Sennheiser HDV 820 DAC, Pre-amp, Headphone Amp Review

A review of the Sennheiser HDV 820 DAC and headphone amp that's also a pre-amp. The review includes comparisons with the Burson Audio Composer and Soloist separate DAC and amp combo too.

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00:00 Introduction
01:49 Glamour video
02:47 Specs & features
03:27 Device tour
06:45 HDV 820 versatility
07:34 One key limitation
08:56 Sound quality
11:52 HDV 820 as an amp
14:59 HDV820 as a DAC
17:51 HDV 820 vs Burson Composer & Soloist stack
22:28 Final conclusions

Reviews filmed using:

#audiophile #audioreview #allinone

[PeterHas]

I had the original HDVD 800 for several years. I was an early adopter, buying it near release before there were any reviews. Like you mentioned, the simplicity of the design is wonderful and never got old for me. Sennheiser kind of undersells how good of a design it is on the inside. It's a truly balanced design, with the internal layout optimized for short signal paths. The power supply is located close to the power button, the volume knob is connected with a rod on the inside so the signal doesn't have to travel too far from the input connectors. I looked at internal images of both the old HDVD 800 and the HDV 820 and I can tell they've made several optimizations to the design in the HDV 820. For example they've improved the shielding between the power supply and front headphone outputs.

The main weakness of the older HDVD 800 was the dac. Sennheiser themselves designed the amplifier section of the HDVD 800, but decided to buy in a complete off the shelf dac board kit for their dac solution. I think this was done late in development, because the dac was simply not up to the quality shown in the other parts of the HDVD 800 design. For example, the dac had poor shielding with no galvanic isolation. Long story short, the dac was noisy and sounded cheap. This is why I'm glad they went back and improved the design with the HDV 820. They kept what worked, which was their excellent amplifier design, but improved it here and there like the additional power supply shielding. But most importantly, they added a decent dac to the amplifier, making it a much more evenly balanced product as a whole. An all-in-one where one might actually enjoy using it as such.

Usually I find all-in-one solutions have one thing they do really well, with the other features being more like box ticking extras. So in the end I always eventually end up with loads of boxes optimized for a specific purpose anyway. This is what happened for me with the HDVD 800. I was hoping for a more elegant space saving setup, but ended buying a DDC, and then a separate dac. The sound quality gains were simply too big. The same thing happened to me with my speaker setup. I moved from separates to surround receivers, then back to separates again. Now I've more or less resigned myself to never having an all-in-one solution ever, because separates are worth it for me.

[Yogachara]

Without a doubt, the best audio review channel on Youtube

[techmed-rainer]

Imho the Sennheiser 820 is one of the most underrepresented and underrated DAC/Amps on YouTube. I'm a headphone guy and the HDV 820 is still one my most used and beloved piece of audio equipment.
PS: As a regular viewer of your channel I want to express my gratitude for your high quality content!

[xyanide]

Nobody seems to talk about these, good to hear someone does!

[sebanambrus]

I have the HDV820 with the HD800 headphones with the mojo2 as in the analog inputs and the combo beats more pricier amps and dacs which I tried with the HD800 headphones.

[bc]

I have the HDV820 (running Audiravana), I use HD800 (early S/No - no mods) HD800S and HD820. For an all in one solid state unit using HD800 series headphones its a good match. Very happy with my setup.

[joseluishernandezseptien]

Thank you for this great review, Lachlan! I agree with your findings.

I used to have the HDV820 for some time and I really liked it. It was my favorite pairing with HD800S.

Unfortunately, in my experience with the unbalanced inputs there was noise passed 12 o’clock in the volume knob no matter what source or cable or adjustable gain in the back, it would be noisy. Thankfully the balanced inputs were perfectly fine.

Also, the ES9028 DAC seems a bit dated for the price tag in 2023, even if the implementation was good, there seems to be a sense of easiness in the delivery and fine details from the ES9038 DACs that I have listened to.

A revision with a more powerful DAC with a fine crossfeed implementation, AES I/O and silent unbalanced inputs would be my dream HDV820S ✨

[shreddherring]

I had been considering a burson amp for the longest time, but finally went with an hdva600. As my collection of headphones are all sennheisers, it seemed sensible to go with the matching amp, and that amp being second hand only is the better bang for buck choice anyway. I was initially disappointed though, as it was so transparent that it revealed various problems that I hadnt been aware of before, but that only goes to show how much distortion and lack of focus was previously being masked! Now I need to choose a dac upgrade, and while I'd love something like a holo spring, a second hand qutest is probably my best value option... But I have heard it described as being a bit flat in the soundstage, which wouldnt be ideal

[junzhang]

I have the HDVA600 amp, I can use any DAC I like. Good match with my sennheiser HD800. I have the denafrips ares2 and topping D90

[mattprothero-thomas]

I progressed from the original HDVD800, a solid first amplifier/ dac foray from Sennheiser.

The HDV820 externally is equally well engineered and as well designed to operate a versatile but simple array of functionality. It lacks the ‘eye candy’ of the previous model but in my view more than makes up for this in its musicality.

The HDVD800 handled classical music superbly when used in conjunction with the HD800 cans, however if your musical tastes extend beyond I feel the HDV820 offers a richer, less analytical approach, more of a tube amp feel. Certainly for me the sound was more rewarding, and engaging, and for me was a warmer sound than the earlier model.

I believe for those who use/prefer the Sennheiser 800 series you have to go a very long way, and to a significant price differential to meet, let alone exceed a brilliant ‘ all in one’ that the HDV820 represents.

[CaptainCrunch]

I’ve been using the HDV820 for a couple of years now and have been very happy with it as an amp for my empyreans but the built in DAC is very “meh”. I’ve settled on a Chord qutest into the analog inputs and the pairing is really excellent. Also, it is an excellent preamp and beat or matched units costing as much as $6k to my ears. I agree that the only major miss is that there is no way to quickly disable the preamp outputs.

[Armbrust]

I'm confused with the "HDV820 as a DAC" section. It sounded like you were comparing the Burson to the Amp of the HDV, or the HDV as a complete package. In a comparison of DAC's i would've expected you to hook up different DAC's (like the TT2) to the Soloist and then compare how the Sound changes in that setup

[fahryst]

It's output impedence is fairly high as fas as I remember and that was what made me a little reluctant to buy one. Sure they were designed to be paired with their high impedence headphones but others may not sound so good.

[criptocolorlightstech]

what dac and amp sounds way better then the hdv 820 i play tons of call of duty and i love movies and music my budget is 2, 300 what set up will sound way better then the hdv 820?

[razisn]

If I'm not mistaken its output impedance is 40 Ohms. If that is indeed the case I wonder what its performance is with low impedance headphones, both dynamics and planars but especially dynamics (like the Focals) which may in theory exhibit a shift in bass frequency response.

[frederf]

I try to be pure about my purchases of hifi gear; amps from amp companies, speakers, headphones etc. Also I have found separate's better performing, reliable & longer lasting. However this kind of thing would be a good desktop solution.
Good thorough review, thanks 👍👍

[criptocolorlightstech]

Hey, how are you doing? I’m pretty new to this audio hobby Is it possible if you can make a video showing us how to connect a different dac to the HDV 820?

[uanpppp]

I have been using my AirPods 2 for around 2 years now and I would like to switch to an headphone. I have been looking for a while but I couldn’t really find one at all. I came across your channel and it seems like you know quite a bit about headphones so I was wondering if you got any recommendations for a good sounding ANC headphone under $200

[Nephilim-]

The only thing I’m confused about with regards to the aesthetics is why did Sennheiser do away with the clear top glass line, so you could see the inner workings with a clever LED display? That was so nice. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[Joel-m]

Great review! Thanks! Was wondering if you had a chance to compare the preamp against the soloist 3XP ? From what I understand this is a strong point for the soloist.