It actually has some design issues with the power causing buzz/hum, which is why I Fitz Modded my Darkvoice 336se. It is a great starter OTL Tube Amp, but it isn’t perfect. Sounds great with higher impedance headphones like Sennheisers or Beyerdynamic 600 ohm DT880. Also, the Neumann NDH 20 sound great as well.
Would you say the 880 600 ohm is the entry point in terms of cost where tubes become beneficial?
I think it depends on one’s preference. The DT 880 makes sense at the price point… but the HD6xx is decent as well. The HD 600 is a toss up if you can get a decent price. The mids at 3500 khz are so shouty that some may actually prefer the DT 880.
1 Like
I’m actually pretty pleased with the bass of the HD600. It doesn’t thump like my Argons or CALs but it’s there. It just fills a different role imo. I actually dug up my old Shure E2c, which has significantly less bass. I bought some Grados out of curiosity, which I imagine will also have relatively anemic bass. HD600 seems neutral to me.
1 Like
The bass of the HD600 starts to roll off at 80 hz…so what you are hearing is only upper mid bass.
For anybody that listens to rock and metal, that is a significant amount of sound missing.
2 Likes
It’s not really the best choice for anything where a sizable amount of subbass is important lol
2 Likes
Yea fair enough. I guess it just doesn’t bother me haha.
For vocals though, the HD600 are great. Listening to the crooners or anything vocal centric is awesome on the HD600.
1 Like
Also to be clear the 6xx is a copy of the HD650, not the HD600.
In a previous thread I argued that older people like myself, who can’t hear the highest octave, will not be able to give a reliable report of a headphone’s tuning in that range. Oh no, everyone else said. The brain is a prediction engine. It fills in the missing information.
Funny that people know about this in one context but not in another. A person’s brain should be perfectly capable of filling in the missing sub-bass decibels. If you let it.
2 Likes
Of course, if I restrict myself to a 600 with a tube setup, I will find the bass sufficient overtime. I just think your goal is slammin bass the 600 isn’t for you lol
1 Like
No arg.
I would rather focus on whether the 600 and 650 earned their rep as all-rounders for a reason. Good at most things. Not necessarily best at any particular one of them. If they’ve been de-throned at their price point, by what?
(BTW, the 600 with its louder upper-mids might be more suitable for those who listen at gentler levels and the 650 for those who listen at louder levels.)
1 Like
It’s been dethroned in technicalities, but not in real enjoyment lol
Also now that you mention it, the 600 does sound better at lower volume… Never really thought about that lol
HD600 has been dethroned in technicalities by R70x in some ways.
does the R70x respond well to a tube amp?
1 Like
Yep. It has an even higher impedance too, 470 ohms.
I still think the 600 bests it on a tube (it just responds better imo), but on solid state I would def pick a r70x
1 Like
Yeah, I was just saying it does respond well still. Although you probably know exactly how it responds compared to the 600.
I have a pretty good idea but I don’t have a r70x on hand atm to do a direct comparison so not really exact (also subjectivity by nature is not an exact science lol)
That is true.