Sennheiser HD800S Review (Headphone)

[mkawa]

their business model is for consumers to float them short term loans for a few percent off of products that they won't deliver for months. they continuously stock some products that are loss leaders or they have had enough runs of to make a small profit. example is the hd6xx that is one of their main revenue sources now.

their sell to manufacturers allow them to break map on slightly renamed product like the 6xx, he4xx etc is that the site isn't generally viewable without an account and that the product names are different, that said, they don't buy for that much less than the average high volume retailer, they just break map and buy in higher volume (for stocked products).

they are also living off of venture capital, which allows them to take on loss leaders

they spend a ton of that on things that are useless at the moment though, like office leasing and nepotism.

 

[Jimbob54]

their business model is for consumers to float them short term loans for a few percent off of products that they won't deliver for months. they continuously stock some products that are loss leaders or they have had enough runs of to make a small profit. example is the hd6xx that is one of their main revenue sources now.

their sell to manufacturers allow them to break map on slightly renamed product like the 6xx, he4xx etc is that the site isn't generally viewable without an account and that the product names are different, that said, they don't buy for that much less than the average high volume retailer, they just break map and buy in higher volume (for stocked products).

they are also living off of venture capital, which allows them to take on loss leaders

they spend a ton of that on things that are useless at the moment though, like office leasing and nepotism.

Not a fan then?

 

[mkawa]

don't get me wrong, if the price is right and the product is right there, ready to ship, i'm happy to buy. my focal elex came from them; they're just a retailer. however, i am not a fan of their business model, which largely does not involve stocking product, and is predatory. i imagine that if i personally had more retail contacts at other small to medium size businesses i would not be a fan of those companies either (although i've been lucky to have had great experiences at many retailers their size..).

 

[edahl]

I ordered a new Sennheiser pair for $1260+vat on Sunday. It'll be interesting to see whether it makes sense to cancel it and get the Drop instead. Same build quality, the price is better and it's slightly retuned, say. Bass elevation and tighter tuning from 1-5 kHz as a pre-EQ wishlist. I am intrigued for sure.

 

[Jimbob54]

I ordered a new Sennheiser pair for $1260+vat on Sunday. It'll be interesting to see whether it makes sense to cancel it and get the Drop instead. Same build quality, the price is better and it's slightly retuned, say. Bass elevation and tighter tuning from 1-5 kHz as a pre-EQ wishlist. I am intrigued for sure.

If you want them this side of Christmas, I'd stick with the order

 

[edahl]

If you want them this side of Christmas, I'd stick with the order

I've only ever ordered a K7XX from there and it shipped then and there, so I understand there's an aspect of Drop I've been spared from. Will I be able to tell from the "drop" when it ships or is it anyone's guess?

 

[maverickronin]

I've only ever ordered a K7XX from there and it shipped then and there, so I understand there's an aspect of Drop I've been spared from. Will I be able to tell from the "drop" when it ships or is it anyone's guess?

They sometimes keep stock of their more popular items. It will say in the listing whether it will ship right away or if you need to wait for them to order from the manufacturer afterwards.

"Off the shelf" products usually close the estimate in the listing. The first run of any of their custom products tend to be delayed though.

 

[edahl]

I ordered a new Sennheiser pair for $1260+vat on Sunday. It'll be interesting to see whether it makes sense to cancel it and get the Drop instead. Same build quality, the price is better and it's slightly retuned, say. Bass elevation and tighter tuning from 1-5 kHz as a pre-EQ wishlist. I am intrigued for sure.

Self-quoting here, but I gotta say their announcement fit my wish list pretty well.

 

[roskodan]

Live stream in a few hours, already posted some very specific details about the changes they made in the DROP + Sennheiser HD 8XX

Will
Chief Product Officer
Feb 18, 2021
Hey Friends,

Tomorrow morning at 9am PST, we are releasing the DROP + Sennheiser HD 8XX.

This headphone is the result of hundreds of thousands of community posts and four years of collaboration between the teams at DROP and Sennheiser.

Analyzing discussions around the HD 800S, we saw clear mandates from the community around bass extension and midrange balance. The HD 8XX incorporates two novel changes to accommodate those mandates.

Where the HD 800S uses a single resonator, Sennheiser developed a dual resonator system for the HD 8XX, creating bass extension down to 10hz (+5db @ 10hz vs 800 S) by changing the resonant properties of the housing.

Sennheiser’s team, lead by Jermo Koehnke, reached the bass solution pretty quickly, but our goals for the midrange proved demanding... bordering impossible. After significant research, Sennheiser reached a solution; altered acoustic impedance in the transducer's dampening material to smooth the FR from 2.5k to 8k.

This means the transducer in the HD 8XX is unique, it’s a new ring driver.

The HD8XX goes live tomorrow at 9am PST with 3000 units available, shipping in November. These 3000 units represent the full production we anticipate for 2021. We’ll make more available if the capacity increases, but this launch is the only guaranteed HD 8XX availability until 2022.

Launch pricing for the HD 8XX is $1100 and you’ll receive $200 worth of drop points (20,000 points) with purchase.

For future units, HD 8XX pricing will increase to $1200+.

So come by tomorrow morning at 9am PST, pickup your HD8XX, use your drop points to buy a DROP + THX 789 for $99 and enjoy the endgame this November.

https://drop.com/buy/drop-sennheiser-hd-8xx-headphones
^ this is the direct link for 9am tomorrow, thanks for your support

 

[edahl]

Live stream in a few hours, already posted some very specific details about the changes they made for the DROP + Sennheiser HD 8XX

Where's the stream?

 

[roskodan]

EDIT: no stream after all
Or maybe it's tomorrow? Not sure, but follow the link, should be posted there, I guess later on their facebook page too. (it says February 18 at 9 a.m. PST)

 

[Jimbob54]

Or maybe it's tomorrow? Not sure, but follow the link, should be posted there, I guess later on their facebook page too. (it says February 18 at 9 a.m. PST)

Its today, around now . $1100 with $200 drop points back. Rising to $1200 on full release .

I have the HD800, I will pass.

 

[roskodan]

Not really a drop in price imo. I'm pretty sure street price for the HD800S is about the same at worst, even lower for any remaining HD800. Only upside I can see about these is perhaps folks not willing to use EQ may be getting a less sterile tuning out of the box. Plus the Drop points, I guess not bad after all, if that's a plus for some.

EDIT: measurements do not look too promising in that regard either, IMO (and ETA Nov 25, 2021 )

 

[Robbo99999]

Its today, around now . $1100 with $200 drop points back. Rising to $1200 on full release .

I have the HD800, I will pass.

Not really a drop in price imo. I'm pretty sure street price for the HD800S is about the same at worst, even lower for any remaining HD800. Only upside I can see about these is perhaps folks not willing to use EQ may be getting a less sterile tuning out of the box. Plus the Drop points, I guess not bad after all, if that's a plus for some.

EDIT: measurements do not look too promising in that regard either, IMO (and ETA Nov 25, 2021 )
View attachment 113370

I'd say this new Drop release of the HD 8XX is more enticing than the original HD800s. The bass is around 4-5dB better extended around 10 to 20Hz whilst at the same time having lower distortion in the bass - that's good news for folks looking to boost the bass of the HD 8XX to Harman levels, and by a quick judgement of the graphs it looks like you'd be able to apply a Harman Bass Boost all the way down to 20Hz with only a 6.5dB Low Shelf Boost. That's pretty attractive because +6.5dB is not really gonna increase distortion that much and distortion is measurably low in the bass of the HD 8XX according to the graphs.....so looks like you can get great imaging/soundstage (classic HD800s territory) and clear deep bass at the same time. Plus it's cheaper than the HD800s, and also not mentioning the $200 of Drop points you get back. Distortion of the HD 8XX is worse north of 1kHz, but it's still in very low territory, so that's not really a drawback I don't think. I think this is a good launch from Drop, but too expensive for me, and I'm still happy with my EQ'd K702 so I'm not gonna be buying it.

 

[roskodan]

Got BNIB HD800 for $850 in 2015. Now in 2021 had to pay $1000 for another pair of BNIB HD800. I use the same low shelf Amirm suggests for the HD800S, and bump that to 12dB and 9dB for 40 and 75 Hz respectively when listening to EDM, Rap, movies and such. Blasting the heck out of them, gives the illusion there is a sub in the room, with no perceived distortion. HD800 had also less measured distortion in the bass vs HD800S.

On the other hand, Sennheiser is selling its consumer business, so HD800S prices may actually start rising if stock starts decreasing. Like with the HD800.

 

[Hifihedgehog]

Hmm...

More subbass is a welcome highlight. The HD8XX’s upper treble looks to be properly filled in as well, especially at 9KHz where there is currently a severe dip. The increase in presence and lower treble at 2.5 to 4.5KHz should help too. But that dip at 1 to 2 KHz, when it is already lacking presence there, may take things just too far. That is an area where the human ear is especially sensitive, it being the upper midrange after all. Seeing that flaw, $1100 is a hard pill to swallow unless I could hear it first.

 

[phoenixsong]

Hmm...

View attachment 113673

More subbass is a welcome highlight. The HD8XX’s upper treble looks to be properly filled in as well, especially at 9KHz where there is currently a severe dip. The increase in presence and lower treble at 2.5 to 4.5KHz should help too. But that dip at 1 to 2 KHz, when it is already lacking presence there, may take things just too far. That is an area where the human ear is especially sensitive, it being the upper midrange after all. Seeing that flaw, $1100 is a hard pill to swallow unless I could hear it first.

Same, I liked the changes except for the even more pronounced dip (especially relative to the new treble amplitude). Wondering how it would translate to listening

 

[HereYaGo]

If you wanna stop playing games and ruin your headphone hobby just get the dt990 and use 'em for a few months until the treble smooths out. If you wanna waste your life and money for subtle modifications to severely overpriced flawed enthusiast headphones then keep on keepin' on. DT990 measure better than any headphone on market including hd800s. So if y'all wanna keep looking at graphs maybe you should look at the smoothest best graph on the market more often. aka dt990 burned in, lolz.

 

[phoenixsong]

If you wanna stop playing games and ruin your headphone hobby just get the dt990 and use 'em for a few months until the treble smooths out. If you wanna waste your life and money for subtle modifications to severely overpriced flawed enthusiast headphones then keep on keepin' on. DT990 measure better than any headphone on market including hd800s. So if y'all wanna keep looking at graphs maybe you should look at the smoothest best graph on the market more often. aka dt990 burned in, lolz.

View attachment 113676

Oh, did I miss something? This is the first I'm hearing of it

 

[Hifihedgehog]

If you wanna stop playing games and ruin your headphone hobby just get the dt990 and use 'em for a few months until the treble smooths out. If you wanna waste your life and money for subtle modifications to severely overpriced flawed enthusiast headphones then keep on keepin' on. DT990 measure better than any headphone on market including hd800s. So if y'all wanna keep looking at graphs maybe you should look at the smoothest best graph on the market more often. aka dt990 burned in, lolz.

View attachment 113676

I respectfully disagree. As a “treblehead,” while my ears can handle the DT 990’s treble spikes, they are most definitely there and are just as exaggerated as Amir’s graph would lead you to conclude they are:

We have some serious issues here.

Yes, it has serious issues, but, as a treblehead, I would prefer hearing spikes (or something more) than hearing omissions (or something less)—just not quite so erratically and harshly. The Pros are pretty nasty especially with most mainstream recorded music which is why Amir is spot on to call the ragged treble issue very serious. The 600 ohm Premiums, which I owned a year or two after my misadventures with the hissy 250 ohm Pros, “seemed” a bit smoother and more refined but were still characteristically hot and far more off from neutral compared to the HD 800 family. But whatever floats your boat. Beyers are still treble phasers, and to those who dare endure them, they leave a mark forever etched in your soul.