Sennheiser HD800S Review (Headphone)

[IAtaman]

I've had my HD800S for several weeks now and have been using Amir's EQ preset. I prefer it substantially over the Harmon/Oratory1990 presets. I saved all on my RME ADI2 DAC and A/B, noting that the Amir preset is much more to my liking.

It's Harman, not Harmon, like the company.
Amir also tunes to Harman target albeit by eye/ear.

 

[Pearljam5000]

Best headphones ever made
Yes I said it

 

[roskodan]

... after a hefty bass boost, yeah, yeah... and after the Focal Elear, Clear, Utopia in terms of transparency / dynamics... Although I could agree the og HD800 have the most beautiful sound among any dynamic driver headphone... as opposed to electrostats...

 

[Yviena]

Just wondering but how much power does the HD800S actually need, i heard that the headphone is like 600ohm at around 100hz, so I'm unsure if my TCA-HPA1 on low gain max 55mw power according to amir, is enough, high gain sounds almost too high at 9'o clock tho already....

 

[staticV3]

Just wondering but how much power does the HD800S actually need, i heard that the headphone is like 600ohm at around 100hz, so I'm unsure if my TCA-HPA1 on low gain max 55mw power according to amir, is enough, high gain sounds almost too high at 9'o clock tho already....

How much power the HD800S needs depends on the kind of content that you play, whether you apply EQ, and most importantly, your preferred listening volume.

If your TCA-HPA1 gets loud enough for you without obvious clipping, then it fully saturates your personal HD800S power requirements.
Replacing it with an even more powerful Amp will not achieve anything.

 

[IAtaman]

Just wondering but how much power does the HD800S actually need, i heard that the headphone is like 600ohm at around 100hz, so I'm unsure if my TCA-HPA1 on low gain max 55mw power according to amir, is enough, high gain sounds almost too high at 9'o clock tho already....

20mW would get you to 115dB SPL which is too loud. Even with a -8dB pre-amp to compensate for the bass boost, 55mW will be more than enough.

Headphones Power Calculator

Calculate the power needed to drive your headphone based on sensitivity (db/mw or db/V), impedance (ohms) and loudness (dbSPL)

www.headphonesty.com

 

[Yviena]

Ahhh nice so i can continue to use the low gain then, i would get better use out of the volume knob that way too.

 

[staticV3]

Ahhh nice so i can continue to use the low gain then, i would get better use out of the volume knob that way too.

Absolutely.

 

[nebunebu]

A question due to lack of knowledge

I have the Sennheiser HD800 version and what kind of stumbles me is that I can crank it up but not much, without it feeling loud? What kind of terminology is used for describing this feeling? I had the same experience with Klipsch Klipschcorn, we turned it up and it felt as normal listening level, but we realized how loud it was once we tried to speak.

It kind of translates back to that I can listen to the HD800 at low levels as well and get a sense that its loud enough and non-fatiguing at those levels as well.

 

[solderdude]

Maybe you are not playing truly loud ?
For instance you can play the HD800 from a phone and max. out the phone without audible distortion but it isn't really loud.
When using a powerful amp (say 1W in 300ohm) I am sure the volume increase won't be seemingly endless and at a certain point you'll stop turning up the volume because it becomes uncomfortable loud.

Low distortion recordings, enough electrical headroom (clipping point of the amp) will determine how loud a headphone can go.
Note that with headphones it is easy to reach over 120dB SPL while that is not as easy with speakers (well, aside from horn speakers)

 

[nebunebu]

Maybe you are not playing truly loud ?
For instance you can play the HD800 from a phone and max. out the phone without audible distortion but it isn't really loud.
When using a powerful amp (say 1W in 300ohm) I am sure the volume increase won't be seemingly endless and at a certain point you'll stop turning up the volume because it becomes uncomfortable loud.

Low distortion recordings, enough electrical headroom (clipping point of the amp) will determine how loud a headphone can go.
Note that with headphones it is easy to reach over 120dB SPL while that is not as easy with speakers (well, aside from horn speakers)

Thanks, this is probably true. It's a bit hard for me to convey the sensation i'm experiencing.
But I'm guessing it's just because the level of details provided by the HD800 that makes it feel "loud enough" at all levels. (even though I know these headphones has their issues of being bright and lack bass).

The Hifiman HE400 does not act like this at all, low lacks depth and details while loud is fatiguing.

 

[solderdude]

Different peaking of high frequencies at a different amplitude and frequency, different amplifier powers (low vs high impedance behavior) all makes a difference as well as your ears transfer function.
These could be the ingredients which could largely determine how loud you want a headphone to go before it starts to sound unpleasant.

 

[MacClintock]

A question due to lack of knowledge

I have the Sennheiser HD800 version and what kind of stumbles me is that I can crank it up but not much, without it feeling loud? What kind of terminology is used for describing this feeling? I had the same experience with Klipsch Klipschcorn, we turned it up and it felt as normal listening level, but we realized how loud it was once we tried to speak.

It kind of translates back to that I can listen to the HD800 at low levels as well and get a sense that its loud enough and non-fatiguing at those levels as well.

I have an EQ setting where I boost the bass more than the Harman 2018 target. As the measurements by Amir reveal, there is quite some distortion in the bass region, so when I crank up the volumne, the distortion becomes quite audible, which is a good test of listening already quite loud. But if you want to listen louder, you might just use a balanced cable (in combination with a dongle, for example), which will result in more power.

 

[Robbo99999]

A question due to lack of knowledge

I have the Sennheiser HD800 version and what kind of stumbles me is that I can crank it up but not much, without it feeling loud? What kind of terminology is used for describing this feeling? I had the same experience with Klipsch Klipschcorn, we turned it up and it felt as normal listening level, but we realized how loud it was once we tried to speak.

It kind of translates back to that I can listen to the HD800 at low levels as well and get a sense that its loud enough and non-fatiguing at those levels as well.

Thanks, this is probably true. It's a bit hard for me to convey the sensation i'm experiencing.
But I'm guessing it's just because the level of details provided by the HD800 that makes it feel "loud enough" at all levels. (even though I know these headphones has their issues of being bright and lack bass).

The Hifiman HE400 does not act like this at all, low lacks depth and details while loud is fatiguing.

Yes, I see what you mean. The HD800 has that massive peak at 6kHz, so I can see why you don't want to listen at loud volumes if you're not using EQ to bring down that peak!

 

[IXOYE]

I don't like Harman for 800s, I think it destroys tonal quality, I love the restest midrange so I only boost the low-end and adjust the 5500 spike, to me they sound fantastic with this simple EQ.

 

[spede]

I tried original HD800 with Harman, for me it sounded almost like wider weird variant of HD650 after that. Better than OG tuning but not kinda sound i was looking for so ventured to other headphones.

 

[Dunring]

Just got another pair, tried several of the autoeq presets just to revisit them. I'm sticking with Amirm's settings but without the big bass boost to use for both gaming and music. Not that bad to power well, tried first with the SMSL C200 and it was ok, but using it as a DAC and kicking in the SMSL HO150X was a big difference. Just using the single ended cable since it's the same power on both plugs, will test the 4.4mm for function later. They really do benefit from tweaking, they sound finished now compared to out of the box. I'm in mid gain at 2 o'clock for fun loud but not dangerous using a -4db preamp reduction. Anything with 3 watts into 32 ohm will have all the power you need without having to use high gain. This week I'm going to have some fun with the SMSL DO400 as a 5 volt DAC into a Topping A90D, and also have a Soundblaster AE-9 with no control module (which has the amp in it) and will run RCA out into the HO150X just to have fun with the virtual 5.1 surround playing Destiny 2. I have the HD700 to compare it to, but the HD650 sold last night. A Thieaudio Ghost here is really close to the HD600/650 so might compare it at the same time. Had these a few times over the years, nice to hear they're just as nice as I remember them being (with eq).

 

[Robert Weide]

My beloved daily driver with EQ. The "5500Hz peak" should never be EQed off since it laregely affects the timbre of vocals and strings and any EQ around this area will immediately make the sound dull and lifeless. Here's my personal EQ set referring the 5128 diffuse field and preference bounds.
Preamp: -1.9 dB
Filter: ON PK Fc 1100 Hz Gain -0.6 dB Q 1
Filter: ON PK Fc 1600 Hz Gain 2 dB Q 1.2
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 3200 Hz Gain 1 dB Q 3
Filter: ON PK Fc 7200 Hz Gain -4 dB Q 5
Filter: ON HSC Fc 11000 Hz Gain -3 dB Q 0.7