Sennheiser HD600 Over-Ear Open Dynamic Hi-Fi Professional Stereo Headphones (Black)

Wow, It's been over a year since I started my Hi-fi journey, quite hard to believe for me. Before I owned the HD600s, I had exclusively been listening to the Brainwavz B2 IEMs. I heard the HD600s for the first time in mid-July, and while I wasn't blown away at the first listen, I definitely knew I needed something other than the B2s, because the treble spike in the B2s was starting to get on my nerves. After doing a bit of research, I finally settled on the HD600s. Without further ado, here is my formal review:

The accompanying thread can be found here: http://www.head-fi.org/t/636019/review-sennheiser-hd600

Main equipment used in this review:

iPod classic 6th gen 80gb 

Objective 2

Fiio L3/L9 LOD cables

Musical preferences:

Classic Rock (Beatles, Stones, Steely Dan, ELO, CCR, ect.)

J-Pop/Anisong (ClariS,OPs and EDs for Anime)
Indie (Mumford & Sons, Black Keys, Awolnation, Modest Mouse)
Classical (Just starting out)
Jazz (Just starting out)
Metal (Mostly soft stuff like Metallica)
Video Game/Anime/Visual Novel OSTs

You can also look at my last.fm profile to see exactly what artists I listen to. Ignore the play count though, for some reason I can't get iPod scrobbles to work with the last.fm desktop app and iTunes...

http://www.last.fm/user/mechgamer123

Build Quality/Design:

While I don't think the HD600s are built poorly they aren't the final word in build quality. The glossy plastic material used for most of the headband feels very sturdy and durable, but the black plastic surrounding the driver does not feel quite as good. That particular plastic looks cheaper, but still doesn't feel too bad. You won't break them with everyday use though.

The overall design of the HD600s is very good to my eyes. Most of the pictures online make the blue marble finish seem way brighter than it actually was with my unit. While they don't scream durability or style, it shouldn't be enough for you to discount them entirely yet until you hear them yourself.

The cable is detachable and is very good quality. I have not and will not use anything other than stock cables, as I believe they're a waste of money.

Comfort:

The HD600s are the most comfortable headphones I've ever worn. Although that doesn't say that much considering I haven't listened to too many cans. The clamping force is average to me, and the headband is very comfortable to me. Even though my ears and head are relatively large, I never experienced any discomfort issues. My ears also fit comfortably within the earpads. As a frame of reference, after listening to the Q701s for about an hour, the headband would start to hurt my head.

The velour pads are also very sturdy and don't make your ears feel hot after extended use. 

Sound Quality:

Well, this is the big one. So far in this review you'd wonder why anyone would ever spend $400 on a pair of headphones with average build quality and good comfort! Obviously the most important part to many of you is the sound. I will try to do my best to explain the sound, but keep in mind I haven't heard any other headphones in the price range, my closest frames of reference are $150 IEMs.

-Bass:

The bass of the HD600s has good texture as well as extension. While sub bass is lacking, mid bass is well controlled and provides a nice punch. Bass is definitely good, although it doesn't satisfy my basshead craving. Instead, it stays relatively contained and provides a nice warmth to the sound without being anywhere close to overpowering.

-Mids:

The mids are the focal point of the HD600s, and they are wonderful. All of the instruments sound completely natural. The timbre on every instrument sounds awesome. While with the B2s some instruments sounded a bit weird, and some not completely natural, the HD600 absolutely dominates everything I've heard to date. This is the selling point of the headphones for me. The other thing that sold me on the HD600s was the vocals. While they aren't heavily forward per se, they are very intimate and engaging compared to the IEMs I own. I will discuss vocals more in the soundstage section.

-Treble:

The treble of the HD600s embodies a love/hate relationship I have with them. The treble is somewhat recessed compared to the mids, although there are various spikes which I find add a small amount of sparkle to the sound and also make the cymbals crash with some authority. But these treble spikes are only a couple decibels, and so the HD600s will never hurt your ears with too much treble if you're sensitive to treble spikes like I am. Obviously, the advantage to having laid back treble is the reduced chance for fatigue after long listening sessions as I have noted above. However, the treble is also not as detailed as other headphones that have a more balanced treble.

-Detail:

When listening to the HD600s, I often struggle to find microdetails in recordings such as when the vocalist takes a breath, but instrument detail is fairly well done. While I find this somewhat annoying, I find myself not paying too much attention to the small details nowadays, and instead listening to the bigger picture.

-Soundstage:

The HD600s are obviously open backed, so the soundstage isn't bad. While I never got the feeling that the sound was too far away from my ears, I don't feel that the soundstage is closed in at all. The soundstage is better than any of the IEMs I have tried. I also feel that the center stage is very well done. Vocals and instruments that are supposed to be in the middle of the soundstage sound much more intimate and engaging than anything I have previously heard. Overall the soundstage is above average, but still not perfect.

Musical Pairings:

The HD600s sound awesome with just about any genre you throw at them, whether it be electronic or jazz. The only area the HD600s lack in is genres/songs with a lot of sub bass, which is relatively quiet.

Closing Thoughts:

These headphones are simply excellent any way you look at them. While the build quality might not meet military standards, they should last you a long time. Besides, you weren't planning on taking your open back HD600s into combat with you, were you?
I would also like to leave a frequency response graph here so that you can draw your own conclusions about my review and the headphones themselves:

Please let me know if you have any questions or comments about my review, hopefully I will be writing more reviews on gear once my wallet gets to feeling better...

First off let me say this is my first foray into "audiophile" headphones. I have tried a few of the in the ear style buds over the years (apples and Sony's) but I find them unpleasant to wear for more than a few minutes, along with the sound lacking. So I few years ago before an overseas flight I picked a pair of Sony MDR-V150 on a whim. They worked great and I thought I be happy. But then I started to see all these cool little headphone amp and such. So I started just innocently enough reading sites such as these just a few short months ago. Well on thing led to another and well I now am the proud owner of a pair of the Sennheiser HD600's, along with an amp/DAC combo.

When I received my brown box in the mail I could not wait to get it home and open it. I carefully open the shipping box and inside was a beautiful black corrugated box with gold shaded picture of the ocean with words "Sennheiser HD 600 for digital Natural Sound" I open up then corrugated box and slide out what feels to be a fabric type coated dark charcoal box. It's completely plain other than the small company logo and name in the company’s trademark blue. The whole packaging is high class, clean, and simple. To my surprise the box has metal hinges on the back edge and opens up much like a fine watch/jewelry box. As the aroma of pent up closed cell foam and plastics hits my nostrils I am fully intoxicated with my purchase. Quickly I grab the phones from the box and hold them up to admire them. Everyone is right the marbling looks a thousand times better than the photos show. The next though these are much lighter than I thought they would be. I quickly dash to my Pioneer VSX92-THX AV receiver and fire it up. I attaché my iPhone bypassing it's DAC in favor of the Pioneers. Quickly I launch Bob Dylan's "Visions of Johanna" (*all tracks are Loss-less encoded) the sound that flows from the headphones instantly sound like an old friend. The separation of his voice, guitar, and harmonica floor me. The sound-stage is unlike any headphone I have every listen to. It's very close to my home speaker setup.

 I turn the volume nob up bit to see what the headphones and my receiver can do. My impression is that the pioneer has a very decent headphone stage. It can easily push the cans well in to the deep pain range with utmost clarity. I don’t see me needing an amp for the front room, which saves some cash for more music. I reach for my Sony’s to compare the two but realize that the included adapter plug  with the HD600 will not accommodate the Sony plug. No biggie I pick up my new toy and head to my office. This is where I will be using them most of the time anyway. I have an old Mini JVC bookshelf system that I use as my near field stereo setup with my computer and it has the appropriate size connection to test both. To my surprise the JVC push both head phones very well. And also to my surprise both headphones have a similar sound at mild volumes. But when pushed the Sony’s quickly start to sound smeared and strained. Not so with the Sennheiser. They sound so incredible that you can easily slip in to the danger zone as to the volume level.

At this point I start to listen to some of my favorite tracks to better take in the sound of my new phones.

I fire up another Bob Dylan song “Most Likely you go your way (and I’ll go mine)” The detail of each instrument is very impressive and they are spread very nicely apart without feeling like they all come from the same space. Next was Clark Terry’s “Chat Qui Peche (A Cat that Fishes)” the horns sound so natural and I can hear each strand plucked on the upright bass. Each band member sound like they are in the appropriate spot. “Six Blade Knife” by Dire Straits has a very strong bass line that runs from the start to the end of the song. For a set of headphones that are said to be a bit soft on the bottom end they hit it with authority and without strain. The ability to hear every little sting touch on the lead guitar brought new elements to life. Song after song the amount of texture these headphones present is unreal. Everything is presented just as it was recorded. Every little breath the singer makes, every finger drag over an amplified string instrument, and every hacked mastering jobs.

These headphones are great and are everything I hoped they would be. Balanced and uncolored with exceptional midrange control. Can’t see me needing another set for a long time. Well maybe….  

Note: The price paid is used from Amazon Marketplace.

The first thing about these the HD 600 is the excellent tonal balance - it's never harsh, but the highs are still there and very detailed.  Sometimes the finest details may get lost in very complex music thanks to being overshadowed by other parts of the music, but the resulting detailed smoothness is a very good thing.

The mids - ahh, they're to die for!  They're the highlight of the headphones.  They're detailed and lifelike, similar to the highs.  But they're so realistic sounding - even so more than the HD 800 and Beyer T1 I've auditioned.  As far as I'm concerned, the HD 800 (haven't heard the HD 650) still falls short here in comparison.  Guitars, brass, saxes, vocals, and more sound so much more realistic (and and have more visceral impact) than anything else I've heard (my new Alessandro MS1is come close, but not as much with the low mids).

Bass is fairly tight and at just about the right level for all types of music.  You'll never make anyone happy with any given quantity of bass, but I think these are as close to a neutral level as you'll get.  Very low bass can be a little loose, and rapid bass notes aren't as distinct as the HD 800, Beyer T1 or DT 880, but it's still excellent overall (and especially compared to lesser headphones).

Their soundstaging is very good - but there are, of course, far superior headphones for this.  Depth is good, width is good, and precision of placement is good - again, a very balanced sound.  The sense of spaciousness (a function of all three factors) falls short of the AKG K701, and of course the HD 800 and Beyer T1 - but of course is far more evident than the close-in Grado sound.  The "It sounds like they're playing in the room with me!" sensation never really happens to the same level that my speakers (Infinity Renaissance 90) can provide.

The build quality is very good - the headband and frames are supposedly made of carbon fiber, but after inspecting them (and seeing photos of cracked headbands) I believe it is probably a carbon fiber reinforced plastic instead.  Less impressive to your friends, perhaps, but an excellent material nonetheless.  They do of course feel slightly plasticky as a result (but it never feels like cheap plastic).

They're quite lightweight, and the padding is excellent - the velour earpads and headband are very comfy.  I know some complain about them being too tight - I can't really comment, since I bought mine used.  I never found them to be too tight myself.

They stand up to abuse admirably well - mine have lived in my backpack for four months straight and only have superficial damage to the grills (they get dented when sharing the backpack with my Nikon) to show for it.  They haven't been babied at all - just no abuse like trying to bend the headband over on itself...  Anyway, since everything is modular, you can easily replace any part that has broken.  I just got new pads and a cable to replace the worn originals.

The marbled finish does wear off a little over time, but it has yet to become detrimental to their appearance so far.  Oh, and by the way, the finish looks a whole lot cooler in person than in photos of the headphones.

I've found amp'ing them not to be as difficult as some seem to think.  A/B'ing my uDAC (my main source and amp) against a Beyerdynamic A1 amp, I really couldn't consistently tell any difference between them other than ultimate power output.  The Sansa Clip+ actually does an admirable job running them up to moderately loud levels (not short-term ear blasting, of course), and never clips with them when playing music.  It does, however, sound slightly (yet noticeably) less dynamic and with a narrower, less well defined soundstage in comparison to the uDAC. I forgot that I have a crossfeed plugin (HeadPlug MKII) running on Winamp, so I have to retract those opinions for now - although it does stand for now that I can't get a crossfeed with the Clip (without using an amp with one).

So, the verdict?  These are amazing headphones, deserving of their place as one of the best dynamic headphones available to this day (15 years after their first introduction!).  Their smooth, slightly warm (not dark!), but very realistic and - yes - exciting yet neutral sound is near-perfect in balance.  Soundstaging is perhaps the area I would like to see the most improvement, but it is good in this respect already.

You'll have to pry them out of my cold, dead hands.