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Updated January 10, 2024·
The Sennheiser HD800S offers superior overall sound quality, comfort, and a wide soundstage which is excellent for an immersive listening experience at home, especially for music and critical listening; however, they are open-backed and won't isolate noise well, making them less ideal for noisy environments or commuting. The Turtle Beach Recon 70 is more affordable and better suited for gaming given its boom microphone for clear communication and closed-back design for some noise isolation, but it may not match the Sennheiser's sound fidelity or comfort for long listening sessions. Give Feedback
this description is based on the product variant with some specs and product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars and the variant with some specs cost some dollars.
Advantages of the Sennheiser HD800S
Best in class for music
Best in class for TV and video
Very good for podcasts and audiobooks
Advantages of the Turtle Beach Recon 70
Best in class for phone calls
Very good for gaming
Key differences
Music
9.9/10
7.1/10
The Sennheiser HD800S is best in class for music, while the Turtle Beach Recon 70 is good.
Gaming
7.5/10
8.4/10
The Turtle Beach Recon 70 is very good for gaming, while the Sennheiser HD800S is good.
Phone Calls
5.0/10
9.6/10
The Turtle Beach Recon 70 is best in class for phone calls, while the Sennheiser HD800S is poor.
TV and Video
9.7/10
7.5/10
The Sennheiser HD800S is best in class for TV and video, while the Turtle Beach Recon 70 is good.
Noise Reduction
2.5/10
5.6/10
The Turtle Beach Recon 70 and Sennheiser HD800S are both poor for noise reduction, though the Turtle Beach Recon 70 is somewhat better.
Cost
$1,390
$40
$0
$100
$200
$300
$400
The Sennheiser HD800S has a price of $1,390 and the Turtle Beach Recon 70 costs $40.
Build Quality
9.0/10
8.5/10
The Sennheiser HD800S has excellent build quality, while the Turtle Beach Recon 70 has very good build quality.
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Sennheiser HD800S to be very good for podcasts and audiobooks, while the Turtle Beach Recon 70 is good.
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How the Sennheiser HD800S and the Turtle Beach Recon 70 compare to other earbuds and headphones
"The cans offer stellar sound quality, comfort, and good maintenance options—so they're an easy recommendation if you have the cash and the need for the last headphones you'll buy for years."
"There aren’t many considerations to make here. The Turtle Beach Recon 70 sounds decent, offers solid chat audio, feels good to wear over long periods, and it works everywhere. If you’re in the market for a simple plug-and-play option, you could do a whole lot worse (and spend a whole lot more money). Regardless, if getting something cheap that works well is the only thing you care about, this is a great option."
Get a great deal on the Sennheiser HD800S or the Turtle Beach Recon 70
About Sennheiser
A family-owned company, Sennheiser is a German, high fidelity, audio equipment manufacturer founded in 1945. Their consumer audio division is now owned by the Swiss hearing aid and cochlear implant manufacturer Sonova. Sennheiser offers a wide variety of, very high quality, audio equipment solutions, from headphones to earbuds, full sets of monitoring speakers, amplifiers and microphones. They also make what is widely regarded as the best, and most expensive, headphones in existence, the HE-1 Orpheus, costing a whopping $59,000 dollars.
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This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec earbuds & headphones team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest earbuds or headphones information and makes it digestible for you.
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About the Earbuds or Headphones team
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Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.
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