Back in 2009 Sennheiser HD800 pioneered New reference class in wired Headphones providing realistic and natural sound field with minimal resonance …. More than 60 years of ingenious headphone engineering has been applied again when they updated HD800 to all new & improved HD800S with Further optimization of reference class and introduction of Sennheiser’s patented absorber technology, a breakthrough that eliminates a phenomenon known as the “masking effect”, where absorber technology prevents any unwanted peaks and allows all frequency components in the music material to become audible.
With stunning new black color scheme …. it has much more Sound to deliver …
One of the best step is to provide you real sound purity is to provide with XLR-4 headphone cord for use with balanced-drive headphone amps.
How does A balanced headphone XLR-4 cable matters to me ?
XLR-4 is headphone jack with 4 connections [4 wires of equal size and impedance to carry the stereo signal]. This 4-wire balanced line cancels RFI and radio magnetic interference (RMI) naturally since each stereo channel’s two equal length and gauge wires both picking up the same electrical noise, so when the signal from the two wires is combined at the speaker the added noise cancels itself out.
I think if you wish to get purity and precision with impressively natural and spatial listening experience then XLR-4 connected with HDVD 800 is a perfect situation indeed 🙂
As said Both HD800 & HD800S shares same DNA Signature in the following areas ….
- Open, circum-aural design
- Perfect ergonomics, form, fit and finish
- Realistic delivering natural sound with minimal resonance just get in studio with the performers.
- Uncovered ear-cups provides best acoustic and styling
- Handcrafted in Germany, made from high-quality microfiber fabric
- Inner damping element inside the Metal headband
- Headphone connectors are manufactured to very high precision in Germany
What is improved in the all new HD800S ?
- Superior Bass:
Further tuning at the low end ensures smooth performance at the low end deep frequencies - XLR 4-pin headphone cable:
You get the XLR 4-pin headphone cable, importance of which I have already covered in the beginning of this post.
Lets go ahead and compare the technical specifications of both the headphones at a glance, as usual I have highlighted strengths in Green color for easy understanding and time saving.
Sennheiser HD800 vs HD800S Specs Compare
Reference Dynamic Headphones | Sennheiser HD800 | Sennheiser HD800S |
Best But Price | Best Buy Offer | Best Buy Offer |
Colour options | Silver finish | high-class Matt Black |
Drivers | 56 mm sound transducer | |
Impedance | 300 Ω Nominal | |
THD, Total Harmonic Distortion | 0.02 % (1 kHz 1 Vrms) | |
Frequency response | 6 – 51000 Hz (- 10 dB) | 4 – 51,000 Hz (-10 dB) |
Jack | Jack stereo ¼” (6,3 mm) | Jack stereo ¼” (6,3 mm) / XLR4 |
Contact pressure | ~ 3,4 N (± 0,3 N) | |
Cable length | 3 meters | |
Weight | Without cable: 330 g | Without cable: 330 g |
Features | New reference class in wired headphones | Further optimised reference class in wired headphones |
Specially tuned symmetrical, impedance matching cable with low capacitance | Specially tuned symmetrical, impedance matching cable with low capacitance + Additional cable with balanced XLR4 connector | |
Warranty | 2 Years |
I went through reviews of comparison of HD800 to HD800S on many famous websites ! But looks like none of them are having in-depth NVH knowledge to understand what the engineers from Sennheiser put-in for last 5 years !! When you judge the sound output just by listening few songs is not enough, the headset drivers has to perform over a range of frequencies going through complex wave performances eliminating resonance ! With 25 years spent in tuning automotive engines for NVH I can surely judge the performance of HD800S over HD800 !!
final words:
So the all new HD800S provides all the audio enhancements with cohesive & smooth music experience. The perfection of hand built in Germany with pristine clarity of this headphone, the XLR4 will provide life long listening experience … So I can surely say the premium it is surely worth to spend on HD800S.
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