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I have the Sennheiser HD600. I have read so much about the two models HD598 and HD650 that are just lower and higher (price, quality?) than the HD600. Would it be excessive to "bookend" the HD600 by also buying the other two? I would be very interested in the views of people who have owned all 3, whether at the same time or otherwise.
For the record, I have amps that should be able to drive the HD650 reasonably well (Furutech ADL GT40, iStreamer/Headstage Arrow combo) and my main musical tastes are rock, blues, R&B).
Thanks.
Heya,
They're just different flavors. Not necessarily lesser or better in quality. Price does not reflect
anything on these three models. The HD650 is most definitely
not better in any way. It's the same thing, but simply tuned a little differently, it's treble rolls off quickly making it less bright and it's mid bass is enhanced a touch so it sounds a touch warmer and boomier, but not in a big way, it's not as bassy as people seem to call it, it's just a warmer/darker sounding headphone in general to me. I think it's boring frankly. The HD598 on the other hand is the opposite of the HD650, very bright and forward mids and treble, but with a big roll off in bass, so it's less neutral in bass and outright anemic/hallow in some ways in bass, in particular sub-bass, but it's not bassless, just not as full or robust in bass as others; it really focuses on mids/treble. The HD600 is the middle ground, it has a pretty neutral response and has a decent amount of brightness, it doesn't have enhanced bass, and it has great extension in all ways. It just embodies what it means to have a neutral headphone that is excellent for everything.
I think you've made the right choice getting the HD600 over the HD598 and HD650, as I see them as specialized flavors, and not the better overall choice unless you simply like your sound skewed towards one spectrum of frequency range or the other, which is what these two do.
In fact, if you're at all looking at more headphones, definitely get out of Sennheiser and start looking at new house signatures from other great headphone makers. Sennheiser is not the end-all-be-all. They make like 4~5 good headphones, the other 50 headphones they make are over-priced junk with a high price due to brand name.
Very best,
