[PinkyPowers]

People may now mean something else by "balanced" though.

They do. That's what I just said.

A Balanced headphone amp is one that requires a four-conductor cable: Two possitive, two negative. The negative carrying an inverted signal for the L & R channels, cancelling out anything that's not present in both. Ground no longer exists.

 

[yangian]

  All I'll say is that I'm very happy with my HD600 running from an SMSL sApII Pro connected to a Topping D20 DAC. To my ears, it's been cheap and effective in delivering my daily dose of audio bliss

But those best-value Chinese products cannot  be set as a criterion. But their prices is going up as they are more and more accepted.

 

[DavidA]

 
But those best-value Chinese products cannot  be set as a criterion. But their prices is going up as they are more and more accepted.

I had a Topping VX1, hard to beat for the price, headphone amp section decent but for driving speakers it was pretty good, DAC section about the equal of the original Modi to me.

 

[yangian]

  I had a Topping VX1, hard to beat for the price, headphone amp section decent but for driving speakers it was pretty good, DAC section about the equal of the original Modi to me.

More cheapter for some DIY products but actually really good with best value.

 

[UtopiaB]

Honestly, i'm just wondering if you guys think there is a better headphone to be found anywhere, or is the HD600 pretty much the classic-of-classics as far as an overall balanced clean detailed sound? We know nothing is perfect, but for those who want clean, detailed and balanced sound, does the HD600 represent the pinnacle and refuse to stand down, or can it be bettered? I hear so many times how headfiers go looking for something different or better but ultimately end up returning to the trusty HD600.
 
Myself, I just can't see how the HD600 can be bettered, the other high-end headphones i've tried (including the HD650) just seem to sound either too bright, or too clouded, or too warm, or too quirky in some way, different or interesting but ultimately foggy or weird one way or another.
 
I'm in the right thread to be praising the HD600 right?

 

[DavidA]

  Honestly, i'm just wondering if you guys think there is a better headphone to be found anywhere, or is the HD600 pretty much the classic-of-classics as far as an overall balanced clean detailed sound? We know nothing is perfect, but for those who want clean, detailed and balanced sound, does the HD600 represent the pinnacle and refuse to stand down, or can it be bettered? I hear so many times how headfiers go looking for something different or better but ultimately end up returning to the trusty HD600.
 
Myself, I just can't see how the HD600 can be bettered, the other high-end headphones i've tried (including the HD650) just seem to sound either too bright, or too clouded, or too warm, or too quirky in some way, different or interesting but ultimately foggy or weird one way or another.
 
I'm in the right thread to be praising the HD600 right?

As far as a better headphone, it all depends on the individual, but if you are looking for a headphone that many consider a benchmark for neutral then the HD-600 would be my choice.  Can it be bettered, to me there are quite a few that better the HD-600 but not because they are considered more neutral, a different sound signature, one that I like better.
 
FWIW I would take the HD-650 over the HD-600 only because I like the sound signature better, the other reason is that the HD-600 was slightly harsh with some tracks for me and that's saying something since I don't think the HD-800 or HD-700 are harsh sounding.
 
If you think the HD-600 are end game for you congrats, you are in a place where many try to get to.

 

[PinkyPowers]

Honestly, i'm just wondering if you guys think there is a better headphone to be found anywhere, or is the HD600 pretty much the classic-of-classics as far as an overall balanced clean detailed sound? We know nothing is perfect, but for those who want clean, detailed and balanced sound, does the HD600 represent the pinnacle and refuse to stand down, or can it be bettered? I hear so many times how headfiers go looking for something different or better but ultimately end up returning to the trusty HD600.

Myself, I just can't see how the HD600 can be bettered, the other high-end headphones i've tried (including the HD650) just seem to sound either too bright, or too clouded, or too warm, or too quirky in some way, different or interesting but ultimately foggy or weird one way or another.

I'm in the right thread to be praising the HD600 right?

It really does depend on the person.

For me, the LCD-2.2 Fazor is the perfect upgrade to the HD600.

 

[Arniesb]

As far as a better headphone, it all depends on the individual, but if you are looking for a headphone that many consider a benchmark for neutral then the HD-600 would be my choice.  Can it be bettered, to me there are quite a few that better the HD-600 but not because they are considered more neutral, a different sound signature, one that I like better.

FWIW I would take the HD-650 over the HD-600 only because I like the sound signature better, the other reason is that the HD-600 was slightly harsh with some tracks for me and that's saying something since I don't think the HD-800 or HD-700 are harsh sounding.

If you think the HD-600 are end game for you congrats, you are in a place where many try to get to.

I think you David don't like forward 2 to 4khz range. That explain this, because HD800 is much calmer in that range, but harsher from lower highs and up.

 

[DavidA]

I think you David don't like forward 2 to 4khz range. That explain this, because HD800 is much calmer in that range, but harsher from lower highs and up.

You are probably right, the HD-800 spike is in the 6khz range and the HD-700 is similar iirc.  I like the HE-560 which is overall a brighter headphone than the HD-600 but its a lot smoother and just the way the highs are presented seem more normal to me.

 

[_gl]

For me the only flaw of the HD600 is how they roll off lower bass.  That stops them being as 'reference' as I would like for pro audio work (they are excellent otherwise).  I corrected it with a custom EQ curve (see my sig).

 

[UtopiaB]

  For me the only flaw of the HD600 is how they roll off lower bass.  

 
Since this seems to be the enduring anomaly identified by many HD600 aficionados, why is it that Sennheiser hasn't bothered to slightly re-tune it and rectify this shortcoming? That's what I wonder. Would extending the lower-end just a tad ultimately skew the rest of the HD600 sound signature, or is Sennheiser just being apathetic about it and not bothering with it? 

 

[_gl]

   
Since this seems to be the enduring anomaly identified by many HD600 aficionados, why is it that Sennheiser hasn't bothered to slightly re-tune it and rectify this shortcoming? That's what I wonder. Would extending the lower-end just a tad ultimately skew the rest of the HD600 sound signature, or is Sennheiser just being apathetic about it and not bothering with it? 

 
Good question, and I don't know the answer.  Maybe it's really hard to get something neutral all the way across, driver limitation etc.  Of course it's a really old design, from the days where when we didn't get so much bass/sub-bass in our mixes : ).

 

[DavidA]

   
Since this seems to be the enduring anomaly identified by many HD600 aficionados, why is it that Sennheiser hasn't bothered to slightly re-tune it and rectify this shortcoming? That's what I wonder. Would extending the lower-end just a tad ultimately skew the rest of the HD600 sound signature, or is Sennheiser just being apathetic about it and not bothering with it? 

A good question, they did re-tune the HD-800 so who knows

 

[_gl]

   
Good question, and I don't know the answer.  Maybe it's really hard to get something neutral all the way across, driver limitation etc.  Of course it's a really old design, from the days where when we didn't get so much bass/sub-bass in our mixes : ).

 
.. thinking about it (and this is just an educated guess), with an open-backed design you probably can't fake bass through porting, resonances etc?  So perhaps you really need large drivers to produce it, larger than headphones can handle?
 
Anyone know?

 

[thefitz]

Does anybody know where I can get a replacement HD600 driver (in Canada)? My left channel died. I emailed Sennheiser and they keep sending me to the online shop which does not have the part. Every other time, I was able to order via email....