[JM]

They abandoned the Romanian operation recently and moved production back to Ireland and Germany.

Interesting! I hadn't heard that. Was there an official press release?

Also, has anyone had trouble with the insertion of cables? I have had every version of the 600 series... in some cases multiples of them. I've never struggled like I did with these.

 

[JM]

I'm wondering if the newer mold of the 660s just isn't very compatible with the 570679 1.4m short cable. I'm paranoid about it so I took those out and went back to the 3m cable that came with the headphones and just twist-tied the slack.

These babies sound as good as all of the other ones I have had. No EQ needed... they are just "perfect" headphones in mind. Don't think I will trade these away again.

 

[kman1211]

They abandoned the Romanian operation recently and moved production back to Ireland and Germany.

P.S. to say the HD 600 is shouty is disconnected from reality They're among the smoothest dynamic headphones ever made.

Interesting they abandoned the Romanian operation, it felt like it was only a few years they made them in Romania.

Not disconnected from reality at all especially since it's a sentiment multiple people have. No headphone is for everyone and people need to trust their ears and what works for them personally. I find it interesting how some peoples experience with a particular headphone can vary so much even if it's on the exact same system.

 

[CaptainFantastic]

Interesting they abandoned the Romanian operation, it felt like it was only a few years they made them in Romania.

Not disconnected from reality at all especially since it's a sentiment multiple people have. No headphone is for everyone and people need to trust their ears and what works for them personally. I find it interesting how some peoples experience with a particular headphone can vary so much even if it's on the exact same system.

They have new owners who are taking some decisions, like this one. They also closed the research dept, per Axel Grell in a video from CanJam NY. So the new owners are doing this and that. I understood they kept the facility in Romania, they are just manufacturing something else there.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Interesting they abandoned the Romanian operation, it felt like it was only a few years they made them in Romania.

Right. It's difficult to understand what these companies do, probably even if you work there. Lots of bizarre moves in the last decade, if you look at Sennheiser over the previous decades. I guess everybody feels they have to diversify and get into popular niches.

Not disconnected from reality at all especially since it's a sentiment multiple people have. No headphone is for everyone and people need to trust their ears and what works for them personally. I find it interesting how some peoples experience with a particular headphone can vary so much even if it's on the exact same system.

Very well said and I agree with you generally. But if I look at the posts there are a few patterns that stand out. One is that for example people who come from mass-market thumpety-thump bass-cannon headphones that are really quite crap and they get a good pair of cans with a smooth response, they say the new/known-good headphones are crap because they don't have enough bass. That's wrong, they do have enough bass, but what they don't have is the overemphasized, bloated bass they're used to.

Here too, I have listened to enough headphones to know the HD 600s are not shouty. I haven't heard the HD 660s so I wonder if they're just recessed in the mids (the HD 650 is said to have this effect because of the tuning) compared to the HD 600s, so relatively, they seem shouty. But if you listen to the HD 600s out of a good amp, they are not shouty. The fact I can thoroughly enjoying listening to Joni Mitchell on these perhaps more than any set of cans I have, and it's not like fingernails on a blackboard is as much proof as I can give

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Interesting! I hadn't heard that. Was there an official press release?

I think most of us read it here in one of the Sennheiser threads. I don't know if they announced it or not, but I guess they probably wouldn't.

 

[kman1211]

Right. It's difficult to understand what these companies do, probably even if you work there. Lots of bizarre moves in the last decade, if you look at Sennheiser over the previous decades. I guess everybody feels they have to diversify and get into popular niches.



Very well said and I agree with you generally. But if I look at the posts there are a few patterns that stand out. One is that for example people who come from mass-market thumpety-thump bass-cannon headphones that are really quite crap and they get a good pair of cans with a smooth response, they say the new/known-good headphones are crap because they don't have enough bass. That's wrong, they do have enough bass, but what they don't have is the overemphasized, bloated bass they're used to.

Here too, I have listened to enough headphones to know the HD 600s are not shouty. I haven't heard the HD 660s so I wonder if they're just recessed in the mids (the HD 650 is said to have this effect because of the tuning) compared to the HD 600s, so relatively, they seem shouty. But if you listen to the HD 600s out of a good amp, they are not shouty. The fact I can thoroughly enjoying listening to Joni Mitchell on these perhaps more than any set of cans I have, and it's not like fingernails on a blackboard is as much proof as I can give

Well honestly the headphone market has changed a lot over time too, but a lot of businesses make strange decisions that don't make a lot of sense to the average consumer and maybe to other businesses.

I'm personally quite diverse in what type of headphones I like. I don't dislike bassy headphones, but also don't dislike brighter pairs either. It just depends on a combination of fidelity, subtle sound characteristics, and comfort. The HD 600 only sounds shouty and grainy on certain systems or if it's underpowered in my experienced. It's the same thing with the HD 650. The HD 660 S doesn't come off as having more recessed mids than the HD 600/650 but it also portrays dynamics differently and imaging than the HD 600/650 especially on lesser systems. I haven't heard both on high end systems but I did note than the HD 660 S and HD 600/650 have quite different behaviors in regards to the system. I personally prefer the R70X (another very smooth headphone) to the HD 600/650 but I can't give a defined reason why, I guess because I find it invokes a stronger emotional response to the music for me. The HD 660 S also invoked a stronger emotional response to the music to me than the HD 600/650 but I didn't find the HD 660 S necessarily an improvement, it's better in some and worse in others.

But of the Sennheiser HD 6xx line, I have to say overall I like the HD 600 the most despite the stronger emotional attachment to the HD 660 S, it's the only one of the Sennheiser HD 6xx line I never started having fatigue issues with (HD 660 S) or grew to dislike it over time (HD 650) instead the HD 600 grew on me as I owned it longer. It's not my favorite headphone I've owned, that goes to the Beyer T1 Gen 3 (yes the bass prominent one), but the HD 600 is a headphone I grew to appreciate and respect over time, I get why the HD 600 is so beloved and why it's a reference for so many audiophiles. While I currently don't have any Senns, if I ever get another Sennheiser, it will be the HD 600.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Underpowered, HD 600s sound thin and lifeless. I have not ever heard them to be shouty, out of more than 15 amps, receivers, and DAPs that I have tried them with.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

.

 

[equalspeace]

Well honestly the headphone market has changed a lot over time too, but a lot of businesses make strange decisions that don't make a lot of sense to the average consumer and maybe to other businesses.

I'm personally quite diverse in what type of headphones I like. I don't dislike bassy headphones, but also don't dislike brighter pairs either. It just depends on a combination of fidelity, subtle sound characteristics, and comfort. The HD 600 only sounds shouty and grainy on certain systems or if it's underpowered in my experienced. It's the same thing with the HD 650. The HD 660 S doesn't come off as having more recessed mids than the HD 600/650 but it also portrays dynamics differently and imaging than the HD 600/650 especially on lesser systems. I haven't heard both on high end systems but I did note than the HD 660 S and HD 600/650 have quite different behaviors in regards to the system. I personally prefer the R70X (another very smooth headphone) to the HD 600/650 but I can't give a defined reason why, I guess because I find it invokes a stronger emotional response to the music for me. The HD 660 S also invoked a stronger emotional response to the music to me than the HD 600/650 but I didn't find the HD 660 S necessarily an improvement, it's better in some and worse in others.

But of the Sennheiser HD 6xx line, I have to say overall I like the HD 600 the most despite the stronger emotional attachment to the HD 660 S, it's the only one of the Sennheiser HD 6xx line I never started having fatigue issues with (HD 660 S) or grew to dislike it over time (HD 650) instead the HD 600 grew on me as I owned it longer. It's not my favorite headphone I've owned, that goes to the Beyer T1 Gen 3 (yes the bass prominent one), but the HD 600 is a headphone I grew to appreciate and respect over time, I get why the HD 600 is so beloved and why it's a reference for so many audiophiles. While I currently don't have any Senns, if I ever get another Sennheiser, it will be the HD 600.

I think the thing the 600 has over the 660s/650 is resolving capability on a good system chain. It will outclass the other two like nobody's business in this use case. To my ears this is because the 660s leaves something to be desired in the category of micro detailing. While re the 650 it just isn't fast enough to keep up with busy tracks with many instruments. So it's severely under gunned for classical.

One final note is that the 600 has the ability to provide a more accurate sounding timbre than the 650/660s. Instruments just sound so life-like on the 600. 650 does well in this regard too, but instruments don't quite pop the way they do on the 600 with that strong leading edge/live sounding clarity. 660s is the worst of the three in the timbre category.

 

[kman1211]

Underpowered, HD 600s sound thin and lifeless. I have not ever heard them to be shouty, out of more than 15 amps, receivers, and DAPs that I have tried them with.

True they do sound thin and dull underpowered, but sometimes it sounds this way even when properly powered if the synergy isn’t good. I guess that may be a personal difference as I’ve experienced shoutiness on a few systems.

I think the thing the 600 has over the 660s/650 is resolving capability on a good system chain. It will outclass the other two like nobody's business in this use case. On smaller devices the 660s does better. Other thing the 600 has over the 650/660s the ability to provide accurate sounding timbre. Instruments just sound so life-like on the 600.

That’s been my experience as well. The HD 660 S sounded better on a wider array of systems but the HD 600 with a good synergetic system behind it is something special.

 

[plyr]

I'm wondering if the newer mold of the 660s just isn't very compatible with the 570679 1.4m short cable. I'm paranoid about it so I took those out and went back to the 3m cable that came with the headphones and just twist-tied the slack.

How good are those 1.4m cables? Any loss in audio quality?

 

[JM]

How good are those 1.4m cables? Any loss in audio quality?

No difference from the 3m cable. Same thickness, just terminates in 3.5mm instead of 1/4.

 

[Tripokaridos]

They abandoned the Romanian operation recently and moved production back to Ireland and Germany.

P.S. to say the HD 600 is shouty is disconnected from reality They're among the smoothest dynamic headphones ever made.

Great info i didnt know that... So back to Ireland ( to me it doesnt matter if the quality control is the shame) .
What i really like are the new Pads ... honestly i change all my older ones with the new ones .

 

[Tripokaridos]

How good are those 1.4m cables? Any loss in audio quality?

Are the shame quality .