[Pahani]

 
That is exactly why I haven't felt the need to upgrade.  Use a good source and a decent amplifier, and you don't want anything else.  I'll put on my heavy-grade vinyl copy of Mehta conducting Las Angeles playing the Planets, and I'm in a different world.  Well, 7 different worlds.
 
By the way, who is conducting the DSO now?  I had to double check because we have the DSO in Dallas as well.

Ahh, I'm not much of a classical listener, so thanks for reminding me of The Planets!
 
I was in a Drum & Bugle Corps in the late 80's, and I'll always remember hearing the adaptation of this played at the DCI Finals at Madison, Wisconsin. I don't even remember now who it was that performed it, just that it knocked my socks off.
 
I'm sure orchestra purists will scoff at the pure brass-and-percussion adaptation, but as a teenager, the power of the piece overwhelmed me. Even more astounding is that all Corps members were required to be age 20 and below if I recall. I now have to listen to the orchestral version on Tidal

 

[Argyris]

I wish we'd played the suite when I was in band in middle school. I enjoyed my time there nonetheless, and it was my first experience playing in an ensemble. Previously I'd only ever played solo piano. I also played keyboard in the jazz band, which was a special subset of the band you could enter via audition.
 
In high school I went with choir instead of band. Four years here (I'm a tenor) gave me yet another perspective on ensemble performance, since not only did I get to hear things from the performer's position, but since the chorus was split into different groups I got to hear things from the audience perspective as well when my group wasn't performing. I much preferred the former, as the acoustics in our performance hall made everything sound distant and muffled no matter how close to the stage you were. Thinking about it, this is likely where my attraction to brighter, more forward sound came from. Even though the HD 600 isn't really analytical like the DT880, it's still energetic, and thus it still appeals to the part of me that's used to a close-up sound. I expect people used to being mid-hall in the audience and who never performed would prefer a more laid back presentation.

 

[perhapss]

  As I posted above the tubes vs SS should be moved to a separate thread since this is always escalates to a word war.
 
I don't consider the HD-600 a "slightly warm signature" and I've never experienced it to pair well with most SS amps that are reasonable (under $1000), only two SS amps that I would take over my BH Crack are a Liquid Gold and Master 9, these two amps make the HD-600 really shine, but its still a little behind the EC Balancing Act or Liquid Glass IMO.

I disagree.
 
We are talking about the hd600.
My opinion is it pairs exceptionally well with good quality SS of proper power with a good DAC.
 
Tubes YMMV.
 
Regarding "word wars" well one man`s war is another man`s logic I suppose.
Trying to export opinions that contradict your opinion to another thread may suit you just fine but other folks not so much IMO.
 
The second part of your post is completely the opposite of my experience so all I can say is that I perceive the slight boost in the lower kids as a "warm" thing.

 

[wahsmoh]

  I wish we'd played the suite when I was in band in middle school. I enjoyed my time there nonetheless, and it was my first experience playing in an ensemble. Previously I'd only ever played solo piano. I also played keyboard in the jazz band, which was a special subset of the band you could enter via audition.
 
In high school I went with choir instead of band. Four years here (I'm a tenor) gave me yet another perspective on ensemble performance, since not only did I get to hear things from the performer's position, but since the chorus was split into different groups I got to hear things from the audience perspective as well when my group wasn't performing. I much preferred the former, as the acoustics in our performance hall made everything sound distant and muffled no matter how close to the stage you were. Thinking about it, this is likely where my attraction to brighter, more forward sound came from. Even though the HD 600 isn't really analytical like the DT880, it's still energetic, and thus it still appeals to the part of me that's used to a close-up sound. I expect people used to being mid-hall in the audience and who never performed would prefer a more laid back presentation.

I like the HD600 a little more than the DT880 because it has a slightly smoother treble. But if paired with a good DAC I don't think the DT880 is as bright as people think. I've  heard it with different DACs over the years and they suit the signature different.
 
Also the HD600 isn't the last word in deep bass and neither is the DT880 but I think there is more subbass with the DT880 than HD600. With music that has bass instruments and not bass wobbles it wouldn't matter much because the HD600 still does a good job with that.

 

[UtopiaB]

The DT880 is too bright for me, that's why I never purchased it, so why does anyone stick with it? And it's sound is enclosed, typical closed-back, but the HD600 we all know is spacious without sounding hyped.
 
 
And also many people buy the Audio Technica ATH-M50 on advice from a friend or their headphone stockist, and they suppose they have the end-game headphone, I feel sorry for them, maybe their headphone dealer should stop giving them negligent advice and just point them straight to the HD600, it fits within the category of end-game headphone for me.

 

[DavidA]

  The DT880 is too bright for me, that's why I never purchased it, so why does anyone stick with it? And it's sound is enclosed, typical closed-back, but the HD600 we all know is spacious without sounding hyped.
 
 
And also many people buy the Audio Technica ATH-M50 on advice from a friend or their headphone stockist, and they suppose they have the end-game headphone, I feel sorry for them, maybe their headphone dealer should stop giving them negligent advice and just point them straight to the HD600, it fits within the category of end-game headphone for me.

The M50 has a different target audience from the HD-600, price, portability, isolation and easy to drive.

 

[madwolfa]

  The M50 has a different target audience from the HD-600, price, portability, isolation and easy to drive.

 
I have both and M50 serves its purpose.

 

[Midgetguy]

  The M50 has a different target audience from the HD-600, price, portability, isolation and easy to drive.

I think that in the past, The M50 was a good choice for the purpose it serves. But today, I'd choose Audio Technica's own MSR7 and Hifiman's Edition S. That said, those options do cost a little bit more and while I would pay the little bit more for that, I can see how some others wouldn't. But the HD600 should certainly be on the list of peoples' recommendation list for home listening.

 

[Bob A (SD)]

I must admit to chuckling a bit about the HD600 end game comments here.  I've felt that way about my HD580 (tweaked) and HD600 cans since late 1993.  Maybe I have just been too old to change but of all the other cans I've heard, none have motivated me to supplant my Senns in their favor. 

 

 

[audiojun]

I must admit to chuckling a bit about the HD600 end game comments here.  I've felt that way about my HD580 (tweaked) and HD600 cans since late 1993.  Maybe I have just been too old to change but of all the other cans I've heard, none have motivated me to supplant my Senns in their favor.   

Listen to the wise man here.

 

[Midgetguy]

  I must admit to chuckling a bit about the HD600 end game comments here.  I've felt that way about my HD580 (tweaked) and HD600 cans since late 1993.  Maybe I have just been too old to change but of all the other cans I've heard, none have motivated me to supplant my Senns in their favor. 

 

Well I've only had my HD600 for a couple years at this point. And realistically, the reason I've been listening to other cans is to satisfy a curiosity of how other stuff sounds. For me, it hasn't been at all an attempt to find something to replace the HD600; I just wanna hear what other headphones sound like and at the end of the day, I'll return to the HD600.

 

[Argyris]

  The DT880 is too bright for me, that's why I never purchased it, so why does anyone stick with it? And it's sound is enclosed, typical closed-back, but the HD600 we all know is spacious without sounding hyped.
 
 
And also many people buy the Audio Technica ATH-M50 on advice from a friend or their headphone stockist, and they suppose they have the end-game headphone, I feel sorry for them, maybe their headphone dealer should stop giving them negligent advice and just point them straight to the HD600, it fits within the category of end-game headphone for me.

 
The DT880 is a bit bright, but it has some pretty good things going for it. It has excellent extension on both ends; as wahsmoh points out above, it definitely goes deeper than the HD 600, and though it's a bit early for me to tell, I think it goes a bit higher as well. It has a bit more air and presence and a less forward midrange than the HD 600, which, depending on preference, might make it work better. Some people actually find the upper mids (~3 kHz) on the HD 600 a bit fatiguing because of the slight lift in the response in this area. I personally don't have much of a problem with it, but this region is definitely the volume limiter for me, whereas on the DT880 it's the treble.
 
I like them both. Swapping back to the DT880 after having listened almost exclusively to the HD 600 for a few days, there wasn't quite as much difference between the two as I had initially thought. Mainly it was a difference in presentation, with the HD 600 feeling more intimate and in your face, with the DT880 feeling a bit more relaxed (apart from the mid treble) and further away. I still prefer the HD 600, but I'm happy to have both. The way the DT880 presents orchestral strings, for instance, doesn't quite match up with what I heard in a live performance, but I still like the presentation a lot. And for organ and (oddly enough) EDM, I still prefer the DT880 on account of its deeper bass extension.
 
And the M50? It was my first decent headphone, sometime back in the Cretaceous Period, and while I could see the appeal at the time, ultimately the signature just didn't work for me. The upper midrange is just too laid back for my taste, and the bass is too heavy. I found myself staring, unmoved, at the wall instead of enjoying the music, and it was at that point I knew I had to get shot of the thing.

 

[Argyris]

  I must admit to chuckling a bit about the HD600 end game comments here.  I've felt that way about my HD580 (tweaked) and HD600 cans since late 1993.  Maybe I have just been too old to change but of all the other cans I've heard, none have motivated me to supplant my Senns in their favor. 

 

 
At this point, you'd have to show me something tuned as close as possible to the HD 600 but with better bass extension to constitute a true upgrade. I'm sure there are headphones (e.g. the HD 800, some of the electrostatic and planar designs) that have better technical capability, but what makes the HD 600 so special is the balance. I'm open to try anything, of course, since the HD 600 itself was a departure from what I was used to and enjoyed, but the HD 600 just feels right, in a way no other headphone, even the DT880 I've spent almost six years with, has felt.
 
I think I'll be sticking with my HD 600 for a while.

 

[DavidA]

I think the appeal of headphones like the M50, MDR-7506, Beats, Bose and others is that they are fairly common in many stores and I think the average consumer does not even look at headphones over $100 most of the time so when they get the M50 its so much better than what they started with that to them its a end game headphone if the sound signature is even close to what they have been led to believe is a good sound. 
 
The HD-600/650, HE-400i, HE-400S and so on are almost unknown outside of this hobby, the only headphones I've seen in stores here in Hawaii are Beats, Bose, some Sony's and a few low end Sennheisers along with a lot of other economy brands.  I've heard that the local BB has some B&W, Audio-Technica, V-Moda and Logitech these days.

 

[UtopiaB]

   
And the M50? It was my first decent headphone, sometime back in the Cretaceous Period, and while I could see the appeal at the time, ultimately the signature just didn't work for me. The upper midrange is just too laid back for my taste, and the bass is too heavy. I found myself staring, unmoved, at the wall instead of enjoying the music, and it was at that point I knew I had to get shot of the thing.

 
It was one of my first headphones too the M50, but I found myself pretty much doing the same thing as you, I was numb while listening, and wondering why, not to mention that the quirky over-emphasized bass was annoying the crap out of me for some reason. It seems to be a sort of cunning trick or a freak of nature that the ATH-M50 sounds very endearing at first, and then it gets old pretty damn quick. Later I found out it has the classic smiley curve tuning, which explains why it initially always sounds nice. 
 
A lot of headphones these days seem to overhype the bass in an attempt to attract teenagers and mid-twenties males who want the thump, but really a headphone should respect the source sound and stay true to the original tone of the song, and the HD600 does that better than any headphone I know of.