[swiftdaddy]

Man these were my first headphones and I ended up buying Fostex th900mk2 and Fostex TR-X00 shortly after. I never use those I always grab the HD 6XX. Looking to try the focal clear’s next.

 

[jasswolf]

Ah. good to know. Do the drop pads change the sound signature?

I thought so, and they weren't any more comfortable than stock pads so for me, there wasn't any upside aside from the price.

Cool. Thanks. It would be nice to find the stock pads. I hear these wear pretty fast and I don't really want to change the sound of these. They are lovely just the way they are.

You should be able to dig up the official ones, but they are definitely over priced in terms of their typical lifetime. I think the new ZMF Suede pads go the closest, add some air and staging, clean up the bass while taking care of the upper mid heat that would ensue, and last longer. You can see the measurements here (timestamped):



I would definitely A/B the ZMF with stock, as bare minimum I think it will be a great change of flavour given the technical improvements. Keep in mind that the perforated lambskin option measures closer the stock in terms of sound pressure, but it does this while changing the bass characteristics similarly and adding some lower treble bite, followed by a heavy roll-off after 15kHz.

I think both of those ZMF options are really good for the 6XX/650, just skip over the regular lambskin, which is probably better for the 600 or 580 (the really old model, not 58X).

 

[Twizzleshnizzle]

In the interest of a nice debate, I think we can all agree the HD6 series are at their very best with a nice tube amp. What's everyone's personal tube amp preference? I've tried a few and really do love the Darkvoice, but tempted to build a Crack.

 

[carbonF1]

For the 6XX, having done the song and dance with Valhalla 2 if I were to do it again I'd get the Crack + Speedball kit or look for one already built (a big reason why I got a Valhalla in the first place). I wonder how it would sound on a 300B tube amp.

 

[tafens]

In the interest of a nice debate, I think we can all agree the HD6 series are at their very best with a nice tube amp. What's everyone's personal tube amp preference? I've tried a few and really do love the Darkvoice, but tempted to build a Crack.

Well, I haven’t tried a lot of tube amps, but they sound very good with the Schiit Lyr3 tube hybrid amp using various tubes. My fav tube so far is the new production Tung-Sol 6SN7 GTB.

 

[equalspeace]

A lot of times whilst listening i find myself marveling at how good the 6XX sounds.

Only mods i made were to swap stock pads for Yaxi pads for the Sony MDR-M1ST and the stock cable for a meaty balanced (4.4.mm) copper one from Custom Cans

 

[eswng679]

A lot of times whilst listening i find myself marveling at how good the 6XX sounds.

Only mods i made were to swap stock pads for Yaxi pads for the Sony MDR-M1ST and the stock cable for a meaty balanced (4.4.mm) copper one from Custom Cans

I've tried many other cans over the course of my 10+ years in this hobby...and yet...after all my experimenting, I just keep coming back to the 650s. I've bought and sold many cans and while the HD650s were on the edge of the cliff, they've managed to hold on. It could be partially sentimental value, given that it was my first real high-end headphone but I can say with much confidence that its just because it sounds so good to my ears.

 

[RingingEars]

You should be able to dig up the official ones, but they are definitely over priced in terms of their typical lifetime. I think the new ZMF Suede pads go the closest, add some air and staging, clean up the bass while taking care of the upper mid heat that would ensue, and last longer. You can see the measurements here (timestamped):



I would definitely A/B the ZMF with stock, as bare minimum I think it will be a great change of flavour given the technical improvements. Keep in mind that the perforated lambskin option measures closer the stock in terms of sound pressure, but it does this while changing the bass characteristics similarly and adding some lower treble bite, followed by a heavy roll-off after 15kHz.

I think both of those ZMF options are really good for the 6XX/650, just skip over the regular lambskin, which is probably better for the 600 or 580 (the really old model, not 58X).

Very good. Thanks for the info. Much appreciated.

 

[jonathan c]

& …

 

[RADI0HEAD]

I can't believe how good the HD650 sound through my Note 20 Ultra with just a usb c dongle.

 

[SHAMuuu]

A lot of times whilst listening i find myself marveling at how good the 6XX sounds.

Only mods i made were to swap stock pads for Yaxi pads for the Sony MDR-M1ST and the stock cable for a meaty balanced (4.4.mm) copper one from Custom Cans

Whenever I even consider swapping pads on a Sennheiser I hear Metal's voice.



@4:10 mark

 

[Death_Block]

Man these were my first headphones and I ended up buying Fostex th900mk2 and Fostex TR-X00 shortly after. I never use those I always grab the HD 6XX. Looking to try the focal clear’s next.

The drop elex punch way above their price range. It's a focal clear. Some opinions have done minor EQ tweak if that's your thing

 

[equalspeace]

Whenever I even consider swapping pads on a Sennheiser I hear Metal's voice.



@4:10 mark

I've watched that vid and heed his warning with 600 and 660s but the 6xx/650 is more flexible in this regard imo

 

[jasswolf]

The drop elex punch way above their price range. It's a focal clear. Some opinions have done minor EQ tweak if that's your thing

When you consider what prices Clear B-stock was going for, it's not that much of a deal. When you also consider that it's almost entirely an Elear with Clear pads, that kinda dents the value too.

 

[Death_Block]

Unaware of plboth your points. Ah well, they weren't on my radar anyway