Good for neutral listening. These headphones are comfortable to wear for hours at a time and deliver a decently well-balanced sound and a bit more bass, on average, than the Sennheiser HD 800 S. Unfortunately, their bass is prone to a lot of inconsistencies across multiple listeners, and they do not sound quite as good overall. They have a large soundstage for a closed-back design, but it's nowhere near as spacious as the HD 800 S. Their mid-range is also a bit too forward. It pushes instruments to the front of the mix, but there's a dip in the lower mid-range that creates a hole in their audio reproduction. This makes it feel like something is always missing in the mid-range no matter what track you're listening to, which is a little disappointing, especially considering the price gap between the HD 820 and the HD 800 S. Some audiophiles will appreciate the deeper bass of the HD 820 and the relatively large soundstage for a closed-back design, but it may not be worth the investment for most.