[MarkJohny3]

I wonder if anyone has compared the 660Ss made in Romania to those made in Ireland? My 660Ss were made in Romania and the 600s, 6XXs,and 58Xs I have were all made in Ireland. To be honest the build quality of my 660Ss does seem to be quite nice and comparable to the others, I'm just wondering if there are any sound quality differences? I'm guessing that any differences in sound may be attributed to variations between individual units (same variations as you would get comparing two of the same models made in Ireland factory or vice versa), but I'm purely speculating on this.

I have the Romania 6XX on the other hand. How do you feel the 660s against 6XX?

 

[CaptainFantastic]

I wonder if anyone has compared the 660Ss made in Romania to those made in Ireland? My 660Ss were made in Romania and the 600s, 6XXs,and 58Xs I have were all made in Ireland. To be honest the build quality of my 660Ss does seem to be quite nice and comparable to the others, I'm just wondering if there are any sound quality differences? I'm guessing that any differences in sound may be attributed to variations between individual units (same variations as you would get comparing two of the same models made in Ireland factory or vice versa), but I'm purely speculating on this.

Yes, above, posts are somewhere in Q1 or Q2 2020. There is a comparison of 3 or 4 pairs of 660S headphones, some Ireland some Romania.

Remember, the drivers are the same, all made in Ireland. All you have is unit variation.

But the 600, 650 and 660S threads are plagued by these questions. Every couple of months a new round of users ask and wonder the same thing. No fault of theirs. Maybe Sennheiser could post a sticky or something with the help of Head-Fi to make it clear for all new users.

 

[Dawgfish]

I have the Romania 6XX on the other hand. How do you feel the 660s against 6XX?

Honestly I prefer the 660 to the 6XX slightly for my listening tastes. It has slightly better resolution, imaging, and soundstage to my ears. I like that it sounds clearer to me than the 6XX while still being on the warm side. Having said all of that the 6XX do still have advantages. They sound really good on bright or poorly recorded music and equipment and are easy to listen to for long periods of time. Every time I'm thinking of getting rid of the 6XXs, I'll listen to them on some brightly recorded tracks and think to myself "nope these are staying". They definitely have their place.

 

[Dawgfish]

Yes, above, posts are somewhere in Q1 or Q2 2020. There is a comparison of 3 or 4 pairs of 660S headphones, some Ireland some Romania.

Remember, the drivers are the same, all made in Ireland. All you have is unit variation.

But the 600, 650 and 660S threads are plagued by these questions. Every couple of months a new round of users ask and wonder the same thing. No fault of theirs. Maybe Sennheiser could post a sticky or something with the help of Head-Fi to make it clear for all new users.

Thanks for the reply and that's great to know! I figured that they had to be very similar given Sennheiser's reputation for QC, but you never know sometimes. I'm going to have to search for those posts and read up on that. You're right some sort of sticky definitely would help given the apparent frequency these questions come up.

 

[hduong]

Someone on this thread had both of them and noticed no different in sound quality.

 

[retskrad]

Sennheiser is marketing the 660 S as the successor to the 650. Wait.... what? Sure, the driver gives you perhaps 5-10% more detail retireval if you really sit there and critically listen and it's slighty faster but at what cost? The treble is grainy and the sound has this edge to it that's not there on the 600 and 650. The 660 S has the thick sound of the 650 but with itchy treble. This is jarring.

The recessed upper mids compared to the others in the 6X0 line make the grainy treble even more apparant. I fail to see how this headphone is a successor to the smooth sound of the 650. The 660 S isn't even a successor the 600.

What a strange product from Sennheiser. It's bizzarre how it's twice the price of the 6XX. Why do you guys think Sennheiser is going in this direction?

 

[cel4145]

Sennheiser is marketing the 660 S as the successor to the 650. Wait.... what? Sure, the driver gives you perhaps 5-10% more detail retireval if you really sit there and critically listen and it's slighty faster but at what cost? The treble is grainy and the sound has this edge to it that's not there on the 600 and 650. The 660 S has the thick sound of the 650 but with itchy treble. This is jarring.

The recessed upper mids compared to the others in the 6X0 line make the grainy treble even more apparant. I fail to see how this headphone is a successor to the smooth sound of the 650. The 660 S isn't even a successor the 600.

What a strange product from Sennheiser. It's bizzarre how it's twice the price of the 6XX. Why do you guys think Sennheiser is going in this direction?

The 650 sounds slightly grainy to me in comparison to the 660S.

 

[retskrad]

The 650 sounds slightly grainy to me in comparison to the 660S.

Interesting, what's your definition of graininess? To me, grainy = lack of refinement and harsh. What's your definition? Imo, 650 isn't grainy, it's simply rolled off and you need more volume to bring the highs up.

 

[hodgjy]

Interesting, what's your definition of graininess? To me, grainy = lack of refinement and harsh. What's your definition? Imo, 650 isn't grainy, it's simply rolled off and you need more volume to bring the highs up.

That's a good definition. I also consider grain to be distortion in the form of a roughness along the leading and trailing edges of the notes.

 

[cel4145]

Interesting, what's your definition of graininess? To me, grainy = lack of refinement and harsh. What's your definition? Imo, 650 isn't grainy, it's simply rolled off and you need more volume to bring the highs up.

I hear a difference in resolution between the two. Maybe you can't, but others who own the HD660S have also noticed it.

But that's okay. Everybody doesn't have the same signature preference, nor hear every headphone exactly the same.

 

[retskrad]

-

 

[MarkJohny3]

Interesting, what's your definition of graininess? To me, grainy = lack of refinement and harsh. What's your definition? Imo, 650 isn't grainy, it's simply rolled off and you need more volume to bring the highs up.

That's what I would describe 6XX in upper mid range and even overall mid range with certain material. To me 6XX sounds more harsh and ear piercing than 660s, the voice and instruments are more "round" on 660s and more musical to me, also I actually like that the vocals are shouty and more present as long as they are smooth enough.

 

[Majestyk]

The 650 sounds slightly grainy to me in comparison to the 660S.

^ This.

The 660S has more air/transparency. It's basically what the 650/6XX should have been.

 

[Contrails]

I am thinking of getting some LCD-2.2 (Pre Fazor) to compliment the HD660S. I think these two together should cover me for a lot of different genres. Good idea?

 

[Sennheiser]

Yes, above, posts are somewhere in Q1 or Q2 2020. There is a comparison of 3 or 4 pairs of 660S headphones, some Ireland some Romania.

Remember, the drivers are the same, all made in Ireland. All you have is unit variation.

But the 600, 650 and 660S threads are plagued by these questions. Every couple of months a new round of users ask and wonder the same thing. No fault of theirs. Maybe Sennheiser could post a sticky or something with the help of Head-Fi to make it clear for all new users.

We do repeat this fairly often @Dawgfish, but it's kind of developed into the mystique around long running headphones that we might make a silent revision or made a more rare variant. Same acoustic design, same driver fabrication, they haven't been changed other than the appearance ¯\_(ツ)_/¯