreasing the perceived treble peakiness (aside from the actual 6k peak).
 

Robbo99999

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Is that your headphone that Oratory measured? Are they good? (Did he show you distortion & other measurements?) Looks like a nice frequency response to EQ - smooth & not many irregularities combined with good natural bass extension. Doesn't look like angled pads or drivers, or are they? (Thinking soundstage related on this last point).
 

Phoney

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Depressing guys is there any pair of cans($1000) that have a massive sound stage that are neutral again i got my 712 pro's over them being rated as having a decent sound stage but i feel like it's still too much like a center speaker inside your head

I should probably have more realistic goals as i love surround sound so much that going away from that just sucks in comparison to me. Was playing GTA5 last night and just stopped for a second just to hear the surrounds.

Reason why i also like headphones is over them not caring about your room lol in terms of acoustic panels i really like that part.
Arya if you can get them. I have Arya v2, one of the very best soundstages and fairly neutral. A little bright, but really not much, and easy to EQ to your liking with small adjustments. Not the most bass heavy, but that's normal for open backs. Very hard to get both a huge soundstage and powerful bass just out of the box. I use just a 3 db low shelf filter on the bass, which gives me a pretty powerful and textured bass already without any distortion. Stealth version may have slightly more bass but slightly less soundstage from what I've heard.

Here's the response for v1, which should be pretty much the same as v2:

ae732c4e57bffee93e66e897c97a6a55.png
 

odyo

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The HD800 is a good headphone but it's over-hyped and over-priced. It's not neutral; it attenuates the bass, exaggerates the treble. It does have great soundstage though, perhaps the best. Two other headphones I'd pick over the HD800: the HD600/650 for neutral mids that don't need EQ, or the Audeze LCD-2F (fazor) if you want great bass. They're less expensive too.
I talked to some people who own multiple $4k+ headphones and general consensus is that the HD800 is the best price/perf in high end audio.
Even according to Crin who probably heard more headphone than any human in the universe, ranks HD800 as S tier in technical performance just behind the Stax 007 and 009 and in front of lots of expensive headphones.
HD600/650? I'd rather leave the hobby.
 

csxx520

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Arya if you can get them. I have Arya v2, one of the very best soundstages and fairly neutral. A little bright, but really not much, and easy to EQ to your liking with small adjustments. Not the most bass heavy, but that's normal for open backs. Very hard to get both a huge soundstage and powerful bass just out of the box. I use just a 3 db low shelf filter on the bass, which gives me a pretty powerful and textured bass already without any distortion. Stealth version may have slightly more bass but slightly less soundstage from what I've heard.

Here's the response for v1, which should be pretty much the same as v2:

ae732c4e57bffee93e66e897c97a6a55.png
I actually like the brightness (or spaciousness/airness?) of Arya V2. I even use a high shelf filter on my HE6SE.
But I only plan to keep Arya for less than one year because poor quality control. I have sent back my Arya twice/HE6SE once for replacement.:mad:
 

Phoney

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I actually like the brightness (or spaciousness/airness?) of Arya V2. I even use a high shelf filter on my HE6SE.
But I only plan to keep Arya for less than one year because poor quality control. I have sent back my Arya twice/HE6SE once for replacement.:mad:
I'm fairly sensitive to high frequencies, but yes, the brightness makes the soundstage even better. And it's not that bright either, it's not HD800 levels of brightness. Just slightly above harman curve.
 

tomchris

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Sennheiser HD800S is actually a misnomer. The more accurate designation is Sennheiser HD800$ ;)

The HD800(s) are not what I would call the >most< neutral headphones, but when it comes to attractive packaged headphones creating a large, immersive soundstage with the use of angled drivers, the Sennheiser HD800 headphones are hard to beat.

The previous flagships, i.e. HD580/HD600/HD650 have held their own since 1994 and are perceived as more neutral, but you will be giving up some of the soundstage. The HD800 was released in 2009 and HD800S in 2016.

The release cycle used to be around 6-7 years between their flagship headphones. However, Sennheiser sold its consumer audio business to Sonova in 2021. Sonova just completed their acquisition this march 2022 and will be operating under the Sennheiser brand umbrella. It has been stated that Sonova will cater to the audiophile segment. What the future will be is anybody's guess, but I do not think we will be seeing a new flagship taking over the HD800-series anytime soon...unfortunately.
 
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Carlo2AC

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Theres a mod to change the hd 800 into the hd 800 s right?
If you are gonna use them on your machine or in somewhere where you have the option to EQ, EQ them instead of modding them..


Aren't Dan Clark's better in terms of neutrality and transparency?
What do you define by "transparency"? they are quite nice planars that adhere to the curve pretty well, especially the Noire and Stealth


Sennheiser HD800S is actually a misnomer. The more accurate designation is Sennheiser HD800$ ;)

The HD800(s) are not what I would call the >most< neutral headphones, but when it comes to attractive packaged headphones creating a large, immersive soundstage with the use of angled drivers, the Sennheiser HD800 headphones are hard to beat.

The previous flagships, i.e. HD580/HD600/HD650 have held their own since 1994 and are perceived as more neutral, but you will be giving up some of the soundstage. The HD800 was released in 2009 and HD800S in 2016.

The release cycle used to be around 6-7 years between their flagship headphones. However, Sennheiser sold its consumer audio business to Sonova in 2021. Sonova just completed their acquisition this march 2022 and will be operating under the Sennheiser brand umbrella. It has been stated that Sonova will cater to the audiophile segment. What the future will be is anybody's guess, but I do not think we will be seeing a new flagship taking over the HD800-series anytime soon...unfortunately.
Unfortunately most of the engineering team involved left Sennheiser, even Axel Grell left
I was not expecting anything more from Sennheiser but they seem to have come out with something nice recently, the IE600.. but thats a IEM
 

odyo

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If you are gonna use them on your machine or in somewhere where you have the option to EQ, EQ them instead of modding them..



What do you define by "transparency"? they are quite nice planars that adhere to the curve pretty well, especially the Noire and Stealth



Unfortunately most of the engineering team involved left Sennheiser, even Axel Grell left
I was not expecting anything more from Sennheiser but they seem to have come out with something nice recently, the IE600.. but thats a IEM
Seems like they are no longer interested in research and development. I hope they don't do snake oil stuff and eat away the Sennheiser reputation.
 

xaviescacs

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What do you define by "transparency"? they are quite nice planars that adhere to the curve pretty well, especially the Noire and Stealth
By neutrality I meant flat frequency response and by transparency low distortion. :) The Stealth are quite good indeed, out of my budget if I don't win the lotery. I meant that I have the impression, as others have pointed out, that the HD800 are not precisely an example of neutrality, and that Dan Clark's are better in that regard.
 

sprellemannen

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Also it's been amazingly comfortable to wear, so I've been using HD800 for all my Zoom sessions for work
The HD8xx series (HD800, HD800S, HD820) are to my knowledge the kings of comfort. I never got any sign of discomfort in wearing them (HD800 and HD820). For me, comfort is extremely important when it comes to headphones.
 

Carlo2AC

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By neutrality I meant flat frequency response

I did not mention neutrality in my post, but no headphones mentioned are true neutral, DanClark's adhere more to Harman 2018's and meanwhile the HD800 adhere more to hurt your ear with the sudden peak and bass drop off.. all of them can be "fixed" / changed with equalization

And on transparency, all mentioned are in the range of inaudibility in regards to distortion (unless you count 2nd harmonic)
 

ClosDeLaRoche

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I decided on the MrSpeakers Ether Flow 1.1 as my end-game headphone. I gotta have that ultra-low distortion bass. They are reasonably flat, I only need to tweak a couple db here-and-there to get the sound I like. I picked up a used pair for $660 although I got lucky with that price.

They are worth consideration if you want a planar.
 
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