Fellow newbie here, i wanted to know is the sound signature for these 2 are close or HD6xx is darker than the HD569? HD6xx and HD650 is a very similar headphones based on what i read on the internet and reviewers. I saw a lot of people said that HD650 has a dark sound, is it really that dark tho? I actually prefer a warm sound and smooth mid range like the HD569, is the HD6xx a good upgrade? Currently using the IFI Zen dac
569 is one of the closed-back, correct? One thing to keep in mind.
I think you’ll find them a bit softer than 569 in treble response, with even more mid-range focus.
I don’t know that I would call them dark, but warm is true.
I don’t know much about what you’re looking for, but warm, smooth mid-range sounds like Senn-600 territory to me. I vote, yes.
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Because your ears are used to 569, you need more time with your new headphones to get used to the new frequency response (regardless of what you buy).
With HD6xx + Zen dac the first thing you’d probably notice is the sound is warmer and the bass is not as tight as HD569. You’re going to loose the bass so maybe you’d need the bass boost of Zen dac.
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Thanks for the replies. But i saw a lot of people saying 6xx’s midrange is more intimate compare to 600, is it true? Im actually stuck between these 2 right now
6xx is very very close to 650, this review comparison basically says that hd 650 will have more body for lower mids (including male vocalists) and hd 600 for higher mids (including female vocalists).
If you want a more balanced all around sound go for hd 6xx, if you want a little bit more focus on treble and vocal clarity go for hd 600.
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pretty sure if you drop a pair of 6XX’s they will sound like either 650 or 600, i’m not even talking hardwood but carpet here
3 drops on hardwood and 6XX sounds like 660
10 drops is HD800s
Sennheiser is on record that the 6XX has slightly less expensive plastics in its construction, but all sound-producing components are identical.
It’s really too close to call:
These are the classic InnerFidelity measurements from a few years back. Sorry – the only graph for the HD 569 I can find is in the less easy-to-read raw presentation. And don’t freak out if graphs are not your thing, I’ll translate, grin. The red set of lines are measurements of an actual HD6XX. The green is the HD569. (The black is a crude approximation of the 2013 Harman Target I drew in years ago for reference.)
Translation: this shows the 569 having a fair bit more mid bass, but the 6XX as being just slightly above neutral in the upper bass (around 200 Hz). The 6XX has slightly more forwardness to to the overtones of female vocals and higher pitched instruments (1 kHz to 3 kHz). Other than that it’s about a wash.
This is a different sort of frequency response graph. Here the neutrality reference has been squashed down into the flat green line. The red line is how the HD 650 (and presumably therefore the 6XX) varies from flat/neutral.
Translation: these are very slight differences. Again we see a slight elevation in the upper bass and lower mids. Some very slight wobbles in the upper mids. And a few decibels of quietness in the treble (the strong dip of the red line at 9 kHz has to be there for accurate spatial perception).
But there’s an important caveat, and one that explains a lot of the controversy as to how dark the 650/6XX really is:
Here’ we’re back to raw measurements, so none of the lines is anywhere close to straight across.
Translation: the important thing is how much lower the blue line (well-worn ear pads) is compared to the green line (brand new ear pads) in the treble. So as its ear pads get worn in the 650/6XX’s sound gets darker and darker.
BTW, with this in mind we can go back to the question of whether the 650 and 6XX are sonically identical. Here I’ve combined the InnerFidelity measurements for the two headphones:
Translation: While at first it looks as though the 650 has more bass and more treble, that’s exactly what the previous graph shows to result from a bit of pad wear. Or could be simple unit variation.
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thanks for the analytical explanation about it!