Sennheiser HD 800 S Over-Ear Open-Back Headphones

The HD 800 S is the reference point for open-back headphone design at this price — a 56mm ring radiator driver housed in an ear cup large enough that the driver sits beside the ear rather than over it, which is the physical reason for its soundstage. Most headphones image between the ears; the HD 800 S images in front of the listener. That's not a subtle difference. The S variant adds an absorber element to the rear resonator chamber that reduces a treble peak present in the original HD 800 — the result is more usable across a wider range of recordings without softening the fundamental character of the transducer. 300 ohms, 102 dB sensitivity. It wants a proper headphone amplifier; on a portable device it will play, but it won't perform. Ships with balanced XLR and single-ended 6.35mm cables. Made in Germany.