Is HD800S worth it over HD600 with 4.5x price difference?

[VintageFlanker]

Will most of your music listening time be in public, or in private?

I don't understand: Both are absolutely not suitable for being used with someone side by side.

 

[Jim Matthews]

I don't understand: Both are absolutely not suitable for being used with someone side by side.

My concern is about ambient noise masking the signal. It might be worth the extra do$h at home, but not on the subway or in an office.

 

[Jim Matthews]

private room. I currently have a closedback headphones and curious about openback which in many reviews seems suit me.

I'm considerably older and can't hear the finest details presented by the very best cans. When I bought my HD650, I thought them extravagant.

They are my solace when my family is home and I crave music.

I find that they need a proper amplifier, as most devices include headphone amplification as an afterthought.

*****

If you derive satisfaction from owning (and using) the best things, why not? They're still considerably less expensive (the HD800s) than middling quality loudspeakers and will provide you years of service.

 

[VintageFlanker]

My concern is about ambient noise masking the signal. It might be worth the extra do$h at home, but not on the subway or in an office.

Same: neither is suitable for the subway anyway...

 

[garbulky]

Btw I hate the idea of eq. But the two I listed are all analog. And yes it does make a noticeable difference. Also the 800s is simply not portable. Just forget doing that. It’s too big. Hard to drive. Etc

 

[cany89]

Btw I hate the idea of eq. But the two I listed are all analog. And yes it does make a noticeable difference. Also the 800s is simply not portable. Just forget doing that. It’s too big. Hard to drive. Etc

- HD 800 / 800 S without EQ? Waste of potential.
- HD 800 being hard to drive? Absolutely no. You just need a high power output rating at 300 Ohm.
(One thing to consider is you also need room for EQ. An amp that can drive these without EQ might struggle when you need +6 more gain due to EQ. FYI)

 

[garbulky]

- HD 800 / 800 S without EQ? Waste of potential.
- HD 800 being hard to drive? Absolutely no. You just need a high power output rating at 300 Ohm.
(One thing to consider is you also need room for EQ. An amp that can drive these without EQ might struggle when you need +6 more gain due to EQ. FYI)

I don’t know about you but I’ve only used two amps that could drive my other sennheiser well. When you throw in the substantial eq in bass i would reccomend a beefy amp. Sure you could drive it with a flea weight amp but would you? Not me.

 

[Dialectic]

Is the 4.5x price difference really worth the sound quality difference?

No.

 

[threni]

In my opinion it comes down to personal taste. I’ve owned the HD800S (twice) and yet I still end up back on the 600 series (currently the HD660S but also enjoy the 600 and 650). Certainly the HD800S is a great headphone that has a uniquely expansive soundstage, which many find appealing. Others though, find it unusual and even distracting, and may prefer headphones that present a more conventional, intimate image (like the 600 series). This is all very subjective of course, and I would advise trying the headphones yourself if at all possible.

I have the HD660S and I think they're great but I've read enough good things about the HD800S to convince me to see if I can try on a pair at some point. How unusual/distracting is it? Is it just that instruments are spaced out like the HD660S (which I think has great separation of instruments) only more so, or is there more than that. I use moOde with its 12 band parametric EQ with only peak filters which works wonders on the HD660S. I suppose you could rein in the spacialisation using crossfeed (although if the spacialisation is the only/main difference between the two headphones once you've EQed them then it's probably not worth the money).

 

[Pearljam5000]

Hell yes.
The HD800S are from a different planet, they make the HD600 sound like garbage, you would need to spend a ton of money to reach that level of sound from speakers, they are a bargain in the hi end world.

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

For regular people who just want a good pair of headphones. Get the HD6XX/Hd600 and move on.

You've just described me exactly.

 

[Zensō]

I have the HD660S and I think they're great but I've read enough good things about the HD800S to convince me to see if I can try on a pair at some point. How unusual/distracting is it? Is it just that instruments are spaced out like the HD660S (which I think has great separation of instruments) only more so, or is there more than that. I use moOde with its 12 band parametric EQ with only peak filters which works wonders on the HD660S. I suppose you could rein in the spacialisation using crossfeed (although if the spacialisation is the only/main difference between the two headphones once you've EQed them then it's probably not worth the money).

I think you just have to try them. Odds are that you’ll like them, like a majority of people seem to. If not, they hold their resale value pretty well.

 

[Dro]

If you want to EQ and it has to be Sennheiser, the HD800 should do better than the HD800S. You will need one more EQ band for the extra treble peak, but bass distortion is lower on the old HD800.

 

[ishmeister]

If you do plan to EQ the HD800, start with the Oratory1990 EQ then tweak the bands little by little until it hits your preferences. Also note that Oratory measured an HD800 with a very low serial number and the materials of the HD800 did change slightly in later models, resulting in possibly very slight sound changes - see here and here. Also unit to unit variation and ear differences, which is why it's important to tweak the EQ until it sounds good to you.

 

[Jimmy]

The HD600's frequency response out of the box, at least for me (headphones are a very personal thing) is more correct than the HD800S's one in a large part of the spectrum, and without EQ, to me they sound more natural.

Sure the HD800S has better technicalities and spatial qualities, and obviously can be EQed, but to be true, if I didn't have the HD800S I could perfectly live with the HD600 alone, well amped it's still a world class headphone, and the performance/price ratio is obviously higher.

If you have the money and will always be wondering what's the benchmark, or SOTA performance, you'll get more peace of mind with the HD800S, but as I said, the HD600 are a classic and can still fight side by side with 1000$+ headphones, and if their asking price were that, surely some people would regard them higher, such is the perception, but pricier isn't always better, it may be different but not necesarily better.

But anyway, I understand that the OP needs headphones that don't leak sound and bother surrounding people, so these won't fit such purpose, only closed backs will do.

Hell yes.
The HD800S are from a different planet, they make the HD600 sound like garbage, you would need to spend a ton of money to reach that level of sound from speakers, they are a bargain in the hi end world.

 

[_Dekker]

Hell yes.
The HD800S are from a different planet, they make the HD600 sound like garbage, you would need to spend a ton of money to reach that level of sound from speakers, they are a bargain in the hi end world.

Exactly, for the first part at least. I have the hd580 and hd800s. The 580 (with or without eq) just sounds dull and muffled compared to the 800s, I never listen to them anymore.
The 580, 5xx, 600, 650, 6xx, 660s are all very slight modifications witin the same theme IMO. I could hardly tell the difference between my 580 and the 660s for instance.
The 800s however is much bigger step to better sound.
Now to speakers: The spatial presentation of the 8040B Genelecs is another step above what the hd800 does, there is more of a 3D presence & depth. Detailing is about equal. Bass on the monitors is MUCH more enjoyable too, you feel more in stead of only hearing. Pricing was about equal.

 

[Dipypang]

Thanks for all the replies everybody here, appreciated a lot!

I think I'll just go with the HD600/Sundara, an upgrade from my current Sennheiser Momentum v.1 (2013).

Maybe anyone here have the momentum v.1 and HD600/Sundara? I'm really curious how their sound's difference... Will it be a very audible upgrade since the price for those 3 are almost the same...

 

[JohnYang1997]

Thanks for all the replies everybody here, appreciated a lot!

I think I'll just go with the HD600/Sundara, an upgrade from my current Sennheiser Momentum v.1 (2013).

Maybe anyone here have the momentum v.1 and HD600/Sundara? I'm really curious how their sound's difference... Will it be a very audible upgrade since the price for those 3 are almost the same...

Sundara is better all around to me. Better bass, more punchy bass, more neutral sounding. HD600 is a bit shouty to me and tamed on both ends.
HD600 has a smoother highs, frequency response is more continuous. So after eq hd600 may excel in mids and highs. But for some reason hd600 just sounds closed in and flat.

 

[Foulchet]

I personally want to buy the 800S in the future, so I skipped 600 series of bd bought the 560S which is close to heaven with tube amp so it made me save money (for now ^^).

 

[LTig]

I don’t know about you but I’ve only used two amps that could drive my other sennheiser well. When you throw in the substantial eq in bass i would reccomend a beefy amp. Sure you could drive it with a flea weight amp but would you? Not me.

THE HD800/s have 300 Ohm impedance and hence both do not need a beefy amp at all (one which can deliver a lot of current to drive really difficult low impedance low sensitivity head phones). They just need more voltage than a simple amp with low supply voltage (e.g. USB powered audio interfaces without DC converters) can deliver. A simple NE5532 opamp with its two amp stages in parallel could drive one channel with ease.