HD 800 S

Daily drives an HD 800 S bought used for about €750: only marginally better than the Arya Stealth in resolution and soundstage, and it lacks the Arya's low end, which EQ can't fully recover.

Daily drives the HD 800 S for orchestral, vocal and soundtrack music and gaming: the expansive soundstage and imaging work well for Counter-Strike, and with a big head it's the most comfortable headphone they've tried.

“Plus I have a big head (1 notch from maxing them out) but these are perfect for me - the most comfortable headphones I've yet to try.”

Calls the HD 800 S the king of comfort and soundstage, but the bass is too recessed for them and EQing it up eventually hurts the stage.

Would keep the HD 800 S: the most comfortable headphones they've worn, and they take EQ well to fix timbre issues.

Owns an HD 800 S and finds it the least versatile headphone they've owned: weak bass, an artificial, detached stage and treble peaks that make metal messy; great only for classical and vocal music.

“I also have an HD800S, and out of all headphones I’ve owned, I’d regard it as the least versatile. I don’t like its bass extension;”

After owning at least eight $1,000-plus headphones, sold the rest and kept only the HD 800 S for mixing and mastering: fantastic imaging, better slam than planars and great mid and high detail despite limited bass extension.

“When trying out many other brands, I always found myself coming back to the HD800 and eventually sold all my other headphones and kept the 800S alone. Imaging is fantastic, dynamic slam is much better than on planar headphones”