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.
Stock. Feels and sounds fine to me.
I honestly donāt feel like it.
Iāve looked at the Dekoni, but Iām not convinced.
The Yaxi pads looked promising.
But in the end I have 5 pairs there and they remain unused.
I save that for 5-10% more āsoundā.
Strangely enough, Hifiman, Sennheiser and Beyerdynamic have always been manufacturers for me where I bought once and then never again.
And when Iām in the shop and listen to the salesmanās chatter, I already know itās not going to work.
For his sake I do it and donāt convince myself.
The Hd58xx is supposed to be better tuned from what Iāve heard. According to the measurements, both donāt give each other much.
Unfortunately, the Hd 650S would not be available again until April.
I actually only ordered it because I have the Feliks Euforia and the Hd 600 is supposed to be really good.
And I thought Iād give it a try, because the Audeze lcd2c didnāt look so good on it at first.
In the meantime I think it does a good job.
Even in crossfeed mode I didnāt like the Hd 600.
But thatās not bad.
It has its good sides - itās not all that bad.
Itās just not to my taste and I think everyone has that.
I havenāt heard the Feliks Euforia, but Iām pretty shocked to hear it @Deleeh. Iām listening to mine on my ampsandsound Bigger Ben occasionally wondering why I ever spent money on another headphone. Maybe itās a love it or hate it sound, but you may be the first person I ever heard say they didnāt like the HD600 on tubes
I keep hearing how well these scale. Asking some people with experience, would you rather take the HD600 with a quality amp/dac, or focal clears with a entry level amp/dac?
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Good question. Iād personally prefer the HD600 with a quality tube amp & dac. The Clear will still probably sound fine on like a THX789, but the nuances would be lost. With something like that 789, Iād go with the Elex because youād get more from that particular headphone and save some money in the process.
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Can the HD600 just not sound good on something solid state? Currently own a class A Flux Fa-12 and Denafrips Ares 2 dac.
I love the HD600 and owned one a long time before I ever bought a tube amp. Itās pretty much been my daily driver for 10+ years, so I personally think itās perfectly fine on solid state. It just opens up so much on even a modest tube amp, that I expect to always have the combo in some form
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Yup it will sound good on a good solid state as well.