[aisalen]

I'm a big fan of Sennheiser's and Hifiman and I'm going to get my first Grado's as soon as I can find a reasonable priced GS1000

The comfort between Grado and Sennheiser is night and day in my exprience, I had SR325 during early years of this hobby but sold it due to the mentioned issue besides of the thick non-detachable cable.

 

[DavidA]

The comfort between Grado and Sennheiser is night and day in my exprience, I had SR325 during early years of this hobby but sold it due to the mentioned issue besides of the thick non-detachable cable.

Agree with you about the comfort of Grado L-pads but G-pads are quite a bit more comfortable IMO, but they will alter the sound a bit, a bit more bass/mid-bass, slight reduction in treble/highs (usually a good thing with most of the lower range, SR325 and below) and a slight increase in soundstage width and depth. Agree that the non-detachable cable is also irritating but I've modded all mine to have detachable cables so its a non-issue for me.

My friend who owns a HD660S came by for a wine / dinner get together the other night and also brought his HD660S, Eikon and Elise amp so all of us could do some comparisons. As I noted before the HD660S really shines from almost any source such as phones and low power DAPs IMO but to me and my friend who owns the HD660S the HD650 does sound better to both of us if driven with an amp like my BH Crack or his Elise and his daughters (both professional musicians, piano / violin) say the HD650 sounds closer to what they perceive their instruments sound like live. Technically we both think the HD660S is better than the HD650 but both are quite far behind the Eikon but the Eikon like the HD650 needs an amp like a BH Crack or Elise to get the most out of them. Even compared my HD58X with the HD660S and while they are fairly close the HD660S is cleaner (less grain) to me but still not worth 3 times the price IMO, especially for those who don't notice the grain in the HD58X.

 

[turbomustang84]

The comfort between Grado and Sennheiser is night and day in my exprience, I had SR325 during early years of this hobby but sold it due to the mentioned issue besides of the thick non-detachable cable.

I actually might hate them but after Steve Guttenberg said they sounded like a horn loaded speaker I've had visions of Klipsch Lascalla's on my head .
LoL

 

[aisalen]

Agree with you about the comfort of Grado L-pads but G-pads are quite a bit more comfortable IMO, but they will alter the sound a bit, a bit more bass/mid-bass, slight reduction in treble/highs (usually a good thing with most of the lower range, SR325 and below) and a slight increase in soundstage width and depth. Agree that the non-detachable cable is also irritating but I've modded all mine to have detachable cables so its a non-issue for me.

My friend who owns a HD660S came by for a wine / dinner get together the other night and also brought his HD660S, Eikon and Elise amp so all of us could do some comparisons. As I noted before the HD660S really shines from almost any source such as phones and low power DAPs IMO but to me and my friend who owns the HD660S the HD650 does sound better to both of us if driven with an amp like my BH Crack or his Elise and his daughters (both professional musicians, piano / violin) say the HD650 sounds closer to what they perceive their instruments sound like live. Technically we both think the HD660S is better than the HD650 but both are quite far behind the Eikon but the Eikon like the HD650 needs an amp like a BH Crack or Elise to get the most out of them. Even compared my HD58X with the HD660S and while they are fairly close the HD660S is cleaner (less grain) to me but still not worth 3 times the price IMO, especially for those who don't notice the grain in the HD58X.

Between 600 and 650, I like 600 more as the upper register to me is more complete so I sold the 650. I almost bought the other day 660s as I am curious to hear it but afraid that the difference on my excellent 600 is too little, so decided to get the 58x instead from the Drop which is currently open just to have variation. Will use it with my Jots while the 600 with DV336.

 

[Deftone]

It's all about preference, as Axel Grell pointed out recently at his canjam seminar "what's the correct target sound of a headphone? The one that makes you happy"

 

[WSikorski]

I've only had the 660S for a few days now and have to say that I like them. Like night and day compared to my decade+ old HD 580. Bass wise, pretty close, midrange hands down goes to the 660. The 580 just seems kinda muffled. Treble also goes to the 660. Keep in mind my age, 57, 4 years Coast Guard and have been shooting firearms since the age of 12, not always with proper hearing protection. Minor tinnitus.

The 580's have been modded with 600 grilles and 650 cable. I might just put the stock grilles back on, just to do another comparison. I'm using the Pimeta Amp for the tests. I built the maxed out version with the gain set for the 300 ohm 580, works well with the 660's.

 

[Deftone]

I've only had the 660S for a few days now and have to say that I like them. Like night and day compared to my decade+ old HD 580. Bass wise, pretty close, midrange hands down goes to the 660. The 580 just seems kinda muffled. Treble also goes to the 660. Keep in mind my age, 57, 4 years Coast Guard and have been shooting firearms since the age of 12, not always with proper hearing protection. Minor tinnitus.

The 580's have been modded with 600 grilles and 650 cable. I might just put the stock grilles back on, just to do another comparison. I'm using the Pimeta Amp for the tests. I built the maxed out version with the gain set for the 300 ohm 580, works well with the 660's.

Even though the 660S aren't really super clear headphones either whenever I've gone back to 580/600/650 they all sound muffled in comparison. It was only a small boost in overall clarity and treble precision but it went a long way.

 

[MarkF786]

Has anyone tried to buy a spare HD660s 4.4mm cable? I like the cable and would like to buy some for my other HD headphones.

 

[Deftone]

Has anyone tried to buy a spare HD660s 4.4mm cable? I like the cable and would like to buy some for my other HD headphones.

Try sennheiser spare parts website

 

[simon740]

Hello,

anyone drive this 660s with a DAP?

regards,
Simon

 

[L8MDL]

I use my Pono running balanced daily. Never tire of the superb sound reproduction the 660's offer.

 

[simon740]

I use my Pono running balanced daily. Never tire of the superb sound reproduction the 660's offer.

Im sorry,,,what is Pono?

 

[Dulalala]

Im sorry,,,what is Pono?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PonoPlayer

 

[WSikorski]

Hello,

anyone drive this 660s with a DAP?

regards,
Simon

I've used them with my FiiO X5 III, works well. Better with an amp.

I need to get a 4 pin XLR to 2.5 TRRS adapter to take advantage of the X5's balanced output.

 

[Deftone]

Hello,

anyone drive this 660s with a DAP?

regards,
Simon

It should be just fine, I run 660 just straight from my phone sometimes and still enjoyable. When I give it a ton of power I get a more open midrange and more weight to bass impact.