Sennheiser HD800S Review (Headphone)

[Mad_Economist]

@oratory1990 , @Mad_Economist, @amirm what is your favorite headphone with and without EQ and why? Solerdude already chimed in..

For me, both with and without EQ, it's the HD800/HD800S. It is an imperfect headphone to be sure - its leakage tolerance is inferior to ex. most higher-end Hifimans, its headband can cause a hot spot at the very top of the head for pointy-headed folks, etc - but it is a headphone that is:

• Highly ergonomic to most users
• Acoustically very open
• Tuned in a way I personally find pretty lovely at stock
• Not 400+g like a lot of "flagships" are these days
• Surprisingly durable, you may have seen a gif of me throwing mine over my shoulder without any harm

With equalization, it's excellent due to its low unit variation, low acoustic Z, and generally high consistency. @solderdude is correct about Konstantin's favourite with EQ (HD800/S gang!), but his favourite without was the Oppo PM3 I believe.

For what it's worth, re: soundstage, I personally don't perceive much "spaciousness" to any headphone, including the HD800. The sound is within my noggin, and the size of that acoustic space seems to me to be Small. Anecdotally, about half the "unprimed" people I've put HD800s on commented on them sounding "large" or similar descriptors, which might exceed chance, but I'd want to do a real study before attributing that to acoustics rather than the generally downward-tilting midrange (which is similar to a further-field steady state response) and large earcups which don't touch the pinnae.

 

[Oldson]

very close to taking a punt on a used HD800s that i have my eye on.
would be interested in any opinions of those who have compared to any of the HE1000 variants?
since their price dropped they are now in the same ball park finance wise.
nearest thing i have is edition xs.

just bought the HD800s

 

[Mauro]

For me, both with and without EQ, it's the HD800/HD800S. It is an imperfect headphone to be sure - its leakage tolerance is inferior to ex. most higher-end Hifimans, its headband can cause a hot spot at the very top of the head for pointy-headed folks, etc - but it is a headphone that is:

• Highly ergonomic to most users
• Acoustically very open
• Tuned in a way I personally find pretty lovely at stock
• Not 400+g like a lot of "flagships" are these days
• Surprisingly durable, you may have seen a gif of me throwing mine over my shoulder without any harm

With equalization, it's excellent due to its low unit variation, low acoustic Z, and generally high consistency. @solderdude is correct about Konstantin's favourite with EQ (HD800/S gang!), but his favourite without was the Oppo PM3 I believe.

For what it's worth, re: soundstage, I personally don't perceive much "spaciousness" to any headphone, including the HD800. The sound is within my noggin, and the size of that acoustic space seems to me to be Small. Anecdotally, about half the "unprimed" people I've put HD800s on commented on them sounding "large" or similar descriptors, which might exceed chance, but I'd want to do a real study before attributing that to acoustics rather than the generally downward-tilting midrange (which is similar to a further-field steady state response) and large earcups which don't touch the pinnae.

Thanks for sharing!
I read a post where Listener mentioned the thesis of soundstage being influenced by contact between ears and earcups.
I have very small ears and with most over ear headphones they don’t touch the earcup so I am not inclined to think it is the main reason. Besides, i can hear the same effect with open back in ears (philips fidelio s2 compared for example to truthear red zero)

 

[DEF]

Thanks for sharing!
I read a post where Listener mentioned the thesis of soundstage being influenced by contact between ears and earcups.
I have very small ears and with most over ear headphones they don’t touch the earcup so I am not inclined to think it is the main reason. Besides, i can hear the same effect with open back in ears (philips fidelio s2 compared for example to truthear red zero)

I have very large ears and I am super sensible to sound

 

[Robbo99999]

just bought the HD800s

Interesting, be good to hear what you think to it. Obviously it's gonna sound very different to many other headphones when used at stock due to frequency response, but it's interesting when people know what their EQ preferences are and then apply that to the HD800s and other headphones for comparison. I've got the HD800 - it's pretty good for me with EQ, but like I read somewhere else recently "it's just another headphone" so I don't think people should expect miracles with soundstage for example or even general sound quality/enjoyment. I think headphones are about choosing a comfortable well fitting model for yourself & then about getting the EQ right for them, but I don't think there's major wow factors associated with certain headphones that different people are going to automatically experience when they try them, assuming they're already sucessfully EQ'ing their existing headphones. But if you get a low unit to unit variation headphone, then it should make EQ'ing them better a more likely result.

(It's hard to ignore the "honeymoon effect" of a new headphone, but the headphones you keep coming back to along with their associated EQ's is what I think allows you to realise how good they are for you.)

 

[patoulol]

Hello I'm lost, I've read a lot of contradictory information about the output impedance of the headphone amp needed for the HD800S

I'm an objectivist so I don't believe in the high price.

I have a Scarlett Solo 4th Gen which is very practical

the output impedance of the Scarlett Solo 4th Gen is 50 ohms, HD 800 S: 300 ohms,

For optimal performance, the rule of thumb is that the output impedance of the amplifier should be at least 8 to 10 times lower than the nominal impedance of the headphones.


What do you think??

 

[solderdude]

No problem at all, even 120ohm output R is no problem at all.

As you can see the impact of 120ohm versus 0ohm is negligible.
The rule of thumb is not a rule that is applicable for this headphone, it can be for some low impedance headphones.
The purple trace is 32ohm (so 1:10) and as can be seen has no impact on the sound.

I would be more worried about the max. output voltage (2,5V = 113dB peak SPL ≈ average SPL which is much lower) and clipping issues when playing at louder volumes. You do not need to worry about output impedance with the HD800(S)

 

[patoulol]

No problem at all, even 120ohm output R is no problem at all.

As you can see the impact of 120ohm versus 0ohm is negligible.
The rule of thumb is not a rule that is applicable for this headphone, it can be for some low impedance headphones.
The purple trace is 32ohm (so 1:10) and as can be seen has no impact on the sound.

I would be more worried about the max. output voltage (2,5V = 113dB peak SPL ≈ average SPL which is much lower) and clipping issues when playing at louder volumes. You do not need to worry about output impedance with the HD800(S)

Thank you for this message, because I have made a lot of YouTube videos on this subject and I have NEVER understood anything haha

and if I buy a second headphone, a Hifimann Stealth Magnet, it will also fit on my Scarlett?

 

[solderdude]

hifiman are all linear in impedance so regardless of the source impedance the tonal balance will not change but because of the generally low impedance of those planars the max output will be severly limited due to voltage division.
How loud it will play also depends on the sensitivity (dBV). This is not the same as efficiency which is expressed in dBmW and must be used together with the impedance.

 

[patoulol]

I would be more worried about the max. output voltage (2,5V = 113dB peak SPL ≈ average SPL which is much lower) and clipping issues when playing at louder volumes. You do not need to worry about output impedance with the HD800(S)

ah I have to worry about it so, according to you it's a problem?

 

[Jimbob54]

No problem at all, even 120ohm output R is no problem at all.

As you can see the impact of 120ohm versus 0ohm is negligible.
The rule of thumb is not a rule that is applicable for this headphone, it can be for some low impedance headphones.
The purple trace is 32ohm (so 1:10) and as can be seen has no impact on the sound.

I would be more worried about the max. output voltage (2,5V = 113dB peak SPL ≈ average SPL which is much lower) and clipping issues when playing at louder volumes. You do not need to worry about output impedance with the HD800(S)

Figured you'd be onto this SD . Thumbs up

 

[solderdude]

ah I have to worry about it so, according to you it's a problem?

Not if you don't need to play very loud and/or EQ the bass up to Harman levels.
2.5V will get the HD800(S) pretty loud.

In 32 ohm you can reach 1V

 

[patoulol]

Not if you don't need to play very loud and/or EQ the bass up to Harman levels.
2.5V will get the HD800(S) pretty loud.

In 32 ohm you can reach 1V

I use a Harmann curve

 

[solderdude]

I use a Harmann curve

That'll 'eat' about 7dB headroom when subbass is present and about 4dB for bass notes... Still good enough for active listening levels to even comfortable loud levels.

 

[patoulol]

That'll 'eat' about 7dB headroom when subbass is present and about 4dB for bass notes... Still good enough for active listening levels to even comfortable loud levels.

Thank you very much for your answers

 

[A Surfer]

That'll 'eat' about 7dB headroom when subbass is present and about 4dB for bass notes... Still good enough for active listening levels to even comfortable loud levels.

I assume that this is amplifier dependent meaning there are amps capable of driving this headphone well beyond comfortable SPL while a Harman Curve is being employed.

 

[solderdude]

It is max output voltage dependent (and also max. output level dependent).
When one has a powerful (read amp that can reach a higher output voltage, not so much power) output and enough gain the HD800(S) can play a lot louder but ultimately will start to distort at very high SPL.
When I play it really loud (uncomfortable) with some, but not quite, Harman bass boost I see peaks reaching 6V (100mW in 350ohm) = 120dB peak SPL.
So any amp reaching 200mW in 300ohm is capable of driving the HD800(S) to very loud levels.
1mW (0.5V) is enough to play at comfortable loud levels.
Background levels only require 150mV (75uW)

 

[Oldson]

got my HD800s today and have a slight issue.

i have the glasses/pad squeak , which did not seem apparent on the demo set i had a few weeks back.
this set is much newer than the demo set i had, so i am kind of hoping the issue goes away with time.
glasses are thin and metal.
funnily enough i have a set with much thicker plastic stems which dont squeak at all, but i cant use them for viewing my pc monitor, which is my usual listening place.

has anyone had this issue and found a solution?

 

[Steven Holt]

The Sennheiser HD800S has great build but comes up way short in tonality. It is light in bass which is typical of many headphones but also cheats us the energy between 1 and 4 kHz. I paid for all the tonality in my music and I want all of it reproduced darn it! Fortunately equalization works despite the massive amount of amplification required in low frequencies. Once there, this headphone is doing something I don't hear with any speaker system and not yet on any headphone. It manages to provide a spooky layering and I guess I should say clarity that is not only surprisingly but delightful. I don't know if the effect will be too much if it comes across a lot of music but so far, I can't help but liking it and liking it a lot.

Oh hell Amir, just get a pair of 560's and smoke a joint and that spooky layering you love will come right thru!!

 

[fametrano]

About the Amir's suggested EQ: has anyone a Topping D90 III Discrete config file to share?
I am on MacOS and cannot use Topping Tune easily,