Sennheiser HD 600 Impressions Thread
May 13, 2015 at 6:52 PM Post #11,496 of 23,782
  Extended impression is that I might send the 600 back...

 
The HD 800 from what I hear is brighter overall, I don't think there would be much if any improvement in the bass department. I think some find the quantity of bass lacking, but it's no doubt very accurate. Bass is one area that EQ can really help without messing up anything else, I would try it out. Personally I find the bass satisfying the way it's presented, when the track calls for it I don't feel like I am missing out on anything vs my more bass heavy headphones. If you listen for it you will hear it, just that the mids and highs are so much more revealing that it can be distracting (in a good way).
 
May 13, 2015 at 8:51 PM Post #11,497 of 23,782
  The HD 800 from what I hear is brighter overall, I don't think there would be much if any improvement in the bass department. I think some find the quantity of bass lacking, but it's no doubt very accurate. Bass is one area that EQ can really help without messing up anything else, I would try it out. Personally I find the bass satisfying the way it's presented, when the track calls for it I don't feel like I am missing out on anything vs my more bass heavy headphones. If you listen for it you will hear it, just that the mids and highs are so much more revealing that it can be distracting (in a good way).

 
This is one area of the HD800 which the HD600 can't come close to matching IMO.  The speed, texture and linearity of the HD800 bass is streets ahead of the HD600.
 
May 13, 2015 at 8:52 PM Post #11,498 of 23,782
   
Personally I find the bass satisfying the way it's presented, when the track calls for it I don't feel like I am missing out on anything vs my more bass heavy headphones. If you listen for it you will hear it, just that the mids and highs are so much more revealing that it can be distracting (in a good way).

 
I feel the same way. The bass performance on the HD-600 is stunning. I hear EVERYTHING with the bass, it just lacks the physical impact of sub-bass. That is what I think people must mean when they say it lacks bass, because the sound of the bass is incredible. What I like about the HD-600 is that I can focus on any part of the music and hear it very nicely. The lack of sub-bass is not bothersome to me, simply because headphones never rumble your entire body like large speakers anyway. All sub-bass really does is thump on my inner ears, lol. 
 
May 13, 2015 at 8:58 PM Post #11,499 of 23,782
   
I feel the same way. The bass performance on the HD-600 is stunning. I hear EVERYTHING with the bass, it just lacks the physical impact of sub-bass. That is what I think people must mean when they say it lacks bass, because the sound of the bass is incredible. What I like about the HD-600 is that I can focus on any part of the music and hear it very nicely. The lack of sub-bass is not bothersome to me, simply because headphones never rumble your entire body like large speakers anyway. All sub-bass really does is thump on my inner ears, lol. 

I really need to get my hands on one of the Audeze LCD cans. Everyone raves about how well they do bass and how balanced they are. Bob Katz has a series going on InnerFidelity where he and other audio engineers compared some LCDs and had an HD 600 in the mix. They all seemed to think the LCDs took things to a new level.
 
Has anyone used The Cable Company's headphone rental service? Any positive or negative impressions?
 
May 13, 2015 at 9:20 PM Post #11,500 of 23,782
   
I feel the same way. The bass performance on the HD-600 is stunning. I hear EVERYTHING with the bass, it just lacks the physical impact of sub-bass. That is what I think people must mean when they say it lacks bass, because the sound of the bass is incredible. What I like about the HD-600 is that I can focus on any part of the music and hear it very nicely. The lack of sub-bass is not bothersome to me, simply because headphones never rumble your entire body like large speakers anyway. All sub-bass really does is thump on my inner ears, lol. 


I agree completely, the best bass on the flagships can't touch a decent sub $400 home theatre woofer. You'll never feel it like that with a headphone anyhow. But that doesn't mean you can't appreciate the rhythm and tone of the bass, its all still reproduced just not shaking your entire body, room, or house :p.
 
May 13, 2015 at 9:39 PM Post #11,501 of 23,782
  I really need to get my hands on one of the Audeze LCD cans. Everyone raves about how well they do bass and how balanced they are.

If you want a bassy but cheaper HP than LCDs, you can try the Fidelio X2. I tried it last week, they sounds good but with some issues for my ears.
The bass (sub-bass) is the best part i like about the X2. Thou i find it just a little (very-little IMO) V shape sounding, the highs was a bit fatiguing.
I also have a comfort issues, the ear-pads are not as big like the Senn's pads which my ears rest properly and comfortably inside.
for the X2 i felt my ears is a bit compressed inside, also they are not as thick as Senn's pads, i think 60% of my ears are touching the driver's cover inside.
overall they are good sounding HP, but not as good and smooth like the HD600.
 
May 14, 2015 at 2:13 AM Post #11,502 of 23,782
  Hi,
     I'm just thinking to buy this headphone, and saw this thread
smily_headphones1.gif
.......well I can't read all 11466 posts
confused_face(1).gif
..Forgive me if this has been already discussed(it must be). I want to know how these legendary HD600s compares to the Q701(I have) and Mad dogs...Thanks!

I bought the HD600s after owning my q701s for a year. This is horribly reductive—and only applies to classical—and crude but AKG is more analytic; Sennheiser is more beautiful. I now realize how fatiguing the q701s are, especially when the source isn't 320kbps or above (and ideally lossless), and find that the q701s are just kind of finicky. They don't seem to like certain recordings, and I'm still trying to sort out the rhyme/reason to that. The hd600s are generally great at everything you throw at them, even if they lack some detail sometimes. 
 
May 14, 2015 at 2:49 AM Post #11,503 of 23,782
  I bought the HD600s after owning my q701s for a year. This is horribly reductive—and only applies to classical—and crude but AKG is more analytic; Sennheiser is more beautiful. I now realize how fatiguing the q701s are, especially when the source isn't 320kbps or above (and ideally lossless), and find that the q701s are just kind of finicky. They don't seem to like certain recordings, and I'm still trying to sort out the rhyme/reason to that. The hd600s are generally great at everything you throw at them, even if they lack some detail sometimes. 

The HD 600's are beautiful sounding, nothing quite sounds like it, they have this unique timbre to them. They are very easy to get to sound good, but they do shine to another level once you get the synergy right. I find the AKGs can be fatiguing with certain songs on certain systems. The Q701 and every member of the K7 family are system finicky. But they do sing once you get them happy with system synergy, sadly it can be a real pain. I always found AKG are generally some of the most annoying headphones to get to sound right, they are so sensitive, it's a really annoying balancing act of getting them happy treble wise, getting them so their soundstage isn't overly wide hurting their center staging, squeezing out their wonderful bass, getting them to sound transparent, squeezing out their dynamics, taming the upper mid glare, and getting them to sound musical. Once you hit all those criteria, then they may sound better than the HD 600, but only then. Otherwise they always sound as if something is wrong with them. It will be easier to get the K712, etc. to sound right but still a pain as they are tuned better than the Q701 imo. 
 
May 14, 2015 at 4:00 AM Post #11,504 of 23,782
  The HD 600's are beautiful sounding, nothing quite sounds like it, they have this unique timbre to them. They are very easy to get to sound good, but they do shine to another level once you get the synergy right. I find the AKGs can be fatiguing with certain songs on certain systems. The Q701 and every member of the K7 family are system finicky. But they do sing once you get them happy with system synergy, sadly it can be a real pain. I always found AKG are generally some of the most annoying headphones to get to sound right, they are so sensitive, it's a really annoying balancing act of getting them happy treble wise, getting them so their soundstage isn't overly wide hurting their center staging, squeezing out their wonderful bass, getting them to sound transparent, squeezing out their dynamics, taming the upper mid glare, and getting them to sound musical. Once you hit all those criteria, then they may sound better than the HD 600, but only then. Otherwise they always sound as if something is wrong with them. It will be easier to get the K712, etc. to sound right but still a pain as they are tuned better than the Q701 imo. 

no question akg requires more serious schiit than i have right now...but they also should come with a warning label :p 
 
May 14, 2015 at 9:44 AM Post #11,505 of 23,782
It's been a year since I've had my Hd 600s and it's been a love hate relationship.
But now I've modded them enough and gotten used to how they are supposed to sound.
I've replaced the stock foam covering the drivers with a layer of my mom's old stockings.
This makes the sound clearer and less muffled/warm. The biggest advantage for me is that it also allows more space for my ears to keep their shape and not get squashed. I found the original foam covers to be stuffy and were pressing more on my ears.
Secondly, I placed the original foam covers behind the drivers instead. The foams are squashed into the inside of the grills then fitted back into the housing.
This helps to cut down the reflections caused by the interior of the metal grills that although produces a wider soundstage, it sounds unnatural to me and muddies up the separation of instruments in the mix. It also aids in tightening up the bass which is excellent.
Tests were done mainly using an Ifi nanoICAN.
Don't think I'll ever own amplifiers or DACs that cost thousands of dollars and are said to make the stock HD 600 sound it's best.
But I'm happy with my mod and it is still revealing of sources that I hook up to it: from my iPhone, Realtek on the PC, Xonar U3 and Audioengine D1. All sound different.
 

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