Beyond the Curve - An Audiophile YouTube Series

[ericpalonen]

Well I'm sorry about that, I was going off the information provided earlier by Jermo here.
"The fast answer is: the driver in the HD 660S and the HD 700 is the same."
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/sennheiser-hd-660s2-thread.966685/page-119#post-17429121

I'd believe that the large technical differences thanks to R&D are implied due to significant time inbetween the releases.
And the way you call your drivers "platforms" internally - has almost no contact with end-users, so for the sake of clarity I did not delved into such specifics in my reply and chose the fast route.

Ahh ok ok I see what you meant. I was referencing S2 not S1. We love our alpha numerics haha

 

[Digital Enigma]

That's just called HD660s and it's refined, updated and perfected formula - HD660S2

Seriously, more people needs to know HD660S/S2 is the HD700 driver...

I meant something that fills the gap between 660S2 and HD800S

A new HD700 that is not using the old driver but possibly a new transducer designed just for that headphone.

Imo there’s a sweet spot around £800-1000 and Sennheiser has nothing for it. I think when people want to “upgrade” from 600 series the HD800S is big difference in price and it could put you off and make you want to go for another brand.

 

[jlemaster1957]

I'd like to hear this 620s since I'm looking for a closed headphone.
Bokeh was my first choice but too classy and Focal 2024 is too expensive for the perfs.

I have really been enjoying the 620s- Susvaras are getting jealous because this set is getting so much head time lately. I have been experimenting with different chains (both desktop and portable) and keep finding new ones that simply gel with it - just today listening Hiby R8 -> USB ->Chord Mojo2 -> 3.5 mm cable -> iFi Zen Can -> Hart audio balanced cable with 4.4 mm termination. I was amazed at the depth and space of the staging. (Aside I do not find any sonic difference between 4.4 mm and XLR termination - I always stop music, turn down volume and mute before plugging or unplugging). Highly recommended!

 

[tamleo]

I don’t know if it is just me but I always feel my Senn hd6xx and my hd800s sound a bit soft. It isn’t detectable in short listening but after a long listening. I believe it is due to the transducers being made from soft material (mylar)? I read that the old hd800 drivers are covered with a very think micrometer gold layer but I don’t know about the new hd800s. I love my 2 Senn headphones but I hope in the near future Sennheiser can introduce some new types of transducer made from metal or mylar with hard material overlaid on the dome and still keeping the wonderful mids.

 

[headstef]

Within the coming 11 months there should be a new Sennheiser flagship.

However rumors weren't specific on wether it's a dynamic or estat.

How certain is this piece of information?

 

[Digital Enigma]

How certain is this piece of information?

About as certain as ASR saying measurements don’t matter anymore

 

[Chuck Dee]

The HD 580 was the big leap, that was partly inspired by the HE 90. The HE 90 first explored the oval shape that is optimal in electrostatic transducers to minimize disrupting partial vibrations.
The earcup shape is still ideal for reducing resonances and creating an "ear gain" tuning for smaller transducers. The big milestone for the HD 580 project was exploration into the highest-performance transducers (exotic concepts like multiple coils were also investigated), and the resulting KDH 580 was the first BEM optimized system that systematically avoided partial vibrations for a dynamic transducer. The goal tuning was also not anymore inspired by measurement like in older headphones, but by loudness diffuse field testing.
The HD 600 was simply adding the metal grille to the headphones, which improved openness and increased the natural sound perception.

I've been collecting the HD5** and HD6** series for some years now and have acquianted myself quite intimately with the different iterations in terms of design and sound signature. It's also a lot of fun to do comparison listening sessions between the different models from time to time.
There are some real un-sung heroes in the genealogy that led to the current HD6** models and the absolute stand-out model has to be the HD565.
I lost interest at the HD660, 660S etc as I don't consider there were any great sonic advances made from the HD600/HD650. These two remain popular for several very good reasons and if I'm not mistaken they're both models which have the longest production run of any headphone (?)

I'd love to see a great leap forward in terms of sonics and dynamism in the range however and I hope the 620S, which I have on order, will deliver this. Somehow I'm not hopeful but until I have spent time with it then I'm open to be proven wrong....

Comparison shenanigans

Choose your weapon

A recent score, the box-set HD580 with the lacklustre LUCAS. A rare find in this condition.

 

[ericpalonen]

I've been collecting the HD5** and HD6** series for some years now and have acquianted myself quite intimately with the different iterations in terms of design and sound signature. It's also a lot of fun to do comparison listening sessions between the different models from time to time.
There are some real un-sung heroes in the genealogy that led to the current HD6** models and the absolute stand-out model has to be the HD565.
I lost interest at the HD660, 660S etc as I don't consider there were any great sonic advances made from the HD600/HD650. These two remain popular for several very good reasons and if I'm not mistaken they're both models which have the longest production run of any headphone (?)

I'd love to see a great leap forward in terms of sonics and dynamism in the range however and I hope the 620S, which I have on order, will deliver this. Somehow I'm not hopeful but until I have spent time with it then I'm open to be proven wrong....

Comparison shenanigans


Choose your weapon


A recent score, the box-set HD580 with the lacklustre LUCAS. A rare find in this condition.

This is an AMAZING collection. Thank you for your business over the years!

 

[jlemaster1957]

There are some real un-sung heroes in the genealogy that led to the current HD6** models and the absolute stand-out model has to be the HD565.

You got my attention. What was stand-out about the HD565?

 

[Digital Enigma]

@Jermo K let us know when that HD900 has finished baking in the oven

 

[Rob80b]

As for the next big one, thought I'd offer my 2 cents worth....although not a Sennheiser headphone I've been quite enjoying the offering from the former Senn headphone designer Axel Grell, the controversial OAE1 with its angled offset drivers...

While for me a positive direction in headphone listening I can imagine what a solid financial backing with a full R&D department would come up with.
Sennheiser and Grell managed to bring us the legendary HD600 and then the HD800 so taking these two concepts even further sounds like Axel's OAE1 concept looks like IMHO the only logical direction for something new in headphone listening and worthy of a flagship endeavour.

My visual mock up. : )

 

[The Schraeer]

I meant something that fills the gap between 660S2 and HD800S

A new HD700 that is not using the old driver but possibly a new transducer designed just for that headphone.

Imo there’s a sweet spot around £800-1000 and Sennheiser has nothing for it. I think when people want to “upgrade” from 600 series the HD800S is big difference in price and it could put you off and make you want to go for another brand.

IMO there's no need to fill this product gap.
How would you go on about that?

After a year of ownership, for me - HD660S2 has about ~80% of the detail retrieval from HD800. This headphone is more technical than it appears to be. Need proper driving though, the change from 150ohm to 320ohm really shows.

Only real new headphone that I can imagine that would fill this gap would be something soundstage-oriented, but - once again - that has already been attempted by HD700 and the rest is history...

Sennheiser has proved time and again that pricing is not the most important thing for them and their strategy is clear.
They don't have an urgent pressing need to flood every price bracket with their own product.
Although Accentum series are a slight departure from that

@ericpalonen Is there a new episode coming out? it's been half a years since the last one. Give us a hint