Livnmuskoka
Head-Fier
I have HD600's and those Sony WF-1000XM4 as well. I also listen to some metal, as well as most other genres. Those earbuds do sound good. They still have lots of detail and clarity. I use the Headphones app and use some EQ to make them sound slightly more neutral.The small soundstage prevents me from truly enjoying them. I guess the neutral signature too, I want that powerful bass and sparkling treble. I understand why they're respected and recommended by the audiophile community, but for me, with the music I listen to with them (metal), the experience emotionally isn't that different from my Sony WF-1000XM4 earbuds tbh. Great for audio production though, the main thing I'm feeling I'm getting my money's worth from with them. Currently looking for an upgrade.
I also use EQ with the HD600's to make them more neutral, upping the low bass a little and dropping that fatiguing 3khz down slightly below flat.
The way I have them both EQ'd they sound pretty similar, because over the years I've learned that's the frequency response I like.
The biggest difference between them is the HD600's natural tone. The midrange sounds very realistic, whereas the WF-1000XM4 sound slightly metallic sometimes.
I really upgraded my amp and bought a Bryston bha-1 and a balanced cable. Once up to this level, the HD600's really shine over the earbuds, there's better detail, clarity, soundstage, and the best tone available.
The sound is also bigger, even though still not very far away from your head, but no headphone is perfect no matter how expensive.
It seems absurd to spend $1000+ on the used market for a bha-1(but they start with a 20 year warranty) when the headphones are $400. But the HD600's really shine and scale up with this amp and balanced cable, and if you were to upgrade to much more expensive headphones (notice I didn't say better), you'd probably end up with this level of amp anyway.
I like this combo more than my previous RME adi-2 dac and LCD-3F's at about $2,000 more.
So I highly recommend skipping little upgrade steps, save the time and money, and be happy sooner if you can afford it.
I have a Wiim pro plus for the Tidal streaming convenience, its good dac, and for the EQ, into a BHA-1 with Blue jeans RCA cables, and an Audiophile ninja xlr cable for the headphones.
Honestly there is no headphone I'd be happy with without EQ, although these are a better starting point than all others I've heard.
EQ makes them near perfect for me.
If you plan on upgrading your system, try what I mentioned first if you can, I think you'll be surprised what you can get out of them.
And if you're still not happy with them, then you'll already have a very clean, accurate, reliable, and powerful start, to only have to try different headphones. And in a few years, and several thousands later, probably come back to the 600's.
Good luck!
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