[megabigeye]

Drop.com has a sale both on the H58x - $139 (!) and the HD6xx - $179 (+ possible costs if outside US)

A steal, nothing less

Dang! I bought my HD 650 for $425 in 2009 or '10— that's about $600 in 2023. I still consider them worth every penny. $179 is just ridiculous!

 

[Harum7]

Drop.com has a sale both on the H58x - $139 (!) and the HD6xx - $179 (+ possible costs if outside US)

A steal, nothing less

Yup. Lowest on those models. I can't think of a better price to performance on headphones.

 

[jasonb]

The 6XX is $199 when I look.

 

[gooeyrich]

Absolutely an obvious difference. Hd 600 crisper more transparent with better projection. Voices stand out more with s bit more seperation. 6xx more midbass and rounded sounding.
I believe 600 is the better performer.
Both phones compared with new pads.

It seems like the 600 is better for studio applications or someone who just wants a pure flat reference sound, whereas the 6xx/650 is for someone who wants a more "musical" headphone geared more towards enjoyment with some embellishing of the music that you get from most consumer audio products (bass elevation, masking/smoothing of flaws in the recording etc.).

 

[WilcoRoger]

Dang! I bought my HD 650 for $425 in 2009 or '10— that's about $600 in 2023. I still consider them worth every penny. $179 is just ridiculous!

You've already had 14 good years with them, count that as well

 

[Philimon]

650 mods update.:

HD650 sounds good and non-irritating which is an achievement. Yes, I know Im a weirdo that finds 6X0 mildly fatiguing (presumably wooly bass, too much upper mids) and disagree with "totl timbre" claims (vocals too forward / shouty, and bass not clean enough).

^ Rotating to 650 today. Tonal issues are improved by mod (imo obvi). From memory, bass seems slightly less offensive but still not great... Ive been listening to modded Yamaha YH-2 past couple days... YH-2 bass sounds clean while similarly dynamic.

Spoiler: mehsurements, EARS

^ The adhesive felt is non-breathable. Perhaps a more permeable material like micropore tape would make for a more preferable middle-ground for some folk.

YH-2

Spoiler: mehsurements, EARS

^ trend of 3kHz dip. YH-2 highs sound a little brighter than measured due to possibly some resonance (at 5kHz) while HD650 highs sound smoother than measured (at 8-9kHz peak). HD650 sounds slightly warmer. Both similar microdetail ability. YH-2 bass sounds cleaner and prefer to use for this reason and because closed-back utility.

P.S. I do believe upper-mids perception is effected by listening volumes according to Equal Loudness Contour.

 

[dakanao]

^ Rotating to 650 today. Tonal issues are improved by mod (imo obvi). From memory, bass seems slightly less offensive but still not great... Ive been listening to modded Yamaha YH-2 past couple days... YH-2 bass sounds clean while similarly dynamic.

Spoiler: mehsurements, EARS

^ The adhesive felt is non-breathable. Perhaps a more permeable material like micropore tape would make for a more preferable middle-ground for some folk.

YH-2

Spoiler: mehsurements, EARS

^ trend of 3kHz dip. YH-2 highs sound a little brighter than measured due to possibly some resonance (at 5kHz) while HD650 highs sound smoother than measured (at 8-9kHz peak). HD650 sounds slightly warmer. Both similar microdetail ability. YH-2 bass sounds cleaner and prefer to use for this reason and because closed-back utility.

P.S. I do believe upper-mids perception is effected by listening volumes according to Equal Loudness Contour.

Yeah I first started using micropore tape as the new baffle. Started out with 1 layer, but still found them too bass light. 2 layers afterwards was an improvement, but still too bass light.

After that I put on the adhesive felt, while having 2 layers of mp tape on the diapghram baffle. This does the trick for me.

 

[flaxton]

Hey Guys,

Here is the result of the 6xx mod and i am very happy with the result.
I think green was the right choice, looks 500% better than brown!
I also gave the grills a new dark grey paint just for freshen up the hole look.
I cant say to much about the sound because i have not listend to the end result with pads, copper weight mod and balanced cable. but i will report soon.
That was a fun project and i think the 6xx is the perfect headphone for moding, it is extrem easy to disassemble and there are a ton of parts online.

That looks great. Good job.

 

[Derivative]

Running a neat and relatively affordable chain with the HD6XX at its heart: Wiim Mini -> Mojo2 -> Little Dot MK3 -> HD6XX.
Punches way above its weight. It's not the last word in detail retrieval and instrument separation but it's very coherent and satisfying.

 

[Hypops]

Hey Guys,

Here is the result of the 6xx mod and i am very happy with the result.
I think green was the right choice, looks 500% better than brown!
I also gave the grills a new dark grey paint just for freshen up the hole look.
I cant say to much about the sound because i have not listend to the end result with pads, copper weight mod and balanced cable. but i will report soon.
That was a fun project and i think the 6xx is the perfect headphone for moding, it is extrem easy to disassemble and there are a ton of parts online.

Wow. Love the color. The kind of headphone that really deserves to be customized more often than it is. Nice work.

 

[BobG55]

Sometimes, it‘s good to put an headphone I’m familiar with aside for a while in order to truly enjoy and appreciate it again later. This evening I took out my HD650 which I had put aside a while back. What a pleasant experience it is to listen to them again. This is such a great headphone. Never been without one since 2005. Listening to Larry Carlton’s Sapphire Blue album and everything sounds clear and deep, mellow and so smooth.

Bryston BCD-1 > BHA-1 > XLR double 3 pin > Schiit Lokius

 

[Philimon]

Its weird that I can have a different experience with HD650(mod) when listening from Jot2 balanced vs unbalanced. Unbalanced sounded too bassy and boomy, balanced sounds correctly bassy and non-too-boomy. Similar trend with ETA O2 and Grado from Jot2 outputs. Maybe imagination.
However! Currently I am drinking whiskey atm so maybe not so weird. Whiskey mod power level over 9000!!!!! With these powers combined 650(mod) is boss lvl value.

 

[Hypops]

Its weird that I can have a different experience with HD650(mod) when listening from Jot2 balanced vs unbalanced. Unbalanced sounded too bassy and boomy, balanced sounds correctly bassy and non-too-boomy. Similar trend with ETA O2 and Grado from Jot2 outputs. Maybe imagination.
However! Currently I am drinking whiskey atm so maybe not so weird. Whiskey mod power level over 9000!!!!! With these powers combined 650(mod) is boss lvl value.

Not weird. Could be the DAC (or other source) you're feeding your amp rather than the Senn's connection type. If you can, try switching the DAC's input type (unbalanced vs. balanced) and see what happens. You could be hearing the Schitt amp's single-ended/differential conversion rather than anything to do with the output type to the Senn.

 

[Luckyleo]

Sometimes, it‘s good to put an headphone I’m familiar with aside for a while in order to truly enjoy and appreciate it again later. This evening I took out my HD650 which I had put aside a while back. What a pleasant experience it is to listen to them again. This is such a great headphone. Never been without one since 2005. Listening to Larry Carlton’s Sapphire Blue album and everything sounds clear and deep, mellow and so smooth.

Bryston BCD-1 > BHA-1 > XLR double 3 pin > Schiit Lokius

Couldn't find this album on Qobuz, so I went to Larry Carlton and sorted by popularity. This is what I'm listening to right now with my 6XX (Balanced) Great!!!! Kinda has a Steely Dan "vibe". @BobG55 keep those recommendations coming. Many thanks.

Leo

 

[BobG55]

Couldn't find this album on Qobuz, so I went to Larry Carlton and sorted by popularity. This is what I'm listening to right now with my 6XX (Balanced) Great!!!! Kinda has a Steely Dan "vibe". @BobG55 keep those recommendations coming. Many thanks.

Leo

Always a pleasure Leo. Merry Christmas to you and your family.