[Galapac]

Not much else to talk about on here until the HD 660S2 gets into more hands. Maybe the thread was opened a bit prematurely.

Edit: I know all the talk has made me consider one but waiting on more impressions outside of the main reviews.
I have the 650, 6XX, 800S, and 820 so not sure if this model would have a place for me.

 

[Beagle]

They did, I did...but then cancelled after Sennheiser.ca offered an even better deal....

I couldn’t even find it on amazon.ca

 

[jbarrentine]

Edit: you are only hearing a fraction of what 600 is capable of on a JDS stack. So any comparison with that combo is automatic DNF for me.

:: Rolls eyes::

 

[AnakChan]

All, I've deleted some posts. Please stick to the topic.

 

[AnalogEuphoria]

Don't honestly believe one has to spend 10K today but yes a good source is vital and have to agree.
Maybe my own false preconceptions or my ears just have been educated differently but I've yet to feel convinced with a computer based music systems and software applied EQ, not to sound old school (I am) but there is just too much digital processing going on, not to mention mediocre power supplies, and sub par analogue outputs..there is just too much attention to numbers, graphs etc.
Good sources and amplification cost more, and yes I've heard the miracle DAC/amp dongles and maybe it's not immediately apparent but IMHO there are important nuances that are lost in the reproduction of the music, it's hard to describe to those born into the digital world, like two identically designed shirts, one in cotton or linen the other synthetic, the later looks better on paper and maybe in appearance and fits great but my body intuitively knows which one it prefers. Same for the electrical signal that finally arrives at the amp used to vibrate the transducers, either headphones or speakers, it's been so synthetically manipulated along the way that again my hearing intuitively knows something is not correct.

The problem with that is some people need room correction for speakers or channel balance alteration for headphones so that easily makes up for not having absolute signal purity.

DSP has always been frowned upon among the audiophile community but when done well in software it should be transparent so nothing to worry about imo.

 

[AnalogEuphoria]

So, after several hours with my new 660S2, i can say that this thing is not a „Pleaser“, nothing is shouting in your eyes or your ears „Love me“ when you first unpack and use this Headphone. After a few listens with Roon i wasn’t that impressed. Sound was ok-ish but not outstanding at first, but then the 660S2 slowly grows on me…

This HD660S2 is like a grown-up Lady who knows what she is able to, no need to yell in your face, no need to bling bling at you. If you have the power to feed her 300Ohm Drivers then she begins to dance with you. It’s now about 8Hours since the postman delivered this small package (Sorry, Sennheiser, i must cancel my direct order because your Distributor was able to deliver today, not by the middle of next week…). So 8 Hours with the 660S2, what’s my take?

The Package is OK, small, no waste, no bulky boxes that no one need, not exactly noble understatement but kind of. Look elsewhere for bling-bling. Two 1,8m cables, 1 Adapter and a little bag plus the paperwork. that’s it.

Alone „8 Hours with this Headphone on my head“ is a statement (try this with an heavyweight Focal clear…). So the 660S2 has kept what’s good with the 600 series, it’s not heavy, not unconvenient, not builky, not cheap looking, trys to hide away on your head with it’s dark look and it’s IMHO one of the most convenient Headphones overall, only the HD700 is even nicer on my head.

Used it with a Mac mini M2 Pro and a trusty old Creative X7 24/192 DAC, and also direct on the Headphone Output of the M2 Mac mini. Yes, all new macs with Apple Silicon and a Headphone Output can drive the 300Ohm HD660S2 with ease. But the 7 or 8 years old X7 with it’s Headphone Amp not so, i needed to switch the X7 from 300 Ohm Headphone-Output to 600 Ohm to have enough Power to make the HD660S2 really loud enough for my old ears. I used it with Roon, QOBUZ, AppleMusic. Also the Headphone Output of a DENON PMA-1700NE connected with it’s internal DAC (up to 24/384/DSD256) to my RoonCore was used. Tomorrow i will integrate HQPlayer (upsamplingt to DSD256) in the audio-chain.

But why the Hell has nobody told us that the HD660S2 is one of the best Headphones for Dolby Atmos Music (AppleMusic)? The 660S2 works really great with Atmos, forget Apple AirPod Max or AirPod Pro Series 2, they all are muddy against the much more clear and engaging HD660S2! With the 660S2 there is no excuse not to dive into the growing Atmos Music Library of AppleMusic (or AmazonMusic or TIDAL).

So, how do they sound you asked? The last twelve month i used several headphones, a FOCAL Clear, a old 660S, a B&W PX8, Apple Airpods Max and Pro2, Sennheiser IE300. IMHO the 660S2 (with a bit tuning) comes close to the FOCAL Clear. Dolby Atmos is much better on the 660S2 then the clear. I will need more hours with the 660S2, but as far as i can tell now, it might be a Keeper. All said in the reviews in comparison with the Original 660S rings true to me, the 660S2 is more modern tuned, build for the music of this times without losing its heritage. Can’t compare to the 600/650.

Just like the HD600/650 at first listen it’s like oh what’s all the fuss all about and then they grow on you like mould and you can’t put them down.

 

[erekola]

Been listening to the 660s2 for a couple of days now. It must be said that I have only listened to dsd as always. My chain goes like this Qobuz-HQPlayer-iFi NEO Stream-iFi NEO iDSD (dsd512/poly-sinc-gauss-xla, poly-sinc-gauss-hires-lp/asdmec7v2). I say this because I think it makes a big difference when compared to pcm. I LOVE THESE! For the time being, I also own a 660, which I will definitely give away to the first person I meet on the street. I simply couldn't find a use for them after they collected dust. Now that I took a balanced cable from them, they are still wireless. If someone wants to buy them, you should send a message now, yes, the original and unused cable can be found.

 

[tamleo]

a headphone forum called sbaf is strangely silent about the S2. People on that forum love Sennheiser headphones so it is a little weird..

 

[Mike F]

Thank you. Maybe I buy them sometime in the future for using them at work. Probably they have good isolation because they build them for mixing in a studio.

These products from Neumann are very interesting...

Isolation is excellent on the NDH 20. Probably the best of any studio headphones. I use them at work. (I’m a musician)

 

[headstef]

a headphone forum called sbaf is strangely silent about the S2. People on that forum love Sennheiser headphones so it is a little weird..

SBAF or "Super Best Audio Friends" (funny name) is a big forum with important contribution and experimentation about modifications and measurements, especially for the Sennheiser models. Many there adore the HD-650 and 800S and there is a wealth of information on these, and also for the miniDSP EARS headphone measuring set. It is truly strange that there isn't any talk about the HD-660S2. But then their thread on the NDH 30 is only a few days old with ...one reply!

 

[Mike F]

Are they adjustable in the headband as we know the Senns are a bit hard to adjust clamp force, etc?
Also, are the cables for Neumann interchangeable with Sennheiser?

Sorry, I missed this, but @headstef has just put up an excellent reply on the NDH 30 thread. I agree with him that that’s the proper place to be talking in more detail about the NDH 30.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/neumann-ndh-30.963439/page-34

 

[Rob80b]

a headphone forum called sbaf is strangely silent about the S2. People on that forum love Sennheiser headphones so it is a little weird..

sssshhhh...they haven't been informed yet about the S2. : )
SBAF has some smart guys over there and was initially setup, if I'm not mistaken by a few "banned" Head-fi members who will remain nameless. Not sure if it is still in place but any links to SBAF posted on Headfi were deleted.
Will be entertaining once observations on the S2 do start to appear.

 

[headstef]

sssshhhh...they haven't been informed yet about the S2. : )
SBAF has some smart guys over there and was initially setup, if I'm not mistaken by a few "banned" Head-fi members who will remain nameless. Not sure if it is still in place but any links to SBAF posted on Headfi were deleted.
Will be entertaining once observations on the S2 do start to appear.

Well, being here for only a few months I knew nothing of these. Anyway, something isn't going very fast there currently...
I apologize if my reference was inappropriate somehow.

 

[chesebert]

Well, being here for only a few months I knew nothing of these. Anyway, something isn't going very fast there currently...
I apologize if my reference was inappropriate somehow.

First rule of this place is don’t talk about that friendly website.

 

[Mike F]

First rule of this place is don’t talk about that friendly website.

I’m not gonna say a word about (what site?), but they didn’t like the 660S and probably won’t give the 660S2 a second thought……