[Rob80b]

I think I can remember the basic sound ‘character’ of a headphone but the ‘exact’ sound of it goes away as soon as I take it off. I think this is why we have to switch back and forth when A/B-ing two headphones,

I can sort of agree but as I previously mentioned I always let a new piece of equipment first speak for itself. Without doing any comparisons what does the new piece tell me, is there something obviously missing, off sounding am I enjoying the music, anyway just repeating myself.
Then it comes down to comparisons, especially if I'm planning on maybe replacing one piece of equipment with something new, on more than one occasion I've held on to the resident piece and returned the newer. Now the new equipment could be better but not enough to justify spending more money and I have to admit that prior to even receiving my S2, at almost double the costs of the 660S, there was a bit of buyers remorse was creeping in....but on this occasion I can happily put all doubts aside, no going back.

 

[erics75]

I understand the 'scaling' dilemma but was a £300 HP ever designed for amplifiers costing x times as much? As much as I like the idea of a cheap'ish HP sounding phenomenal with a £2000 amplifier I'd rather have it sound optimal with (relatively) price related equipment which is probably what many will use it with.

Don’t think in terms of cost, but in terms of performance and synergy. There’s lots of high performing tube amps with cost similar to the headphone. Some that come to mind: Valhalla 2, Bottlehead Crack with speedball, Echo 1 or 2, Tuba, Project Horizon. High impedance drivers and high output impedance tube amps just seem to have great synergies. You don’t have to break the bank to find a good pairing. I’m fortunate enough to afford a few high cost tube amps but I would be completely happy with any of the above amps if fortunes changed and I had to sell off the big stuff. I’d still go with those over solid state for my own preferences.

 

[sebiambrus]

Don’t think in terms of cost, but in terms of performance and synergy. There’s lots of high performing tube amps with cost similar to the headphone. Some that come to mind: Valhalla 2, Bottlehead Crack with speedball, Echo 1 or 2, Tuba, Project Horizon. High impedance drivers and high output impedance tube amps just seem to have great synergies. You don’t have to break the bank to find a good pairing. I’m fortunate enough to afford a few high cost tube amps but I would be completely happy with any of the above amps of fortunes changed and I had to sell off the big stuff. I’d still go with those over solid state for my own preferences.

Feliks Euforia is really good amp for all of the Sennheiser phones

 

[Rob80b]

I have the 660S and they sound fairly neutral to me. That's part of what I like about them, since they can't really be described as warm/bright/dark/thin--they do everything well but don't stand out in any one category.

And that's what counts, I had no intention of changing my HD660S, they're fine, I was settled... was maybe thinking of adding some Neumann NHD30..but then Sennheiser had to go and spoil it all with a new announcement. lol....

 

[Mike F]

And that's what counts, I had no intention of changing my HD660S, they're fine, I was settled... was maybe thinking of adding some Neumann NHD30..but then Sennheiser had to go and spoil it all with a new announcement. lol....

You might change your mind again when you get some NDH 30s!

 

[Rob80b]

"The battery of percussion instruments required for Summer Evening is extensive and includes vibraphone,
xylophone, glockenspiel, tubular bells,

...speaking of...will need to tackle this one after dinner this eve. Pink Floyd's "Ummagumma". : )
Actually it was one of my first recordings I put on a portable mono cassette player so I could walk around with headphones. (and then some rep from Sony saw me...hhhmm )
https://tidal.com/browse/album/55391725

 

[Zendac]

At my local dealer Sennheiser HD 660S2 is 609 eur while Neumann NDH 30 is 622 eur. So practically there is no price difference. I hope someone is able to post a direct comparison review soon.

 

[Rob80b]

You might change your mind again when you get some NDH 30s!

Maybe, possibly...but I think I'm good for now.

 

[frankiewilde]

At my local dealer Sennheiser HD 660S2 is 609 eur while Neumann NDH 30 is 622 eur. So practically there is no price difference. I hope someone is able to post a direct comparison review soon.

waiting for that too

 

[M3NTAL]

For context, at the time the HD 650 was released, it was at the top of the hp transducer industry's price mountain, with a handful exceptions. The thought of a mass-produced headphone over $600 or $700 was still radical, nevermind $1000+. Headphone amplifiers were still quite an insider's piece of gear and were not bound to the price pressure like transducers tend to be. For soooo many, the HD 580, 650 and 600 (and AKG k7-- series) were driven by AV receivers or other Hi-Fi stack components that happened to have a 6.3mm stereo output. There was room to go up on the source and amp side of the equation, but Everest was about $500 for headphone transducers. This community right here was responsible for the hp amp (and DACamp) market developing (thankfully so), fleshing out a bona fide desktop Hi-Fi market. It's awesome.

Add another one to your CTRL+C / CTRL+V Kind of sounds the same way I feel.

 

[Mike F]

Maybe, possibly...but I think I'm good for now.

Unfortunately, or possibly fortunately, I did it the other way round - I bought the NDH 30 just before the S2 was released. I can’t say that the NDH 30 is definitely better than the HD660S2 because I haven’t heard the new Senn, but what I CAN definitely say is that the NDH 30 is simply in another class compared to all of the 6 series I have (HD 580 Precision HD600 HD650 HD660S). In fact not only does it easily beat those headphones it even rivals and in some respects surpasses the HD800. I’m looking forward to a head to head comparison from someone! Anyone!

 

[Plieb]

Would be very interested about the synergy of the S2 with the Singxer SA1.
Also is the S2 more efficient than the 650? At least does it sound like it has a bit more headroom than the 650? My 660s had plenty of headroom with my sa1 single ended input but noticeably less with 650.
I realize that the sensitivity of 104db are the same as 650 but sometimes you can't always go by that spec.

 

[Rob80b]

it easily beat those headphones it even rivals and in some respects surpasses the HD800.

I will report back at come point but having the HD800S close at hand I did give in to a quick comparison with the S2....obviously sound staging is night and day, apples and oranges, from memory the NDH30 sits somewhere in the middle...but in direct comparison with the 800S naturalness of the treble timbre was leaning towards the S2.

 

[Beagle]

Maybe, possibly...but I think I'm good for now.

Are you sure?

https://www.canuckaudiomart.com/det...nce-class-german-open-back-studio-headphones/

 

[plyr]

I have tinnitus, and this whole new line of Sennheiser starting with the 660S, 560S, and MTW3 didn't bothered me in this regard, so I'm always reticent in buying anything new because of this. Its not a thing of like it or not, but rather a consequence of exposure. There are some headphones I really like that give me a pitch noise right after 10min of listening, like on AKG K240, which to me has very good midrange.

Sennheiser have this refined sound, its why I tend to try them first. I'm temped to get the NDH30, but then again, I have this dilemma...