Thanks, Iāll give them a serious look. I think thereās an Audiophile store who only carries Audeze and AKG headphones in town so Iāll be able to look at them physically before buying them. Iām still really considering the 600ās though or at least a member of the 600 line. What are the main differences soundwise between a 600, 6xx and a 660s?
Lucky guy, grin. Wonder if you can get a good read on how well youāll adjust to the Audeze weight penalty. The new headbands are supposed to go a long way to easing that issue. But apparently those heavy Audeze double-sided magnets are there for a reason and are hard to beat.
You tell me and weāll both know. Iāve only heard the 600, and that with well-used ear pads. Iāve read and watched countless reviews, but the only take-away I feel at all confident in is that they all have the same confined, three-blobish sound stage. The meme is that the 6XX/650 is āveiledā compared to the 600 ā meaning less bright in the upper mids and treble. But Crinacleās measurements with recent specimens of 600 and 650 show little diff between the two, when both have fresh ear pads.
Does the 660S have slightly better technicals but a grainier treble than the earlier models? Some say so. Donāt think anyoneās claiming any stand out as being bass-prominent. Also donāt think many on this forum have heard all three at the same time and on the same electronics (except, of course, M0N, lol).
Anyone know where I can get the L/R headphone jacks for these cans? Or a replacement cable that isnāt a fake and doesnāt cost too much?
I got these generics a while ago. I happen to buy 2 pairs.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Y21P482
But if you rather have cardas, this is on sale right now.
I got these for a custom cable build, they actually fit better than the stock connectors for me: https://www.ebay.com/itm/HD650-Connector-Best-Quality-Sennheiser-HD650-HD600-HD565-HD580-HD414-Plug/112846308638
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Been listening to my recently acquired HD600 for most of my listening session today because I had to do a little repair job. When it arrived, I notice a buzzing/static sound coming from the left driver whenever low bass rumble is played (intro track from Blade Runner: 2049), an issue that was not disclosed by the seller. Anyways, the seller did say that I could return them for a refund, but (from the outside) the cans looked almost brand new.
Before I first put them on my head, my OCD forced me to replace the pads and headband with new ones. When I removed the pads and foam inserts, I noticed a bunch of stuck hair in the foam insert (not a good sign) and distortion/static greeted me when I played the above-mentioned track when testing the cans out even after cleaning out any dust, hair, and other detritus from the cups. Still, I loathed to send these nice looking HD600ās back. So, for the first time, I got to disassembling a Sennheiser HD6x0 can, previously I only got as far as changing pads (an extremely easy affair). So, kudos to Sennheiser for making it easy to take apart their HD6x0 cans:
As shown above, several strands of hair from the previous owner found their way into the driver chamber somehow. Notice how one almost looks like it laid under the voice coil(!). If it did, attempts to remove the hair may lead to the snapping of the thin and fragile voice coil. Thankfully, the picture showed that the hair was above the voice coil. Taking care not to touch the voice coil and the driver (having a steady pair of hands helps), I removed all of the hair that I could find.
After putting the left cup together again, I was greeted with no distortion from the 2049 intro track. Mission accomplished.
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Hello, Hope you are all doing well.
I am looking for a headphone upgrade/sidegrade. My budget is about 350-400$.
I currently own the Philips Fidelio X2HR and theyāre enjoyable for other genres, but for classical music their sound feels a bit too āartificialā and metallic in terms of timbre and naturalness.
So far iāve heard good things about the hd600ās timbre in particular so I felt like this was the place to ask. I have also heard about the narrow soundstage which would not be optimal with orchestral music, but if the timbre compensates for that iāll sacrifice the soundstage.
As I mentioned, the headphones I get will be my āclassical cansā and timbre/natural sound will be the most important factor, along with clarity. Are these my best bet or would you suggest other headphones?
P.S. I will be getting the Fiio K5 Pro DAC/Amp with whatever headphones you will suggest, since it seems like a solid budget option with decent power output. (not too informed with dac/amps as this will be my first buy).
Thank you in advance.
the headphones I get will be my āclassical cansā
Well, the HD600 is good enough for classical musicians (chamber ensemble in the video) to use them to check their mixes (countertop headband FTW):
For classical cans on a budget, I would be on the lookout for a used AKG K501 (they have long since been discontinued). They were specifically designed to be enjoyed with classical music (large concert hall-like soundstage).
A pretty good Amazon customer review of the AKG K501: https://www.amazon.com/AKG-K501-Hi-Fi-Headphones/dp/B0000D8BM7#customerReviews
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What pads is everyone using with their HD600? I wound up settling on the Dekoni fenestrated sheepskins. The stock pads felt a little harsh and the Dekoni suede too away too much from the top.
Welcome to the forum! Naturalness of its own timbre and naturalness in re-creating vocal/instrumental timbre is certainly the forte of the HD 600. And, yes, the sound stage is on the closed-in side. The most often mentioned alternative is the Hifiman Sundara, but I havenāt heard them so canāt say whether they have any of that hint of unnaturalness of timbre many planar magnetic headphones apparently have.
Apparently, the K5 Pro should have the power to drive either one, but whether thereās a better choice for amp+headphone synergy at that price point others will have to weigh in.
Yeah so iāve heard! If it works for them itāll probably be my best bet for the budget I have. I will keep on looking on the matter aswell to see if there are any other suggestions
Thank you good sir!
Do you think theyāre better than the 650ās on that regard? I donāt mind the shortness of bass either if they have better representation of naturalness.
Iāve looked onto that headphone aswell, but from what iāve heard planars (entry level cheaper ones to be exact) are not the best for classical music and more suited to other non-acoustic genres. Not sure though as I havenāt tried anything other than my X2HRs.
Here weāre getting into the realm where individual differences in ear anatomy make it impossible to predict* which will create the more neutral frequency response for a particular person. The 650 has very slightly less amplitude in the ear gain region than the 600 where mainly overtones live. The 600 is probably closer to the population average in that regard, but if you are on the same side of the bell curve as the 650, that would be the better choice. Iāve only heard the 600, but measurement graphs show the difference between the two is marginal in the bass and lower mids.
(* Actually, there is a way of measuring individual differences using an insert microphone, but most of us havenāt had this done, grin.)
Hifiman founder Fang Bian would be saddened to hear you say this, given he has all but the budget models tuned for concert hall accuracy. And the Sundara is clearly in the concert-hall-tuned group, lol. But independent graphs say their approach to this is non-standard. They consistently scoop out the 1 kHz to 2 kHz region, which apparently adds something positive to the sound stage. But many people do notice the negative effect this has on timbral accuracy. A shame, given how accurate the Sundara is tuned elsewhere. Even so, thatās apart from the matter of planar magnetic tendency to a āplastickyā edge to its sound. Donāt remember from reviews whether thatās an issue for the Sundara or no.
IAC, wasnāt trying to move you toward the Sundara. Just answering your question regarding HD 600 alternatives. BTW, in that regard the new Sennheiser 560S took the reviewing world by storm a few months back with itās ultra-accurate frequency response, not to mention a wider-than-normal sound stage. Downside is the HD 600 and 650 have somewhat better over-all sound quality in what we call the technicals, like detail retrieval and dynamics.
As a āclassicalā and especially orchestral obsessive Iāve been looking for that just-right headphone for years. But I settled on the beyerdynamic DT 1990 when I finally decided to shell out for something a bit premium, knowing Iād have to use EQ to get it to true frequency response accuracy. Later bought the 600 in hopes it would allow me to ditch the EQ, but no joy in that regard.
No way to know that then, I guess lol. Instinct is the way to go. Iāve read about the 6xx (equivalent of 650ās I think) that they have a warmer/low mid heavy presentation. Again, no way to know that for sure 'less we try them
Yea thatās what iāve read on some posts aswell, from which I got that idea
Also they have a more comfortable presentation of high-end I think, which helps in my case, since I donāt really like sharp treble. (I know that hating sharp treble sounds weird coming from an x2 owner but I eq the harshness I swear! haha)
Have you tried the HD800s? People say that itās the pinnacle for classical/orchestral in particular because of their soundstage. Many donāt like them though and say that theyāre too artificial-sounding.
Theyāre known to have good detail retrieval and imaging/accuracy I think so thatās a solid choice! But yeah definitely needs eq for the treble peaks lol.
Curious, what kind of eq did you apply to the 600ās, low end related?
P.S. Very informative replies thank you very much btw!
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If you have a Violectric V280 or similar, do yourself a favor and get a pair of these. They are addicting.
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I keep seeing the name Violectric pop up andā¦ What is it? hahaha Sorry, maybe the wrong topic to post in but Iāve been looking at HD600/650 for my second set of ārealā headphones and likeā¦ People keep saying ātube itā until someone says Violectric 
Violectric is a company that makes solid state amps, and some people liken the sound signature to a tube amp. They tend to widen the soundstage and emphasize the low end, without sacrificing details much.
Dumb me.
I thought it was a technologyā¦ Like planar vs elmectrostat in headphones that here you had Tube, Solid and Vio ;p
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Hello,
How long is the Burn in for the Phone?
It sound really not bad on the Feliks Euforia for the first impression.
Edit:
I think thatās taken care of.
Somehow I canāt warm up to him at all.
I definitely agree that it plays much more open, free and deep on a tube amp than on a transistor.
With the Transitor it seems to be wrapped in cotton wool.
But all in all, I donāt like it at all.
The Lcd 2 c (I know Planar) plays much freer and livelier compared to the Feliks.
What annoys me the most is the bass, it sounds like a kind of knocking that gets annoying after a while. Itās as if I had headphones on and someone was knocking all the time.
I also had the impression that the signature rather leads to fatigue.
I understand that it is more for listening to how the āmusicā should sound.
I donāt really get on with it, although it has a few good features that are a bit too little for me.
For the price, Iād say itās okay, if you eventually make music with it, itās certainly passable.
But purely for listening to music, I personally find it like ordered but not picked up.
I listened to it for over 20 hours and decided to return it. Somehow good and somehow not.
In terms of comfort, it was okay, the pads remind me of Beyerdynamic somehow.
I asked this a bit back but it didnāt get traction, curious what pads people are using. This is a pair of headphones that responds to pad changes quite noticeably.