Very detailed look at the Sennheiser 800s, incredible that he went to the factory and knows about the actual materials used in the headphones.

out of the hundreds of headphone review videos ive seen, this man seems to be the only one who seriously knows what hes talking about, everyone else sounds scripted and versed. This one is out of experience, awesome job

The only reason i would buy another cable for my HD800's is because the stock cable is really long and can get in the way sometimes, otherwise you're wasting your money imo

After Silence, by the master trumpet player Andre Heuvelman, is mixed and mastered with the HD800. It says a lot about the quality of the HD800 that a top audiophile boutique label as Sound Liaison actually mix on the Sennheiser HD 800 as well.

I'm sure he knows that cables don't change the sound. They are probably a sponsor or something and he agreed to give them a quick plug. That could hurt his rep as seen in the comments however.

>Leona plastic >60% glass filled >extremely rigid >extremely rigid How are these Snapheisers™ standing up to wear and tear? Sorry, couldn't resist. ;^)

Did Tyll really just refer to that cable as "Smooth sounding"?

You lost me at $800 snake oil cables.

Tyll puts felt in $1400 headphones to soften the treble, along with adding $700 cables to make them sound better.. What's wrong with that $2100 picture;-)

I might give the $700 cable a pass....

hello Tyll Hertsens i am from Serbia. I ,ve heard so much about Sennheiser HD800... they are probably one of the best sounding phones in the world. I have some hand made and reworked some JVC headphones with 50mm neodimium magnet and driver .driver has been reworked into eight ohms, and the sound is very precise, clear and sound images is generally brilliant now.processing technology driver speaker has its own original technology and craftsman who works suggest that each handset are between 6 and 10 ohms, ONLY becouse its speed in sound, precise and clarity in 20 hz to 20 KHZ. here in Serbia,HE protects that patent FOR processing speakers. and its called DD drivers. GOOD LUCK

Tyll The legend Still in the year 2024 :)

Tyll does a great job once again, cheers sir! I haven't tried the HD800s yet, but I own a pair of HD650s and HD600s. That being said, I don't understand why the Beats are even mentioned in this videos comments. These phones are all about sound-quality, un-like the Beats.

If you can't afford the HD800's and you want to reach midfi-hifi audio , I recommend the Hifiman HE-500's + Emotiva Mini X a-100. The HD800s sounds beautiful and definitely has one of the best imaging I've ever heard in a headphone. However your going to need to spend top $ for a dedicated tube amp (WA22) to reach the HD800's full potential. Still I found the HE-500's to be a strong contender vs the HD800's when paired with a powerful speaker amp. The Mid's and vocals of the HE-500's are very lushes and can sound superb when listening to jazz , classical and vocals :). Also not to forget that you don't want to have any bottleneck's in your setup when buying the HD800's and 500's, meaning that your also going to need a really good DAC. The DAC's I currently own that sounds excellent with both HD800's and He-500's are the Schiit Bifrost With the new Uber Technology (My favorite DAC), Dacport LX (sounds very good for the price) , and the HRT Music Streamer II +. Please don't disrespect the HD800's using it in a shitty ipod or home theatre system, because your just wasting money and your only going to be disappointed. The HD800's is a true Classical Headphone and deserves nothing but the best hifidelity audiophile system. I recommend visiting Headfi.org if you want a lot of information on headphones amp's and DAC'S.

These without a doubt. Make sure you have a massive safe with a little mini safe inside it. You'll want to store it there every time you leave the house.

It's not too big of a room. Just working out of my bedroom. I'm not producing music for anyone else but myself; however, I do of course try to get the best sound I can with what I have. I definitely know the weaknesses of headphones; therefore, I often mixdown a song and go test it on my PA system and/or my parents cheap computer speakers. Not the best reference, but I seem to do alright. My music is certainly lofi, but I think i've progressed to the point that it's on the higher end of lofi now

its not just about the frequencie range, they both have different sound signature.

Differences with solid state amp's are readily audible with HD800. A decent Class A stage will give you this too. I love the HD800s to bits and I am using them on solid state. Tube Musical fidelity XCAN v2 works well too. As an ESL fan surprisingly I even prefer them to my old Stax lambda, 800 offers better soundstaging, comfort and dynamics and bass clarity, however I have never used the new top end Stax models. All the Stax I have heard have a certain magic but the HD800s are the best to me.

He said at 6:02 that the Stax 009 is the best sounding headphone in the world, but you got to admit these Sennheiser HD800 sound great and the build quality is amazing.

It really depends on what you will be using them for. Open back are usually not good for tracking vocals, as the sound from the headphones will get picked up in the recording. On the other hand if you are doing a mix down and prepping for mastering, open back you will get more accurate results. There will never be a "best" headphone out there because everyone's needs are different. These headphones sound as if your studio monitors are right in front of you. They are defiantly on my list :)

Wonderful review, Tyll. Warms by heart to see a Professional face in the headfi community give these the review I've always thought they need. Thanks man!

i just bought the hd600's and love it. I am currently looking for a tube and to drive them. I went to the head-fi meetup in portland yesterday, and with proper amplification the hd600's sound way better than my cheapie Fiio e17 amp/dac.

Conductor thickness and composition has a mayrid of effects across the spectrum. These are known, calculable factors. Just ask anyone in the telcom industry about all the amplification adjustments they have to make across the frequency spectrum to deliver signals.

Good quality electronics are certainly worth having. I find HD800 trounces the HD600/650's on mainly Classical, acoustic but also rock, pop & electronic music even when used from very affordable hardware, detail, space, resolution, depth, bass, treble extension. Of course a good quality class A stage is well worth having, it would be stupid not to use a decent sounding amp as HD800 will expose weakness from gritty, harsh output stages. Valves are not needed but a good neutral tube amp will work

the cable is made from gold so electric sounds from the output is the most clear and awesome as it is

I think you should do a video of your wall of fame eventually. You are extremely professional and I would love to see your recommend headphones.

I like your choice of words : "... they are 'bassed' solely on image ... ". Nice.

To each his own. What's expensive to you may not be expensive to someone else.

Somehow the hd800 even works with androids and iphones if anyone (anyone amateur like me) is wondering. Don't waste your money on any monster or other product. Invest in the best of the best and then teach yourself as you grow into being a true audiophile. Best decision I ever made and honestly I have so much to learn

Hello Tyler. I sold my Beyerdynamic T1 and used the money I got from that to fund my LCD-2 Rev 2 with Q Audio Cable. I am also thinking about the HD800, the headphone which started the audiophile journey for me. Hopefully the D7000, ATH-AD2000, HD800, and the LCD-2 REV 2 will be all that I buy...until I get bored and buy the STAX headphone.

Some people still listen to their music on an actual sound system with hardcopy cds or lossless audio files. I agree that if you are just listening to mp3s on your phone you wouldn't notice much difference with expensive headphones. That being said, I love my HD650s but the price on the 800s is a little steep for me. Some of the highest end audiophile stuff amounts to paying thousands of dollars extra for a minute difference in sound quality.

These lack bass unless you get an aftermarket cable. Mids and highs are the best though.

smooth-sounding cable

I bought these headphones after many review. I agreed with your annalisys once I tried them out comparing them with the akg's

Just noticed. Is that a Harbeth p3esr in the background?

This headphones + FLAC music =

Its because the differences between amps are so small its often not worth mentioning. When audiophiles say its a big difference between amp A and amp B, in reality 95% of people would not even notice the differences. And in blind tests, audiophiles themselves often don't. Its been done many times and many failed pretty drastic blind tests....like 150 vs 1000$ amp.

True. The only beats worth getting are the pros. And then i should add in that they shouldn't be used on a laptop but a desktop with a good audiocard like ASUS Xonar STX. Yes, there's a huge difference in sound between that.

I'm setting up a site called, infidelity, but my wife doesn't know about it. She thinks I go fishing.

@GTRMclaren722 Depends. If you want dead-neutral amplification, go with Lehmann Black Cube Linear or Burson HA-160 (for more attack and intimacy). If you want them smoother and more musical, try tube amps and experiment with different tubes. They are picky headphones...

Man, forget the headphones. I GOTTA have that $700 snake oil cord.

no open back headphones increase soundstage about 5 fold. however, by that point it is mainly user preference.

You sir must be a Beats fanboy. Not surprisingly, I wouldn't expect more from you.

@chunky1x they're for home / professional use. Not your average headphone sir.

@PFULMTL Well, if you live in lower mainland, Canada. You can always checkout the headphonebar. They have HD800 on display.

These headphones are HUGE! But his hands make them look so minuscule!

@ytfmichaelxu Tube amps use tubes for the circuitry instead of transistors. Technically this is the only difference. You can connect ANY headphone amp to a DAC as long as they share the same type of connections - which they very often do.

I thought this guy was considered to be the real deal but he said a $700 cable makes it sound better.

i really want something with skull thumping bass like the studio beats, but i dont want the bass to drown everything else out, and i want to hear every little detail that their is to be heard,price is no matter

@AdrianIII Amazing how one can write a comment that you wrote without knowing what he's talking about and having absolutely no experience with this stuff...and still get the most thumbs up.

I had the honor to listen to them on a highly headphones amp and on my Fiio X5 they are very very good sounding headphones but the only issue I have is that the Bass is too shy/bright In my opinion, but the image and coloring is absolutely amazing, they remind me of electro-magnetic loudspeakers,but again - if only sennheiser had add a little more bass to them they could truly be the perfect headphones in the world

It's best to look around places like Head-Fi. You can run em' on cheaper options like the Bottlehead Crack, or Lyr/Bifrost combo. Expensive ones could be something like the WA2, Mjolnir/Gungnir, some sort of balanced system, etc. Keep looking and see what you want from the amps.

Smooth sounding cable? seriously? Are there measurements?

If you can't afford the HD800 I recommend the AKG 701 or 702.

I want these headphones. My inspiration to get an education and a good career.

I'll definitely check them out, thanks. Perhaps I might be foolish, but I don't actually have monitors. I just assumed that it would make more sense to get really good headphones rather than decent monitors in an untreated room. On top of that, I know it's ideal to have monitors, but like I said, in the situation I'm in I don't think it'd work well in my room, plus lots of people are listening to music on headphones these days. Correct me if I'm wrong though. I'm new to producing music.

@miceblue425 what i mean was the outside. what you feel and touch. to me it looks like it is just plastics. that is what i meant not the actual mechanics of it. sorry for any misinterpretation.

Good review. I still don't think cables can make a difference, unless you're going balanced with a balanced amp.

You should check out the Audeze LCD-2 and LCD-3. They're arguably the kings of bass in the hifi scene.

I really wish he used better audio recording equipment when doing a review of some of the best and most expensive cans.

With an enclosed back, frequencies resonate inside the piece and produce an unnatural sound. Also, quality will be lower when it is enclosed back because there is a seal between the driver and your ear.

Nice review, but some baffling talk about the aftermarket cable.

Bro, no audiophile would even touch those headphones.

@PFULMTL You can always try them out in retailer shops.

I love the Ultrasone HFI-580, but instead of edition 10 I think you should try the Audeze LCD-2. It's not the most comfortable headphone, but sounds amazing, better bass and its cheaper than the Edition 10.

Theres a 1,400 HD800 cable. Audiophile is short for guilable. But cables can influence the sound.. No placebo. I bought a 160.00 Cardas cable expecting improvement with my HD650. There was none. I had my SA5000 recabled with the HD650 cable, expecting no change, and there was a difference to the sound, all negative. I did not expect to hear a difference. Another owner had his SA5000 recabled with the the HD650 stock cable. He emailed me about the difference in sound. Also negative.

I got the ath-m50's and they're great. I plan to explore Grado a bit.

@sainteustatious How is it made of low-quality materials? Pretty much everything about the HD800's was engineered for a purpose, just like the new HD700's. This video just demonstrated the not low-quality materials. If you're looking for a bassy headphone, the HD800's are not your choice; these are flat/neutral/analytical headphones which is what many audiophiles want in a headphone. You're better off with a bass-oriented Denon headphone if you want a large bass presence.

Even when they "don't sound as good as they should" they probably sound 10 times better than most headphones out there (even in it's own and above priceclasses), It doesn't mean that they sound bad. Rather that they don't sound exactly as good as they can.

Hi,today we are gonna talk about one of the world's best headphones and some snake oil.

Unboxing the Amazing Sennheiser HD 800

@ianmedium Well there is no way to measure greatness with these. Different reviewers have different tastes and lab tests don't equal pleasing sound. At the end of the day it's personal preference. You can trust somebody's ear when they like what you like. It sounds like you prefer imperfect but pleasing distortion, and others may prefer absolute clarity. I can see the advantages to both and there is no right or wrong conclusion, just your personal preference.

you and really just say that, both have there own sound signature and people may like the stax better and people may like the senns better, there is not one that is definitely better its all up too the person.

I had the pleasure of listening to the Stax 009 and then the HD 800 at a local headphone meet and it was like I had new ears. Walked around kinda in a daze for a few minutes afterwards.

I just need a solid set of cans around $100 to hook up to my iMac and not need any amp so the v-moda crossfade lp's are doing just fine. Oh well, maybe next time I will look in the $200 range.

For some reason, I highly doubt that you can tell a difference in sound by the cable you are using. Like, if I took two identical headphones and had you listen to each while blindfolded, but only one of them had that expensive cable, I do not believe you could tell me which one it was.

@ianmedium My next video is a modification to the HD 800 that may cure the problem for you.

@AdrianIII Besides, once you have a 5000 dollar headphone setup, giving another 800 dollars to get that little bit more out of it is not that bad, for people who can afford it.

@InnerFidelity Thank you Tyll, i must admit I wrote what I did before the end of the video so I appologise for jumping the gun in understanding your views. Funny thing was that I had just got back from hearing them again against my Audezes and they just felt boring for want of a better word, I am looking forward to your next video. Funny thing is I like Sennhieser and have always liked the sound they make but this one just did not do it for me!

so the hi fi headphones will provide crystal clear sound with skullthumping bass?

You can compare Inner Fidelity's (Tyll Hertsens) written review with the observations in this video. His review is titled: "Monster Beats by Dr. Dre Pro", from 2011.

it's true that headphone are pretty much limited after 600~800 price point, the little bit more better = much more money ;) , it's only for people going for top sounding or extreme audiophiles

I mean I guess you could, but most studios use closed back monitors

i prefer the hd25s. but on a lower budget the audio technica ath-m50's are quite astonishingly great.

ok thanks for that information, i am having a really hard time deciding which headphones are going to be suitable for me

Dunno what you're on about.. I simply stated that I'd rather spend 200$ on Audio-Technica or V-MODA than 1500$ on headphones. I believe that you can buy something a bit more reasonable than headphones with 1500$, even if you are an audiophile.

finally~ was wondering when you're gonna review these beasts!

But whatever the reasons, what most amazes me how people everywhere just naturally "assume" that view, like it's some sort of atmospheric influence like so many thing that people just "assume"....

Bro, you want to ride your bike to a job 20 minutes away when it's 20 degrees in the morning and your shift starts at 7 AM but you'll have these headphones?

These don't lack bass. They are true to the track. If the artist wants more bass then he should just mix more into the track

Those headphones are not meant to be used with portable devices.People these days assume that everyone listens to their music on their phone or mp3 player and that is not correct.

Did you also find that the "removable" snap-in tabs could've perhaps been made a tad more easy to remove...?

i quite like the design

I would love to hear how they compare to the awesome Grado SR1000i

They do not need an expensive Headphone amp. They work superbly with any decent, well designed Solid state headphone amp, many of which cost a fraction of the cost of the phones. a well designed amp less than a tenth of the price of the phones is easily capable of showing the significant advances made over the HD600 HD650 and the new HD700s. HD800 is vastly superior.

"Brutally honest"? Sign my ass up.

I forgot to add, that I want the best headphones under $400. I definitely do not have a thousand to just throw around. I just want to make sure that I'll get the best headphones for their value. So whatever you think is the best pair of headphones for mixing and mastering under $400 I'd love to hear it.

Depends on who you ask.

You seem blown away by these headphones :) Great review :)

I would imagine my iMac is a good enough source but the amp would definitely be needed. I feel like a fool since I just got the original v-moda crossfade lp. Got em new for $125 which isnt that bas for that price range I guess. I needed a decent set of cans for my iMac and they sound good so far.