Anyone heard a recent HD800?

Ryanr1987 · 20 Sep 2016 at 19:15

So I've had my HD800 for a bit and I've noticed that the 6khz peak doesn't seem as rowdy. They are the newer black box like all the Senns. I had a old model before 2012(I think) for a while and it was piercing! It's still a bit present but never comes across as over the top, rough like I remember :confused:

Some sounds are a bit off compared to the 650 like the mids don't transition into into treble as smoothly, reminds of the 65th Annie but without the AKG brittleness.

I had some extra warm tubes just in case but I don't need them, the Mojo runs them fine and the peak isn't too bad. I can tell it's there but it doesn't seem like an ice pick like before. Could I be finally becoming a man and losing my sensitivity :cool:

I don't think Senn have made any changes but would be curious to see if other people have a less mental peak?

rids57 · 20 Sep 2016 at 20:58

Maybe it's just your ears getting older - it takes something really bad to push my high frequency annoyance button

simisker · 30 Sep 2016 at 15:53

I've got newish HD800s [s/n 40xxx] and do find myself a bit bemused when I read that someone else's HD800s sliced their timpanic membrane to ribbons.

Yeah, there's a bit of a presence peak, but it's only really noticeable to me when I bypass the Sonarworks plugin that flattens the FR curve. Even then, it's not as wince-worthy as, say, my old DT-880s. Or my Dunu 2000DJs, come to that [well, before I tamed them with comply tips].

While I may have mid-forties hearing, I can still hear a difference when I add some 16k+ 'air' to a track I'm mixing. So I'm ruling natural ageing out, before rids suggests it

Maybe there's something in the 'two noticeably different batches' theory. I don't think I'll ever get my hands on an early pair to put it to the test, though, unfortunately.

Ryanr1987 · 30 Sep 2016 at 16:07

The 2012 pair was really annoying to listen to for anything other than games. This pair will irritate my ears after listening but doesn't exactly annoy me anymore. I still find them not as musical and engaging in certain tracks but their vocal reproduction is very good.

I listen to the 800's a lot lower in volume than say my LCD-2 or 650 so that will help a lot but at higher volumes I only get some ear irritation after. I'm more sensitive to upper mid peaks found in the AKG headphones, they really affect vocals for me.