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Sennheiser HD600 Review (Headphone)

Blaspheme

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Some time around 2004 I bought the then new-and-exciting aluminium Mac Pro and a stupendously large screen. The dealer also did Sennheiser, so I listened to the 555 and 598 in store and took home the 600 and 650 as well as one of the wireless models. I liked wireless but they didn't sound great. How did those wired models sound, comparatively? I remember like it was yesterday, the precise nuance that led to my purchase of the 650. It had the biggest number.
 

Limopard

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OK, UPS rang the bell and the HD 600 is here, and it's here to stay. This one immediately klicks with me, no sugarcoating necessary. It's closer to my somewhat frankenstein-ish 650 than to the 660s. The harshness of the 660s isn't here and I don't miss anything.
 

JIW

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No adapter. Indeed, mine came with additional 6.3 to 3.5

Did you buy them new? Was the cable that of the HD650 shown in Amir's picture?

Sennheiser makes their own short 6.35 to 3.5 adapter cable for the HD650.
1620648466327.png
 

solderdude

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The HD560S also comes with that adapter cable.
It makes a lot more sense than an adapter as that would put too much stress on a 3.5mm socket.
It would have made even more sense if they mounted a 3.5mm with 6.3mm screw on adapter, like most manufacturers do.
 

WickedInsignia

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One thing to consider about the HD600:
How much is one really losing out on the sub bass response? As I understand it’s considerably rolled-off.
Is the HD560S the better purchase as a result of having better subbass and (as I understand it) a more present treble response and wider soundstage?
Say both are the same price. What is the better option in that scenario (objective and subjective impressions welcome).
 

Limopard

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The HD560S also comes with that adapter cable.
It makes a lot more sense than an adapter as that would put too much stress on a 3.5mm socket.
It would have made even more sense if they mounted a 3.5mm with 6.3mm screw on adapter, like most manufacturers do.
There are quite a few third party replacement cables for either the 5 and the 6 series that offer exactly that. Priced between 13 and 20 €.

For the 560s one can use the 1,2 meter cable of the HD 598/599 (12 € as a spare part).
 

garageband

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You can't mistake the HD600 and 650 for the other if you compare them with frresh pads. The 650 is slighty too thick sounding and the 600 is slighty too bright. Sennheiser combined the two and made the 660 S. The 660 S has the bass of the 650 and the presence region and the sparkle of the 600.
 

xarkkon

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So..... if the differences between 2 headphones is potentially less than the difference between the same headphone with different pads.... are they really different headphones or the same headphones with a different pad built in? (i'm joking btw!)

i can understand why people take issue with the "these sound identical" comment which does seem broadbrushed and hardly pedantic the way we tend to be. on the other hand, with pads contributing a greater difference than the model number, i can see why amir dismissed the differences as such
 

solderdude

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Is the HD560S the better purchase as a result of having better subbass and (as I understand it) a more present treble response and wider soundstage?
Say both are the same price. What is the better option in that scenario (objective and subjective impressions welcome).

I am partial to the HD560S with some EQ.
Feels a bit cheap in the hand though.
The HD560S is just under 200 Euro though, the HD600 is around 300 Euro and will certainly be supported a lot longer.
The HD560S is just a headphone from the HD5** range and will probably be replaced with a slightly different version in 1 or 2 years.

I sold my HD580/HD600 and kept the HD650 (with EQ) and also am not going to part with the HD560S till it falls apart or an even better model comes out in the years to come.
 

solderdude

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So..... if the differences between 2 headphones is potentially less than the difference between the same headphone with different pads.... are they really different headphones or the same headphones with a different pad built in? (i'm joking btw!)

i can understand why people take issue with the "these sound identical" comment which does seem broadbrushed and hardly pedantic the way we tend to be. on the other hand, with pads contributing a greater difference than the model number, i can see why amir dismissed the differences as such

This is the reason why Amir found his HD600 and HD650 sounded the same. The reason for the similar FR response are most likely pad age related. There is no mystery there. If Amir walked into a store having HD600 and HD650 ready to audition he would have most likely agreed with the rest of the folks here. There is an audible difference between these headphones. Just not much with the versions he had on hand and measured.

1620651118306.png
 
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buz

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Did you buy them new? Was the cable that of the HD650 shown in Amir's picture?

Sennheiser makes their own short 6.35 to 3.5 adapter cable for the HD650.
View attachment 128989
Got mine new, my cable looks like what I see on Amir's picture and the adapter above is the one I got with it
 
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spigot

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There's an awful lot of twisted knickers in this thread. I listened to both many years ago, couldn't hear a difference and bought the cheapest. Maybe it's the music I listened to, maybe my ears, maybe they sounded the same to anyone. But, look on the bright side, now you all at least know what those people that think they can hear a difference with expensive cables feel like:eek:.
 

JIW

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It says those are averaged readings so who knows what they represent. No measurement or listening test is accurate enough to show these headphones to be different. Just look at the two channels in each one of my measurements. Surely those two cups are more different than these two headphones!

This is like arguing if the temperature in your house is 76.25 or 76.16 both by feel and your standard thermometer. You can't go there from here.

I don't understand how headphone users have gotten so married to measurements to these levels. Or hell, with their listening experiences.

Even if the variation within each of the models is so great that there are overlapping regions of their amplitude distributions for any given frequency, the distributions need not be the same, i.e. their means, medians and modes can all differ. To say that the models are generally different, i.e. have a different distribution, is not the same as saying that any unit of one model is different from every unit of the other model. Similarly, to say that one unit of one model is the same as one unit of the other model is not the same as saying that all units of either model are the same or even to say that the models are generally the same, i.e. have the same distribution. Conversely, however, to say that one unit of one model is different from one unit of the other model is not the same as saying that the models are generally different and to say that the models are generally the same is not the same as saying that any unit of one model is the same as every unit of the other model. In short: Specific sameness does not imply general sameness but only difference not being universal and specific difference does not imply general difference but only sameness not being universal. In other words, the question of general sameness or general difference cannot be answered by specific sameness or specific difference.

If you are referring to the units you tested, they may well be indistinguishable - for whatever reason. Per the above, however, this is insufficient to conclude that the models are indistinguishable in general.

Two years ago, oratory1990 has measured the same two HD600 and HD650 over multiple reseats using the same signal voltage. Even with positional variation and driver variation, from about 80 Hz to about 900 Hz, there is at least a 1 dB difference between any measurements and from about 400 Hz to about 800 Hz there is a difference of about 2 dB even between the closest measurements. Apart from the change in tonality, the HD650 will also be louder for the same volume setting.
1620649513079.png

1620649526847.png

Source. Revised to exclude measurements later.

Here are the averages of all his measurements of the HD600 and HD650 referenced to about 425 Hz and about 3.3 kHz, respectively. Taking into account the 1-2 dB variation from placement alone, the distributions are likely overlapping across the entire spectrum but still different.
Harman 2018-Sennheiser HD600-Sennheiser HD650 ref 425.png

Harman 2018-Sennheiser HD600-Sennheiser HD650 ref 3k3.png
 

PuX

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You can safely and completely discount the opinion of anyone who speaks or writes in nonsense word salad phrases such as “scale…with better [sic] amps.”
a poor source/amp won't let you hear what 650 is capable of, while a decent DAC/amp combination will, so I think you just don't agree with the wording.
 

the_brunx

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One things for sure, with any HD6X0 model with EQ, you are getting a better headphone than the Abyss Diana.
 

Patrick1958

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One thing to consider about the HD600:
How much is one really losing out on the sub bass response? As I understand it’s considerably rolled-off.
Is the HD560S the better purchase as a result of having better subbass and (as I understand it) a more present treble response and wider soundstage?
Say both are the same price. What is the better option in that scenario (objective and subjective impressions welcome).
I had two HD560S, both had channel imbalance (measured). Both returned. Didn't feel much ordering a 3rd one.
 

SMAC88

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I really like to know how the HD600 differs from the HD580 precision. I bought the latter in 1994 and when I once listened to a HD600 (not in a direct comparison though) I couldn't find a difference, at least not that big that an update made any sense.
I have both and they sound almost identical, I won't be surprised by Amir review showing a result like the 600 vs 650.
 
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