Sennheiser HD800S Review (Headphone)

[ehabheikal]

I have the HD650, HD800S and the DCA Stealth. I use Amir's recommended PEQ settings for the Sennheisers and both sound very good. I like the HD800S over the HD650 but with the recommended PEQ the HD650 gives the HD800S a good run for its money.

By comparison the Stealths sound a bit lacking in bass. I think possibly it's because I may have overcompensated with the Sennheisers. Note, I did use Amir's recommended settings. I do like the sound of the Sennheisers so I am going to experiment with just a little PEQ for the Stealths. I don't want to go overboard and make them sound boomy.

Waiting for your peq of stealths, as I am interested in the hd800s and the stealth, the measurements of the stealth kill the 800s but this soundstage elusive to me.
Another question, in rock or heavy metal and other complex music the instruments seem muddled together, does any of these two feel better with that?

 

[ehabheikal]

I'm not solderdude, but HD800S sounds a bit different for sure. HD800 without EQ in general sucks due to the idiotic treble spike Sennheiser would never rectify (in the same way Audeze will never back off their iconic LCD series design no matter the ergonomic issues that comes with it). If you're old, then I suppose you might be able to bare it, otherwise the headphone is just too "high treble" for my tastes.

650 by comparison sounds a bit less "clear" but that's probably due to that stupid treble spike. But that's about the only difference I feel. Oh and that whole "soundstage being great" on the HD800 line rings true (though I think this is because the earcups are roomy on top of that treble spike which contributes more to this "air" feel).

Which brings me to comfort. HD650, comfort is top notch for a headphone in it's category. Most importantly the weight is no more than it needs to be, and thus stays on the head as it should. The 800 is better to me due to the wider/flatter top headband padding, on top of the whole headphone seemingly hugging your head and sides of your head better (more surface area due to the larger cups).

The HD800 without EQ is just ugh, but given that Sennheiser isn't shy about making a flagship out of plastic (seriously when will laymen move on from this notion that you can't get quality plastics in devices?) the comfort benefits greatly especially if your head isn't particularly weird or whatever. I'd legit pay the same amount of money for an HD800 with a 650 driver in it. THATS how good I think the ergonomic design is. Oh and I think it's one of the best looking headphones ever made, the only thing I think really tops it in terms of aesthetics, is Meze Empyreans, and nothing else.

The HD650 though is still comfortable, but if you're riding with bald gang like I am, wearing it for hours upon hours leaves an impermanent imprint on where it rests on the top of your head (the cushion pads are the reason). This goes away after not wearing them for a little bit. The 650 nevertheless is still one of the most comfy headphones and the fit on the head is great, allowing you to tilt your head any which way, and they won't slide or things of that nature.

I'd say if you got the money, try the HD800S, maybe you'll like it (everyone at least likes the soundstage aspect). But you can't go wrong with the 650 in the sound and comfort department either way.

About plastic having a bad rap i think this is due to two reasons, first is that all cheap products use plastic, second is that plastic gets scratched much much easier than metal, i think even expensive plastics.
Envoirnment aside, plastic when used right is very strong, the cheaper plastic headphones from Sennheiser are close to indestructible.

 

[DJBonoBobo]

Another question, in rock or heavy metal and other complex music the instruments seem muddled together, does any of these two feel better with that?

I also have both. I would say in this regard the Stealth is very good, probably better than the 800S. I listen to Devin Townsend and such and i think the Stealth is extremely well suited for dissecting the wall of sound and listen to small details. On the other hand i understand people who think the Stealth lacks a bit of livelyness, "punch" or so for this kind of music. Personally, i mostly listen with the Stealth but just recently used the 800S more again. It surely can be more "fun" sometimes, but that is very subjective and dependent on the mood of the day.

The 800S and Stealth are so different, almost opposite ends of the spectrum - you really have to listen and compare for yourself.

 

[Robbo99999]

I also have both. I would say in this regard the Stealth is very good, probably better than the 800S. I listen to Devin Townsend and such and i think the Stealth is extremely well suited for dissecting the wall of sound and listen to small details. On the other hand i understand people who think the Stealth lacks a bit of livelyness, "punch" or so for this kind of music. Personally, i mostly listen with the Stealth but just recently used the 800S more again. It surely can be more "fun" sometimes, but that is very subjective and dependent on the mood of the day.

The 800S and Stealth are so different, almost opposite ends of the spectrum - you really have to listen and compare for yourself.

Do you use the HD800s with a Harman EQ (Oratory)? You leave The Stealth at stock?

 

[DJBonoBobo]

Do you use the HD800s with a Harman EQ (Oratory)? You leave The Stealth at stock?

Yes, 800s with EQ. Oratory + little individual adjustments.
And yes, Stealth without EQ.

 

[Robbo99999]

Yes, 800s with EQ. Oratory + little individual adjustments.
And yes, Stealth without EQ.

Cool, well that's about as "like for like" you can get that comparison then between HD800s & Stealth. I think that's the best way to compare them.

 

[DJBonoBobo]

Cool, well that's about as "like for like" you can get that comparison then between HD800s & Stealth. I think that's the best way to compare them.

Yes, i think so, too. But i can´t manage to get the tonality of the HD800s similar to the Stealth. Bass and treble are always different for me, even after EQing the HD800s. Maybe i am not patient enough or they are just too different.

 

[Robbo99999]

Yes, i think so, too. But i can´t manage to get the tonality of the HD800s similar to the Stealth. Bass and treble are always different for me, even after EQing the HD800s. Maybe i am not patient enough or they are just too different.

That's down to a combination of things such as unit to unit variation throwing off the accuracy of the published EQ's you find (eg. Oratory's), also different models of headphone can react a bit differently to eachother on your own head so even though those two models might be accurately EQ'd to the Harman Curve then you don't experience that at your eardrum, and there's elements from around 8-20kHz that aren't really very accurately EQ'd and emulated between different headphone models......so in my experience it's pretty impossible to get two different models of headphone sounding exactly the same. But, in my mind the way you've compared headphones is the best way to do it, and is the way I do it too - accurately EQ'ing / optimising all headphones around a target and then comparing them - that way you're comparing each headphone at it's optimal condition.

One thing you could do that I've found useful is that you can use Oratory's EQ's to iron out the major deficiencies in the frequency response of the headphone and then you can experiment with applying broad based tone control to that EQ to fine tune the overall tonality. You can create an almost perfectly linear tone control using 3 High Shelf Parametric Filters, it's the following 3 filters and you'd make sure each filter has the same Gain (dB) (positive or negative):

• High Shelf at 63Hz, Q0.5
• High Shelf at 632Hz, Q0.5
• High Shelf at 6324Hz, Q0.5

You'd tweak those filters by only 0.1dB or 0.2dB increments to all filters at the same time, listen to it and then further fine tune - because they influence the whole spectrum you're likely to detect differences in only 0.1 or 0.2dB increments when changing each of those filters - you'd make sure each of the 3 filters was set to the same Gain (dB) in order to ensure a linear tone control through the whole frequency range.

 

[IXOYE]

I have an RME ADI-2 FS DAC/AMP and wonder if it has enough power to drive 800s with Amirm's EQ profile?

 

[DJBonoBobo]

I have an RME ADI-2 FS DAC/AMP and wonder if it has enough power to drive 800s with Amirm's EQ profile?

Yes, easily.

 

[Eyesluna]

After about a week of listening to these stock, I REALLY enjoyed the soundstage, tonality, comfort, and fit of these headphones. I'm fine with trading off bass a little to get that. I didn't really understand what people meant when they said that some headphones were fatiguing, but I think I do now. While they have all day comfort, I can only listen for about 5 hours before there's a build up of this feeling of harshness that I don't get with my DCA closed X, 6xx, or EQ'd LCD-2C. I think it might be due to that hump near 6k, but i'm not certain, i'm pretty new to this.

These, I think have the potential to be my daily driver for an open back since the main issues I have with them I think can be mitigated via the application of EQ. If i'm needing slamming sub bass to bass I can always just switch to my LCD's. The only thing I'll be looking buy moving forward a few years from now would be a better planar open back from DCA, Audeze, and ZMF are the ones I have my eyes on the most for that, and maybe a better closed back planar in a few years, but i'm VERY happy with my EQ'd DCA closed.

Speaking of EQ, I'm looking to get something that can ideally let me still retain the detail, soundstage, etc of the HD800s while adding some more bass, not too much though, and maybe lowering that 6K hump. I'm pretty new to EQ though so i'm kinda going in blind. When on macOS I use soundsource with the native AUNBandEQ plugin that gives me 16 bands to play with for parametric EQ, and when on windows I use peace APO.

Musicwise I tend to be very varied in my taste and my tastes tend to alternate back and forth, I made sure to listen to music that might be unfavorable to the HD800s as well like rap (kendrick, kanye, j cole, etc), and in all honestly it was great, I picked up details I didn't pick up as well before like positioning, but that was at the expense of bass. I'm not much of a basshead, but I do enjoy bass when done well, when I feel like it's not drowning out everything else. I think for my tastes a little more sub bass to better set the rhythm would have me perfectly happy.

If anyone has any feedback for me on anything I would really appreciate it, especially for EQ.

 

[ehabheikal]

After about a week of listening to these stock, I REALLY enjoyed the soundstage, tonality, comfort, and fit of these headphones. I'm fine with trading off bass a little to get that. I didn't really understand what people meant when they said that some headphones were fatiguing, but I think I do now. While they have all day comfort, I can only listen for about 5 hours before there's a build up of this feeling of harshness that I don't get with my DCA closed X, 6xx, or EQ'd LCD-2C. I think it might be due to that hump near 6k, but i'm not certain, i'm pretty new to this.

These, I think have the potential to be my daily driver for an open back since the main issues I have with them I think can be mitigated via the application of EQ. If i'm needing slamming sub bass to bass I can always just switch to my LCD's. The only thing I'll be looking buy moving forward a few years from now would be a better planar open back from DCA, Audeze, and ZMF are the ones I have my eyes on the most for that, and maybe a better closed back planar in a few years, but i'm VERY happy with my EQ'd DCA closed.

Speaking of EQ, I'm looking to get something that can ideally let me still retain the detail, soundstage, etc of the HD800s while adding some more bass, not too much though, and maybe lowering that 6K hump. I'm pretty new to EQ though so i'm kinda going in blind. When on macOS I use soundsource with the native AUNBandEQ plugin that gives me 16 bands to play with for parametric EQ, and when on windows I use peace APO.

Musicwise I tend to be very varied in my taste and my tastes tend to alternate back and forth, I made sure to listen to music that might be unfavorable to the HD800s as well like rap (kendrick, kanye, j cole, etc), and in all honestly it was great, I picked up details I didn't pick up as well before like positioning, but that was at the expense of bass. I'm not much of a basshead, but I do enjoy bass when done well, when I feel like it's not drowning out everything else. I think for my tastes a little more sub bass to better set the rhythm would have me perfectly happy.

If anyone has any feedback for me on anything I would really appreciate it, especially for EQ.

If you have android try the wavelet app it has a database of heaphones with their equalization. You might need to connect to pc and do a few commands to get it to work at its best. To me it is the audiophiles best friend on headphones and the umik-1 for speakers.

 

[Eyesluna]

If you have android try the wavelet app it has a database of heaphones with their equalization. You might need to connect to pc and do a few commands to get it to work at its best. To me it is the audiophiles best friend on headphones and the umik-1 for speakers.

Unfortunately I use an iphone. But I might use a VM to get access to it if it's worth it.

 

[staticV3]

Unfortunately I use an iphone. But I might use a VM to get access to it if it's worth it.

An Android VM running on your iPhone? I'd be impressed!

 

[Eyesluna]

An Android VM running on your iPhone? I'd be impressed!

That'd be quite the trip, but sadly no just your bog standard VM on a PC.

 

[staticV3]

That'd be quite the trip, but sadly no just your bog standard VM on a PC.

No way to get Wavelet running on an iPhone using that I'm afraid.
EQE is the only way to get systemwide software EQ running on iOS afaik, but that requires jailbreaking an older version of iOS.
For the moment, buying a Qudelix 5K is still the best option for systemwide EQ on iOS.

Edit: SoundID might be worth a try!

 

[Eyesluna]

No way to get Wavelet running on an iPhone using that I'm afraid.
EQE is the only way to get systemwide software EQ running on iOS afaik, but that requires jailbreaking an older version of iOS.
For the moment, buying a Qudelix 5K is still the best option for systemwide EQ on iOS.

I don't really do much listening on my iphone outside of using my airpod pros, which i'm fine without EQ since it's mainly for podcasts or background listening, all my EQ needs are for the desktop which I think I have covered via peace and soundsource + plugins on macOS. I am a novice at EQ though, so i'm really just trying to learn how to apply EQ well to get the most out of what I have, especially with the HD800s which are almost perfect to my tastes outside of the bass and maybe that 6k hump (if that is indeed responsible for my fatigue after a few hours.)

 

[staticV3]

I am a novice at EQ though, so i'm really just trying to learn how to apply EQ well to get the most out of what I have

So far I've had great success with this method:
1. collect every GRAS measurement you can find
2. EQ them all to Harman OE2018
3. A/B them until you've found the measurement that most closely matches your headphones and ears

Here's an example for the 400se: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ll-which-he400se-eq-preset-sounds-best.38571/

If you'd like, I can create another thread like that for the HD800S, with PEQ .txt files that you can load into EQApo and Soundsource.

 

[Eyesluna]

So far I've had great success with this method:
1. collect every GRAS measurement you can find
2. EQ them all to Harman OE2018
3. A/B them until you've found the measurement that most closely matches your headphones and ears

Here's an example for the 400se: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ll-which-he400se-eq-preset-sounds-best.38571/

If you'd like, I can create another thread like that for the HD800S, with PEQ .txt files that you can load into EQApo and Soundsource.

Thank you, I appreciate the offer, I've actually been doing something similar, though not all EQ'd for the OE2018 target. I've been playing the Oratory1990 EQ for the HD800s, and Chrono's (from headphone review) EQ, and i'm currently trying to find Amir's EQ for the HD800s, though I haven't looked much for it since i'm also studying for exams.

Edit: If I wanted to only really add bass from say 100Hz up and then just wanted to drop that 6k hump a little (I want mostly keep the tuning as is) What would be the best way of going about that?

 

[sblrog]

The Phillips SHP9500 is shockingly good after a little EQ. I think it's the best cheap headphone for soundstage, but only after EQ. Don't bother if you can't.

Hi. Could you share your EQ settings? I've tried tried Crinacle and Oratory measurements to AutoEQ target, which is normally what I use (or something close). But the results (esp., with regards to detail) were just OK. Thanks!