[Midgetguy]

Like some others, I find my HD600 to have emphasized treble that is at times challenging to listen to. I find the bass somewhat rolled off. My HD650 has a much smoother treble to me. It is unobjectionable but still detailed. The bass is more extended than the 600. I also find the HD650 to be significantly more detailed than the HD600. Significantly so. I like my 600, it is just that the treble can sometimes be a bit much, that's all. For this reason, I spend more time with my 650. I should probably learn how to eq my HD600--I am sure that would solve the issue.

I agree with you on most of what you said there....other than detail. I don't find either headphone to be better than the other in terms of detail. To me, the HD650 seems like it is more detailed because of the way the sound signature is set up; the extra bass extension with a little more quantity and a bolstered upper treble makes it seem like there's a little more clarity and detail, but when it comes down to critical listening, I find both to exude the same amount of detail, albeit presented slightly differently.

 

[yangian]

I agree with you on most of what you said there....other than detail. I don't find either headphone to be better than the other in terms of detail. To me, the HD650 seems like it is more detailed because of the way the sound signature is set up; the extra bass extension with a little more quantity and a bolstered upper treble makes it seem like there's a little more clarity and detail, but when it comes down to critical listening, I find both to exude the same amount of detail, albeit presented slightly differently.

Agree. I definitely cannot get more detail from 650 than from 600, no mention significantly detail!

 

[yangian]

Like some others, I find my HD600 to have emphasized treble that is at times challenging to listen to. I find the bass somewhat rolled off. My HD650 has a much smoother treble to me. It is unobjectionable but still detailed. The bass is more extended than the 600. I also find the HD650 to be significantly more detailed than the HD600. Significantly so. I like my 600, it is just that the treble can sometimes be a bit much, that's all. For this reason, I spend more time with my 650. I should probably learn how to eq my HD600--I am sure that would solve the issue.

If you think HD600 emphazised treble, you might 1. check your music file. Bad record could cause 600 sound a little bit harsh. 2. check your amplifier. If you are using SS amplifier, you may consider a tube amplifier.

 

[god-bluff]

If you think HD600 emphazised treble, you might 1. check your music file. Bad record could cause 600 sound a little bit harsh. 2. check your amplifier. If you are using SS amplifier, you may consider a tube amplifier.

Agree; only the actual quality of the recording or severely inadequate amping could cause that problem Imo

Unless someone has the hearing of a bat !

 

[sikki-six]

Hd600 has a small spike (compared to HD650) at 3-4k. I find this very nice for vocal & guitar presence. It brings up some of the most important stuff in a song. That more present mid-bass of the 650 also makes everything sound warmer and smoother. 600 is slightly cooler than the all-out warmth of the 650.

I used to own both and just had the 650 for a few weeks of listening. I still prefer the more energetic and snappy sound of my 600.

 

[serman005]

If you think HD600 emphazised treble, you might 1. check your music file. Bad record could cause 600 sound a little bit harsh. 2. check your amplifier. If you are using SS amplifier, you may consider a tube amplifier.

Thank you for the suggestions. I will look into them.

 

[Quinto]

My HD600 does very well on my V200 amp, no treble issues at all, great SS amp

 

[Pedro Oliveira]

Probably the best I can give you : https://www.head-fi.org/f/threads/comparison-review-part-deux-a-tale-of-two-sennheisers-–-hd600-vs-hd650.740942/

Read yours 1000 times already.....

Hd600 has a small spike (compared to HD650) at 3-4k. I find this very nice for vocal & guitar presence. It brings up some of the most important stuff in a song. That more present mid-bass of the 650 also makes everything sound warmer and smoother. 600 is slightly cooler than the all-out warmth of the 650.

I used to own both and just had the 650 for a few weeks of listening. I still prefer the more energetic and snappy sound of my 600.

How do you think the hd650 and 600 compare with the momentums?
So despite the hd650having more midbass would you say that the hd600 is still more energetic and fun for dance music and metal for instance?

 

[Surf Monkey]

I'm listening to Clutch on my HD 650s right now. Just finished listening to Fu Manchu earlier today.

Euphonic bliss.

I like the 650 more than the 600 for listening to music generally. They're extremely versatile and scale like crazy. The 600s are just as good, but my experience with them is mainly in studio, where the musicians and engineer want as flat a response as possible.

Ultimately the best way to get a sense of the (pretty slight) differences between the two is to listen to them. Some like the flatter sound of the 600 for listening, some prefer the more mid/bass emphasized 650 for listening. For what it's worth, most studios that use Sennheiser use the 600 by default.

 

[Dobrescu George]

Read yours 1000 times already.....



How do you think the hd650 and 600 compare with the momentums?
So despite the hd650having more midbass would you say that the hd600 is still more energetic and fun for dance music and metal for instance?

HD600 is open back and momentum is closed back, I actually love both, but HD600 being open will have certain differences in its sound, things that are inherent to the open back design.

 

[abirdie4me]

Newbie here, please forgive me for any stupid questions.

Recently got the hd600s, this is my first pair of real headphones other than Bose qc35 which I use on airplanes only. I mostly listen to rock and I’ve ripped all my cds to flac on my windows machine and apple lossless on my iPad. My ears are finally starting to break in and I’m learning to appreciate how great these headphones sound...but that has me wondering if additional investment will bring me even more enjoyment.

I started listening directly plugged into the Realtek jack on my pc, but that didn’t sound much better than my cheap earbuds. So I got the oppo ha2-se and that helped a lot (also with my car speakers). However, I can’t really tell much difference with the oppo when using it with my iPad (as opposed to just plugging directly into the headphone jack of the iPad). I’ve been using Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms as my test album, if that matters.

So with that intro, here are my questions:

1. Is the oppo a good match for the hd600? For desktop only, should I get a different dac or amp or would it not really matter to my untrained ears?
2. How do you folks try new headphones to determine if you like them? I’ve heard a couple sets at Best Buy, but you can’t judge anything in that loud environment. From what I’ve read on these forums, I’d love to hear the hd800s to see how much difference they would make, but have no idea where I could go to hear them.
3. Since I’m so new at all of this, I don’t really know what I’m missing. I think there is a lack of bass with the hd600s but I can’t really speak the audiophile language yet and I have no frame of reference. Any suggestions on how to tweak the sound with my existing setup?
4. I don’t find the hd600s comfortable, I think i have weird shaped ears. I tried a pair of $600 Sonys at Best Buy, and they were instantly super comfortable (cushy feeling). Any recommendations for other ‘cushy’ high-quality cans to try?

 

[Dobrescu George]

Newbie here, please forgive me for any stupid questions.

Recently got the hd600s, this is my first pair of real headphones other than Bose qc35 which I use on airplanes only. I mostly listen to rock and I’ve ripped all my cds to flac on my windows machine and apple lossless on my iPad. My ears are finally starting to break in and I’m learning to appreciate how great these headphones sound...but that has me wondering if additional investment will bring me even more enjoyment.

I started listening directly plugged into the Realtek jack on my pc, but that didn’t sound much better than my cheap earbuds. So I got the oppo ha2-se and that helped a lot (also with my car speakers). However, I can’t really tell much difference with the oppo when using it with my iPad (as opposed to just plugging directly into the headphone jack of the iPad). I’ve been using Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms as my test album, if that matters.

So with that intro, here are my questions:

1. Is the oppo a good match for the hd600? For desktop only, should I get a different dac or amp or would it not really matter to my untrained ears?
2. How do you folks try new headphones to determine if you like them? I’ve heard a couple sets at Best Buy, but you can’t judge anything in that loud environment. From what I’ve read on these forums, I’d love to hear the hd800s to see how much difference they would make, but have no idea where I could go to hear them.
3. Since I’m so new at all of this, I don’t really know what I’m missing. I think there is a lack of bass with the hd600s but I can’t really speak the audiophile language yet and I have no frame of reference. Any suggestions on how to tweak the sound with my existing setup?
4. I don’t find the hd600s comfortable, I think i have weird shaped ears. I tried a pair of $600 Sonys at Best Buy, and they were instantly super comfortable (cushy feeling). Any recommendations for other ‘cushy’ high-quality cans to try?

For a really nice DAC/AMP, I tend to recommend iFi iDSD Black Label as the best I've ever laid my hands on, it should drive HD600 really well.

It has some differences in sound from HA2-SE

As for comfort, that is very personal, you might feel more comfortable with something like nighthawks, but the tradeoff in sound quality when compared to HD600 is not worth it. HD800S is the most comfortable headphone I tried to this date. Meze 99 classics is quite comfortable and the pads are nice and fluffy i you want to give them a try.

As for finding your taste in music, I crank up the volume on what I'm testing and I listen to a collection of 3-5 songs. If I get bored and start doing something else while hearing the equipment, it might not be for me. Personal enjoyment is really hard to tackle...

After you hear lots of headphones and equipment, you begin to understand what your tastes are, you kinda know what you want, what signatures and why, and you can begin looking for equipment that has that certain signature.

HD600 is very clear, neutral, good extension on both sides, with the right amplification the soundstage is expansive and they are well textured. Try to use levels of comparison with other devices when judging something, if HD600 is neutral, try to look for something V-shaped next and see if you prefer it better, or try something bright or something warm, finding your own taste is something complicated and takes time and experience.

I have used the wrong headphones and the wrong DAP for years, before figuring out my tastes, don't be afraid to experiment.

 

[DavidA]

Newbie here, please forgive me for any stupid questions.

Recently got the hd600s, this is my first pair of real headphones other than Bose qc35 which I use on airplanes only. I mostly listen to rock and I’ve ripped all my cds to flac on my windows machine and apple lossless on my iPad. My ears are finally starting to break in and I’m learning to appreciate how great these headphones sound...but that has me wondering if additional investment will bring me even more enjoyment.

I started listening directly plugged into the Realtek jack on my pc, but that didn’t sound much better than my cheap earbuds. So I got the oppo ha2-se and that helped a lot (also with my car speakers). However, I can’t really tell much difference with the oppo when using it with my iPad (as opposed to just plugging directly into the headphone jack of the iPad). I’ve been using Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms as my test album, if that matters.

So with that intro, here are my questions:

1. Is the oppo a good match for the hd600? For desktop only, should I get a different dac or amp or would it not really matter to my untrained ears?
2. How do you folks try new headphones to determine if you like them? I’ve heard a couple sets at Best Buy, but you can’t judge anything in that loud environment. From what I’ve read on these forums, I’d love to hear the hd800s to see how much difference they would make, but have no idea where I could go to hear them.
3. Since I’m so new at all of this, I don’t really know what I’m missing. I think there is a lack of bass with the hd600s but I can’t really speak the audiophile language yet and I have no frame of reference. Any suggestions on how to tweak the sound with my existing setup?
4. I don’t find the hd600s comfortable, I think i have weird shaped ears. I tried a pair of $600 Sonys at Best Buy, and they were instantly super comfortable (cushy feeling). Any recommendations for other ‘cushy’ high-quality cans to try?

1. can't answer since I've yet to hear the oppo ha2

2. When ever I try new headphones I use a playlist of songs (30-34 songs) that I know very well, might have heard a live performance of the song, usually flac 24/96 but I do leave 2-3 mp3/320 songs on there just to test with lower quality tracks. Within the playlist I have all the genres that I like to listen so it gets easier after a while to notice differences. The HD800 is a very different sounding headphone from the HD600 and its also a bit amp picky so also consider the amp if you are going to get the HD800.

3. The HD600 is a little thin on the bass to me also but all that really matters is what you think since we all hear differently. As for tweaking the sound I would start with making an judgement on the bass, if you can live with it as is then the cheapest way to tweak would be to use EQ. The next step for me would be an amp, something from Garage 1217, very flexible with adjustable output impedance so you can better match the amp to your headphones, depending on your budget Solstice, Polaris or Ember would be my recommendations.

4. You can carefully bend the metal sliders of the HD600 to lesson the clamping force of the HD600. Other headphones that are more comfortable: HD700, SRH-1540/1840, K7XX, T1, DT-990 premium or MDR-1A.

 

[pbarach]

I found the clamping force excessive on a new set of HD-600s (which Sennheiser sold me for a good price rather than fix the out-of-warranty set I sent for repair). I used some books placed between the earcups overnight to stretch them a bit, and now they are comfortable for my head.

 

[Surf Monkey]

I found the clamping force excessive on a new set of HD-600s (which Sennheiser sold me for a good price rather than fix the out-of-warranty set I sent for repair). I used some books placed between the earcups overnight to stretch them a bit, and now they are comfortable for my head.

They start out tight for sure. I'm breaking in a pair of 650s right now. The clamp force lessens naturally over a reasonably short time, but your method should work fine too.