Yeah, I'm still very excited. FedEx is really varying in the time they arrive here. It can be anywhere from noon until 6 PM. I'm hoping I don't become an unlucky case and they don't deliver until tomorrow
. However, my sinuses seem to be a bit congested today, so I might have to hold off on some impressions
. And I will try to share my opinion in all applicable threads. I'm not a true expert like some here as the A2, HD 600 and HD 650 are my first real foray into the full-sized spectrum. Of course I have my DT770s and Grado SR325i, but I still feel they are of a different level...hard to really express/explain.
Yeah, I sell/trade quite a bit of stuff (mostly on the computer forum I frequent) and I always believe getting stuff shipped properly is paramount. I used a box twice the size I needed once just because I wanted to be sure of no problems arising. I'd rather do that and spend the extra $5 than to end up needing to refund the money for a broken product that is then useless. Sorry for your bad experience
.
I am the same way, and because of this I was very skeptical about trying the likes of the Sennheiser HD 6xx series. I came directly from Grados and Beyers, so I was used to really 'sparkly' treble. And I liked it. I still do like the Beyers. The Grados don't really match well with the A2, in my opinion, though, and drove me to disliking them. This probably is why the recommendation is to use Grados with a tube amp for ultimate synergy.
The HD 600s, to me, have some of the most natural sounding treble I've heard from a full-sized headphone or IEM. The Ultrasone HFI-780s I tried were terribly sparkly, sibilant, and unnatural (hated them), Grados gave treble a shine that actually made it unnatural, but highly enjoyable, the Beyers gave it a sparkle that made you forget about the not-so-hot mids, but the HD 600 give such an accurate representation of how things like cymbals should sound that it's almost
scary.
However, the HD 600 seem to be very dependent on production of music. I don't expect the the HD 650s to be completely different monsters, but I think a lot has to do with the bass response. Just from looking at a few FR graphs, you can see the bass response of the HD 600 drops after a certain point, leaving much to be desired in the sub-bass area of things. This really only applies to more modern music (pop, hip hop, rap, and even certain hardcore sub-genres), as things like Yes, Pink Floyd, The Beatles sound quite brilliant, and the HD 600s sit there, stare you in the face and tell you "these artists took time to produce their music the right way." Rightly so, this leaves things like Dubstep, EDM, rap, hip hop, and other similar 'bassy' genres to leave a feeling of dissatisfaction. Of course, if you're like me, and anticipated this, you have a pair of headphones to remedy for this (in my case, the DT770 LEs).
To comment more on the A2 and what it does:
The A2 does a great deal to improve separation over a non-amped source. This is even true with the 32 ohm DT770s. At the same time, it constantly brings up the point that "Hey, this band you really like; when they made this album in the studio, they didn't use 20 different mics on each drum like they should have." Or "Hey, they didn't level match any of the instruments properly, and that's why this cymbal and guitar note sound awful together." This is a disadvantage for around 60% of my music as I listen to a lot of hardcore, metalcore, and progressive metal from some not-so-known or wealthy artists. Therefore, I don't blame them, my equipment does. This was truly evident with the Grados. The HD 600s are a bit revealing of this characteristic, but nothing like the Grados. In turn, this probably means a slightly more 'colored' headphone will sound better and not point out some of the glaring flaws that certain music has.
These are bands that sound great through the A2 + HD 600 combo:
Between the Buried and Me
Despised Icon
Yes
The Beatles
Pink Floyd
Meshuggah
My Morning Jacket
Nights Like These
Oh Land
One Day As a Lion
Protest the Hero
Radiohead
Rage Against the Machine
Red Hot Chili Peppers (though does bring out the distortion in the recordings; more specifically on Californication)
Say Anything
There are many more, but I feel that is a good representation of things it excels at. Quite a bit of difference in styles there, though it's nowhere near a complete one.