• Sennheiser HD800

    Sennheiser HD800

    Prasad Naik, Jul 27, 2010 1550 hrs IST

    If only you could experience its magnificence would you agree that it is worth every penny you fork out

    Reference-grade audio quality, sturdy yet lightweight industrial design, comfortable even for extended durations, flaunt value, guarantees you respect from the audiophile community

    Not suitable for certain genres of music, will laugh at the output of your MP3 player, absolutely no noise isolation and plenty of audio leakage, price

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I'm aware that I might be the last person on Earth reviewing these headphones. The Sennheiser HD800 have been around for sometime now and during this time every person lucky enough to experience them and capable of putting together words to form a sentence has written about it. So why am I reviewing it now? Well, being a bit of an audio buff myself, I always dreamt of having the '800s wrapped around my head and find out for myself what it is like to use the world's best headphones. So when I did get a chance I went for it. I realized that I never really reviewed an audio product so expensive and that I may not be ready for it. But these issues seemed too trivial in comparison to getting a chance to test the HD800.




It's not easy to hide your excitement while writing about something that is so universally praised. Then there's also the problem that almost every thing you say has been said before or no matter what you say it is not going to change the opinion of people. Those who don't understand good audio will forever blame it for being unnecessarily expensive. Those who do, won't bother with what others have to say. For them this is the ultimate in headphone audio. And I must say I will agree with them.

What Sennheiser has done with the HD800 is, it has made a pair of headphones that will make you forget you are wearing a pair of headphones when you listen to it. The HD800's biggest party trick is to disappear completely. Well, not physically of course, but psychologically. There are two things that the headphones does to achieve this feat. One is by producing sounds that are not just close but sound exactly the same as they would in real life. And the secondly, by producing a sound stage as wide as the room you are sitting in.




The first time you listen to the HD800, you begin to wonder what all the fuss was about. Sure, they sound decent but still the price tag on them suggested something much more grand. But then eventually it hits you and after you spend a few minutes listening to them the price suddenly starts making sense.




You realize that you have been hearing it wrong all the time. The fact that the HD800 sounded disappointing at first is because your ears were trained on the wrong kind of sound. A sound where muddy mids, shrieking treble and boomy bass are the norm. The HD800 are designed to play sounds the way they were recorded. It's like listening to someone sing to you or play something for you. That's the first of the two qualities that makes these headphones so great.

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Discussion Board
(11) Comments
Deepak aka Chuc
,Mumbai, on Dec 18, 2010 09:59 PM
This is by far the most hilarious review of the HD800 I've ever read, and trust me, I've read almost all of them :D I currently own a pair of the excellent IE7s from Sennheiser, and people stare like monkeys with their jaws open when I tell them they cost me 12000. Too bad good audio is so devalued. I cannot wait to get my hands on the HD800s. In a few years. Again, excellent review.
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ManO
,Bengaluru, on Jul 28, 2010 10:24 AM
Brilliant Brilliant review!! Almost forgot it was an Indian site. I don't usually kiss-ass, but honestly, techtree is by far the best site for digital goods' reviews. Coming to this holy sennheiser headphone.. its clearly NOT for you and me. Its for the guy who has a Learjet on stand-by in his backyard hangar and waiting to take him and his band to perform at his next concert venue.
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dude
,kochi, on Jul 30, 2010 12:34 AM
So true, my friend...so very true.... It's for the well seasoned audiophile whose tastes are for classy music- not the common genres of hip-hop or trash metal. As for me, I'm not too seasoned to accept audiophile grade headphones. I like the fearsome basses and the exaggerated sounds of a consumer earphones- like the Creative EP-630. I listen 2 music 4 enjoying it- not 2 write a thesis about the band I'm listening to. BUT... some years later, I'll have matured enough to properly appreciate beauties like the HD-800 here.
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Sandeep Shete
,Pune, on Jul 29, 2010 10:39 AM
when i saw 80000 as price i first thought that its a mistake and price should be 8k for a headphone without noise cancellation but reading eighty grands in text helped me realise that its not a mistake from techtree
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rahul
,New Delhi-110022, on Jul 28, 2010 01:15 PM
outstanding & magnificent and one of the best reviews i have come across; hope to see some more mid segment sennheiser headphones in future which i can afford:) Also this should be on the home page of the website!!
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Mithun
,Bangalore, on Jul 28, 2010 09:20 AM
I would Prefer a IMac for 70k and 10 k a good i pod
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Rahul
,Bangalore, on Jul 27, 2010 10:00 PM
Sennheiser has to be the best and they are better than anything in this world, techtree should have Sennheiser more frequently
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sachin
,Mumbai, on Jul 27, 2010 07:56 PM
These are just amazing and have seen great reviews at all the places. I am sorry but how the hell could you even test these headphones with mp3 or iPod as that sounds very silly. Sennheiser seems to be ruling the world of headphones and where the hell are Bose's of the world!!!!
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nick192
,pune, on Jul 27, 2010 06:27 PM
OMG.. Rs.80000??? I'll prefer a Honda Dio(42k)+Acer Laptop(27k)+Apple iPod Nano 8GB(7.5k)+Sennheiser PCX200(3.5k)=80k... this is a better way to spend 80k.
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nick192
,pune, on Jul 27, 2010 06:28 PM
Not PCX200... Its PX200 :P
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Milford
,Mumbai, on Jul 27, 2010 05:30 PM
Great review i guess on the HD 800s. The looks only are enough for me :) Could you also do some reviews on the mid range sennheisers like HD 500 series or 400 series ?
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