[Voxata]

I've heard many terrible sounding setups get loud

 

[buke9]

Yep these cans can sound very good out of many amps.

 

[davehg]

   
Usually Moon Audio is my default cable upgrade too, but it seemed like the Cardas was a more common recommendation for the HD650 and I've always been a Cardas fan from my stereo days.  I'll be curious to hear what your thoughts are on the Cardas cable vs. the Blue Dragon.

​I picked up my pair of HDXXX's and had a chance tonight to compare them with my very broken-in HD650's, as well as do a cable comparison b/t the Moon Audio Blue Dragon.3 and the Cardas Clear. The Cardas was running balanced via its xlr connection, and I've heard the HD650 sounds much better in a pure balanced setup (my source is a Sony HAPZ1ES, also balanced outs). The amp was a Woo WA22 (I didn't have the time to setup my WA5). The WA22 sounds incredibly synergistic with the Sennheiser, while the WA5 sounds amazing with everything.
 
I was only able to burn in the 6XXX a few hours, and it sounded good but very thick, flat and a bit lifeless in comparison with my well-used 650s. But the core  signature is the same, and I can't wait to get 50 hours on these and they're ready to really sing.
 
On to the cable comparison. I see the various comments here and I am not interested in starting a fruitless discussion on the rationale of spending $$ on various cables. I've run exotic hi-fi systems of all kinds, from the most basic entry level system using $50 RCAs all the way to a $50K system using $1500 RCAs. I sold the exotic stuff off years ago but I smartly kept the essential cables (RCA, XLR, and power cables). I buy everything used when possible, so while the retail costs of these cables will probably make some readers here cringe, just know I paid about 30-40 cents on the retail dollar (not that such amount is likely to quell the skeptics).
 
Tonight was a comparison of the stock Sennheiser cable, compared to a Moon Audio Blue Dragon (5ft) with a 1/4 termination (retails for about $200), compared to a  Cardas Clear 5ft cable with a single XLR termination (about $600 retail). I swapped cables after each track, and adjusted for the volume difference (if any) caused by moving from a single ended to balanced connection. I also switched in the HD6xxx as it was breaking in, just to hear more differences. Music consisted of various Dylan tracks, Al Green, JJ Cale, Alan Toussaint, Passenger, Amos Lee, Miles Davis, and Dave Brubeck. Ok, I also played some older Sheryl Crow and Mavis Staples.
 
Impressions:
Sennheiser stock cable: Makes the HD650 sound flat. An adequate if uninvolving cable that really restricts what the H650 can do. It smeared many of the fine details in the music, and completely blurred the bass line. Instruments such as trumpets and mandolins sounded flat and two dimensional. Yech.
 
Blue Dragon: instantly recaptured the tone and musicality of all tracks. Really a great match with the HD650. Trumpets and mandolins had more "body". Fine details like brushed drums or cymbals  were detectable with ease. Top end lost its sizzle and had a more convincing quality. Switching back to the Sennheiser cable - where did the music go? The Blue Dragon is not Moon Audio's top line cable, but I think it makes a compelling choice for the HD6xxx especially used (I paid $120 from a fellow Head-fier).
 
Cardas: keep in mind this is running via the balanced outputs of the WA22, so you have to factor that into the mix. Even so, differences were apparent, albeit less dramatic when compared to the Blue Dragon (versus big differenced when comparing Blue Dragon to the Sennheiser cable). Where the Blue Dragon put the music back into the headphones, the Cardas added more finer details. Take a track like "Little Lion Man" from Mumford & Sons. There's a lot going on in the song, and when pushed a bit louder, the Blue Dragon tended to blur the fine details of the bass line and some of the instruments (like guitars) collapsed a bit together, whereas the Cardas kept them distinct and didn't blur micro detail.  Similar, on Dylan's "Nashville Skyline Rag" you can track distinctly Johnny Cash's guitar from Dylan's, which has a bit more pace and clarity than the Blue Dragon reveals. On Alan Toussaint's  St James Infirmary from the excellent Bright Mississippi album, you have hand and foot patter, percussion, drums, cymbals, guitar, upright bass, and piano. Each of these instruments have their own decay (especially cymbals and piano), their own space, and micro detail (like the buzz on the upright bass strings as they are plucked hard).  The Sennheiser cable smears all of these to the point where you wonder what all the fuss about the HD650 is. The Blue Dragon restores most the essential good stuff, and the Cardas reveals all of the micro-detail in way that the music just flows and you want to stop listening for differences and just listen for fun.
 
So clearly the Blue Dragon (especially used) is the sweet spot in this comparison - price is still reasonable and it pairs wonderfully with the HD650. I've listened to this combination on two other systems - my over-the-top Woo WA5s, and the portable Astell & Kern Ak120 I, and each time I hear very clear differenced between the stock Sennheiser cable and the Blue Dragon. I don't think the HD650's can reach their potential with the stock cable, and you'll never hear what all the fuss is until you've heard them on a better cable. the question of course, is how much to spend on the cable.
 
The Cardas is a tough call. I paid just half of its retail cost  - an amount that is still equal to the cost of a new HD650 and exceeds the HD6xxx by a large margin. On an amp like the Woo WA22, the difference between the Sennheiser, Blue Dragon, and the Cardas was appreciable and it let me hear what the HD650 was really capable of - and why this headphone is an exceptional bargain, especially at the Massdrop price.
 
Just for fun, I hooked up the HD650 with the stock Sennheiser cable to  Dragonfly Red connected to an iPhone that I just got my son for the holidays, streaming hi res Tidal. It sounded pleasant - enjoyable, but nowhere near what the HD650 was capable of sounding like when running on the Cardas on the WA22. Instead, it sounded more like the unbroken in HD6xxx - a bit dull and lifeless than I knew the sound to be. Tomorrow night, when I get time, I'll rig up the WA5 to listen with the Cardas. It will be running on the high power output with almost 8wpc available, completely overkill. That system sports AC cords that retail for $900, and RCA cables that retailed for $1400, with two sources (one digital, the other vinyl) which retail for over $3500 ea. My point with referencing these prices is to demonstrate that while the HD6xxx is capable of sounding great with entry level gear, it is in no way outclassed on a mega-buck system with the right cables.
 
After tonight's comparo, If I were a head-fier that had to stretch to buy the HD6xxx, I'd wait for a pair of Blue Dragon's to come up for sale around $100-125, then not think twice about the purchase. I wouldn't think of spending more on cables than the Blue Dragon until and unless I had upgraded my amp and/or source, and even then I'd do it only if I had a top shelf setup, as there are better places to put your money. I really could not justify spending retail on the Cardas Clear, as that money would buy better improvements elsewhere. Cardas makes less expensive cables closer in price to the Moon Audio that I would look at first (or better - I'd take up the head-fier that emailed me about his 5 ft silver dragon cable with XLR's for an incredible price).
 
There may very well be a great bargain cable at less than $100. If so, listen and buy it if you can hear the difference. Just don't post up here about how silly it is to spend more than $xx for a cable. Remember - you just spent $200 on pair of headphones when a pair of Apple earbuds sounds just fine to most everyone else.
 
And that's what I heard tonight.

 

[ayao]

Received my HD-6XX today! #528 in Australia 

 

[goldendarko]

still no shipping notice for me yet, guess they got bogged down during the holidays

 

[niron]

 
​I picked up my pair of HDXXX's and had a chance tonight to compare them with my very broken-in HD650's, as well as do a cable comparison b/t the Moon Audio Blue Dragon.3 and the Cardas Clear. The Cardas was running balanced via its xlr connection, and I've heard the HD650 sounds much better in a pure balanced setup (my source is a Sony HAPZ1ES, also balanced outs). The amp was a Woo WA22 (I didn't have the time to setup my WA5). The WA22 sounds incredibly synergistic with the Sennheiser, while the WA5 sounds amazing with everything.
 
 

 
Which one do you refer to? The price seems to be around $665 https://www.moon-audio.com/blue-dragon-sennheiser-hd-650-headphones.html

 

[goldendarko]

   
Which one do you refer to? The price seems to be around $665 https://www.moon-audio.com/blue-dragon-sennheiser-hd-650-headphones.html

That link you sent includes the HD650 headphones as well as the cable. I think the cable is closer to $175 itself.

 

[rkw]

  still no shipping notice for me yet, guess they got bogged down during the holidays

You need to contact Massdrop support at this point. I believe they completed shipments during the week of December 12th. Did you receive a status update on December 9?

 

[SomeTechNoob]

Something feels wrong when the cable is over half the price of the headphones lol.

 

[Sladeophile]

Massdrop needs to do a cable drop!

 

[SomeTechNoob]

Speaking of cables, the shorter than expected included ~4ft cable fits in flawlessly with my setup.  Great for my little dongle dacs, which only have 3.5mm inputs.

 

[Voxata]

It's gone

 

[donato]

 
​I picked up my pair of HDXXX's and had a chance tonight to compare them with my very broken-in HD650's, as well as do a cable comparison b/t the Moon Audio Blue Dragon.3 and the Cardas Clear. The Cardas was running balanced via its xlr connection, and I've heard the HD650 sounds much better in a pure balanced setup (my source is a Sony HAPZ1ES, also balanced outs). The amp was a Woo WA22 (I didn't have the time to setup my WA5). The WA22 sounds incredibly synergistic with the Sennheiser, while the WA5 sounds amazing with everything.
 
I was only able to burn in the 6XXX a few hours, and it sounded good but very thick, flat and a bit lifeless in comparison with my well-used 650s. But the core  signature is the same, and I can't wait to get 50 hours on these and they're ready to really sing.
 
On to the cable comparison. I see the various comments here and I am not interested in starting a fruitless discussion on the rationale of spending $$ on various cables. I've run exotic hi-fi systems of all kinds, from the most basic entry level system using $50 RCAs all the way to a $50K system using $1500 RCAs. I sold the exotic stuff off years ago but I smartly kept the essential cables (RCA, XLR, and power cables). I buy everything used when possible, so while the retail costs of these cables will probably make some readers here cringe, just know I paid about 30-40 cents on the retail dollar (not that such amount is likely to quell the skeptics).
 
Tonight was a comparison of the stock Sennheiser cable, compared to a Moon Audio Blue Dragon (5ft) with a 1/4 termination (retails for about $200), compared to a  Cardas Clear 5ft cable with a single XLR termination (about $600 retail). I swapped cables after each track, and adjusted for the volume difference (if any) caused by moving from a single ended to balanced connection. I also switched in the HD6xxx as it was breaking in, just to hear more differences. Music consisted of various Dylan tracks, Al Green, JJ Cale, Alan Toussaint, Passenger, Amos Lee, Miles Davis, and Dave Brubeck. Ok, I also played some older Sheryl Crow and Mavis Staples.
 
Impressions:
Sennheiser stock cable: Makes the HD650 sound flat. An adequate if uninvolving cable that really restricts what the H650 can do. It smeared many of the fine details in the music, and completely blurred the bass line. Instruments such as trumpets and mandolins sounded flat and two dimensional. Yech.
 
Blue Dragon: instantly recaptured the tone and musicality of all tracks. Really a great match with the HD650. Trumpets and mandolins had more "body". Fine details like brushed drums or cymbals  were detectable with ease. Top end lost its sizzle and had a more convincing quality. Switching back to the Sennheiser cable - where did the music go? The Blue Dragon is not Moon Audio's top line cable, but I think it makes a compelling choice for the HD6xxx especially used (I paid $120 from a fellow Head-fier).
 
Cardas: keep in mind this is running via the balanced outputs of the WA22, so you have to factor that into the mix. Even so, differences were apparent, albeit less dramatic when compared to the Blue Dragon (versus big differenced when comparing Blue Dragon to the Sennheiser cable). Where the Blue Dragon put the music back into the headphones, the Cardas added more finer details. Take a track like "Little Lion Man" from Mumford & Sons. There's a lot going on in the song, and when pushed a bit louder, the Blue Dragon tended to blur the fine details of the bass line and some of the instruments (like guitars) collapsed a bit together, whereas the Cardas kept them distinct and didn't blur micro detail.  Similar, on Dylan's "Nashville Skyline Rag" you can track distinctly Johnny Cash's guitar from Dylan's, which has a bit more pace and clarity than the Blue Dragon reveals. On Alan Toussaint's  St James Infirmary from the excellent Bright Mississippi album, you have hand and foot patter, percussion, drums, cymbals, guitar, upright bass, and piano. Each of these instruments have their own decay (especially cymbals and piano), their own space, and micro detail (like the buzz on the upright bass strings as they are plucked hard).  The Sennheiser cable smears all of these to the point where you wonder what all the fuss about the HD650 is. The Blue Dragon restores most the essential good stuff, and the Cardas reveals all of the micro-detail in way that the music just flows and you want to stop listening for differences and just listen for fun.
 
So clearly the Blue Dragon (especially used) is the sweet spot in this comparison - price is still reasonable and it pairs wonderfully with the HD650. I've listened to this combination on two other systems - my over-the-top Woo WA5s, and the portable Astell & Kern Ak120 I, and each time I hear very clear differenced between the stock Sennheiser cable and the Blue Dragon. I don't think the HD650's can reach their potential with the stock cable, and you'll never hear what all the fuss is until you've heard them on a better cable. the question of course, is how much to spend on the cable.
 
The Cardas is a tough call. I paid just half of its retail cost  - an amount that is still equal to the cost of a new HD650 and exceeds the HD6xxx by a large margin. On an amp like the Woo WA22, the difference between the Sennheiser, Blue Dragon, and the Cardas was appreciable and it let me hear what the HD650 was really capable of - and why this headphone is an exceptional bargain, especially at the Massdrop price.
 
Just for fun, I hooked up the HD650 with the stock Sennheiser cable to  Dragonfly Red connected to an iPhone that I just got my son for the holidays, streaming hi res Tidal. It sounded pleasant - enjoyable, but nowhere near what the HD650 was capable of sounding like when running on the Cardas on the WA22. Instead, it sounded more like the unbroken in HD6xxx - a bit dull and lifeless than I knew the sound to be. Tomorrow night, when I get time, I'll rig up the WA5 to listen with the Cardas. It will be running on the high power output with almost 8wpc available, completely overkill. That system sports AC cords that retail for $900, and RCA cables that retailed for $1400, with two sources (one digital, the other vinyl) which retail for over $3500 ea. My point with referencing these prices is to demonstrate that while the HD6xxx is capable of sounding great with entry level gear, it is in no way outclassed on a mega-buck system with the right cables.
 
After tonight's comparo, If I were a head-fier that had to stretch to buy the HD6xxx, I'd wait for a pair of Blue Dragon's to come up for sale around $100-125, then not think twice about the purchase. I wouldn't think of spending more on cables than the Blue Dragon until and unless I had upgraded my amp and/or source, and even then I'd do it only if I had a top shelf setup, as there are better places to put your money. I really could not justify spending retail on the Cardas Clear, as that money would buy better improvements elsewhere. Cardas makes less expensive cables closer in price to the Moon Audio that I would look at first (or better - I'd take up the head-fier that emailed me about his 5 ft silver dragon cable with XLR's for an incredible price).
 
There may very well be a great bargain cable at less than $100. If so, listen and buy it if you can hear the difference. Just don't post up here about how silly it is to spend more than $xx for a cable. Remember - you just spent $200 on pair of headphones when a pair of Apple earbuds sounds just fine to most everyone else.
 
And that's what I heard tonight.

 
Thanks for the detailed write up.  That's very similar to what I thought comparing the Cardas cable and the stock.  In the overall scheme of things (i.e. compared to switching out headphones), it's relatively subtle and I can understand why some may not hear a difference and/or don't want to spend the money.  But it makes a difference for me too and this is a hobby so I play. 

It's funny, I also though my HD650 sounded more dynamic because there was a noticeable volume difference.  For me, it probably is the pads since the (original) ones on my six year old HD650 are flaccid and the ones on my HD6XX are firm.  I actually like the sound of my HD6XX better than my HD650 once I adjusted for volume.

 

[Bleether]

So far I am absolutely loving my HD6XX.
 
I only really have my K712's to compare them too, and I feel like where the k12s lack in warmth and bass, these 6xx make up. They are less detailed than the k712's, but are extremely impressive when listening to stuff like hip hop and rap which like bass. Really fun headphones. No complaints here.

 

[Vigrith]

Got mine earlier today, god damn I'd forgotten how ridiculous and extreme the 650 clamp actually is because my pair is like 11 years old by now haha. Oh well, I guess it'll get better and I've already stretched the sliders out a bit.
 
The cable does seem to be a little short, however it is perfect for my particular setup so no complaints!