I used to use my 600's simply through my soundcard's (Apogee Duet) HP-output , but I recently bought a Lyr 2. There was slight improvement - the subs got a bit stronger and the mid-bass hump is pretty much gone. I tried them with the stock preamp tubes and LISST's, which were just a hair brighter. Not a big difference there.
HD600 is my reference in neutrality among headphones when checking my mixes. They do neutrality great with a non-fatiguing sound too, which is one great accomplishment. For pure listening enjoyment my now sold HD650's were better, but the LCD-2.1's trumped even those quite clearly for pure pleasure. I used to own
K701's too, which are considered by many to be nice for mixing/mastering too, but they are nowhere as nice to listen for a long while. That treble & upper mids are just way too hot for that. Also they had a bad case of "bass deficiency".
So yeah, HD600's are a true classic. There aren't many headphones this old that still compete with the best of them. Maybe some Beyers? AKG has kind of dropped the ball in the bass department, imo.
If they were released today they'd have some stupidly expensive-looking design choices and extras - they'd cost +1000 bucks, I'm sure. (Looking at the HD800S
) Here in the EU-zone they are often about 300e, which is a great price. I bought mine used with new pads for 160e. It's sometimes good to live in Europe, at least we get some cheap Senns!
Here's my pair, cool to see HD600 still get the respect they deserve!
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