First good headphones, B&O H6 or full size cans?
Jun 3, 2017 at 10:43 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 28
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Peter Ahrens

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I'm looking at getting my first good pair of headphones and have been reading all over this forum and video reviews on Youtube. So far I have narrowed it down to the Bang & Olufsen H6 headphones. A long time ago I had full size Sennheiser HD595's (I think). What I like about the H6 is that it is made with real leather, machined metal, and they look very nice. My plan is just to run them from my MacBook 12" retina headphone jack, through iTunes, at home just to listen and relax. My listening lately has been along the lines of Philip Glass and Yosi Horikawa. Sometimes some Nick Cave. Closed back is 'probably' a preference, just so my partner doesn't need to listen to my music, too. However, if open back improves the sound dramatically I might look towards them instead.

I was able to go into Adelaide and have a look at some headphones. There were limited options to test and the stores were very noisy. It seemed to me, though, that the B&O H6 was better sounding than the Sennheiser Momentums. There were also Sennheiser HD569 headphones, I'm not sure how they compared. These were across multiple stores and the music from each was different, I couldn't choose my own. There were no open full size phones to try unfortunately.
  • How would the H6 compare to a larger full size pair of headphones? Such as the Audio Technica ATH-A990Z or the open ATH-AD900X.
  • Would the H7 in wireless be much worse than the H6 sound quality? I've read wireless is a big compromise.
  • Would the H6 benefit much from a portable amplifier?
My aim is to keep the setup simple, and I love the stunning design and materials of the H6, but I would really love to find out if I will lose much in terms of sound quality over other potential options.
 
Jun 3, 2017 at 11:19 PM Post #3 of 28
Apple products usually come with decent on-board audio, so getting a add-on DAC/amp is somewhat optional.
Guess it might depend on how power hungry the headphones are and how much your willing to budget for the DAC/amp.
Headphones like the ATH-A990Z and ATH-AD900X are fairly easy to drive.
 
Jun 4, 2017 at 2:51 PM Post #6 of 28
If you are attracted to good-looking headphones that sound good, you might want to check out the MEZE 99 Classics and the B&W P7. They tick off both boxes pretty emphatically, IMO.
 
Jun 4, 2017 at 10:47 PM Post #7 of 28
I was hoping to try the Bowers & Wilkins P7's but the store who used to sell them no longer does. There are no physical stores that sell the Meze 99 near me. How do the P7's, Meze and H6's all compare when it comes to sound? They are all good looking headphones.

Thanks for all the help so far.
 
Jun 4, 2017 at 11:02 PM Post #8 of 28
Peter Ahrens said:
I was hoping to try the Bowers & Wilkins P7's but the store who used to sell them no longer does. There are no physical stores that sell the Meze 99 near me. How do the P7's, Meze and H6's all compare when it comes to sound? They are all good looking headphones.

Thanks for all the help so far.
Click to expand...
I've not heard the H6 yet. It is beautiful. The P7 is a bass emphasized can that is quite neutral other than the potent bass. It is really terrific. The 99C are usually described as smooth, a moniker with which I agree. Very smooth. So, the two are quite different. Do you have anyplace like an amazon in Australia, any kind of mail-order seller that you could order one of these from and then return it if you are not satisfied with it? Or are there audio shops you could order from, maybe in Melbourne or Sydney? (Random thought for the day: I almost married a girl from Adelaide many moons ago. She got away, darnit. ---)
 
Jun 4, 2017 at 11:12 PM Post #9 of 28
Firstly, I would definitely recommend getting some kind of amp/dac combo if you're going to be putting money into good headphones. It can always be a future upgrade, but you'll notice a difference almost immediately. Open backed headphones sound much better (to me) because the soundstage is generally much wider and everything is more natural. If you want to forget you're wearing headphones and forget that there isn't a band playing 10 feet from you then open backed is the way to go. Of course you have to determine whether or not your present company will care about sound leakage.If you go with open cans, I can't help but recommend the Senn HD650 or 600. I own the 650 with a Magni/Modi2 Uber and they sound beautiful. They are definitely a headphone that lets you immerse yourself and experience the emotional side of music. They have detail but aren't "analytical" which just means they're more fun to jam out with. ON A SIDE NOTE Yosi Horikawa is amazing and I'm glad you've found that music too; the way the music plays with soundstage and imaging makes you think it was created to demo open backed headphones.

As for music players, if you own copies of music I'd say definitely use Foobar2000 instead of iTunes. Lots of settings and it can decode and play FLAC and DSD files *piratebay cough cough*. You aren't going to be happy with expensive headphones if you're feeding them MP3.

Good luck!
 
Jun 4, 2017 at 11:27 PM Post #10 of 28
The HD600 and HD650 (both of which I own) are both excellent, but they are not good for portability and on-the-go use because of the leakage both into and out of the headphone (as mentioned by @cossix). It is just something to bear in mind. Open headphones are an indoor sport pretty much exclusively. FWIW. YMMV, of course.
 
Jun 5, 2017 at 12:40 AM Post #11 of 28
How do the HD600 compare to something like the Bowers and Wilkins P7's?

It's unlikely that I will get really seriously into things and do love the simplicity of just plugging the headphones into the jack and playing music. I would like something that sounds good, is comfortable, well made and looks nice.

I'm a little worried about open back headphones because they could be annoying for my partner. I have considered the Philips Fidelio X2's though, since they should be well made, easy to drive and sound good.
 
Jun 5, 2017 at 7:21 AM Post #13 of 28
A review by marco.org writes about the B&O H6's:

'It sounds so good that it competes strongly against even high-end, open-backed headphones.'

And

'Easily the best portable headphone I’ve ever heard, and one of the top few best headphones I’ve heard, open or closed, at any price, period'

Which all sounds quite promising.

https://marco.org/headphones-closed-portable#h6v2
 
Jun 5, 2017 at 12:59 PM Post #14 of 28
B&O H6 and a good dac/amp combo would be the winner for you I think! Closed back is always a good place to start honestly and if you end up getting into the hobby a bit more then you can always try the 600/650. But definitely consider finding a good portable dac/amp either now or soon, it will definitely help the dynamics and sound more engaging
 
Jun 6, 2017 at 12:21 AM Post #15 of 28
Thanks Cossix.

What I'm most curious about at the moment is what I would be losing in a headphone like the H6 compared to a full size pair like the HD600 or a Beyerdynamic DT1770? I know that the open headphones have more soundstage, but is there anything else?

The latter two would definitely need an amp I'm assuming.
 
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