[Brooko]

Does the 650 cable change a lot the sound of the 600?

 
It doesn't change it at all.  I've A/B'd both.

 

[Midgetguy]

Guys a quick question!
I am waiting mine to arrive in a few days...
I happen to have a 650 cable and also the HD25Aluminum witch I love!
I am thinking of putting the HD650 cable to the 600s and the 600 cable to the 25s as long as there is a way to put it though the headband and attach it on the right side of the phones!
I don't want to mess with the original 600 sound though.. at the beginning anyway!
Does the 650 cable change a lot the sound of the 600?

Nope, choose just for sturdier build. No change as far as I know. Also the connectors that go into the drivers on the HD650 cable will stick out a bit when plugged in so it's a little easier to get hold of them if you need to unplug them at any point in the future.

 

[Argyris]

  ...but I'm not so well versed that I can easily tell what constitutes a better performance...

 
I have a background in music, but I wouldn't say I'm necessarily well versed in this respect, either. I just go with what I like, and often times I'm biased by the first interpretation of something I hear. An excellent example of this is the first movement of Beethoven's 5th Symphony. My first recording was Kleiber's account on DG. This one is polarizing, mainly due to the speed (quite a bit faster than average) and visceral quality (i.e. it lacks a bit for subtlety). It's also not a very good recording, but that's a different issue. I love it and use it as my benchmark, and I tend to find slower, more lyrical performances too plodding and soft. It's not an objective assessment; it's pure familiarity. Those who prefer other well known interpretations such as those by Karajan or Bernstein might have found their preference after a lot of searching or comparing, but I'd wager for most of them it was either the first recording they had heard, or at least shares overarching similarities to the first one they'd heard.
 
I started listening to classical when I was ten. I didn't have a whole lot available to me where I was buying, and I could care less about labels, conductors, performing groups or performance nuances. While I can appreciate those sorts of things more now, and while I often pick up several different performances of works I especially enjoy, if I'm honest I'd have to say I still spend most of my time listening to the versions I bought the first few years I started collecting.
 
At the end of the day, it's all about finding enjoyment, just like with picking a headphone. Maybe it doesn't look all that great on paper, but if it moves you, that's all that matters.

 

[painted klown]

   
Are you looking for a high degree of recording fidelity or performances that deliver the truth of the music. High quality and great performances of the music you might want to hear may not usually be found together. Not always, but often in my experience. But then again, opinions will always differ.
 
The best recorded quality seems to come from smaller independent operations, try Sheffield, Chesky, Reference Recordings, Telarc. Or, some of the specialized re-mastered releases using K2 tech with many mastered by JVC,
 
Of the majors I'm partial to 60, 70 and 80's Decca, but I have equal numbers of DG, Philips, and EMI/Angel. Performance generally trumps recorded quality for me, but not always.
 
If your looking for some high quality stuff to evaluate equipment here's some I rely on (CD's only and not all classical):
 
Sheffield: The Wagner / Prokofiev album, The Missing Linc album
Chesky: Ultimate Headphone Demonstration Disc, Holst Planets
Reference Recordings: Britten's Orchestra, Bruckner 9th, Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances
Epic: Stanley Clarke "School Days"
Verve K2 (Re)Mastering: Diana Krall "The Look of Love" (XRCD 24)
K2 HD Re-Mastering: Beethoven 6th Sym - Walter Col. SO. / Strauss's Also Sprach... Mehta with LAP orig. Decca / Stravinsky's Le Sacre...Solti with Chi.SO (XRCD Re- Master by JVC) orig. Decca /  Holst Planets...Previn with LSO (XRCD 24 Hi-Q Records) orig EMI. 
K2 HD Mastering 24 bit 100kHz: Beethoven 9th...Solti with Chi. SO orig. Decca / Tchaikovsky Sym 4,5,and 6... Mravinsky and Leningrad Phil., Beethoven Piano Sonatas...Gilels orig. DG / Beethoven 5the and 7th...Kleiber with VPO orig. DG.
 
I have a lot of the original stock CD releases of the above re-mastered items as well. There are some very good performances in this group, but that always varies for different listeners.
 
A final note: well recorded material tends to sound good on most equipment, I find flaws in recordings can be just as valuable in comparing equipment.

Thank you for the great list of stuff to try. I actually have the standard CD pressing of Diana Krall "The Look of Love" and am admittedly disappointed in the mastering on that release. Too sibilant/bright for my taste. YMMV though, and it is a great record content wise.
 

  Frankly, the very hit and miss quality of recording is ultimately my barrier to purchasing and enjoying some classical music. Performances matter less to me, it isn't unimportant, but I'm not so well versed that I can easily tell what constitutes a better performance.

This is sort of the same position I am in. I am just now discovering classical music, but I do not have the ability to pick a poor performance from a great one.
 
I also agree that classical music discs have recording and mastering jobs that are all over the map. I have a small stack of classical discs I recently picked up. Some of them sound great (to my ears) and others are as horrid as poorly mastered pop music.
 
For those here that are interested in learning more about classical music, or simply talking about the stuff you have, there is a classical music thread on this forum. I have posted there a bit and everyone is super cool, very knowledgeable, and really helpful. No snobbery about being a n00b, or what system and headphones you use to listen with.

 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/626563/best-classical-recordings-ever/8310

 

[FLTWS]

   
...and often times I'm biased by the first interpretation of something I hear. An excellent example of this is the first movement of Beethoven's 5th Symphony. My first recording was Kleiber's account on DG. This one is polarizing, mainly due to the speed (quite a bit faster than average) and visceral quality (i.e. it lacks a bit for subtlety). It's also not a very good recording, but that's a different issue. I love it and use it as my benchmark, and I tend to find slower, more lyrical performances too plodding and soft. It's not an objective assessment; it's pure familiarity. ...

 
My experience also, the first time any work grabs my full attention it becomes the difficult to displace benchmark for performance. But I've been at this long enough that I now allow for and enjoy different approaches to the same work on occasion. With Beethoven I don't allow for a lot of leeway. I don't think Beethoven himself would have allowed for much leeway either. When it comes to Mahler I do. Mahler's compositions strike me as effective even when approached in different ways. From my readings on him (his letters and recounted conversations of contemporaries) I believe he expected different interpreters to find their own path. He also said the often quoted "my time will come". What he didn't know was that time would be 50 years after his death, leaving it up to future conductors to begin to realize his vision as a composer and the rise in popularity and acceptance of his music. Fortunately the likes of Bruno Walter, Otto Klemperer, and a few others, kept the flame lit which then exploded in the early 60's.

 

[FLTWS]

... For those here that are interested in learning more about classical music, or simply talking about the stuff you have, there is a classical music thread on this forum. I have posted there a bit and everyone is super cool, very knowledgeable, and really helpful. No snobbery about being a n00b, or what system and headphones you use to listen with.

 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/626563/best-classical-recordings-ever/8310

 
Thanks, I didn't even know we had a classical thread here, I've been so focused on putting a headphone listening rig together I haven't been able to pull away from the pertinent hardware forums. 555 Pages!!! Wow, I got a lot of reading ahead of me.

 

[JackRabbitSlims]

Pretty late to the party....but, new HD600's arrived yesterday along with a FiiO X3 2nd Gen.
 
I'm a little pissed though as I spent all day yesterday helping a mate shift house (horrible job) and today I'm off on a 3 day cycle touring trip!!
 
Everything still in the box!

 

[MWSVette]

  Pretty late to the party....but, new HD600's arrived yesterday along with a FiiO X3 2nd Gen.
 
I'm a little pissed though as I spent all day yesterday helping a mate shift house (horrible job) and today I'm off on a 3 day cycle touring trip!!
 
Everything still in the box!

Never too late, welcome to the club...

 

[JackRabbitSlims]

Thanks.
 
Looking forward to getting my ears between these soon.

 

[Sonic Defender]

  Thanks.
 
Looking forward to getting my ears between these soon.

On the road for three days with new audio toys waiting, man that is harsh. Do you mean bicycle or motorcycle? I can imagine NZ is pretty spectacular to travel around like that.

 

[JackRabbitSlims]

Cycle Touring (on a Bicycle).....I'm just heading away for a few days to test run some new gear!
 
Take my X1 & UERM's with me though 

 
NZ is a great place to Cycle Tour....esp the South Island. Just coming to the end of winter here now (fingers crossed) and I have a window of 2-3 days of calm weather and 17 - 18 Deg C Temps so I'm heading out on some back country roads and will camp out for a few nights on the coast.
 
Loads of spare time in the evening to read (kindle) and listen to music......I love it - 

 

 

[Sonic Defender]

  Cycle Touring (on a Bicycle).....I'm just heading away for a few days to test run some new gear!
 
Take my X1 & UERM's with me though 

 
NZ is a great place to Cycle Tour....esp the South Island. Just coming to the end of winter here now (fingers crossed) and I have a window of 2-3 days of calm weather and 17 - 18 Deg C Temps so I'm heading out on some back country roads and will camp out for a few nights on the coast.
 
Loads of spare time in the evening to read (kindle) and listen to music......I love it - 

 

Yes my GF cycles around the world extensively, she is leaving in January for a year around the world. I think she cycled NZ and absolutely loved it. So funny, you call that winter weather! I know, so school yard, my winter is colder than your winter. Cheers mate.

 

[wormcycle]

HD650 does not have similar sound signature to HD600. HD650 warmed up version of 600. HD 650 are good headphones, I own 600 and listened a lot to HD650 but would never buy it.

 

[danmlr]

I'm going to gamble on a pair by year's end. I'll budget for a Fiio E12A as well. 
 
I'm seeing a ton of posts claiming that koss budget headphones are just as good, but I'm going to roll the dice and see if a higher end headphone actually works for me. 

 

[Argyris]

  I'm going to gamble on a pair by year's end. I'll budget for a Fiio E12A as well. 
 
I'm seeing a ton of posts claiming that koss budget headphones are just as good, but I'm going to roll the dice and see if a higher end headphone actually works for me. 

 
Which Koss budget headphones are they referring to?