[tev]

It really scales well. Quite a few folks still use the HD600 in ultra high end systems. The HD800 may be more resolving and have a wider soundstage, but it can also be a little hi-fi sounding, not in the best way.

 

[jonathan c]

I have no direct comparison, but for a music of my preference, HD600 is already a king on this planet, the only improvements can bring a good turntable or R2R NOS DAC and the amp.

I cannot speak currently for the turntable; but I will vouch for the HD600’s ability to benefit dramatically from the use of a top-notch CD transport, R2R n/o/s DAC, OTL tube h/p/a, and h/p cable. The HD600 is always in my “roll of six”.

 

[Deolum]

Actually i find the HD600 very independant of the source or anything that comes before the amp. In my experience they have especially no need for an analogue sounding source and can handle digital sounding sources very well. Contrary to that are Grados for example who sound like absolute crap out of normal digital sounding system but improve so much with better sources, R2R Dacs or cables that it doesn't even make sense. At least that was the case for my GS1000e.

 

[tev]

My experience as well. The GS1000s are very picky with their source. Some digital sources really make them sound congested and harsh, whereas the HD600 is much smoother and coherent with an average source. But, they really do come alive with a dynamic cartridge on a turntable. This could be said about almost headphone, but for some reason the HD600 and HD650 seem to really scale up better than most headphones under $1K.

 

[Midgetguy]

Hi Jona,

I did not yet look at the insides, because they are still working. i apologize to the church of sennheisser.
Even if i have my own opinion -)

If you don't like them, you don't like them. Not everyone does, but a lot of people do (as you've clearly seen in this thread). At the very least, I feel like you've just had horrible luck with the lifespan of your Sennheisers. My bro has an HD650 and I have an HD600, both of which have been working for over a decade of pretty regular use. I've been quite careful with mine (same treatment as any headphones, tank or not) so I haven't ever dropped them.

Your dissenting opinions of the HD600 are fine as far as I'm concerned; everyone hears differently. One of my critiques of your thoughts would be maybe the bit about thin wiring. You should understand that in ANY electronics work of this type, wiring is often far thinner than you imagine it would be; wiring in headphones and earphones is vastly different than larger audio products such as speakers and can vary just on application within the same product. And really just in general, anything you don't see is going to use thinner wiring because it's exposed to less potential harm and didn't need to be as robust. It's how any company has to find the places where they can still make money on a product; a business is still a business. My other real critique is your thoughts about the driver's size and ability; really sounded like you've thought less of the headphone because of the driver size. Can larger drivers do better? Certainly. And the vice versa is also true. But even barring that, consider this: your Yamaha has a 40mm driver, your Roland has a 45mm driver. The HD600 uses a 42mm driver. While sound reproduction/fidelity can be subjective, it's objectively wrong to criticize the HD600 for the size of its driver as it's quite literally the average size of a dynamic headphone driver.

The other unlucky thing you've got going for you is that since you're purchasing in euros, it's a bit more expensive as the HD600 technically hovers around the $300 USD mark on average. Also, I actually personally wouldn't have said to get an HD600 anymore these days and the reason is simple: Sennheiser paired up with Drop (formerly MassDrop) to put out a "special edition headphone". I don't know about European availability, but in the US, the HD58X is available for $170 and to my ears, offers up 85%+ of the what I get from the HD600. It has a slightly different sound signature tuning, but it's not all that different from the HD600. Value-wise, it's obvious: 85% of the performance for 60% of the cost. And I had a pair of those too. I ended up gifting those to one of my friends because his AKGs died. But if my HD600s died today, what would I get? The HD58X because the price is right and the performance is far more than acceptable to my ears.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

drop has no good options for European buyers. They did have a local warehouse that charged us high prices for Sennheisers, Beyers, and other things made one country away and the offering included probably only 30% of what was available on American drop, but at least the taxes were included in the price. They closed that almost 2 years ago promising to reboot with a new better service. Yeaaah.

Europe is not one country of course and whenever anybody says they got skinned alive on customs duties taxes fees charges etc. one or two regulars say how easy it is to calculate taxes in Europe blah blah blah. Where I live it costs at least 2X the purchase price on big ticket items before the ransom ends, sometimes more than that.

 

[sajunky]

Europe is not one country of course and whenever anybody says they got skinned alive on customs duties taxes fees charges etc. one or two regulars say how easy it is to calculate taxes in Europe blah blah blah. Where I live it costs at least 2X the purchase price on big ticket items before the ransom ends, sometimes more than that.

Have family there, people were never taxed to such extend. Not even during a communism in eastern part (where most of taxes were in a hidden pension found - not exposed to the employees). For those who don't believe, take a look at a VAT rate, but it is only the beginning.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Have family there, people were never taxed to such extend. Not even during a communism in eastern part (where most of taxes were in a hidden pension found - not exposed to the employees). For those who don't believe, take a look at a VAT rate, but it is only the beginning.

Yeah, I don't remember what VAT is here, I think around 21% but some countries have 25%. Between income tax, social tax and VAT about half of my salary is gone before I ever get my paycheck. At least beer is cheap and good here

 

[jonathan c]

Attention! Gimme 120 [minutes]! It’s time for headphone basic retraining. Leading the “Roll Call” will be tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley who is also on the cover of “The Blue Note Years.” The ‘basic’ infantry will be: Senn HD600 (Custom Cans mod), Woo WA3 amp (OTL); the ammo: Tung-Sol 5998, Lansdale 12AU7s. @jonathan c, do you hear me!? Now get out there and listen!......[two hours later] @jonathan c, well? Such dynamics and expressiveness, Sir! An amazing sense of “thereness”, Sir! I stopped trying to analyse the sound, Sir! I surrendered to the music, Sir! @jonathan c, you what? At ease! Yes, Sir!

 

[457139]

For those looking for a cost effective solid state amp that can get fantastic performance out of the 600, look no further than the JDS Labs Atom. These two are a match made in heaven. Perfect pairing

 

[chocolates]

i got a pair of brand new HD600s and they sound loads better than the 6XX/650 variants - so much so that i wonder if my 6XX was broken or out of phase

what is the difference between the white and black silk baffles some people talk about online? i can't actually find anything about the actual differences, only that people point out that they exist

 

[RickB]

i got a pair of brand new HD600s and they sound loads better than the 6XX/650 variants - so much so that i wonder if my 6XX was broken or out of phase

what is the difference between the white and black silk baffles some people talk about online? i can't actually find anything about the actual differences, only that people point out that they exist

I experienced the same thing. The imaging on the HD600 is much better than the HD6XX I had. With noticeably less distortion.

 

[MayaTlab]

i got a pair of brand new HD600s and they sound loads better than the 6XX/650 variants - so much so that i wonder if my 6XX was broken or out of phase

Check the pads' state. The way they degrade over time significantly affects the SQ : https://diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com/headphones/earpads/

what is the difference between the white and black silk baffles some people talk about online? i can't actually find anything about the actual differences, only that people point out that they exist

Probably not quite as important as sample variation (which should be moderate on this series), and pads deterioration. Here for the HD650, but the same applies for the HD600 :
https://diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com/headphones/measurements/brands-s-se/hd650/

 

[rsbanner]

The HD600 certainly holds it's own even among most headphones that are several times its price. I bet that most people have never heard it's potential in a good vinyl system with a proper phono stage set up with a juicy gain and a good head amp. This is where the HD's can be stunning.

I agree, Imlove the HD600 with vinyl, I need to upfrade my phono stage though!

 

[rsbanner]

If you don't like them, you don't like them. Not everyone does, but a lot of people do (as you've clearly seen in this thread). At the very least, I feel like you've just had horrible luck with the lifespan of your Sennheisers. My bro has an HD650 and I have an HD600, both of which have been working for over a decade of pretty regular use. I've been quite careful with mine (same treatment as any headphones, tank or not) so I haven't ever dropped them.

Your dissenting opinions of the HD600 are fine as far as I'm concerned; everyone hears differently. One of my critiques of your thoughts would be maybe the bit about thin wiring. You should understand that in ANY electronics work of this type, wiring is often far thinner than you imagine it would be; wiring in headphones and earphones is vastly different than larger audio products such as speakers and can vary just on application within the same product. And really just in general, anything you don't see is going to use thinner wiring because it's exposed to less potential harm and didn't need to be as robust. It's how any company has to find the places where they can still make money on a product; a business is still a business. My other real critique is your thoughts about the driver's size and ability; really sounded like you've thought less of the headphone because of the driver size. Can larger drivers do better? Certainly. And the vice versa is also true. But even barring that, consider this: your Yamaha has a 40mm driver, your Roland has a 45mm driver. The HD600 uses a 42mm driver. While sound reproduction/fidelity can be subjective, it's objectively wrong to criticize the HD600 for the size of its driver as it's quite literally the average size of a dynamic headphone driver.

The other unlucky thing you've got going for you is that since you're purchasing in euros, it's a bit more expensive as the HD600 technically hovers around the $300 USD mark on average. Also, I actually personally wouldn't have said to get an HD600 anymore these days and the reason is simple: Sennheiser paired up with Drop (formerly MassDrop) to put out a "special edition headphone". I don't know about European availability, but in the US, the HD58X is available for $170 and to my ears, offers up 85%+ of the what I get from the HD600. It has a slightly different sound signature tuning, but it's not all that different from the HD600. Value-wise, it's obvious: 85% of the performance for 60% of the cost. And I had a pair of those too. I ended up gifting those to one of my friends because his AKGs died. But if my HD600s died today, what would I get? The HD58X because the price is right and the performance is far more than acceptable to my ears.

Impressive that you've never dropped them, luckily my 600's have survived a few heavy spills! I do feel that the other poster (that you replied to) has had bad luck thouh