[donunus]

The hd600 seems to be easy to drive (soundwise) except for volume not high enough with portables so yeah, if the gain is high on the ibasso, I don't think you will have a problem driving them.

My k240s were harder to drive than the hd600s IMO. they distorted when used with daps. With the hd600, its just a matter of not being loud enough

 

[eraser_svk]

Glad you like them. I got a sort of a stupid question - how about 555 vs. 600 ? What do 555 lack ? And what about sound sig ?

 

[Gradofan2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Covenant /img/forum/go_quote.gif I wasnt aware there were 'versions' of the HD600. Where is the white material supposed to be? Here's a side pic of the grills on mine:

As you can see from the picture below of the "new" version - it has white/silver metalic material covering the slots in the element housing.

In contrast your's has the black silk - it is the "old" version.

The "new" version sounds brighter / clearer than the old version, which is more mellow.

However, even the "old" version sounds brighter / clearer than the "old" version of the HD650s (haven't heard the "new" version of the HD650s).

The "old" version of the HD580/600s sounds great with an upgraded cable - particularly the Cardas, and likely sounds even better with the RAL Cryo-Silver cable. It has very little of the "veil" the HD650s have.

 

[Namrac]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gradofan2 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well... that would be the "old" version of the HD580s, and a different set up. The "old" version of the HD600s were the same. The "new" version of the HD580/600s sound the same... and... they do not have the rolled off, laid back, veiled sound of the "old" version - much more like what you describe.

Why would there be a "new" version of a discontinued headphone? This whole "new" HD6*0 hubbub started about a year ago, no?

 

[majkel]

I've been always referring to the old HD600's basing on these informations. Surely they are much better headphones than the AD2000's due to being more natural. I heard almost life-like presentation from them and no veil even with the stock cable but they need to be properly amped. Surprisingly it was a solid state amp, and the DT880 Pro's were just a tad better, being life-like with no exceptions. The same happens to some Grado models - starting with the SR325i's.

 

[krmathis]

Congratulations!

 

[Penchum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by donunus /img/forum/go_quote.gif Malo MaloS Malo Malo Bad Bad hehehe wallet wallet run run hahaha anyway now I'm getting trade offers for my ad2000s. hmmm what amp would make the hd600 stay juicy and wouldnt color them. Im getting offers like gilmore lite with dps and the cayin HA-1A

Call your wallet back! An excellent amp to consider (also for your wallet), that is often overlooked, is the Little-Dot MKV Dual Mono Solid State Headphone Amp. I've got my HD-600's paired up with the MKV and I just can't get enough of it.

The link to my review of the MKV is in my Sig.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by donunus /img/forum/go_quote.gif HeadphoneAddict BAD. "Wallet Afraid to spend for wires" hehehe On a more serious note. I just read your review of the 3 cables and was wondering if you tried them on the hd600 with black material inside or the newer one. Also wondering if the aps v3 might be too bright for the newer version of the hd600 if they are already brighter and more defined than the original hd600. Oh, by the way have you listened to the cardas or equinox cables? Wonder how you would rank those in your reviews.

I'll have to take a look at them later, but I suspect they are the black silk version. I am not a believer in "newer sound" HD600, but if my APS V3 cable is not too bright with Grado RS-1 and HF-1 or Edition 9, then I don't see how they could make HD600 too bright.

I have also heard Jenna Labs cryo cable and Moon Silver Dragon, and found them to be exceptional sounding as well. I have not heard Cardas or Equinox cables. I have heard vampire and black dragon, which were an improvement but not my favorites.

 

[YtseJamer]

x2, the Little-Dot MKV is hard to beat for $300

Quote:

Originally Posted by Penchum /img/forum/go_quote.gif Call your wallet back! An excellent amp to consider (also for your wallet), that is often overlooked, is the Little-Dot MKV Dual Mono Solid State Headphone Amp.

 

[donunus]

Ahh never mind the little dot for now, I already made a deal to trade my ad2000 with a gilmore lite with DPS. I guess that argument is done.

Penchum and Boomana,
I'm not offended by your fight

Go right ahead and have fun. Well, better open a thread in the members section for this fight I guess so that my thread won't get locked.

Back to the Topic, I'm currently playing the chesky burn in track on my hd600s to see if it will still improve. Ahhh cant wait to see what the glite w/ dps will bring that my audiolab cannot deliver.

 

[donunus]

Did 24 hours extra burn in on them to see if they still improve. Not sure if the original owner has burned them in fully.
hmm, I felt like the sound hardened a little. Don't know if its placebo or what so I stopped the burn in and let them rest and settle. I'll do some listening again later to see if there was an improvement with the extra 24 hours or if i should just enjoy them and forget adding hours on purpose.

 

[BlackstoneJD]

Quote:

Originally Posted by donunus /img/forum/go_quote.gif Did 24 hours extra burn in on them to see if they still improve. Not sure if the original owner has burned them in fully. hmm, I felt like the sound hardened a little. Don't know if its placebo or what so I stopped the burn in and let them rest and settle. I'll do some listening again later to see if there was an improvement with the extra 24 hours or if i should just enjoy them and forget adding hours on purpose.

No that is absolutely psychological. It happened to me too, and it happens with all audio equipment. First you are thrilled and then you start to hear the imperfections. Totally normal. I went through the same thing with the HD600. Keep burning them in. They soften up a lot. Use a gliding tone track or a demag track and loop it. This works better than than the noise track. They really need at least 50 hours of solid playing time minimum, probably more like 100 before they really burn in. Any time it is reasonable to do so, you should be running signal through them for the first two weeks. The tech guru at my dealer was adamant about this and he was right on the money. This will give you just a head start. After 50 hours just forget about it and enjoy them. They will continue to improve. What happened is I just forgot about it after two weeks of running them over night and then one day went back to a particular recording and realized that they had in fact softened up. It took almost a month, but it will take you a lot longer if you don't do intentional burn in.

The best burn in track to use is the Ayre IBE gliding tone track. I did a loop of two tracks--a gliding demag tone and a pink noise track over and over.

 

[donunus]

Also, I think the hd600 is now making me hear the flaws of my audiolab amp. At first I was just listening to my hd600's sound, now that Ive listened to them for a while, I got derailed and now focused on my amps flaws. I now hear the hard and aggressive character of the audiolab. No worries, the gilmore lite with dps will be with me soon.

 

[donunus]

Did some listening to my hd600s again. I listened to some dvds and cds of various genres and can now make a simplified analogy of how the hd600 sounds compared to my former AD2000 (shipped out today).

If we were to compare the two cans as if they were television monitors, the hd600 is closer to a well calibrated monitor with a little adjustment to make the picture slightly warmer than natural. Lets call the hd600s "filmlike". All the detail is there but balanced slightly on the warm side. The AD2000s are more like a High Definition monitor with a punchy/contrasty look but missing the details (ex. looking at clouds in a scene for example will make you see less grays in between).

In other words, sonically the hd600 has a softer, airier sound than the ad2000which in contrast has a more incisive sound where all the notes seem to be pronounced. The ad2000s are punchier at the expense of inner detail. The HD600s have better dynamic contrast which makes them very detailed. The hd600s are definitely a higher resolution can compared to the ad2000s on my modest system. The kicker is, these suckers cost far less than the ad2ks! Wow! Joy divisions music for example is detailed, fun, and doesn't sound irritating all at the same time with the hd600s. The same music is puchier but less emotional, less fun on the ad2000s because the mids tend to get irritating. Everything gets congested when all sorts of noises are going on in the recording. The hd600s split all the noises in their own space in your head and make everything so enjoyable to listen to. Now thats what I call a FUN can. I think when people call the audio technica AD series airy cans, they are probably referring to the seemingly fast bass response in contrast to the slightly fatter yet less impactful sennheiser bass. I can dig that but when a headphone doesnt get the timbres of instruments as well as cans half their price, thats a major minus for me. What makes the sennheiser airier sounding than the ad2000 is its extended highs and instruments floating around your head with a light touch compared to the heavier sounding (like everything is playing fortissimo) ad2000.

 

[donunus]

You know whats so weird, I just listened to jacinthas solo piano part on moon river with my sr60s and they do pianos even better than the ad2000s

Whats up with ad2ks and pianos???