Sennheiser's top of the line headphone (HE1 excluding…)
As a long standing fan of HD600/HD650, this is something that I'm seriously considering, since it's the lowest price I've seen on HD800S model since 2017.
Delivered in Nov.
BTW Addicted to Audio mentions it's a "new model", although I couldn't find if any other changes were made except an extra cable in the box.
Cheers - they have a $10 off code for signing up to their newsletter (as does Addicted to Audio, but I'd already used mine).
Any plans for a Focal Elegia deal team?
$10 off $1499 headphones seems not even worth it.
It's ANOTHER $10 off. Really, do people even read ANYTHING before commenting?
@WhyAmICommenting: Dude, you're on a site where a lot of users will happily rip off vendors trying to help bushfire victims and so on for $10.
@WhyAmICommenting: Bruh, $10 is like a free lunch. I'd rather have a free lunch while using the headphones at said lunch XD, than not get anything for free.
Hand in your OzB licence with that comment.
Dude! $10 is $10. If you were getting $10 off a $20 hat you'd be over the moon. The $10 you save off of a $1.4k headphones set will buy you exactly the same amount of value as of off the hat.
Economics 101.
Minidisc shows $1,899 as the RRP - perhaps that's now the new RRP, not the absurd $2,599 it's been at
I have no doubt these are good. But WOW that's alot to spend on headphones.
People spend thousands on car exhausts, gaming computers, cameras, Lego sets and all kinda things. I guess the worth is only really decided by the people who are really into such things.
My UERMs were a few grand when I got them a few years ago.
You wouldn’t want to know how much the HiFiMan Susvara go for then… and how many people own them.
Just googled, and wow :D
Not picking a fight here, but how many people do you think own them and what informs that guess?
I own them for example… stereonet forums or head-fi will confirm how many other thousands of people do. All good man I sense you're not picking a fight.
@akqrate: Cool :) I hadn't heard of em, googled em, and saw no reviews on ATA and two on amazon so thought maybe they were a bit of a unicorn. They'd want to be amazing ^_^
I also own them….
I had gen one but sold it for a different flagship headphone at the time lol
Not to mention they'll need an amp, dac etc. Definitely a serious enthusiast only price.
Most modern motherboards have amp on the headphone port already. Getting a USB-DAC is probably a good move with these though just to give them a bit more drive, no point getting top of the line headphone and not getting the best output signal.
True, but the last couple of mobos I've had have all advertised their high end hifi capabilities, but each one has honestly, really really paled in comparison to any of my DACs.
So I'm pretty dubious. My last mobo was a Gigabyte Aorus Master. Very average and underwhelming sound. Before that an MSI. Same. Just couldn't compare with my soundcard or DAC. Right now I have an Asus b550-e and honestly, I haven't bothered installing the sound drivers. I don't use my phones on PC though, I just use my speakers through the DAC.
Like they can do it, but all the 'audiophile' stuff is just advertising imo. Like you said, A DAC is the way to go. Honestly my sonata hd pro has REALLY decent sound for what it is. I had a dragonfly black and sold it onwards. It wasn't even close.
https://www.amazon.com.au/TempoTec-Sonata-HD-PRO-Android/dp/…
@Sxio: Audio amps in motherboards are probe to interference, which causes audio impurities. They can't be compared with stand-alone amps.
i just picked up atrics with dac….that will do me
Have you seen how much bogans spend on utes and jetskis?
are we really using bogans as the yardstick for discretional spending?
"Yeah but other people spend stupid money on stupid stuff!"
Congrats, you're all stupid.
@GrueHunter: Given the OzBargain ethos sums up as: "Big discount! Buy! What did I just buy and what is it for?" this is hard to disagree with.
Saying this to avoid all racism but I have plenty of ethnic friends who own GTR’s, Boats and Harleys it ain’t just bogans….
Plus you have to take into account these really should be hooked up to a proper headphone amplifier to sound their best.
Fortunately, you don't have to spend this kind of money to get a high quality audio experience.
well an RTX 3080 cost 2k and it will depreciate much much faster than this. I sold my HD800 non S version a few months ago for almost 1k which is what I paid for 3 years ago. So yea IMO…..well worth it if you appreciate the sound. I played cyberpunk on this headphone paired with THX AAA amp and the sound stage is amazing. Ppl are missing out on the immersion of that game by skipping a good audio quality and only focus on high res and fps. Both visual and audio is required for a good experience ……just my 2cent. have to hear it to believe it
3080 can make you money if you mine, this cant
well that's the thing, the part 'if you mine' and have to put it to work to make money, and if you are playing games you are not mining. I didn't have to put my HD800 to work. I was using it and enjoy it …. without the need for crypto artificially inflating it. I think when this super cycle ends…..we will see the real value of 3080s :P
Not with electricity prices here. Your either gonna break the 3080 or barely breakeven after years
@krisspy: in 5mths my 2x 3080's (paid $3000 total for at launch) have made about $3200 running at 65% power capacity. Power bills haven't been too crazy either, maybe adds $100 or so per month to the bill? I bought the GPU's for gaming, but it's definitely worth mining with them while not gaming.
In this hobby some cans actually appreciate over time. Bought the AKG K1000 many many years ago for $800 and sold it last month for around $2k. It's sad that top of the range headphones these days cost $4k+.
I was the same. And then I had a listen at an lcd x and a Focal. And let me tell you it opens up your world. I since have bought a few headphones and dacs. I have not broken the 500$ barrier on dacs or 2000$ on headphones.
However I have been brought t to tears from some songs. You have so much detail yet it's engaging in another way. It's like looking at the world with foggy glasses. Once you have clear glasses the world is beautiful
Exactly the same story with me.
I'm not an audiophile or anything, for years I was using $300 HD600, being perfectly happy with it. Then realised, the price is very relative thing, since headphones serve you for years and you're spending $1500 for something you're going to use for hundreds of hours.
In result, got my Focal Clear last year and it's probably one of the best $1200 I've spent in my life to buy myself some quality: happy smile every time I listen to it.
Hahaha. Same my friend. I remember I listened to the Clears and was obsessed for months. I then relented to buy it and it was an epiphany.
Have you tried some planars? I got the hifiman Sundara and now the Ananda. They are a different color altogether. I listen to the hifiman and Clears alternatively.
And my dac is a good old ifi.
Only if you have golden ears can tell the difference,for me $20 will do the same as couple hundreds
Try the kph30i. 100$ and they will give you a taste.
It is quite a bit to spend until you actually hear them. From regular buds to the HD6xx to the LCD-XC, there was a significant price bump each time, but there was also a significant bump in sound quality, and I'm not the over analytical type. These should also have the sort of build quality expected of flagship headphones and are likely to last for the better part of a decade.
I am waiting for jv to pass comment
Why? There's often plenty of other (profanity) who don't understand why expensive things are expensive commenting just as stupidly.
All of my purchasing decisions are based on jv’s comments.
This is the way.
And add about as much value to a conversation as someone else would passing gas.
There I even did the unfunny bolded nonsense.
"someone else would passing gas." — name checks out
Thanks OP, bought 10.
Thanks OP… bought a few as stocking fillers.
Know what you are getting into with these. I have a pair, they are very large and move around your head, plus the sound signature changes as they move. They are very analytical, like a microscope for your equipment and source. These are my least used high-end headphones. If you do use them, make sure you are in a comfy chair and don't move.
I learned the hard way, but if you are after a high-end enjoyable cans, I would recommend having a listen to Focal Clear or Audeze LCD-2C / LCD-X. Still I would not sell my HD800S…
I'll give you 50k for your pair of HD800S.
Spot on - it can also get a bit peaky in the treble. The one thing the HD800 series does better than any other headphone I've listened to is that cavernous soundstage. No other headphone comes close, it's a very unique experience - I can understand why you wouldn't want to let them go despite their shortcomings.
'soundstage' - is why I bought my Audio-Technica ATH-AD2000X for about $640
in my observation, even without high-end amplifiers, the most cost-effective improvement to your listening sound quality is headphones
so I reckon you don't 'need' to spend big on amps, just headphones alone are the biggest step-up you'll get.
(unless of course your hobby involves spending huge amounts on money on diminishing return incremental improvements - I always remember a guy's double-stacked Quad Electrostatic curved speakers with the original Quad tube amps - sitting precisely centre stereo spot aligned - and hearing for the first time, the violin player touching his bow to the string BEFORE playing a note, and the flautist taking a breath BEFORE playing a note.
but did I want to go obsessive to be able to listen to that - yeah nah - I'm happy listening to the music.
I think you might have replied to the wrong comment?
I mean it depends on your definition of headphones, there are earspeaker and hybrid solutions that exceed it, the most notable being the RAAL SR-1a.
RAAL have an angled circumaural on the way starting at $2500-$3000 that seems set to de-throne the 800S if they can get the tuning right.
Lots of innovation from HIFIMAN right now too that seems set to massively improve performance per dollar, so I'd imagine we're going to see something that performs like an Arya near to the $1200-$1500 range.
Hard choice between these and the Clears at $1365. Would be worried that these are a bit too analytical, coming from the Focal Elears.
How do you find the Clear in comparision to the LCD-X?
I have LCD-2C, and use them more than the Clear. But, I like them both equally. If you are more loaded than me, go for the X LOL. I still search for X closed backs now and then hoping to find a bargain.
Buy the Clear pads (elex drop pads).
The gap between the Elex and Clear does not warrant the jump IMHO, unless you have money to burn of course. Clears solves a number of issues of the elex, but those can be eq-ed out.
These cans have a different sound signature, I don't think they can be compared. I have both and the Clear is worth the price difference to me, so long as it's on a good discount:-)
@mostlygordon: I mainly listen to rock and metal, from what I've read the LCD-X or LCD-2C might be more for me, worth a trip to ATA once lockdown is up here in Vic
@cille745: Definitely for my ears. My LCD-2C gets used most of any of my cans even though many cost more. Would always go to these for rock.
Hopefully ATA start auditions again. I went there between lockdowns earlier in the year and they weren't doing demos sadly.
@zeomega: Would need another listen. I ABed them when I bought the Clears, both in store and at home. I remember they were quite different. Too long ago to accurately explain. I think from memory they both had similar dynamics, but they Clears are much more Audiophile. The Elex are quite colored from memory. Clears are also much more resolving.
@mostlygordon: I wouldn't classify it as quite different, but rather a step up improvement on the already excellent set of cans. It's more of a refinement rather than a different sound signature IMHO. Overall much more enjoyable over the Elex out of the box.
However, a number of these items can be resolved with EQ and get really close to the Clears (not exactly the same). Once EQ-ed, the price point jump imho is not worth it if you already own the Elex. Better to change to something wildly different like a LCD-2C, HD800s, Araya etc.
If someone was looking for end-game and selling all headphones away for 1 set, then maybe it's then worth the jump.
@zeomega: Funny story, I went into ATA one day quite prepared to hand over cash for some Utopias. I had a good listen ABing against the Clears and could not justify the cost.
Please draw a comparison between Focal clear and everything you got :D I heard from Tyll that it was his best choice when he quit.
God, more time than I have today to write that up today LOL. Mostly I use my Clears and LCD-2c for open backs. Elegia for closed back, but I just ordered some Aeon X, so that may change:-)
OMG Gordon you have a problem. Seriously, how many pairs of cans do you have man???
No judgement though. If it makes you happy, but damn man!
@Sxio: Well, I recon if I add add all the money I have spent on cans, and used that to buy the best pair of speakers I could find, they would not sound as good as any of my high end cans. Plus, I can pick a pair I think suites my mood or the music I'm planning to play. I used to be a sound engineer long, long ago…
@mostlygordon: Guess again: https://www.philharmonicaudio.com/
Dennis Murphy apparently knocked it out of the park with the BMR monitors and towers.
@mostlygordon: Well he tunes for Polk, so it'll come down to the model and how you're feeding, but that's way outside my experience.
I was speaking from a value perspective though, so probably not!
@mostlygordon: Can't see myself buying much more audio gear at this point. Still searching for a really great pair of closed back cans. But, happy with the rest of my gear.
@mostlygordon: Mmm, yeah I don't see that changing until the materials engineers come up with better stuff for enclosure designs, or the audio engineers go hard with tuning multi-driver or MEMS designs.
Maybe the Audeze LCD-XC 2021 revision?
Other than that, IEMs.
@mostlygordon: Sooo… how many pairs do you have? Were the polk's really 20k? Are they your favourites?
@Sxio: The Polks are very old, but still sound great, I bought them around 25 years ago, so they have earned the keep. They are a 5.1 system and mainly get used for TV / movies. However, they are HiFi speakers (except the centre), so designed for music. Must have been one of the first home theaters in the country LOL, had a Laser Disc player back then!
I'm seeing some amazing DSP room correction with speakers. Wondering when this will filter to headphones. Maybe one day, you can get some DSP closed back headphones with an app that lets you make them sound exactly like HD800S, Clear, LCD, prefect harmon etc. That would be interesting.
In the mean time, really looking forward to my Aeon X arriving. I tried Aeon 1 a few years back and remember they were very conformable and sounded great. Sadly I can't always use open backs…
Yeah but I got Monster interconnects so there LoL!
You also have to be guided by the music genre you listen to. To me, my Focal Clear is just great for pop vocals, EDM bass, jazz instruments but lacking the soundstage for big orchestra music. It is very resolving for intimate listening, as if you are sitting near a stage in a club. So I would get the HD800S for the wider soundstage, to listen to orchestral theme songs from movies, big hall orchestral music - but sticking to my Focal for now, need the price to go lower …
Comfort is another thing; I find HD6XX clamp force uncomfortable - the Focal on the other hand is on the another level in terms of comfort, for my head/ears anyway. So best to try them first.
Interesting comment.
I've been using HD600 for about 6-7 years and found them very comfortable, could easily wear it for hours.
Focal Clears I've got are absolutely lovely, literally everything I'd need in the terms of quality, however wearing those for 2hrs+ doesn't work well for me - they're heavier and bulkier, plus those pesky cables…
I'm considering HD800s mainly for comfort, since most reviewers praise it as the most comfortable headset ever (plus, still a bit of sentiment towards Sennheiser's sounds signature)
Mine were the same, I had to stretch mine out over a day or two by putting a few books in between them to put constant tension on the band. It was a little scary to just leave them like that, but it really helped.
I got my 6xx about 2 weeks ago, and yeah the clamping force is nuts, might have to try @sxio's book idea. The 6xx were lost in the post for a few weeks, so I caved and bought the Sundara from A2A's shop in Adelaide, and they are infinitely more comfortable, and overall I like the sound a lot better too.
Focal Clear might be next.
yea lol I regret selling mine but have too many cans :P. Also have the clear and ananda, can highly recommend these but the use case is completely different to me. They are more of a relaxing headphones and I like them for music. For gaming, nothing beats HD800 to my taste and I have tried them all. like in cyberpunk I could hear the distance chatter clearly and in the basement of clubs the ambient sound of the beats from above is surreal, felt like I was just in a real club…..pre covid days :D
I have a mod mic attachment on mine:-)
To tack on here: I would recommend these if you have a focus on imaging, detail, and soundstage, and a focus towards competitive gaming, orchestral and live recordings, and anything in your music collection that is leaning towards diffuse-field or natural instrumentation on binaural recordings.
As we move into the lossless and HRTF era for streaming services, this may come into its own more.
You're looking at spending at least $300 on a DAC and $400 on an amp here, or you're blunting a highly capable - but somewhat specific - instrument.
in your opinion, do you think my current Modius Magnius stack would be enough to power these beasts?
While I'd prefer the Asgard, rather than targeting balanced for the sake of it, yeah they should be a good starting point.
You can demo better gear down the line.
@mostlygordon You should try replacing the stock earpads with Dekoni perforated ones. Huge difference in sound signature.
As for them "moving around on your head", I disagree. That depends on the person wearing them. Best to try them in store and see if they fit well. I wear mine for hours and they are insanely good for competitive gaming. No moving around at all and my head is just average sized lol.
I'm pretty sure there must be a reason why this headphone costs this much, but I can't help to think why would an average Joe spend that much of money on a headphone?
This is nothing.
Click on the link and sort from highest to lowest price.
If you need to ask, don't buy them. My Mrs, can't tell the difference between all my cans LOL.
This is exactly the problem.
Probably best to try such item first before purchasing.
![[Pre Order] Sennheiser HD800S Audiophile Headphones - $1499 Delivered (RRP $2599.95) @ Addicted to Audio](https://files.ozbargain.com.au/n/48/657748.jpg?h=e64d7b3d)
same price at minidisc
https://www.minidisc.com.au/sennheiser-hd800-s-high-resoluti…