Sennheiser - HD 800 (Early Production)

Welcome to the club brother, I have an early serial number HD800, a final run 50XXX HD800, an HD8XX and might add a HD800S too.

HD800 stock. No treble spike on my sample (late S/N, came with official certificate with frequency graph etc). Out of the right source and using well mastered music (e.g. ECM, Hyperion, etc) they sound better than my mates HD800S (he also agrees).

Audiophile options like Sennheiser, Bose and Sony are your best bet. There's no real ""best option"", you can look at different reviews and see what works. like hell, ive tried so many headphones and earbuds, Sony, steelseries, sennheiser. At one point i just switched to other cheaper options and im pretty happy with them. for example will recommend [cleer enduro](https://d3oc4tmn8qmbnq.cloudfront.net/?q=GMKAO1466), great for their price. Beyer is also super solid, senn hd800 s etc. alotttt of options, list could keep going on

I've had 2 gaming headsets, first it was a Steelseries Siberia, then a Razer Kraken, but then I got to know someone at work who is into sound. He convinced me to buy a HD 650 and by god it was a different tier. It was so comfortable, but 5-6 years ago I've changed it to a HD 800, purely because the same friend sold it to me £500, pretty much half price and he took good care of them too.

Now you gotta compare HD800 (newer and older production models) to HD800s

I’ve seen both between US Audio Mart and EBay in the past 2 months. Harder to find than HD800S but not impossible.

I have the Raal SR-1a, the AKG K-1000, the Sennheiser HD800, and the Raal Magna (too poor for the Immanis lol). The Raal SR-1a can throw a slightly wider soundstage than the AKGs, but sounds better with the wings much closer to your ears. It’s the biggest soundstage of the above, though I prefer the sound from the Immanis in every way. If you’re really looking to get an experience larger than a headphone’s natural “headstage”, though, you need processing more than novel driver placement. Look into the “Smyth Realiser”. It is a headphone system with a wider soundstage stage than most speakers.

In my experience the HD800 or S are not neutral in the sense that bassy songs sound bassy and neutral sounds neutral and garbage sounds like garbage. Even with Oratory's EQ, to my ears they were still very much on the ethereal/thin side in a way that I couldn't (which is to say someone else probably could) fix by adjusting the EQ and not make them sound bad. They're awesome headphones but for neutral and detailed (again, I can only speak for my own ears) not quite as awesome as the AKG K371.

The 770's aren't "veiled", they just don't push the highs as much as other Beyers (like the 880) or especially the Sony's. They are pretty clear. That being said, if you want a comfortable closed-back that is more "pure-sounding", the DT-1770 - not 770, 1770 - is far better. It is just expensive. That's what I use for my personal closed-back in the studio, though I put 770's (or 700 Pros) on the other stations for clients. Open-backs are both more accurate and more comfortable, on average, but also don't work so great for a lot of environments. When I was stuck in an apartment mixing for a couple of years I went *deep* into getting a "good enough" headphone setup - tried a bunch, including $$ options - and settled on Sennheiser HD-800's with a Lake People amp and some virtualization options as the best compromise. The 600's are almost as good, the 800's just get you a bit more comfort and a fair amount more detail at the cost of being expensive and harder to drive well. Headphones will ALWAYS be a compromise, but some are better than others at certain things. FWIW I use 1770's and HD-800 still, and I could afford most things (not a true Stax setup or something, just not worth the expense).

I'd have to keep the HD800s, they're the most magical listening experience. The only reason I use anything else is situations like working out or lying in bed where the large earpads weirdly rub the pillow, or a craving for more bass when listening to specific genres.

I have a pair of the HD800 and I prefer them to the HD800s significantly. They are my favorite pair of headphones. I love them so much.