Sennheiser HD800S Review (Headphone)

[Tano]

This must be a joke. Dynamic driver just sucks VS Planar. Especially when you listen to very fast music like House and Trance and Electronica.

I beg to differ. It depends of your taste and the headphones. In my opinion, you cannot say that planars drivers are better than dynamics "per se".

 

[IAtaman]

This must be a joke. Dynamic driver just sucks VS Planar. Especially when you listen to very fast music like House and Trance and Electronica.

I am not sure what you mean by "fast music" exactly. I imagine one way in which House and Trance can be called "fast" is their higher Beats Per Minute in the 120-150bpm range, compared to say "slow" music like classical music? Vivaldi's Four Seasons reaches as high as 157bpm at times as well, but I digress. In any case, is "high tempo" what you mean by fast music? If yes, why would high BPM music would be harder to reproduce on a dynamic driver? Can it be maybe most of these beats in these genres are marked by sounds at 40-100Hz range which are actually relatively slow in the larger scale of audible range however are generally better produced by planars, and has nothing to do with the "fastness" of the music?

 

[srsxmi]

Anyone who has heard HD800s with proper hardware, and EQ knows that there are no better headphones on the market, why spend more money than necessary?

I agree that, for me, the HD-800s is a nice sounding HP. At the same time, I would not say that spending more $$$ will necessarily result in a worse experience. I have more expensive HPs that I prefer over my 800S, an Audeze flagship planar and their electrostatic, and a Stax SR-007 Mk2.

Similarly, spending fewer $$ does not necessarily lead to a worse experience either; for example, I prefer the "upstart" Sennheiser HD-560S (thanks @Robbo99999) over the 800s and of course I have the venerable HD-650's (actually HD-65X), which I still enjoy; both of which cost a fraction of the Audeze HPs, Stax and HD800s. So, I do not think that cost is the ultimate determinate of great sound, rather for me, I found that being able to EQ my headphone to my liking was as important to me.

That said, I would agree with @Tano, each person's perception is precisely that, their own, regardless of the price, technology, EQ, etc.

I beg to differ. It depends of your taste and the headphones. In my opinion, you cannot say that planars drivers are better than dynamics "per se".

 

[poimandres]

Nothing special:

Filter Type	Frequency (Hz)	Q	Gain (dB)
Low shelf	55	0.40	9.4
Peaking	196	0.83	-3.4
Peaking	5600	4.40	-3.5

Preamp: -7.7 dB

In roon, with good quality music mixes, I even disable 5600Hz filter.
But have it enabled when listening to podcasts or youtube, because of S, T and Zs.

Convolution filter, AFAIK is just a parametric EQ with more filters, so the correction is more fine-tuned and adheres to the target better.
You can make your own EQ or convolution here: https://autoeq.app/

But again, I think there is no need for 10 point EQ with HD 800s, let alone convolution filter. Just that anemic low end need a boost and that's it.

Ofc, there are no right or wrong answers here, just preference.

I am a little uncertain how the peq functions, is the preamp at -7.7 due to +9.4 and the -3.4 averaged across the q? Is the smaller the q the wider the range?

 

[Chagall]

I am a little uncertain how the peq functions, is the preamp at -7.7 due to +9.4 and the -3.4 averaged across the q? Is the smaller the q the wider the range?

It looks like this in Roon:

Yes, because of low Q values for the shelf, -7.7dB is enough for the signal not to clip. Lower the Q value broader the range.

However, I went back to using Oratory's HD800s EQ, but with a lower bass shelf 50Hz, 3dB, Q0.71 instead of 105Hz, 5.5dB, Q0.71

 

[Razif]

Sorry I am almost a total noob. Just ordered HD 800S today after like a week of researching headphones. As it seems it's comfortable and have good breathability (some of the reason I chose it)

As I have said I am new to eq.. so Amir's eq is -6DB for Preamp? And then only uses 5 band? I am using Equalizer APO with peace to EQ. Do I disable the other bands then? Thanks in advance for the answer.

Also, equalizer APO (with Peace) does not seem to allow something like -7.7 preamp...it's only in 0.5 jumps...like -7.5 or -8...sigh

Edit: Oh stupid me...it's under the settings that you can set it to be 0.1 or 0.01 from 0.5 . But yeah I still wonder is Amir's one -6dB preamp?

 

[Jimbob54]

Sorry I am almost a total noob. Just ordered HD 800S today after like a week of researching headphones. As it seems it's comfortable and have good breathability (some of the reason I chose it)

As I have said I am new to eq.. so Amir's eq is -6DB for Preamp? And then only uses 5 band? I am using Equalizer APO with peace to EQ. Do I disable the other bands then? Thanks in advance for the answer.

Also, equalizer APO does not seem to allow something like -7.7 preamp...it's only in 0.5 jumps...like -7.5 or -8...sigh

Yes disable the other bands.

There is a setting to allow finer control of the gain numbers too. Just don't ask me where!

 

[Razif]

Edited my post...Yes there it is in the settings and I found it. Ok got it, disable other bands. But what about preamp? it's -6dB preamp? If I want to follow Amir's EQ on the first page?

 

[Jimbob54]

Edited my post...Yes there it is in the settings and I found it. Ok got it, disable other bands. But what about preamp? it's -6dB preamp? If I want to follow Amir's EQ on the first page?

Depends on content. Peace has a clipping detector (does it also adjust preamp if clipping occurs, can't remember.)

I'd dial - 6db preamp in at first, play some bass heavy pop music and watch the levels /clipping indicator in Peace. Personally, if your player volume is maxed I think you could even need more than 10db of preamp for that 12db bass boost. If you listen to jazz/classical you might get away with less.

 

[Razif]

Thanks for the input.

However...Hmm...My question is simple. In the first page , if I want to follow amir's EQ 100% the same, does he use -6db preamp or not? (along with the 5 bands). Cause it's not clear to me if he use -6db in his EQ or not. Sorry if the question is kind of dumb or if it's too obvious...I just wanna make sure.

My HD 800S is still on delivery...I am using Sennheiser IE600 now. But just getting used to how to use equalizer software so when it comes I can equalize it.

 

[staticV3]

But what about preamp? it's -6dB preamp?

Amir's EQ preset for the HD800s requires -11.7dB of preamplification to ensure a clean signal without digital clipping:


It is BTW a rather rough approximation of the Harman target.

Here's the HD800s' frequency response with Amir's EQ preset applied, compared to the Harman target:


If you want a proper Harman EQ preset, better try this one:

Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

 

[Jimbob54]

Thanks for the input.

However...Hmm...My question is simple. In the first page , if I want to follow amir's EQ 100% the same, does he use -6db preamp or not? (along with the 5 bands). Cause it's not clear to me if he use -6db in his EQ or not. Sorry if the question is kind of dumb or if it's too obvious...I just wanna make sure.

He says to use - 6db but maybe need more.

What do you think the preamp value is for?

 

[Razif]

He says to use - 6db but maybe need more.

What do you think the preamp value is for?

Thanks StaticV3.

Also .."proper" ? ^^ .. does this mean in your opinion Amir's one is not proper? haha...I guess with EQing you need to play around huh...hmm.

so maybe even need -11.7 huh. I read somewhere something like more than 5 is already high (in soundguys review)

Jimbob54
Ok now I got it

to be honest, I am not really sure. I would guess like a global way to reduce or increase volume?

But I don't really listen that loud. My Amplifier is the default one that comes with Soundblaster AE-9 Soundcard, it has an ACM but the ACM is also a amplifier. It can drive up to 600Ohm it says :shrug:

 

[staticV3]

Thanks StaticV3

Jimbob54
Ok now I got it...hmm.. so maybe even need -11.7 huh.

to be honest, I am not really sure. I would guess like a global way to reduce or increase volume?

But I don't really listen that loud. My Amplifier is the one that comes with Soundblaster AE-9 Soundcard. It can drive up to 600Ohm it says.

Amir's preset boosts bass by 11.7dB, therefore you need to reduce the overall volume by 11.7dB.

This ensures that the digital signal level doesn't exceed 0dBFS amplitude.

If it did, the sound would hard clip.

This almost 12dB boost is excessive btw.

If you look at oratory's proper Harman preset, you can see that 7.5dB of bass boost are sufficient to reach Harman.

 

[Razif]

I am really new to eq and headphones stuff.

Ok Maybe I get it a little more now. But of course I don't fully understand it yet as I am new.

Ah, I see harman's in your dropbox picture is different than the one in "AutoEQ" from peace equalizer APO. In the auto EQ, It says HD 800 S oratory1990 over-ear (not the dekoni one), but it's different, even the pre-amp is -6.2.. and it uses Low Shelf Filter (Q as slope)

I guess I have to do it manually if I wanna use the one in your picture then. Just one question, in the picture if I wanna follow it, then it's "low shelf" only? without the "Q as slope"? also same for the High shelf? without Q as slope?

Also.. what is "BW" beside the "Q factor"? I cant find it in the equalizer software. Thanks for your patience guys.

 

[staticV3]

Also .."proper" ? ^^ .. does this mean in your opinion Amir's one is not proper?

HD800s EQed by Amir:


HD800s EQed by oratory1990:

so maybe even need -11.7 huh

Only if you want to replicate Amir's excessive bass boost.

I guess I have to do it manually if I wanna use the one in your picture then. Just one question, in the picture if I wanna follow it, then it's "low shelf" only?

Attached below is oratory's preset as .txt, which you can import into Equalizer APO.

Also.. what is "BW" beside the "Q factor"? I cant find it in the equalizer software.

Q and BW are the same values, but in different formats.

Some PEQ software uses BW, other software uses Q.

Equalizer APO uses Q. You can ignore the BW values.

Thanks for your patience guys.

BTW, I recommend you use the stock Equalizer APO GUI instead of Peace.

There, you can separate the Preamp and PEQ and turn just the EQ on and off.

That way, you can compare the sound between stock and EQed, without a change in volume.

In contrast, Peace's On/Off button turns both the EQ and the Preamp on and off.

If you try to compare stock vs EQed in Peace, then stock will always play louder than EQed, which is frustrating.

To do this in stock EQApo, delete the Preamp line from the .txt file, add a Preamp block in the Configuration Editor with the same value from the .txt, then below that add an "Include configuration file" block where you load that .txt without Preamp line.

Turn the "Include configuration file" block on/off to compare stock to EQed sound.

 

[Razif]

Wow thanks for the long write-up.

I try many times to understand how to do it with normal APO without peace, still can't do it. It's so complex, peace make it simpler.

I tried the EQ with sennheiser IE600 and listen to In da club. it seems to make it sound better. Just without EQ I use 20% volume and with EQ 35% volume, with peace.

Anyhow this EQ does have bass boost right? This oratory1990 for HD800S that you just gave me.

I still haven't got my HD800S so I am just playing around with my IE600 now . But the results seems pleasing even with IE600 for In Da Club by 50 cent.

Anyhow I will listen to a lot of gaming soundtrack kinda sounds, but I do like bass, and the game I play (mostly The Hell 3 Diablo 1 mod) Have some music with bass too. Maybe if I like bass I should not even get this Headphone in the first place huh? haha....but idk...it looks damn comfortable...sadly where I am located I cannot really test drive Headphones... Hopefully it will be comfortable for me (I read that it is for many2 people). Another factor is the breathability. From pictures I judge it has better breathability than most Headphones.

EDIT: So I use 21% vs 35% volume now. My ACM from SB AE-9 Shows volume in DB. So yeah my initial guess was almost very precise...haha...gonna listen to in da club again!

 

[Chagall]

Wow thanks for the long write-up.

I try many times to understand how to do it with normal APO without peace, still can't do it. It's so complex, peace make it simpler.

I tried the EQ with sennheiser IE600 and listen to In da club. it seems to make it sound better. Just without EQ I use 20% volume and with EQ 35% volume, with peace.

Anyhow this EQ does have bass boost right? This oratory1990 for HD800S that you just gave me.

I still haven't got my HD800S so I am just playing around with my IE600 now . But the results seems pleasing even with IE600 for In Da Club by 50 cent.

Anyhow I will listen to a lot of gaming soundtrack kinda sounds, but I do like bass, and the game I play (mostly The Hell 3 Diablo 1 mod) Have some music with bass too. Maybe if I like bass I should not even get this Headphone in the first place huh? haha....but idk...it looks damn comfortable...sadly where I am located I cannot really test drive Headphones... Hopefully it will be comfortable for me (I read that it is for many2 people). Another factor is the breathability. From pictures I judge it has better breathability than most Headphones.

Just don't go overboard with the bass shelf on HD800S. Oratory's EQ is already too high for my preference, but your preference may be different.

IE600 has a good amount of bass out of the box and doesn't need boosting if you get a perfect seal. On the other hand HD800S isn't exactly a basshead's headphone. It won't be able to reproduce the same IE600 bass, no matter the EQ. So, just be careful how much boosting you apply, distortion doesn't sound nice.

Anyhow, both are great headphones. Good choices.

 

[Robbo99999]

Wow thanks for the long write-up.

I try many times to understand how to do it with normal APO without peace, still can't do it. It's so complex, peace make it simpler.

I tried the EQ with sennheiser IE600 and listen to In da club. it seems to make it sound better. Just without EQ I use 20% volume and with EQ 35% volume, with peace.

Anyhow this EQ does have bass boost right? This oratory1990 for HD800S that you just gave me.

I still haven't got my HD800S so I am just playing around with my IE600 now . But the results seems pleasing even with IE600 for In Da Club by 50 cent.

Anyhow I will listen to a lot of gaming soundtrack kinda sounds, but I do like bass, and the game I play (mostly The Hell 3 Diablo 1 mod) Have some music with bass too. Maybe if I like bass I should not even get this Headphone in the first place huh? haha....but idk...it looks damn comfortable...sadly where I am located I cannot really test drive Headphones... Hopefully it will be comfortable for me (I read that it is for many2 people). Another factor is the breathability. From pictures I judge it has better breathability than most Headphones.

EDIT: So I use 21% vs 35% volume now. My ACM from SB AE-9 Shows volume in DB. So yeah my initial guess was almost very precise...haha...gonna listen to in da club again!

If you like bass then HD800s is not the best headphone to get, even with EQ. Seeing as you've already ordered it, then I suppose you may as well try it with EQ, and then I don't know if you can send it back or not if you don't think it's that great. Even a relatively inexpensive headphone like the Sennheiser HD560s does better bass after EQ than the HD800s, and the HD560s is one of my best headphones for bass. There's many headphones that do better bass than HD800s, but perhaps they won't be as good as HD800s in the other areas, so give the HD800s a try I guess when it arrives.

Re the Oratory EQ for the HD800s, he recently updated his EQ's for both HD800 & HD800s, and I think the latest update is a step down in sound quality, so if I was you I'd also try his older EQ of the HD800s which you'll find attached to this post:

 

[Razif]

@Chagall
Hey thanks for the compliments Chagall. To be honest I should not have gotten the IE600... sometimes it hurts my ear with it (in other words not comfortable) ,even tho it's regarded as a very comfy IEM by many (I remove and put it back quite often, as I often go AFK).... and I got ear infection before and maybe one of the reason is earbuds..but the one I was using before goes deeper into the ears (Klipsch). I used to use a cheaper gaming headphone from logitech before and it doesn't bother me one bit (idk the model but I doubt it is regarded as comfortable as the HD800S). So from that experience I know headphones generally will not cause me to feel uncomfortable. But I stopped using it as I believe it was the cause for my hairloss, and switched to back earbuds. Now after some time my hairloss on that part has not gotten better, and I suspect it is not because of the headsets after all, maybe some other factor.

So I wanna buy headphones again (instead of earbuds/iem). I don't wanna think too much about the hair issue anymore...maybe it's not even the headphones.. Too much of a sacrifice to not use headphones because of that.

@Robbo99999 and Chagall.

Thanks for the Older EQ...yeah -5.4 seems less intimitading for sure. I need to ask tho is the low shelf and high shelf without Q slope or with? I am guessing it's with slope since the one Static give is with Q slope.

On the bass subject.
Tbh I don't even know if I am a basshead or not (partly because I am new to these things?). Maybe I just like a little bass here and there? What I notice tho is with the bass, I can feel the "vibration", and I seem to like this feeling somehow (maybe placebo effect of being brainwash by videos of speakers vibrating a lot in night clubs/good speaker setup videos...idk). it seems I can hear the vibration even on IE600, which is much smaller than headphones.

But to be really honest...my main concern is comfort and breathability. Also I haven't experience a 'good' soundstage, maybe to add, a 3rd thing I want is good soundstage after all. The bass is just like a 'bonus', perhaps .

Maybe I like treble/mids more too, who knows?. I am not very familiar with these things anyway. I regard the "constant beat" in the song In da club by 50 cent as "bass", but most likely it is..since it's a hip hop song. Also, I will be mostly gaming with it, and I doubt the games I Play (just two games, a Diablo 1 mod, and Diablo 3) have a lot of bass in the music. Other times I just watch game tournaments (mostly warcraft 3) in youtube etc.

You guys are very helpful. I thank you so much.

I apologize for the wall of text.