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Just wondering what my next headphone purchase will look like!
I think the HD-600 is an all around extremely likable headphone, especially, for long listening sessions. Mine is now, after fifteen years, gradually disintegrating, at least, all the soft parts, but STILL working very well.
So, as I see SO MANY new brands popping up and old brands still selling well, which headphone would be a worthy successor to an HD-600??
Follow Ups:
$299. Check out the review on this page...
And I have owned the HD-580 for quite a few years (sitting on a shelf collecting dust).
Its very early and I'm just starting to listen to the HE-400S but I can tell you that I already prefer them to the HD-580s. I have to divulge that I was never that big a fan of the HD-580s. I have spent some time with HD-600s and respect the cans but I never saw the logic of spending more money to replace the HD-580s.
I have owned a lot of different headsets. I currently own Stax Lambda Pros, Senneheiser HD-580, HD-280 Pro, Sennheiser Momentum Over ear (original model), Grado SR-60, Sennheiser PX-100 (IIRC), the new HiFi Man HE-400S and probably a couple more headsets hanging in a drawer somewhere.
My favorites are the Stax Lambda Pros. The HE-400S is more comfortable than the Momentums and fix perfectly right out of the box.
The HE-400S is more efficient than other planar headsets but using them with portables is doable but just doable. Don't plan on doing any concert level listening on the HE-400S while its plugged into a portable.
All the same I am impressed with the HE-400S. They are very neutral and do not accentuate any part of the spectrum. So far...so good.
Ed
We don't shush around here!
Life is analog...digital is just samples thereof
Good to be hearing more good things about the HE-400S.
BTW, the new Momentum 2.0 version is a substantially more comfortable (and less sweaty) "sealed" headphone than the original version IME. Better bass, also.
nt
We don't shush around here!
Life is analog...digital is just samples thereof
Find a way to listen to a pair of Focal Spirit Pros as I have come to really like mine. I also have the AKG K701s and the K271 MK2 that I also like and are brighter. The Focals are warm and full.
There is some great info off the www.innerfidelity.com web site with Bob Katz talking about the addition of EQ to headphone listening that makes great sense to me. They all measure different, we all hear different, and all our music is mixed and mastered different. We all should be able to make it sound the most pleasing to us.
Jim Tavegia
This is a very different point of view of most of posters here, but here goes anyway: I finally switched to Beyerdynamic DT880s after an adult lifetime of using Sennheiser headphones. The DT880s have been around since about 2003, almost as long as the HD600s, and both companies have since come out with far more expensive headphones, obviously.
The main reason for my switch was the greatly increased quality of digital audio in recent years. The Sennheiser signature sound was great for smoothing out harsh digital files while still giving very good detail for better ones, but I find the DT880s give slightly more detail for the classical and other mainly acoustic music I listen to, which is now all at least CD quality.
IMO there are now more expensive headphones that are clearly better than both the HD600 and the DT880. As better-than-CD quality high res becomes the digital norm, that additional expense may become worthwhile for me.
A little pricey at $599.00, so for half the price the HD-600 is still the all around bargain quality headphone.
Been a lot of plus and minus type reviews. No way I'd buy that one without the right to send it back if I didn't like the sound.
I agree with you.They got it right a long time ago. Back when headphones were designed by geeky German engineers as audio tools for audio geeks instead of mass-market fashion statements.
I have two old HD580 (virtually the same as HD600) and they surpass others that I later tried.
I took mine to the THE show in Irvine this year and still preferred it to the others I tried there (I didn't get to the big headphone pavillion, I was more concentrating on speakers). The HD700 was definitely different and open, but not clear if it was superior. There was some Oppo which was obviously substantially less refined in about a 5 second comparison listen. (I use classical as it has an absolute reference timbre).
I believe I sent in one HD580 to Sennheiser service a few years ago and they did a flat-rate refurbishment. Was maybe $100? Came back all nice and essentially perfect. I'm using it now as I type.
https://service.sennheiserusa.com/
Edits: 09/16/15
I personally can't think of a current Senn headphone I would prefer over the HD600, not even the 650 or 800.
The upper end Audeze or Hifiman may fit the bill, but they cost $$$ and the special amps they require also cost $$$.
I would likely try to find replacements for the disintegrating parts or buy a new HD600. If I wanted a bit of "newness," I would DIY a better headphone cable or look into a good (but inexpensive) tube amplifier options.
This place ships to the US for very few $$ (free if they are selling these on ebay)
Link below: Senn HD-600 is worth the $$ to maintain
Audio Advisor has these for sale in their catalog:
PSB M4U 1 at $299.00
Oppo PM-3 at $399.00
HiFiMan HE-400i at $499.00
versus from Amazon (admittedly, somewhat discounted)
Sennheisser HD-600 at $339.00
Sennheisser HD-650 at $427.00
Beyerdynamic DT 235 at $39.00 (sounds really good for price if uncomfortable)
My own opinion is to stick with the traditional headphone companies that have been doing it for a while at the risk of being somewhat UNFASHIONABLE. At least, it won't change my family's assessment of me and my hobby! HiFiMan's look even nerdier.
I'm ordering replacement parts! Thanks.
Just wanted to pass along a quick thanks for your recommendation. I ordered a pair from Amazon and got them in a day or two ago...
with just a few hours of break in... these guys are surprisingly good for the very few dollars that they cost. I have found them to be comfortable to wear... and they weigh next to zilch...
the adjustable headband is kind of klink... and they do not appear to have much if any damping designed into the phones... so kind of cheap construction... but it is of course an inexpensive headphone...
that said... they are smooth... some emphasis in the bass registers (but no where near boom box objectionable)... detail retreival not in the league of Sennheiser 600 series... nope... but capable of differentiating separate instrumental lines in a recording.
Their biggest virtue I suspect is that they are non-fatiguing. No sizzle. No exaggerated treble response.
Again, thanks for the recommendation...
MSL
Builder of MagneQuest & Peerless transformers since 1989
as I've had them all. Byerdynamic 'T' Tesla series is just to freaking bright for my ears.
The HiFiMan 400 series does not come close to the HD-600 IMNSHO, and the HiFiman 650 is a close call and I haven't owned that one. It MIGHT be a winner
HiFiman HE-6? Now we're talking serious upgrade.
HiFiman 1000? Heard it for about one minute and it may be worth $3,000, who knows?
But it's not 10 times better than the HD-600. Perhaps five times better? Certainly better!
I have heavily modified my 600's. I have had the chance to listen to the $10K ribbons, the 650's, 800's and everything else out there. I was at "The Show" in Newport Beach, CA this year and listened to everything there. My modified 600's with my custom built Cardas cable are still my choice. If you have the guts remove everything in front of the driver: the cloth and plastic web. You have to treat the headphones very carefully so as not to touch the driver but will have better clarity and spacing than anything out there. I don't believe there is an "upgrade" as far as headphones go.
Another pair of HD600s? They still sell them. Maybe try the newer more expensive cans from Sennheiser, Audio Technica, and Audeze (as well as all the brads you probably auditioned when the HD600 was purchased - but be prepared for sticker shock - at some point the quality gain for the premium price paid has to be questioned - and the comfort level still takes priority. I tried the Momentum and found them horribly uncomfortable so no matter how good they may sound - just don't work for me
I'd like a new headphone that has all of the qualities I like in the HD-600 only 10X better!
OK, maybe you a FEW times better. :-)
Ideal: If Sennheiser could make a HD900 which has the virtues of the HD800 but with the tonality and long-term listenability of the HD600.
Edits: 09/16/15
At least I think so.
So my next step is a balanced cable which should certainly beat the stock cable.
OTOH, there is talk in a thread below of so-called modifications of the HD-800 that 'may' do just that?
Don't know if I'm up for much in the way of physical modifications on $1000+ cans at the moment, but...
First, I would get some new pads. Not cheap, but will bring back the original sound. Drivers usually do not wear out.
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