[raybone0566]

Does anybody know where I can get a replacement HD600 driver (in Canada)? My left channel died. I emailed Sennheiser and they keep sending me to the online shop which does not have the part. Every other time, I was able to order via email....

The only place I could find was hifi headphones in the uk. The have the entire capsule for 68.00ea. Don't think they sell the driver itself. That was the only place I could locate one.

 

[FLTWS]

 

   
Since this seems to be the enduring anomaly identified by many HD600 aficionados, why is it that Sennheiser hasn't bothered to slightly re-tune it and rectify this shortcoming? That's what I wonder. Would extending the lower-end just a tad ultimately skew the rest of the HD600 sound signature, or is Sennheiser just being apathetic about it and not bothering with it? 

 
They might be concerned about losing sales on their flagships 800/800S. I'll be auditioning both against my HD600 in July.

 

[madwolfa]

  Since this seems to be the enduring anomaly identified by many HD600 aficionados, why is it that Sennheiser hasn't bothered to slightly re-tune it and rectify this shortcoming? That's what I wonder. Would extending the lower-end just a tad ultimately skew the rest of the HD600 sound signature, or is Sennheiser just being apathetic about it and not bothering with it? 

 
They actually did exactly that 13 years ago and released HD650.

 

[StanD]

   
They actually did exactly that 13 years ago and released HD650.

They also took a little bit off the top of the HD650.

 

[Midgetguy]

 
 
They might be concerned about losing sales on their flagships 800/800S. I'll be auditioning both against my HD600 in July.

I doubt that. The HD800, by all accounts, seems to have a severely different sound signature to the HD600 with much higher treble energy. Besides, that can't even be considered a concern economically; the HD800 is an entirely different market than the HD600. Most who would consider an HD800 would either get it or get a flagship from a different manufacturer based on sound signature as opposed to stepping down a couple tiers to the HD600.
 
I still need to try out the HD800; I probably won't every buy one, but I need to try one.

 

[madwolfa]

HD800 has recessed mids compared to HD600, which has detrimental effect on vocals and some mid-heavy instruments like piano. Plus the infamous 6K treble peak. Not to everyone's liking.

 

[DavidA]

  I doubt that. The HD800, by all accounts, seems to have a severely different sound signature to the HD600 with much higher treble energy. Besides, that can't even be considered a concern economically; the HD800 is an entirely different market than the HD600. Most who would consider an HD800 would either get it or get a flagship from a different manufacturer based on sound signature as opposed to stepping down a couple tiers to the HD600.
 
I still need to try out the HD800; I probably won't every buy one, but I need to try one.

I think the important point when auditioning the HD-800 is that the DAC and amp are well matched, if I didn't build my BH Crack I probably would have sold the HD-800, it just didn't sound like TOTL headphones on my Ember and Lyr2.  The HD-800S is different in that its not as amp picky and actually sounds better on a good SS amp rather than a tube based one from my short time listening to them at my friends house.
 
 

  HD800 has recessed mids compared to HD600, which has detrimental effect on vocals and some mid-heavy instruments like piano. Plus the infamous 6K treble peak. Not to everyone's liking.

Agree with you about the 6k spike, as I noted above this is something that I think people search for an amp that will smooth out the spike and it varies from person to person how much the spike bothers that individual.

 

[Midgetguy]

  I think the important point when auditioning the HD-800 is that the DAC and amp are well matched, if I didn't build my BH Crack I probably would have sold the HD-800, it just didn't sound like TOTL headphones on my Ember and Lyr2.  The HD-800S is different in that its not as amp picky and actually sounds better on a good SS amp rather than a tube based one from my short time listening to them at my friends house.
 
 

Agree with you about the 6k spike, as I noted above this is something that I think people search for an amp that will smooth out the spike and it varies from person to person how much the spike bothers that individual.

Yeah, part of why I haven't tested one. I don't personally have something that would be a good match with it and I don't have access to one that would pair well in order to see the difference. This is one where I'm just gonna have to wait til I can try one out at a meet one of these days.
 
Luckily, with the HD600, it either sounds fantastic with the right setup or slightly less fantastic with any other setup. I haven't heard a setup yet where the HD600 sounds bad; it can only sound less good compared to ideal setups. Which is still quite good

 

[DavidA]

  Yeah, part of why I haven't tested one. I don't personally have something that would be a good match with it and I don't have access to one that would pair well in order to see the difference. This is one where I'm just gonna have to wait til I can try one out at a meet one of these days.
 
Luckily, with the HD600, it either sounds fantastic with the right setup or slightly less fantastic with any other setup. I haven't heard a setup yet where the HD600 sounds bad; it can only sound less good compared to ideal setups. Which is still quite good

You are much better off than me, there are no meets here in Hawaii, and its not for lack of trying either.

 

[Midgetguy]

  You are much better off than me, there are no meets here in Hawaii, and its not for lack of trying either.

There has to be some shortcomings on a tropical island. Walk 10 minutes from a headphone meet to a beach? We can have you doing that buddy

 

[ubs28]

  They also took a little bit off the top of the HD650.

For the better. The treble of the HD 600 could be problematic with certain recordings when I tested it. Might as well stick with the HD 800 / HD 800 S then. Which is why I went with the HD 650 instead of the HD 600.

 

[Midgetguy]

 
For the better. The treble of the HD 600 could be problematic with certain recordings when I tested it. Might as well stick with the HD 800 / HD 800 S then. Which is why I went with the HD 650 instead of the HD 600.

Lucky for me it hasn't been an issue with the music I listen to. Also, I'm probably not a very treble-sensitive person, so that kinda helps too. Which is good cuz I preferred the overall sound sig of the HD600 compared to the HD650.

 

[DavidA]

  There has to be some shortcomings on a tropical island. Walk 10 minutes from a headphone meet to a beach? We can have you doing that buddy

To make you feel bad, yes I can walk to the beach in 10 minutes from where I live, lol

, the view from my lanai:

 

  Lucky for me it hasn't been an issue with the music I listen to. Also, I'm probably not a very treble-sensitive person, so that kinda helps too. Which is good cuz I preferred the overall sound sig of the HD600 compared to the HD650.

This is what makes this hobby so fun, I don't consider myself a treble sensitive person but the HD-600 just bothered me on a few tracks, and as some pointed out it could be that the spike for the HD-600 is were I'm sensitive to while the 6khz spike of the HD-800 does not bother me.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Quote:

Originally Posted by UtopiaB /img/forum/go_quote.gif

 

Since this seems to be the enduring anomaly identified by many HD600 aficionados, why is it that Sennheiser hasn't bothered to slightly re-tune it and rectify this shortcoming? That's what I wonder. Would extending the lower-end just a tad ultimately skew the rest of the HD600 sound signature, or is Sennheiser just being apathetic about it and not bothering with it? 

 

"Retuning" isn't a simple matter if it's at the level of the manufacturer. This is open back, so it's not a matter of just adding or reducing the stuffing, or changing the material. Changing the earpad design can be an issue with production costs, but at the end user's level you can practically try the HD380's earpads, or even the Brainwavz HM5 (try the HM5 angled pads with yours, both velour and leatherette; also the regular shape hybrid). 

 

That leaves the manufacturer just the drivers to tinker with, but it isn't a simple matter that works like EQ where changing any parameter only changes a relatively narrow range - changing the specs can alter something else as this is a fullrange driver, not like how for example a multiple-driver speaker can be tweaked by changing crossover settings or changing just the tweeter to make the bass more audible without actually boosting the bass.

 

[UtopiaB]

   
They actually did exactly that 13 years ago and released HD650.

 
 
And made several blatant tweaks to produce an entirely different headphone, whereas I was just suggesting a minor tweak to the 600's bass, but in the 650 we see Sennheiser ended up with a worse sounding headphone imo. I've auditioned the 650 many times, and I can't swallow it. Too warm (away from neutral), too grungy in the bass (away from smooth and neutral) and too veiled in the highs and lacking air.
Not having a go at you, I have no idea if you have a 650 or not, this is the HD600 thread. I'm just saying according to my auditions and what i've heard from the 650 many times. Each and every time, same crap, veiled, warm and skewed. No matter how endearing it is, the fact remains that people love the quirkiness of it because it sounds unoffensive or has some form of character, but ultimately unoffensive doesn't mean it's a performer with world-class sound. The people who like the 600 as opposed to the 650 are attracted to the 600's classic neutrality, high detail (in general compared to many headphones) and it's balanced transparent tone, which imo is much closer to the ideal than the 650's personality. The HD600 has a charming classiness to it's sound, quite suave while still giving the overall impression of neutrality, but the 600 is a bit of rough nut with warm sauce on it < a woman can be lovable but still a bitch, and a man can be likable but still an as_hole, that's my philosophy just to draw a parallel.