- Sennheiser didn't set out to make the classic DJ headphone, but the HD 25 is just that: it's loud as hell and tough as nails, making it a near-perfect piece of kit for the countless DJs who love (and abuse) them. Earlier this year, Sennheiser—the German electronics powerhouse known for its mics and headphones—released the HD6, HD7 and HD8, a new line of headphones that didn't just accommodate DJs and producers, but set out to meet their needs specifically. It was as if they were saying, "You saw what we could do when we weren't trying. Imagine what we can pull off when we do."
Improving on the HD 25, though, is no easy task when there's next to nothing wrong with them in the first place. They're lightweight and compact yet substantial. And if you crush a cup, rip a pad, shred the cord or otherwise mangle them, whatever's wrecked can be pretty easily replaced. Small cans be damned, they can pump out high levels—though good isolation means you probably don't need to. However you break down the advantages, there's the less tangible fact that at this point, people know how the headphones feel and sound, and lots of DJs love them as much as one can love a $200 piece of professional electronics. When showing a Berlin techno DJ the HD8s I'd been sent, he pulled aside his shirt to show me an HD 25 tattoo, and somehow I wasn't shocked at his devotion. All of which is to say that Sennheiser are climbing uphill with the HD8, the headphone line's flagship pair, no matter how good their product is.
Out of the box (and the hard carrying case they come in), the heavier, bulkier HD8s certainly feel like a departure. Where the standard-model HD 25 was all black plastic, the HD8s are built from ostensibly higher-end materials: metal around the oblong cups, thick and seemingly indestructible plastic at the headband. (That band doesn't split into two parts like on the HD 25s, a feature that most DJs never used.) Where HD 25s leave some critical cable connections disconcertingly exposed, the HD8s keep them internal. The cable itself is detachable and can plug into either the right or left cup, and each pair comes with both a coiled and straight one. I found the cable to be one place where the new headphones improved on the old—where the flat, brittle stock cable on the HD 25s easily tangled and always felt a little too short, the HD8's are circular, substantial and long enough for DJs to move around practically any booth without taking their headphones off.
The one noticeable design nod to the HD 25 is the pivoting cups. On the HD8, both the right and left cup swivel, allowing for single-ear monitoring on whichever ear you prefer. Each cup only slides into three fixed positions—the HD 25 is sweepable over nearly 180 degrees—and they're all a little awkward. A diagram on the website implied that the fully-forward position for both cups was best for listening with both ears, but I found this worked best at the center position. However I set them up, though, the cups fell at an angle that tended to pull back my ears, more or less ruling these out for outside-the-booth listening. In the context of mixing, I didn't mind beatmatching when both cups were set to that middle position. Pulling one of the cups to the fully-back position also worked well for me. But if I wanted to reconfigure mid-mix, when no one is at their gentlest with the equipment, I could easily disrupt the position of the other cup. Occasionally, I'd knock the other cup into the fully-forward position (which, for me, worked best for shoulder-monitoring while the headphones were around my neck), at which point I couldn't really get either cup over an ear without taking them off and readjusting. I got better at this with practice, but the three-position design struck me as clunky and a bit limiting in general.
Thus, my immediate reaction to DJing with the HD8s was discomfort and disappointment. But after a week or two, what at first felt kind of heavy and stiff started to feel sturdy and comfortable. The kind of tricks you develop over time with headphones—lifting one of the cups up to your ear with your shoulder for a quick mix check, for example—definitely came in time with these. What I could never quite get used to, though, was how they sounded. As I mentioned before, these are definitely optimized for DJs, not home listeners, so you don't necessarily need the most accurate or pleasant sound. (HD 25s, with their beastly low-end and otherwise clinical sound, aren't ideal for home listening, either.) Still, I found the HD8s nasal, woolly and hollow. The low-end is clear, but not quite as accurate as I'd like, with a rumble that to my ears upset some of the low-mid range. The imaging was also disappointing, not producing a cohesive stereo mix nearly as well as my HD 25s or the Audio-Technica ATH-M50s I use for listening at the office. I did notice, though, that I wasn't cranking the levels up quite as high, likely due to some combination of DJ-mixer-optimized impedance and excellent isolation.
The HD8s certainly have their plusses and minuses, but despite the latter, they're still a worthy addition to a crowded marketplace. They're far better made (and feel way more considered design-wise) than any other pair of large, closed-back DJ headphones I've come across. Still, I can't think of a reason I'd recommend these over the classic Sennheiser DJ headphone—HD 25s cost less and sound better, and they've got a few decades of road-testing backing them up. When I pulled my trusty pair out of the closet at the end of testing, they felt and sounded like an old friend. If I came across HD8s in a booth or during a back-to-back set, I certainly wouldn't refuse them, but it's hard to see how they'll establish themselves as a first choice.
Ratings:
Cost: 3/5
Versatility: 3/5
Sound: 2.5/5
Build: 4/5