Second, given that was CanJam and you got to use the HDVD800, was that Sennheiser's booth? Were the earpads stiff? If it was, then I
(no sure way for me to tell since one man's "thin" is another man's "accurate," while one man's "warm" is one man's "dark, borerline nasal") I know what the "problem" is - the fit is just right on your head if not too loose or at minimum the drivers are far from your ears. Whenever I put in new earpads on my HD600 it sounds a lot like the HD800 with a less 3D image. When I wear out my earpads, it sounds like what most people think they know about the HD600. After wearing out one pair I read somewhere in this thread that the headband frame can be bent in the opposite direction, so I did. Now they won't fit in the packaging box, which I assume is the default shape so they can keep the size small, and hence reduce shipping costs (they can cram more into each crate). What you're basically hearing is what I consider the real sound of the HD600 - the in-box shape is out of convenience for them
for many the fit can be too tight at the top and still tight at the bottom of the earpads; loosening the headband slider just relaxes the top a bit more than the bottom.
With due credit to the relativistic reality ("warm" vs "dark, nasal" and "lean" vs "accurate") it's not really thin-sounding on its own, it' just not what everyone says about them especially when what you're reading is about the HD6x0 with a tube amplifier at a meet, sometimes people would use older pads to be worn out by other people so the owner can enjoy his neweer $50 earpads more, where its "lush, warm, seductive, (insert very colorful descriptions here)" sound was helped along not just by the tube amp but also by the earpad wear put on it by everyone else who've used it before that person whose feedback you're reading. Add to that the flipside to the earpad condition that they "need break-in," plus confirmation bias, and you get what you expected of them based on what you've read. My pair has a good hit on the bass drum when the recording has it, but it doesn't feel like it's coming from in front of the vocalist (despite that upper bass plateau on the response graph) but fades out quickly enough; the rest of the percussion has that "bite" on the attack of the note; the highs aren't "distant" in the sense that on a higher gain recording (which is pretty much any guitar music nowadays) the cymbals can sound like they're up front with the vocalist at high volume settings, but by contrast on worn out, squished earpads the highs are imaged (and also in terms of loudness) as they would be on most Grados - like they're just outside the ear canals; guitars are warm but not exaggerated, as I find on some amps along with how EQ is applied by some that there is too much of the back ground bass tone hanging along with the "gnarl" of an electric guitar.
Sounds to me like you might want to give the DT880 a try first - I don't remember it as well since it's been years since I tried one but as best as I do, it should be an option.
Ok, I understand about 20% of what you said. I need it a bit simpler as I know very little about headphones and don't really need to know a lot about them. I know the sound I'm looking for though and it doesn't have to be perfect, because perfect does not exist, especially in audio
Yes, I tried them at the Sennheiser booth. They did not look spanking new to me, but not wrecked and already broken in as they say. I'm thinking perhaps it was the wrong amp for those phones or the source was bad perhaps.
You have kind got me questioning the HD600s, but if I get a chance again, I will try them again anyway.
As for the DT880, I'd like to try those, but they are only available through Amazon, so I can't try them. I am not into purchasing a bunch of cans only to return all of them or all but one incurring double shipping cost and restock fees if returns are even allowed. In many cases with headphones they are not.
So I can only work with what I have, which is next to nothing. I might have a lead on demoing the HD600s again as well as the HD598s and maybe the AKG 701s or 702s, but it may fail.
I also tried the Phillips X2s at CanJam and thought they were ok, but the bass was a bit too loose for me. I'd love to try the AKG K7xx again, but that is not going to happen. If they ever come up for sale again and I have not already landed on another set, I may blindly purchase them.
Mind you I only had but a few minutes with each headphone I tried and most of the time it was just for fit and not sound since I had trouble with the sources at all but the Sennheiser table. I know nothing about digital players and tablets and smartphones and whatnot and I don't care for all that new fangled stuff. I'm old school and staying that way.