JohnR
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2002
- Posts
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I thought some of you may be interested in my impressions of moving to the HD600 after owning a pair of HD570s for over a year. I suppose this describes improvements of going to the HD600, rather than a balanced comparison.
I’m not a hardcore audiophile but I can usually tell why I like one system over another.
Setup:
Sennheiser HD570
Sennheiser HD600
NAD c541i CD Player (http://www.nadelectronics.com/CD/C541i.html)
ME Sound ME24 Preamp (http://www.me-au.com/24.html)
Jaycar “ConCord” 1.0m interconnect – good construction using OFC (http://www.jaycar.com.au Cat#: WQ-7226 picture is incorrect, cable is nearly twice as thick)
Stock Sennheiser cable.
Music: Classical and Electronic
Assesment of HD570 before HD600:
The mid-range is a bit cluttered, there needs to be more resolution to better reveal string instruments, for example.
Quite fatuiging high frequencies, not necessarily too bright but often quite penetrating.
Lower frequencies seem slightly boosted.
The soundstage goes quite wide, about 90deg from the ear and the side of the head. Other cheapish headphones I've heard collapse the soundstage entirely inside your head..
Assesment of HD600 without direct comparison to HD570 (didn’t listen to hd570 for 3 days, then listened to hd600):
After 20mins break-in
First thing I noticed is the improvement in seperation of instruments/sounds.
Within 5 minutes, I started thinking about the sounds differently – they were presented differently enough to the HD570 for me to hear more “texture” in the instrument. The decay of instruments seems to be longer and more noticeable.
The soundstage has definite height and starts about 45deg from the side of the head. At the moment, the soundstage is more tangible but also less positionable – I can hear how isolated an instrument is in the soundstage but I can’t quite place it in 3D. They might require more burn in time or I might be used to the HD570.
“Adam’s Apple Wobbling” bass exists? I thought this was just a humurous description by headroom, but I can actually feel tingles in my throat on some electronic music (eg Jega-Geometry).
Trying to be objective, I can’t notice any obvious peaks in the frequency response. The HD600s definitely have less bass and a smoother treble compared to the HD570.
Return to HD570 after using only HD600s:
The sense of “air” is gone.
Seems as if centre of the soundstage is better defined, however the extremeties are less so. Maybe I just notice that the centre is better than the extremeties, so it seems better than the HD600.
Bass doesn’t go as low and is nowhere near as tight – very slurred and overly presented.
Definate loss of detail.
Many instruments sound as if a fairly thick bed sheet has been placed in front of the microphone. The isolation and texture of instruments has decreased quite a bit.
Definitely cluttered midrange which is also very subdued.
Highs don’t go as high.
Comments on both:
The HD600 are superior in every way I can think of compared to the HD570. The HD570 are, however, still very good heaphones. They are a good entry level “audiophile” headphone as once you get used to them you can hear almost everything that is required to fit the bill of a “high end” system. It may not be easy to hear some of these things, such as “air” around instruments, but it is there if you listen closely enough. I suppose the biggest difference between the two headphones is the ease at which they present all of the music. When I first went back to the HD570 I thought “they didn’t sound this bad, did they?”. It’s not a matter of the HD570 being bad, it is that the HD600 make it so easy to get used to excellent quality sound.
After one week with the HD600s, I still find it quite difficult to place instruments in the centre of the soundstage. I think it is because the edges (and near to) are very easy but it gets harder as sounds go to the centre.. I don’t really know.
After one week of solid listening to the HD600s I can say that I am quite pleased with them. They haven’t brought the “amazement” to music that I was expecting – they are, however, a good upgrade from the HD570s, but certainly not spectacular. The main improvements I now notice are the clarity in the frequency extremes and the extra “texture” revealed in instruments. By this I mean that you can hear subtle changes in frequency of instruments (and other noises) which help you visualise the noise better, be it a string vibrating, or the “pumps” of air from brass instruments, etc. The HD600 reveal a lot more in these areas compared to the HD570 which seem bloated, slightly muted, and not at all subtle. Another thing which makes me like the HD600 is the physical sensation they give to my ears. It feels as if all around my ears is being moved by air, even at low volume, especially for bass heavy passages.
I’ve had the HD600 for about two weeks now and I am still very impressed overall. There seems to be more relaxed bass and softer highs now, presumably from break-in. The bass may not have as much impact anymore but is definitely present.
Physical differences between HD600 and HD570.
The HD570 seem quite rugged. The 'bionetic design' element (a fair rotation of the ear "peices") is actually quite stirdy and would be difficult to break accidently. The cord connection is a 2.5mm stereo plug allowing experimentation with custom cables easy. The stock cable does not have excellent construction, within one year I have damaged the inside contacts of the connector such that the cable needs to be held at a certain angle to make contact -- VERY annoying. There is no doubt that the HD570 are extremely comfortable.
The build quality of the HD600 is definitely superior to the HD570, they are very modular and solid. The HD570 is comparable, but the carbon fibre in the HD600 makes the plastic HD570s seem weak as they move when you grab them. The HD600 place alot of pressure on my head compared to the HD570, however it seems to have reduced after 1 day. After one week, the pressure is just fine, either I’m used to it or the HD600s have loosened up a bit.
I’m not a hardcore audiophile but I can usually tell why I like one system over another.
Setup:
Sennheiser HD570
Sennheiser HD600
NAD c541i CD Player (http://www.nadelectronics.com/CD/C541i.html)
ME Sound ME24 Preamp (http://www.me-au.com/24.html)
Jaycar “ConCord” 1.0m interconnect – good construction using OFC (http://www.jaycar.com.au Cat#: WQ-7226 picture is incorrect, cable is nearly twice as thick)
Stock Sennheiser cable.
Music: Classical and Electronic
Assesment of HD570 before HD600:
The mid-range is a bit cluttered, there needs to be more resolution to better reveal string instruments, for example.
Quite fatuiging high frequencies, not necessarily too bright but often quite penetrating.
Lower frequencies seem slightly boosted.
The soundstage goes quite wide, about 90deg from the ear and the side of the head. Other cheapish headphones I've heard collapse the soundstage entirely inside your head..
Assesment of HD600 without direct comparison to HD570 (didn’t listen to hd570 for 3 days, then listened to hd600):
After 20mins break-in
First thing I noticed is the improvement in seperation of instruments/sounds.
Within 5 minutes, I started thinking about the sounds differently – they were presented differently enough to the HD570 for me to hear more “texture” in the instrument. The decay of instruments seems to be longer and more noticeable.
The soundstage has definite height and starts about 45deg from the side of the head. At the moment, the soundstage is more tangible but also less positionable – I can hear how isolated an instrument is in the soundstage but I can’t quite place it in 3D. They might require more burn in time or I might be used to the HD570.
“Adam’s Apple Wobbling” bass exists? I thought this was just a humurous description by headroom, but I can actually feel tingles in my throat on some electronic music (eg Jega-Geometry).
Trying to be objective, I can’t notice any obvious peaks in the frequency response. The HD600s definitely have less bass and a smoother treble compared to the HD570.
Return to HD570 after using only HD600s:
The sense of “air” is gone.
Seems as if centre of the soundstage is better defined, however the extremeties are less so. Maybe I just notice that the centre is better than the extremeties, so it seems better than the HD600.
Bass doesn’t go as low and is nowhere near as tight – very slurred and overly presented.
Definate loss of detail.
Many instruments sound as if a fairly thick bed sheet has been placed in front of the microphone. The isolation and texture of instruments has decreased quite a bit.
Definitely cluttered midrange which is also very subdued.
Highs don’t go as high.
Comments on both:
The HD600 are superior in every way I can think of compared to the HD570. The HD570 are, however, still very good heaphones. They are a good entry level “audiophile” headphone as once you get used to them you can hear almost everything that is required to fit the bill of a “high end” system. It may not be easy to hear some of these things, such as “air” around instruments, but it is there if you listen closely enough. I suppose the biggest difference between the two headphones is the ease at which they present all of the music. When I first went back to the HD570 I thought “they didn’t sound this bad, did they?”. It’s not a matter of the HD570 being bad, it is that the HD600 make it so easy to get used to excellent quality sound.
After one week with the HD600s, I still find it quite difficult to place instruments in the centre of the soundstage. I think it is because the edges (and near to) are very easy but it gets harder as sounds go to the centre.. I don’t really know.
After one week of solid listening to the HD600s I can say that I am quite pleased with them. They haven’t brought the “amazement” to music that I was expecting – they are, however, a good upgrade from the HD570s, but certainly not spectacular. The main improvements I now notice are the clarity in the frequency extremes and the extra “texture” revealed in instruments. By this I mean that you can hear subtle changes in frequency of instruments (and other noises) which help you visualise the noise better, be it a string vibrating, or the “pumps” of air from brass instruments, etc. The HD600 reveal a lot more in these areas compared to the HD570 which seem bloated, slightly muted, and not at all subtle. Another thing which makes me like the HD600 is the physical sensation they give to my ears. It feels as if all around my ears is being moved by air, even at low volume, especially for bass heavy passages.
I’ve had the HD600 for about two weeks now and I am still very impressed overall. There seems to be more relaxed bass and softer highs now, presumably from break-in. The bass may not have as much impact anymore but is definitely present.
Physical differences between HD600 and HD570.
The HD570 seem quite rugged. The 'bionetic design' element (a fair rotation of the ear "peices") is actually quite stirdy and would be difficult to break accidently. The cord connection is a 2.5mm stereo plug allowing experimentation with custom cables easy. The stock cable does not have excellent construction, within one year I have damaged the inside contacts of the connector such that the cable needs to be held at a certain angle to make contact -- VERY annoying. There is no doubt that the HD570 are extremely comfortable.
The build quality of the HD600 is definitely superior to the HD570, they are very modular and solid. The HD570 is comparable, but the carbon fibre in the HD600 makes the plastic HD570s seem weak as they move when you grab them. The HD600 place alot of pressure on my head compared to the HD570, however it seems to have reduced after 1 day. After one week, the pressure is just fine, either I’m used to it or the HD600s have loosened up a bit.
