HD600 Question

[AudioDwebe]

Like any elder Head-Fi member I've had the HD600 and Hd650 in my arsenal for a while. But since I had pretty much quit with headphone listening except for on rare occasions, and my granddaughters were learning piano on 88-key keyboards, I sent them both the cans to them so they could practice without disturbing others.

But you know how things go. I kind of missed having the cans around and I recall with fondness the smoothness of their sound quality. Not that I don't still have too many other cans, but the 600/650, let's face it, should really BE a part of anyone who's into headphones' collection.

So I recently picked up the HD600.

I didn't realize they'd gone through at least a cosmetic change in, what, 2019? I got the cans in and they looked different (both my previous versions were the speckled, marbled ones (not sure if there were any others)) and, to my recollection at least, felt lighter.

And the sound isn't easing me into the music as my older pair did. I don't know if that's because I'm romanticizing the memory of them, I'm using a different amp, or if, in fact, something has been changed. If not something about the cans themselves, maybe the cables? Not sure. The cans I've bought used appear practically new with stock cables so burn-in could be an issue. I just don't know.

I'm tempted to have my daughter send back the 600s for a bit so I can compare, but then that seems silly. I've thought about buying a pair of the older model, as well, because I am a bit curious. And you know, it's not even like I was intimately familiar with the older cans, as I swapped through various models pretty regularily even when I was only or even mostly headphone listening, It's more "just a feeling" at this point.

So I figured I'd reach out here as I know many of you have made the direct comparison I'm thinking about. What did you find?

I'm guessing my aural memories are playing tricks on me. Am I right?

Thanks, and stay safe.

 

[Zerviscos]

Yes and no? Probably. The HD6X0s has had various revisions, mostly regarding the acoustic screens used with some slight tuning differences. From what I can tell, HD600 Black Silk sounded the best. Not as important as new pads vs used pads though, and might need to A/B to tell them apart. New ones currently use silver screen. You probably had a Black Silk some time prior, as that sounds a bit more warmer and refined. Or it can be as you said, just aural memory/nostalgia about the sound causing it to sound better than it is.