Headphones

Well, my HD 800 is more than 10 years old now, sold all my other headphones after I acquired it and never felt the need to purchase anything new ever since.

With that said, it's always best to try one in-person first if you can as only you will know if it sounds right for you.

It's my end game if paired with EQ and an iFi with good XBass Boost. Stock tone though, far from end game.

I would say they are good, but at the price point there are better options in my opinion. In my experience, the soundstage sounds artificially large and I didn't find the sound to be engaging. I much prefer both the Focal Clear and the LCD X in that price range. I also think the 800s is hideous, but that's just me. They seemed built reasonably well.

Thing about HD800s is that it definitely is not for everyone, but if you prefer it's sound profile, it's the best value for money flagship there is with everything getting so expensive.

Other than that, it feels super good in the head, feels very light and comfortable, and is one of the most comfortable headphones available.

It can be endgame depending on your genre of music. They're exceptional with the genres you listed. If you listen to something with a lot of bass, I would not recommend it. It is amazing for gaming and extremely comfortable to wear. Like others have said, try to demo them before purchasing.

Build quality is decent but I don't have faith in the connectors at all. I actually leave mine in because I'm scared of ripping out the entire socket.

Nope, not for me - first high end headphone that I sold again.

The build feels cheap, the pads are awful and sound like newspaper when you move them, the bass is anemic and not detailed, just mush - so not great to just boost via eq, and the peaks in the treble have to be eq’ed out.

The wide stage feels forced on any modern genre of music, as you said they might be nice for jazz and classical music which I don’t listen to… for acoustic stuff, they weren’t bad.

Specify "That good"

Also, it's a tried and tested pair of headphones, Hype would be an insult to it.

I have the 800S along with a bunch of other stuff (some of which is in my flair).

My view on the 800S is that it is a competitive headphone for its price, but it depends a LOT on your setup, the type of music you listen to (genre and master/recording quality) and your listening preferences, especially around soundstage and timbre. A bit more on each.

TL;DR - It is a great headphone, but I would not call it a competitive "all around" headphone in 2023.

First is setup. Depending on your starting point, two things are likely to come up with the 800S. First is getting an amp and second is possibly looking into EQ. There are lots of good options out there in this quality range that have much lower power needs so don't necessarily need standalone amplification (reducing cost of ownership and adding other benefits like portability/general usability). This is a headphone that you will also find a lot of people EQ. Again, plenty of headphones of this quality/price range out there that more people tend to find pleasing without the use of EQ, so more work with the 800S. Depending your your setup, how well you may be able to EQ also varies. For example, if you are in the Apple ecosystem, EQ can be a real pain, or at least an added expense and device and/or software. In 2023, there are other headphones I'd put higher in the "ease of ownership/use overall" category - Focal Clear being on that other posters have mentioned (I also used to own the Clear as well).

Second is genre/recording quality. The three things you will likely find that stand out and get commented about the most about the 800s - its wide soundstage, its excellent imaging/placement performance within that soundstage and its significant lack of both bass quantity and dynamics that leads to an analytical/dry listen. That combination can make genres (generally) that are very warm and have a lot of action in the bass and sub-bass regions sound less pleasant and somewhat hollow to some - and it can be jarring. That also happens to be a lot of modern genres - hip hop, pop, alternative, EDM/electric, R&B, etc. For genres like classical, jazz, classic rock, and other genres that are largely instrumental performances that have most of the action in the mid range and high end, the 800S faces a lot less challenges.

This is why I would call it a great headphone but not an all around headphone. In my collection, it is mostly used for the genres I mentioned that are in its favor - and for those genres, IMO, few can beat it at this price range - or when I want to listen to something and get really analytical and use that soundstage to really focus on individual pieces of the mix. But, if I want to pour a drink, sit back and throw on some headphones to enjoy my favorite tune, it would only be with the genres that are good for it specifically.

All of this is subjective of course, as everything I've said is rooted in my listening preferences. There are some that value the wide soundstage and technical performance so much that they are willing to sacrifice the low end or don't particularly care for low end anyway - but I hope this helps.

It is the best headphone I have ever used or tried.

I had some HD8XX and after some EQ holy shit they were amazing. I also used a 4pin XLR custom cable just for reference. I had them paired with a Jotenheim v2? Whichever the newest is with the built in DAC and a Xduoo TA-22. The sound staging and sound reproduction is just beautiful. Unfortunately I had to sell them and am now using some 560S but as soon as I'm able to afford them again I'm getting them if that tells you anything.

I also played a bunch of fps games with them and let me tell you it's literally like having wall hacks for your ears. You hear EXACTLY where the other players are its genuinely wild.

What about HD6XX, is that really the end game? Are they the ones to go for when wanting something for a good price that is open back?

It's okay.

As a classical music lover my two “endgames” are the HD800 & AKG K702. Depending on my mood. I probably listen to the K702 more frequently because I find the HD800 fatiguing after about an hour or so. While there’s a significant price difference between the two, the audio quality is comparable with differences in perspective rather than quality of transparency, clarity and soundstage. The 800 puts me in first balcony box seats, the 702 on the main floor 10th row. Both are realistically valid. For the record, I listen almost exclusively to classical music and some acoustic jazz. I drive them effortlessly with a Marantz DAC1 dac/amp.

The 800S is the single best headphone to ever hit the market, it sounds great, awsome soundstage and most importantly for everyday use, it's super light, probably the lightest TOTL headphone out there, i am not even listening to classical with it, mostly jPop, Planar fanboys can cry about the 800S bassresponse as long as they want, i don't have to wear half a kilo brick for 8+ hours a day

Every headphone above ~500€ is (IMO) overrated. They are very comfortable and if you're willing to EQ, I don't think you'd be missing that much from different headphones.

owner of 20ish pair of cans ... the 800s, 8xx, 820 are all .. cans

I don't own anything I reach for more than something else because it's "better"

different, yes ... all out better ... no.

listening to music is about synergy. not halo headphones or amps.

we get caught up on better because object A costs more than object B ... but is a $500 pair of jeans better than a $50 pair? no ...

is a Ferrari a "better" car than a civic? no...

faster yes, but how's that daily reliability doing for you?

all that to say, no ... IMHO, the 800s aren't worth it from a saving up to get them standpoint. they sound like headphones... not magical music portals to a new realm of hearing.

they're great! so are my akg 361 and arya stealth and koss 75s

one man's opinion. if I had $1000+ to spend in this hobby on cans alone, I'd have 3-5 pair vs 1

It's end game for real. It's the best headphone I heard and it's amaze me every time no joke.

I don’t really like them. Fairly high distortion under 300hz, no subbass, and an airy treble forward diffuse field presentation. Honestly the good all koss porta pro has a similar sound.

Certainly not bad but definitely a divisive sound signature especially for the price.

I used HD650 since 2008 and recently acquired the HD800s and it makes the HD650 sound muffled. Don't get me wrong HD650 is still amazing but they also don't go as low as the HD800s, even if you turn the bass up it just sounds more of the same bass which never goes that low.

I also have a pair of Genelec studio monitors which I LOVE and the HD800s sounds just as good.

With HD800s it made my friend almost cry listening to Queen, music just sounds real.

I drive using RME ADI 2 and prefer bass boost of 5db and treble boost of -2db with no further EQ. I tried ratory1990 EQ but I prefer without as it smoothed away some raw fuzz detail. With HD650 I love ratory EQ it really sounds special which is why I kept the 650.

Listen to it and see for yourself.

I don't like em.

It's good for the soundstage and gaming but ima be honest. It doesn't feel premium and it doesn't fit well on smaller heads. I'd take a t1, 1990, arya or he1000 over it

For Jazz, Classical or any instrumental that isn't heavy on bass? Yes. With this headset you ABSOLUTELY need a high quality lossless source file because you can tell when the file is compressed. In terms of music, it's quite literally like having a set of speakers on your head. The soundstage is massive. The imaging is incredible.

It's a very comfortable headphone but it tears my hair out almost Every time I put it on and take it off if I'm not careful. It seems it has to do with how the newer version of the hd800s have constructed their hinges.

It’s not hype, but that doesn’t mean it’s for everyone. For instance, I vehemently dislike the 800s, and yet I still recognize the appeal.

For what it sets out to do, it does extremely well.

I’ve purchased and tried to live with it twice, and failed both times. If Sennheiser was giving out free headphones, I’d pick up another 600, over the more expensive 800s.

So yes, it’s really that good. Do I like it? No, not at all. Should you buy it? Probably not. It’s for a specific segment of the market and you might not be in that demographic. I’d argue most aren’t.