[CaptainFantastic]

Amazon in December (maybe November) had them for $99. I SHOULD HAVE grabbed them.

The HD 600 brand new for $99? Are you sure about that?

 

[gimmeheadroom]

The HD 600 brand new for $99? Are you sure about that?

aliexpress: Sean Heiser HB 6-100 original guarantee earbuds free shipping buy NOW

 

[jonathan c]

aliexpress: Sean Heiser HB 6-100 original guarantee earphone free shipping buy NOW

… assembly required …

 

[gimmeheadroom]

… assembly required …

No tools required! Glue and paint included at no additional cost!

 

[stuck limo]

The HD 600 brand new for $99? Are you sure about that?

Yes. They sold out.

 

[rafaelo]

Yes. They sold out.

The new version? The gun metal coloured one ?

 

[shampoosuicide]

I started my Head-Fi journey in 2007 and made my first 'serious' purchase with the HD 650. At the time, I paired it with the then-flavours of the month Zero Dac and Darkvoice 332i. I still recall vividly the sound produced by that combination: thick, dark, lush, and intimate. It didn't fit my tastes however, setting off a 16 year search for 'the one'; that one headphone which just sounded right to my ears. Over the past year and a half, I've worked my way through both the classic and contemporary mid-fi Head-Fi staples, and compiled my ranking and notes here. During that journey, I revisited the HD 650 seven more times. There was no denying its tone and timbre were sublime. But out of every amplifier I tried it with and even KISS-modded, its bass lacked definition and texture. Technicalities were just average to my ears, and purely from memory seemed to fall short of the Elex or DT 1990 Pro and even the Sundara 2020 in terms of clarity, detail retrieval, and separation. Most egregiously of all, it would quickly break up during complex, bass-heavy passages. In a direct comparison with the HD 560S, I noted that the latter displayed better clarity, separation, soundstage, and imaging. Yet, posts from more seasoned Head-Fiers consistently carried the same message: with good upstream equipment the HD 650 scales exponentially.

Much has also already been written about the similarities and differences between the HD 600 and HD 650, with the consensus being roughly that the HD 600 has a reduced upper-bass emphasis and a slightly more energetic treble. These differences seem subtle enough on paper, but for me, they make the HD 600 sound like a 'corrected' HD 650. Everything simply sounds right. Up to this point I had only heard the HD 650 / HD 600 through entry-level and mid-fi amplifiers: the FiiO K7, Darkvoice 332i, Little Dot MKIV, iFi ZEN CAN, Gustard H10, and the Drop + THX AAA 789. Then the Monolith Liquid Platinum entered the picture... Now I was absolutely not prepared to hear the HD 600 scale like that. The HD 600 is already a phenomenal headphone tonally: the MLP takes it from a just decent mid-fi headphone technically to something quite superlative. Rarely have I heard such dramatic differences between amplifiers, with the only other occasion that comes to mind being the DT 880 600 ohm paired with an OTL amp.

There is a surprising and remarkable degree of power, precision, and control on display. Bass is tight and well-defined. Treble is crisp, delicate, with air for days. Soundstage takes on a scale of an entirely new dimension. Separation, imaging, and layering easily surpass the Elex and DT 1990 Pro from memory, and whilst not quite at the level of the Edition XS, they're not far off either. For me, the HD 600 sits at that threshold where a headphone is so adequately competent technically that its tonal characteristics begin to take precedence.

TL;DR: If you own an HD 600 / HD 650, you deserve to hear them through the best amplifier you can invest in.

 

[jonathan c]

I started my Head-Fi journey …. then the Monolith Liquid Platinum entered the picture... Now I was absolutely not prepared to hear the HD 600 scale like that. The HD 600 is already a phenomenal headphone tonally: the MLP takes it from a just decent mid-fi headphone technically to something quite superlative. Rarely have I heard such dramatic differences between amplifiers, with the only other occasion that comes to mind being the DT 880 600 ohm paired with an OTL amp.

There is a surprising and remarkable degree of power, precision, and control on display. Bass is tight and well-defined. Treble is crisp, delicate, with air for days. Soundstage takes on a scale of an entirely new dimension. Separation, imaging, and layering easily surpass the Elex and DT 1990 Pro from memory, and whilst not quite at the level of the Edition XS, they're not far off either. For me, the HD 600 sits at that threshold where a headphone is so adequately competent technically that its tonal characteristics begin to take precedence.

TL;DR: If you own an HD 600 / HD 650, you deserve to hear them through the best amplifier you can invest in.

:

 

[stuck limo]

A couple of vintage pieces.... Last year I inherited my dad's NAD 3020 and had it completely refurbed. I replaced the caps, had the board cleaned, replaced the speaker terminals, and a bunch of other enhancements/replacements/cleaning. Around 600 bucks from Leesonic over at Audio Karma's site. I have about probably 5-10 hours on this thing (at most) and have to bring it next month to a buddy's house. So I'm going to be working on burning in the caps (if you're into that sort of thing) for the next 50-100 hours (w/ speakers + headphones). My parents have never heard the "new" version and mom asked to hear it so I brought it in. I may end up putting the Vali 2 on it so I get some tubey action for fun.

 

[jhsbdn]

First time posting in this thread. I have new HD600s since like 3 months ago. Enjoying them a lot with xduuo Mt-602 hybrid and fiio k5 pro ess and q3 for portable, but I have to say that pairing them with recently purchased xduuo ta-26 OTL tube amplifier has revealed all his goodness. They were fantastic with the other amps,but how they sound from the OTL tube amp is absolutely amazing, I have to agree with people here saying they really shine with tube amplifiers, I haven't heard them with a bottlehead crack,maybe they're even better, but with the xduuo and just the stock tubes they're a match made in heaven. I'm not an expert nor have a lot of experience, but I'm blown away of how good this pair sound!

 

[Nicolas Yance]

First time posting in this thread. I have new HD600s since like 3 months ago. Enjoying them a lot with xduuo Mt-602 hybrid and fiio k5 pro ess an q3 for portable, but I have to say that pairing them with recently purchased xduuo ta-26 OTL tube amplifier has revealed all his goodness. They were fantastic with the other amps,but how they sound from the OTL tube amp is absolutely amazing, I have to agree with people here saying they really shine with tube amplifiers, I haven't heard them with a bottlehead crack,maybe they're even better, but with the xduuo and just the stock tubes they're a match made in heaven. I'm not an expert nor have a lot of experience, but I'm blown away of how good this pair sound!

The 600s and 800s are well known to scale up with better amplification. Especially tubes either otl or tc designs.
They are truly remarcable headphones.

 

[bagwell359]

First time posting in this thread. I have new HD600s since like 3 months ago. Enjoying them a lot with xduuo Mt-602 hybrid and fiio k5 pro ess and q3 for portable, but I have to say that pairing them with recently purchased xduuo ta-26 OTL tube amplifier has revealed all his goodness. They were fantastic with the other amps,but how they sound from the OTL tube amp is absolutely amazing, I have to agree with people here saying they really shine with tube amplifiers, I haven't heard them with a bottlehead crack,maybe they're even better, but with the xduuo and just the stock tubes they're a match made in heaven. I'm not an expert nor have a lot of experience, but I'm blown away of how good this pair sound!

yeah the t-26 is amazing at the price.

 

[toge]

Hi guys, just bought these refurbed from sennheiser themselves, few questions

1) Will I benefit lots from changing earpads to pleather or something for bit more bass?
2) I plan on buying a balanced cable to drive with my Q11 - is this a good idea? does the HD600 scale well with a more powerful source?

 

[rafaelo]

Hi guys, just bought these refurbed from sennheiser themselves, few questions

1) Will I benefit lots from changing earpads to pleather or something for bit more bass?
2) I plan on buying a balanced cable to drive with my Q11 - is this a good idea? does the HD600 scale well with a more powerful source?

Can you provide the link please for the refurbished?

 

[gefski]

Hi guys, just bought these refurbed from sennheiser themselves, few questions

1) Will I benefit lots from changing earpads to pleather or something for bit more bass?
2) I plan on buying a balanced cable to drive with my Q11 - is this a good idea? does the HD600 scale well with a more powerful source?

I don’t know of any any aftermarket pad that “improves” the 600/650 over new stock pads.