[xaval]

Quote:

Neat idea to gather criticisms!

I can't say I dislike them, but I do have some criticisms:
- The headband plastic is prone to cracking.
- They can be a little bit clampy out of the box.
- They have a tendency to make everything sound "good" (what I mean is, they smooth over things a bit much imho).
They're good headphones overall, but they're not perfect (no pair is); if I had to pick a headphone over them, with no price consideration, the ESP/950 would be it, if I had to pick something in their price range, then I would look at Grado or the Sony open-back cans (like SA5000 or F1).

Hi all,
 
I've had mine for about 15 years. Not a single crack.
As I like these cans won't say anything else about it

 

[lejaz]

Quote:

Slightly too much mid-bass and not enough treble. If these issues were corrected, it'd sound closer to neutral. There's a mod where you can reduce the bass of the HD-600 without screwing up the rest of the signature.
I do however like the HD-580 a lot. It fixes these issues for me despite using the same driver.
The HD-580 also sounds clearer to my ears. Yep, all due to that grill.
 
I actually find the HD-600 TOO warm. Yeah, i'm weird..

The first sentence is my impression of the hd580....stock with 650 cable. I would appreciate a tad more treble. Plus the soundstage never impressed me compared to other phones. Other than that, it's all good.

 

[wje]

Quote:

Hi all,
 
I've had mine for about 15 years. Not a single crack.
As I like these cans won't say anything else about it

 
I wonder if most of the quality issues with the headband cracks are from the newer batches (e.g. last 3 or 4 years)?  I do know my HD-580s are solid when it comes to the headband.  I don't foresee the possibility of it cracking or starting to anytime soon.
 
Now, since this is an "I don't like" thread, I did sleep on it a bit and I do have one thing that bothers me greatly about the HD-580 / 600 / 650 headphones from Sennheiser --- the COST of the replacement pads.  They are in the range of $45.00 + shipping.  Ouch !!

 

[xaval]

Worst news is that the "new" pads do more worse than good. Mine are still the original ones and a good wash has kept them just great along these years. "Now" they sell the same pads on the HD600 as they do for HD650. There's an old thread where this was briefly discussed and I wasn't the only one with this opinion that the old pads were better - well, even the drivers were changed a few years ago on the HD600. I know I'm keeping my oldies

 

[jerg]

It's interesting how the present-day Senn HD6X0's are more expensive, their accessories cost more, and they are questionably less durable, than the older productions. They are milkin' it real hard.

 

[tdockweiler]

Quote:

The first sentence is my impression of the hd580....stock with 650 cable. I would appreciate a tad more treble. Plus the soundstage never impressed me compared to other phones. Other than that, it's all good.

I know you'll find this annoying, but I don't like the HD-650 cable on the HD-580 at all. It seems to bloat the bass a tad.
I don't know if it's due to thicker internal wiring or some capacitance differences.
 
You should try the stock HD-600 cable for a week and then the 650 cable for the 2nd week. It's quite interesting...I know they say "copper is copper".
 
The soundstage size of the 580 isn't very large IMO. The HD-600's is slightly larger though and that's a huge plus for some.
 
At times the 580's soundstage seems more like a semi-open headphone.

 

[GloriousLettuce]

  Slightly too much mid-bass and not enough treble. If these issues were corrected, it'd sound closer to neutral. There's a mod where you can reduce the bass of the HD-600 without screwing up the rest of the signature.
I do however like the HD-580 a lot. It fixes these issues for me despite using the same driver.
The HD-580 also sounds clearer to my ears. Yep, all due to that grill.
 
I actually find the HD-600 TOO warm. Yeah, i'm weird..

 
You think HD 650 are an improvement in this regard? Better treble and bass slammed lower to the sub-bass region?
 
This issue is that everything sounds just glued together and fatty, very little separation and diminishes potential for more clarity.

 

[ChookJones1987]

The HD600/650 beat up most of the so called flagsips today like the Ether when your amp them with something very good like the Crack on a budget or something like the Eddie Current selection. On lesser equipment they sound very good but they are amazing on better equipment especially in microdetail, resolution and tonal balance.
 
When people complain about the 600/650 and I look at their signature and they have unresolving dacs and amp it's quite funny because they have not experienced what these offer. I compared the HD650 to the LCD-3 on an Eddie current amp and the 650 was actually better in more areas minus the bass extension and texture. 

 

[GloriousLettuce]

I think its just that I want something analytical. No matter how much juice i put into them, they do sound beautiful, but ... warm and too rich sounding. I expected reference monitors, something that doesn't make music sound more warm or musical or something. This reflects on recordings that are instrument rich and decreases clarity. I'm not saying they're not clear, I just see this decoration in a sound that I don't want in my gear, and the sound could be more sharper.

 

[ubs28]

  The HD600/650 beat up most of the so called flagsips today like the Ether when your amp them with something very good like the Crack on a budget or something like the Eddie Current selection. On lesser equipment they sound very good but they are amazing on better equipment especially in microdetail, resolution and tonal balance.
 
When people complain about the 600/650 and I look at their signature and they have unresolving dacs and amp it's quite funny because they have not experienced what these offer. I compared the HD650 to the LCD-3 on an Eddie current amp and the 650 was actually better in more areas minus the bass extension and texture. 

So the Chord Hugo and Taurus MKII are unresolving? The HD 800 S eats those headphones for breakfast. 
 
In their price class they are good though. I heard more expensive headphones sound much worse (for example expensive Grado headphones)

 

[ChookJones1987]

 
So the Chord Hugo and Taurus MKII are unresolving? The HD 800 S eats those headphones for breakfast. 

The Chord Hugo is an absolute joke for the price.  Taurus is a good amp. I even prefer the Mojo to the Hugo. Hugo is a screechy, mess, yes it's spacious sounding at the expense of fullness and musicality. Well the 800s is a superior driver so yes it's going to sound better when it's comes to resolution but I wouldn't say it completely destroys them. I've heard them all on capable systems and the 600 series holds it's own no problem. Their weakness has always been bass however.  

 

[ubs28]

  The Chord Hugo is an absolute joke for the price.  Taurus is a good amp. I even prefer the Mojo to the Hugo. Hugo is a screechy, mess, yes it's spacious sounding at the expense of fullness and musicality. Well the 800s is a superior driver so yes it's going to sound better when it's comes to resolution but I wouldn't say it completely destroys them. I've heard them all on capable systems and the 600 series holds it's own no problem. Their weakness has always been bass however.  

Even if you replace the Chord Hugo with something else, the HD 650 gets outclassed by the HEX. 
 
There is no magical amp or DAC that somehow turns those headphones into flagship headphones based on what I have tried with them.

 

[ChookJones1987]

I think its just that I want something analytical. No matter how much juice i put into them, they do sound beautiful, but ... warm and too rich sounding. I expected reference monitors, something that doesn't make music sound more warm or musical or something. This reflects on recordings that are instrument rich and decreases clarity. I'm not saying they're not clear, I just see this decoration in a sound that I don't want in my gear, and the sound could be more sharper.

Well the most natural headphones lean towards to warmer end, cold sounding is a result of upper mid and treble exaggerations over the rest of the response which isn't natural. The 650 for example has a complete smooth response, no peak just a gentle roll off, no rapid drop offs and they sound very natural. The issue with the H650/600 is if your gear doesn;t resolve well, they tend to sound mushy, but have always retained that nice tone but a good dac and a good amp will get you plenty of resolution and dynamics with a nice tonal balance. If you mod the HD650 for example and tighten the bass, it fixes it;s main issue but will always drop off due to it being an open dynamic. 

 

[ChookJones1987]

 
Even if you replace the Chord Hugo with something else, the HD 650 gets outclassed by the HEX. 

Completely disagree, The HEK actually sounding less resolving than the 650 from a Gumby and Eddie Current. I thought the HEK had better bass texture, even to a modden HD650 but the low mid to the treble was all 650 especially when it comes to plankton. 

 

[ubs28]

  Completely disagree, The HEK actually sounding less resolving than the 650 from a Gumby and Eddie Current. I thought the HEK had better bass texture, even to a modden HD650 but the low mid to the treble was all 650 especially when it comes to plankton. 

I was talking about the Hifiman Edition-X. I did various listening sessions and the others guys that were there pretty much all agreed that the HEX was far better than the HD 650. The DAC was a much more expense DAC than the Chord Hugo in that setup, so it's not a DAC problem. 
 
But if you're ears are telling you that your HD 650 is even better than the HEK, then you're a lucky guy