Sennheiser HD800S Review (Headphone)

[IAtaman]

I've had my HD800S for several weeks now and have been using Amir's EQ preset. I prefer it substantially over the Harmon/Oratory1990 presets. I saved all on my RME ADI2 DAC and A/B, noting that the Amir preset is much more to my liking.

It's Harman, not Harmon, like the company.
Amir also tunes to Harman target albeit by eye/ear.

 

[Pearljam5000]

Best headphones ever made
Yes I said it

 

[roskodan]

... after a hefty bass boost, yeah, yeah... and after the Focal Elear, Clear, Utopia in terms of transparency / dynamics... Although I could agree the og HD800 have the most beautiful sound among any dynamic driver headphone... as opposed to electrostats...

 

[Yviena]

Just wondering but how much power does the HD800S actually need, i heard that the headphone is like 600ohm at around 100hz, so I'm unsure if my TCA-HPA1 on low gain max 55mw power according to amir, is enough, high gain sounds almost too high at 9'o clock tho already....

 

[staticV3]

Just wondering but how much power does the HD800S actually need, i heard that the headphone is like 600ohm at around 100hz, so I'm unsure if my TCA-HPA1 on low gain max 55mw power according to amir, is enough, high gain sounds almost too high at 9'o clock tho already....

How much power the HD800S needs depends on the kind of content that you play, whether you apply EQ, and most importantly, your preferred listening volume.

If your TCA-HPA1 gets loud enough for you without obvious clipping, then it fully saturates your personal HD800S power requirements.
Replacing it with an even more powerful Amp will not achieve anything.

 

[IAtaman]

Just wondering but how much power does the HD800S actually need, i heard that the headphone is like 600ohm at around 100hz, so I'm unsure if my TCA-HPA1 on low gain max 55mw power according to amir, is enough, high gain sounds almost too high at 9'o clock tho already....

20mW would get you to 115dB SPL which is too loud. Even with a -8dB pre-amp to compensate for the bass boost, 55mW will be more than enough.

Headphones Power Calculator

Calculate the power needed to drive your headphone based on sensitivity (db/mw or db/V), impedance (ohms) and loudness (dbSPL)

www.headphonesty.com

 

[Yviena]

Ahhh nice so i can continue to use the low gain then, i would get better use out of the volume knob that way too.

 

[staticV3]

Ahhh nice so i can continue to use the low gain then, i would get better use out of the volume knob that way too.

Absolutely.