[chesebert]

Here's a question for those who have heard both the 30 and the new Sennheiser HD660S2, having an odd eclectic taste in music would you consider both equally competent at playing multiple genres on the fly, going from a heavy wall of sound to an intimate airy gathering, sort of a Swiss army knife for music.
I ask as I'm reading the NDH30 are closer to the HD800 in sound stage and from what I auditioned maybe too polite.

It's a long story but I was once asked if I listened to Opera and Wagner and then introduced to what I was told was some new modern Opera from Germany and found it rather all new and exciting, maybe with a bit heavy metal thrown in ...well it was Rammstein and now I can never dissociate them from the genre. lol

So anyway after a night at the Opera.

Rammstein's "Zeit"
https://tidal.com/browse/album/226311161
and
"Reise, Reise"
https://tidal.com/browse/album/586217
....the S2 managed a decent job with both, a delicate hand when needed but also producing a dense wall of sound with solid bass and driving rhythm.

I then then finished the evening with Kathleen Battle Sings Mozart, her voice was IMHO beautifully reproduced.

https://tidal.com/browse/album/142291031

Rammstein sounds great on NDH30. I am guessing you are not hearing the sub bass at 1min mark on Zeit with 660S2. It's very low and constant, you can just feel it on NDH30 (not really hearing it TBH).

Human voice sounds accurate and smooth with good micro details.

 

[ThEvil0nE]

Took a sneak-hear while giving it a break-in… midrange goosebumps

 

[Rob80b]

Rammstein sounds great on NDH30.

Good to know someone else is listening to German Opera.

I am guessing you are not hearing the sub bass at 1min mark on Zeit with 660S2

Just…barley…the 660S would have not.

Human voice sounds accurate and smooth with good micro details.

Not too shabby on the S6 either, the new driver is doing a rather good job.

So yes Guys the 30's on my short list but pensions don't go that far. : )

 

[chesebert]

Good to know someone else is listening to German Opera.


Just…barley…the 660S would have not.



Not too shabby on the S6 either, the new driver is doing a rather good job.

So yes Guys the 30's on my short list but pensions don't go that far. : )

Is that what we call symphonic metal nowadays? I haven't really begun to listen to my albums yet. I have been moving some equipment around, matching power cables and other crazy audiophile stuff to try to find the best synergistic combo for NDH30. I've provisionally set on NDH30 being driven balanced from GSX2 with SFD-1 (R2R dac with Russian tubes) dac and Emm Labs NS1 streamer.

 

[NickedWicked]

I understand there’s some healthy scepticism towards comparing the NDH 30 with more expensive counterparts but I would be lying if it wasn’t very, VERY competitive to all sub 2k headphones or even beyond. It’s similar to the ZMF biocellulose sound just more open, detailed and even more tonally balanced and without any forced “hi-fi” regions. It depends on what your preference is but the tonal balance puts a whole lot of headphones to shame.

There’s just so much insight going on with these headphones, from top to bottom you can really hear everything that’s going on in the recording. Though that does make them quite unforgiving.

As for the 660S2, it also has exemplary performance, has it certainly has the hi-fi factor but once you give your brain a bit of time to adjust (especially from the NDH 30 or something like the HD800S) they just sound stylish, smooth, rich and forgiving. It all just executed with impeccable taste. The NDH 30 and the 660S2 are one of the very few headphones you wouldn’t need to touch the EQ to make them sound at at their best.

Sennheiser and Neumann certainly know what they are doing it seems. Time will tell what the general reception will be but in my books these might go down as legendary headphones that will transform the mid-range budget sound of headphones.

 

[ThEvil0nE]

Save Me

Jasmine Myra's Horizons making the NDH30 flex it's lows

 

[indigogo]

I understand there’s some healthy scepticism towards comparing the NDH 30 with more expensive counterparts but I would be lying if it wasn’t very, VERY competitive to all sub 2k headphones or even beyond. It’s similar to the ZMF biocellulose sound just more open, detailed and even more tonally balanced and without any forced “hi-fi” regions. It depends on what your preference is but the tonal balance puts a whole lot of headphones to shame.

There’s just so much insight going on with these headphones, from top to bottom you can really hear everything that’s going on in the recording. Though that does make them quite unforgiving.

As for the 660S2, it also has exemplary performance, has it certainly has the hi-fi factor but once you give your brain a bit of time to adjust (especially from the NDH 30 or something like the HD800S) they just sound stylish, smooth, rich and forgiving. It all just executed with impeccable taste. The NDH 30 and the 660S2 are one of the very few headphones you wouldn’t need to touch the EQ to make them sound at at their best.

Sennheiser and Neumann certainly know what they are doing it seems. Time will tell what the general reception will be but in my books these might go down as legendary headphones that will transform the mid-range budget sound of headphones.

Everything is true, with a few exceptions, 660S2 compared to the sound and performance of NDH 30 should cost no more than $300
Again, the 660S2's elliptical shape makes them unsuitable for accurate sound field reproduction and proper stereo imaging. All this should fill your brain to get a normal sound. It just plays the sound and seems normal until compared to NDH 30.
After DH 30 it is no longer possible to take the 660S2 seriously and do not want to listen to them

 

[NickedWicked]

Everything is true, with a few exceptions, 660S2 compared to the sound and performance of NDH 30 should cost no more than $300
Again, the 660S2's elliptical shape makes them unsuitable for accurate sound field reproduction and proper stereo imaging. All this should fill your brain to get a normal sound. It just plays the sound and seems normal until compared to NDH 30.
After DH 30 it is no longer possible to take the 660S2 seriously and do not want to listen to them

I respectfully disagree, the HD 660S2 is nothing to scoff at and a totally different sound signature made for a different demographic.

Reminds me of the ZMF Auteur in terms of sound, I can’t tell which one was better from memory but I can imagine it’s very close and trading blows with each other. For 600 that is mighty impressive.

 

[Mike F]

Again, the 660S2's elliptical shape makes them unsuitable for accurate sound field reproduction and proper stereo imaging.

I don't believe that it's necessary for a headphone to have circular rather than elliptical ear cups to have accurate sound field production and proper stereo imaging. If that were true why wouldn't the fact that the NDH 30 has offset drivers have a negative effect?

 

[indigogo]

I respectfully disagree, the HD 660S2 is nothing to scoff at and a totally different sound signature made for a different demographic.

Reminds me of the ZMF Auteur in terms of sound, I can’t tell which one was better from memory but I can imagine it’s very close and trading blows with each other. For 600 that is mighty impressive.

I am not writing that the sound of the 660S2 is bad, I am writing that it is not correct, you can be 100% sure of this! An inaccurate sound can also be very attractive and sound good.
But you can't hear the recording and mixing as it really is. But this does not mean that it sounds bad - sometimes it even sounds better than it really is)))

 

[indigogo]

I don't believe that it's necessary for a headphone to have circular rather than elliptical ear cups to have accurate sound field production and proper stereo imaging. If that were true why wouldn't the fact that the NDH 30 has offset drivers have a negative effect?

Offset drivers simulate near-field monitors, and give proper stereo panning - but don't distort the sound
We ran tests with a studio colleague and came up with the same conclusion. Various people in the field of sound work from different studios confirmed what I wrote.
And I don’t need confirmation - I hear this distortion very clearly.
Until you start recording the sound yourself and working with it, it will be difficult for you to hear and understand well what I wrote about.

And most importantly, if the ellipse did not distort the sound, then the NDH 30 would be in the 660S2 case)))
But Neumann will never make headphones in an ellipse case like other manufacturers who make headphones for professional use)))

 

[Mike F]

But Neumann will never make headphones in an ellipse case like other manufacturers who make headphones for professional use)))

Are you saying that other manufacturers who make headphones for professionals do, or don't, use elliptical ear cups?

 

[kman1211]

Are you saying that other manufacturers who make headphones for professionals do, or don't, use elliptical ear cups?

Well considering the majority of professional Beyers (one of the biggest Pro headphone makers) are round earcups, there are other professional manufacturers that definitely make round earcups. Older AKG's did as well.

 

[Rob80b]

Are you saying that other manufacturers who make headphones for professionals do, or don't, use elliptical ear cups?

Well at the time.
Long before I joined Head-fi 20 years ago...my go to studio headset from the 80s ....
AKG K240DF. (no bass, no treble, no soundstage....flat ) .. : )

"Radio station reference headphones; diffuse-field equalized; designed strictly to IRT (German Institute for Radio Technology) standards; single cable for ease of use; semi-open, circumaural design. Used as reference headphones by many radio stations worldwide, this model has been in the AKG catalog unchanged for ten years and has become a classic by now. With their flat frequency response, these headphones provide an uncolored sound. The diffuse-field equalized K240 DF meets not only the stringent criteria of the IRT standard but those of professional sound engineers as well. Created to fulfill the international IRT specification, the K240 DF establishes a uniform quality standard free from environmental variables. In fixed apposition to the ears, the sound output quality is unchanging and reliable as opposed to loudspeaker monitors, sound from which is markedly influenced and colored by variations in control room architecture and furnishings."

 

[indigogo]

Are you saying that other manufacturers who make headphones for professionals do, or don't, use elliptical ear cups?

don't use elliptical ear cups