Sennheiser’s closed-back flagship deliver an engulfing soundstage, precise imaging, and supreme resolution. Sadly, the odd bass tuning and peaky lower-treble mar the experience.

Top-class closed-back headphones, but some of the tuning decisions seem a little odd

While the Sennheiser HD820 does certain things like detail retrieval and soundstage extremely well for a closed-back headphone, I would only really recommend it to those who are willing to do a bit of EQ.

The problem for Sennheiser is absolutely not the technical performance of the HD820s. They are, as far as my ear can tell, entirely distortion-free. They don’t have any weird peaks or valleys in their sound, and they tend to stay mostly faithful to the music they play. But putting them on doesn’t fill me with the same sense of anticipation that I get any time I’m within reach of a Focal Utopia. Listening to music with them doesn’t make my heart beat faster or my head bop. And, most importantly, I’d prefer a pair of the cheaper and superior HD 800 S over the pricier and imperfect HD820 a hundred times out of a hundred.

he Sennheiser HD 820 are a bit more versatile than the HD 800 S thanks to their closed-back design. They isolate a bit more in noisy environments, and they leak a little less. They also have an excellent build quality that feels high-end and durable and a decently well-balanced sound that makes them a good choice for audiophiles that prefer a bit more bass. Unfortunately, they do not sound quite as good as the HD 800 S which will be disappointing for some, especially due to the price difference. Also, they're still rather bulky critical listening-only headphones so they won't be versatile enough to take outdoors or for other more casual use cases since they are not designed for that. On the upside, they are a decent option to watch movies, thanks to their low latency and decently long audio cable.

The HD820 are pricey, but they are the most capable pair of closed-back headphones we’ve tested