Sennheiser HD8XX vs HD800 and HD800S - THE BATTLE OF THE GODS!!

---- Featured: ----
- HD800: check eBay

Hope you enjoyed that special little title card haha. But hey, it's pretty fitting given the situation! I hope this video helps your purchasing decision. Thanks for tuning in!

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---- Top 5 Headphones of All-Time! ----

** Sennheiser HD600/6XX (Neutrality Benchmark, My Reference; My Favorite HP of All-Time)**

** Sennheiser HD800/s (High-End Detail, GRANDNESS)**

** HiFiMAN Sundara (HD600 - HD800 Love-Child) **

** AudioTechnica M40X (The only closed-back I actually like, but actually a great deal) **

** AKG K7XX (Multimedia Comfort Kings) **

Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported

[smokey]

2:00 because the HD 800 pads are worn in. The others might not. Thats what i figured when i bought me a pair of (new) Hd 800S. Took about 3 weeks to wear them in. Initially, i also had some pressure on top of my head. That went away though.

[supraluvers]

I absolutely love your Dragon Ball super reference in the beginning. It made me smile lol

[matthiasbroek]

As usual a great review. And we can see that listing experiences can vary widely. I don’t have experience with the original hd800 however I did compare the hd800s and the hd8xx and for me the hd800s didn’t do it. To my ears they are treble cannons without much low end or warmth (much less than hd8xx). They are a bit less recessed in the upper midst which does result in a slightly better Trimble but to my ears also results in treble overload and I really have to focus on other parts on the music to pick up other instruments. Now the hd8xx to my ears sounds much easier to listen to, as you mentioned in your review they just point to the instruments and let you focus on them. They have to my ears a much more present low end than the 800s, still anemic compared to other headphones, but better. Yes the hd8xx are not perfect but for an analytical headphone with great soundstage I find them better than the hd800s. However each persons hearing is different and everyone wants to get something else from their headphones. So if someone like the 800s signature but cannot live with the treble than the hd8xx might be solution. Btw, I think they can be amp picky and got the best out of them with a monolith liquid gold x. I thinks neutral amps like the thx are best avoided, but again personal choice and to be fair all these headphones will have the same issue on a neutral amp.

[ParmesanChase]

I’m having a hard time deciding and have stressed out about it. And you dbz intro was so cool lol

[phillipnunya]

$700 for the 8XX? Damn, that inflation hit like a fully loaded cement truck flying off a highway overpass into the street below.

[frosti]

Brilliant!
Usage of a familiar track such as Gorillaz sure helps a lot to understand the subtle Nuances.

[timothyfreeseha]

The more comparisons I get between the 800 series, the more I think the 800 is my choice- even considering some of the anomalies in the treble.

[carlrdavis]

8xx is now 699 with a discount code on drop. At 700 they are the best bang for the buck

[bobjameson]

The 8XX with eq and proper burn-in changes its entire sonic signature contrary to what is compared here. Without eq, you can forget about it. With eq, everything opens up like vivid color and extreme clarity. Do yourself a favor by running a combination of 60% pink noise and 40% brown noise with volume of 30-50% louder than your normal listening volume for at least 3 days before judging the 8XX.

For eq, it is very important to reduce the preamp gain of 5-6 db using either Oratory or AutoEq. After eq, I like this better than my 800S also with eq. Listening fatigue is gone. Microdetails and soundstage are preserved. Bass is enhanced. Nothing about lack of bass extension as discussed everywhere. I check the bass and bass extension on songs like Java (John Neptune), Animal (The Dunwells), Chant (Foreplay), Limit to Your Love (James Blake), Hotel California Live (Hell Freezes Over, Eagles), Jupiter and Oracle (A. Desplat), Why So Serious (Hans Zimmer) and many more.

With proper burn-in and set-up, it competes very well with the Audeze LCD-4z and Focal Utopia costing at least 3 times their price. The 8XX is a bargain at $1, 000.

[MichaelSidneyTimpson]

With the Zeos disount for drop resulting in $600 for the 8xx was it then worth it?

[sebanambrus]

Interesting review. I sense the Old HD800 is detailed and images better than HD800S

[LimKimProk]

when someone spends 1000 + dollars on headphones, the headphone should sound natural without EQ. 800/800S(own 800s) sounds natural and you can make it better with eq. but 8xx does not sound natural without eq to begin with. eq isn't really for fixing a headphone's problem. it should be used to make good headphones even better

[liambrinton]

How would you rate these now with the 8xx being half the price new as the 800s ($900 vs ~$1800).

Curious if its worth eq to get like 95% (or whatever it may be) of the way there or go for a entierly different headphone.

[pfjb]

were you listening with balanced cable?

[piperfect]

I had the HD800. I like the HD8XX better. I couldn't listen to the HD800 more than about 45 minutes without fatigue. I listened to the beginning of Saturnz Barz about 20 times with my HD8XX and HD600 (my reference headphones) I am not experiencing the lack of bass that you describe. I haven't heard the HD800S.

[SugaFree]

I can’t be the only one that finds the original HD800 more crisper and clearer sounding, while also having slightly better imaging than the HD800S?

[davidmason]

Can you compare the HFM XS with the ananda

[Clout_chasing_boy]

Its a real shame that such in depth reviewers are criminally under subbed while hypemen like zeos and grifters like joshua valour who know nothing about audio except flashy b rolls are subscribed so much

[TheDigitalcrack]

Didn't you claim to be poor before on one of your videos:)?

[thelastrhino]

So nice to have such a comprehensive review. Thanks man. At the same time, just throw them all away and enjoy the 600. SO.MUCH.BETTER. :)