Sennheiser HD800 Headphone arrived

[jdandy]

Holy mackerel. The new Sennheiser HD800 headphone sounds incredible. The new headphone was my Christmas gift to myself. Evidently I was not as naughty this past year as I originally thought. .

This new Sennheiser HD800 is like no other headphone I have ever experienced. The way the 56mm transducers are angled in front of the ear, similar to how speakers in a room would be, the sound stage is created very much with the same auditory sensation as listening to speakers. With my previous Sennheiser HD600 and the HD580 before that, both developed a different mental image more centralized in your head. The Sennheiser HD800 develops a wide and deep sound stage that seems to be coming from the front rather than strictly side to side. It creates a sense of space I have not experienced before with a headphone. The overall frequency range sounds rich and full from bottom to top. Bass is articulate and robust without the artificial boomy bump in the 60 to 150 Hz range that is often designed into headphones to make them sound like they go deeper than they actually do. My sense is the lower frequency range is well balanced with the midrange. They are neither bass shy nor bass heavy. Just right in my opinion. The midrange is airy, highly resolved, offering a clear window into the performance. The top frequency range is open and crystal clean. Cymbals ring beautifully, piano is full range and glorious in its range and dynamics. In addition, the comfort factor is very high. The HD800 is not a feather weight headphone at 330-grams, but despite the heft it's weight is easily distributed across the headband and the ultra soft and large ear cups. My ears are bigger than most (all the better to hear you with Little Red Riding Hood) and I am pleased they fit entirely inside the ear cups without touching any part of the inside edges. This headphone can be worn for hours without a hint of fatique. They disappear, leaving you directly connected to the music. Truly amazing.

The quality of construction, the fit and finish and the performance level of the HD800 is well worth its price tag. In my opinion, the Sennheiser HD800 is a premium headphone in all aspects. They are hand built at the Sennheiser headquarters in Germany and have the attention to detail the Germans are well known for. And finally Sennheiser delivered a headphone cable worthy of a premium headphone. It is four conductor silver plated oxygen free copper, individually insulated and then sheathed in a soft woven material jacket that is reinforced with Kevlar. Touching the cable or moving it while wearing the headphone does not transmit any noise into the headphone. The headphone connectors are a locking type and the 1/4 inch stereo phone plug is substantial. It is not the kind that has a mini stereo plug inserted in it as part of its offering so there are no additional contact points in the signal path to degrade its performance. This is a true high quality stereo 1/4 inch phone jack. Kudos to Sennheiser for this excellent improvement in headphone cabling.

My headphone rig is the Musical Fidelity X-Can V8P tube headphone amplifier with Gold Lions tubes installed, the Wyred 4 Sound DAC2, and the Oppo BDP83 used as a transport. It is connected to the DAC2 with a Wireworld Starlight 6 digital cable. Then there is the new Sennheiser HD800 headphone. This is an amzing sounding headphone rig by any measure.

I initially made the decision to purchase the Sennheiser HD700 headphone but when it got down to pulling the trigger my mouse pointer just slipped over to the HD800 and wouldn't move. I caved and clicked. Why not go with their premium design. The rest is history. The headphone has been on my head for the past three hours and it sounds fabulous. No doubt it will improve with a hundred hours or more of break-in, but right out of the box the Sennheiser HD800 is an absolute joy to hear.

[jdandy]

Going on six hours with the Sennheiser HD800 on my head. Fabulous sounding headphone. A genuine improvement across the board for headphone performance.

Listening to Louise Rogers - Black Coffee, "Alright Okay You Win" from a 24Bit/192 high-resolution HDTracks download. This is Master Tape sound quality all the way. These are astonishing headphones.

[Audio 1]

Dan I am happy to hear that the HD800's are everything you hoped for and more!
I understand that amp matching can be tricky with them, but fortunately you are experiencing bliss without any drawbacks.

Enjoy

[Masterlu]

Dan... Congrad's, I can relate as I own a pair of HD800's also.

[Vintage Pete]

Dan....a great and enjoyable review. These headphone look really nice and I've no doubt they sound amazing.

Of course I'm glad you pulled the trigger...I'm continuing to enjoy the 600's and will be spending considerable time with them.


Happy New Year!

[jdandy]

Originally Posted by Audio 1

Dan I am happy to hear that the HD800's are everything you hoped for and more!
I understand that amp matching can be tricky with them, but fortunately you are experiencing bliss without any drawbacks.

Enjoy

Buddy.......The Sennheiser HD800 is a 300 ohm headphone and is performing flawlessly with the Musical Fidelity X-Can V8P tube headphone amplifier. I have read a number for reviews of the HD800 from all around the web including what has been written about it on Head-Fi.org of which I am a member on that forum. No other forum, group, or individuals can pick apart a headphone's performance more the regulars on Head-Fi. Just like here on AA when we discuss amplifiers, or speaker, opinions at Head-Fi are all over the map on almost all of the best heapdphones available. Everyone has their particular wish list and desires. I have read some Head-Fi members praising the HD800 and others wanting to label it as bass weak, shrill top end, difficult to drive, too big, yada yada. Of course all I am expressing is my opinion, but this headphone is not difficult to drive at all, the bass is not weak or boomy, and the midrange and up is silky smooth and highly resolved. Sound stage on the HD800 is the best I have ever heard from any headphone. I have my volume control on the Musical Fidelity X-Can set at the 10:00 o'clock position and have all the volume I need, a very comfortable and full sounding presentation. The Sennheiser is far and away the best headphone I have ever owned and rivals the performance of premium speakers. If this headphone doesn't sound good to someone I would suggest they check their source, amp and/or cables. The HD800 is reference level. I am completely flabbergasted at the high-end performance I am experiencing with the Sennheiser HD800. I would not hesitate to recommend this headphone to anyone.

[djwhog]

Congrats Dan nice write up too.

I think if you heard them on a big Woo Amp they get even better. Maybe at some point you can give them a listen on a new amp.

They are amazing, I own 650s, 700s and a pair of 800s too.

[Yamaki]

Obviously Santa's Naughty & Nice list has been transposed somewhat...or Santa suffers from dyslexia at times.

Wonderful write up, Dan!

I have an older pair of Sennheisers that I really like but these HD800's sound like the real deal.

What headphone amplifier are you using? Or do you plug them into another component?

[jdandy]

Originally Posted by djwhog

Congrats Dan nice write up too.

I think if you heard them on a big Woo Amp they get even better. Maybe at some point you can give them a listen on a new amp.

They are amazing, I own 650s, 700s and a pair of 800s too.

Dave.......One never knows what the future holds. A Woo headphone amp is certainly worth consideration. I can tell you the Musical Fidelity X-Can V8P is quite the performer. It is a Class A tube amplifier that is smooth, silent, dynamic, and draws me deep into the music every time I listen to it. The sound is liquid and effortlessly flows into every corner of the audio spectrum. It beat the pants off my previous HeadAmp Class A solid state headphone amplifier which is a well reviewed amplifier. Although the Musical Fidelity X-Can V8 and V8P versions are no longer being manufactured they are still sought after headphone amplifiers and rarely remain for sale long.

[jdandy]

Originally Posted by Yamaki

Obviously Santa's Naughty & Nice list has been transposed somewhat...or Santa suffers from dyslexia at times.

Wonderful write up, Dan!

I have an older pair of Sennheisers that I really like but these HD800's sound like the real deal.

What headphone amplifier are you using? Or do you plug them into another component?

Michael.......Santa is dyslexic.

My headphone amplifier is the Musical Fidelity X-Can V8P. See above post.