Drop + Sennheiser HD 8XX

The Hd 8xx has been under some negative light however in my own opinion I think it’s a very good headphone. The comfort is excellent, it has a very light clamping force, so if you like to jam out to songs this might not be the headphone for you because it might come off your head. The sound stage is excellent, it is very wide and revealing. However I must note that the sound stage is not as wide as the Hd800s but it’s a very slight margin. Some people might disagree but that’s ok. Imaging is top notch. I am able to tell where each instrument is whether it’s behind me, in front, left or right. Which in turn makes this a very good gaming headphone. The mids are somewhat to be desired. To me it’s not as bad as what people say it’s going to be but it’s more of a colder/darker tone and it’s not as bright as the Hd800s. Some people may like that in a phone and some people may not in my personal opinion I don’t mind it. The bass is alright, to me there is a little bit more punchiness to the bass but the detail in the bass is a little lacking compared to the Hd800s. The treble is reduced a little bit compared to the Hd800s which is good for some people. If you get fatigued by treble then the Hd 8xx may be a better option for you than the Hd800s. Your gonna need an amp for this since it has high impedance (300ohms). I prefer using tubes for the Hd 8xx cause it brings a little more warmth to the Hd 8xx. Using a balanced cable is the way to go. Using a balanced cable brings out more detail. Overall I would give this headphone a 4.5/5 which is excellent in my own opinion. If you can get the Hd 8xx on sale on drop’s official website I would recommend you do that instead.

What does top quality sound like compared to cheaper headphones? Tuning aside... Just detail/quality wise. These sound about twice as good as a hd560s/akg 612 in almost all aspects. They sound about 30% better than the akg 702s. And about 17% better than the 7hz timeless which are 260 dollars. (Obviously soundstage feel is bigger compared to iems. Like 300%) So TL:DR 300ish headphones/iem have about 80% of the quality of some of the popular top headphones. I'd it worth it to pay 2x-4x for that? Sure you can go even higher but at that point it's mostly tuning and feel of the headphone. If you use EQ then your getting a 800s for half price new. Don't let the idiots who pay 400 dollars for cables that don't do anything con you. Also don't do the sticker mod it's been measured by talented people and shown to not change the sound in any significant way. Just another trick of the mind. Sounds amazing after EQ, they have an open sound but it's still really in your head. You have to use software to emulate speakers in a room. Which they work well for... Before EQ the mids have a horn like tone too them. My only con is its really really heavy. But also the most comfortable over the ears I e worn. They basically rotate to your head and flap over onto your ears. So basically no clamp force however that means looking up or down they slide a bit on your ears.

Like most people have said, stock sound signature is a bit muddled and thick. Using Equilizer APO and HeSuVi and grabbing an EQ, these sound amazing. With the added stickers, it does sound a bit more closed off than the 800S (which I had and sold), but these to my ears are more exciting to listen to than the 800S was (again, after EQ). The 800S sounded bass-less, but with these, they seem to slam a bit with EQ. A very enjoyable listening experience. Soundstage sounds about the same as the 800S as well. Big fan of these, and they compliment my LCD-X quite well (also have a 6XX and LCD-GX). Absolutely a blast for gaming as well. Was hoping they'd go on sale, but for $1100, this isn't the worst deal in the world. You can typically find them used for a few hundred less, but it seems like so few of these were made that they're hard to find in the used market. They had 2 left on here so I decided to treat myself and grab a pair. Do not regret the purchase.

So bad. I’d maybe pay $20 for these, but sadly these are bad. So bad. Someone, or a team of someone’s should feel ashamed of themselves.

These were my "Holy Grail" set of headphones. I know they sound great, but I have a gut feeling that these are used, and the way Amazon packaged them just makes it more justified that I'm returning them. Love the headphones, but the damage to the factory cover and box they come in are just disappointing. Also, the contents of the headphones and cables were not inside their foam cutouts all the way. They shouldn't be able to move around freely like that if they were placed correctly. Update: Its 08/07/23, I returned the headphones on 07/09/23, Amazon received it on 07/11/23, still waiting on the refund to be processed.

WOW, the soundstage of these headphones blew my mind, i have never heard anything like that, (i have owned HD 660, Byerdynamic DT 1990) now i have a standard when it comes to compare soundstage. Here the parts that i do not like: - NO BASS - Required more expensive gears (Tube amp to make sounds warmer for my taste, good DAC to make they sound better, i am currently running over PC DAC 24 bits 192khz and a ONKYO receiver) But for my budget, paying this much for a pair (1400CAD) that cannot perform "okay" by themselves is not "okay". RETURNED.