Sennheiser HD600 Review (Headphone)

[Mimimetal]

Is it worth 100€? It's obviously secondhand

 

[Mimimetal]

Anyway the hip dac 2 should give 200mw @300ohm

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[Dazerdoreal]

I want to thank @amirm for the EQ preset he provided for the HD 650. I used it for my HD 600 and I immediately knew that it is way closer to what I want than the Oratory1990 preset or AutoEQ. Especially the bass sounded weirdly "hollow" when I strictly tuned it to Harman. Amirs preset did not change the pretty much correct timbre and only adressed the little issues.

He also heard the dip around 7600hz while most measurements, including your own, show the dip around 6500hz. So I knew I was not crazy.

Spoiler: Amirs preset.

Preamp: -8.5 dB
Filter 1: ON LS Fc 40 Hz Gain 5.0 dB Q 1.0
Filter 2: ON LS Fc 75 Hz Gain 3.0 dB Q 1.0
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 7600 Hz Gain 4.0 dB Q 3.0
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 13700 Hz Gain -3.5 dB Q 4.0

For now, I ended up with this one:
Preamp: -8.5 dB
Filter 1: ON LS Fc 40 Hz Gain 5.0 dB Q 1.0
Filter 2: ON LS Fc 85 Hz Gain 3.0 dB Q 0.9
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 7600 Hz Gain 3.0 dB Q 3.5

His preset only was a hair too mid-centric for me. For my version I added a little more midbass - maybe it is necessary because it is a 600 instead of a 650 - reduced the width/impact of the 7600hz filter and removed the upper treble filter for more spaciousness.

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[Deckard01]

Hello!

Has any user of HD600 found any other headphone in this price range same HD600 characteristics but with bigger soundstage and a bit better sub bass?

Or we are all (almost) waiting for the "HD600 final dream" headphone?

 

[Makahl]

Hello!

Has any user of HD600 found any other headphone in this price range same HD600 characteristics but with bigger soundstage and a bit better sub bass?

Or we are all (almost) waiting for the "HD600 final dream" headphone?

The new HD 490 Pro is something you might want to give a try. Measurements show more sub-bass and solderdude posted a short comparison versus the HD 600 and subjectively reported "better stereo imaging too (because of the angle and dip around 4kHz" (https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...nnheiser-hd490-pro.51639/page-10#post-1940649).

 

[Robbo99999]

Hello!

Has any user of HD600 found any other headphone in this price range same HD600 characteristics but with bigger soundstage and a bit better sub bass?

Or we are all (almost) waiting for the "HD600 final dream" headphone?

The HD560s, specifically the New Version of the HD560s (as they changed it slightly sometime after 2022). I think I may have mentioned HD560s another time in this thread, apologies if I have. I think the New Version HD560s is perfectly well usable without EQ, which is rare to find in headphones, and that was also the characteristic of the HD600 that it was very useable without EQ.

 

[solderdude]

The HD560S is nicely 'in-between' the HD490 producer/mixer pads and a more 'relaxed' and 'better bass extended' listen than HD600 but is lower quality 'in feel' than both HD490/600.
Which one is preferred by whom is a personal thing I reckon.
Then there is EQ and for 'spatial' properties there is DSP so one can continue to use the HD600 and get better bass extension (up to a point) and better headstage (may feel a bit artificial).

 

[Robbo99999]

The HD560S is nicely 'in-between' the HD490 producer/mixer pads and a more 'relaxed' and 'better bass extended' listen than HD600 but is lower quality 'in feel' than both HD490/600.
Which one is preferred by whom is a personal thing I reckon.
Then there is EQ and for 'spatial' properties there is DSP so one can continue to use the HD600 and get better bass extension (up to a point) and better headstage (may feel a bit artificial).

(lower in build quality feel if that's what you mean, I'd agree with that, but that doesn't matter much in my book - to me it's about sound quality & comfort)

 

[solderdude]

Comfort of the HD560S is lower than that of the suggested HD490. Depending on the age of the HD600/650 the comfort of the HD6** series is higher or lower.
The newer versions have a much too high clamping force where the older ones were much more comfortable. At least to me.
The HD560S has better 'tone' out of the box.

And yes, while the build quality is good of the HD5** range it 'feels' cheap in comparison with HD6** series when handling it. For some that may not be an issue at all but others may be put off by exactly that 'feel'. I'm not bothered by it either but some are.

But yes, sound quality and comfort are the most important qualities but build quality, availability of spare parts over time are other concerns.
Maybe not so much for folks that trade headphones every few years though or as soon as something new comes out and some reviewer(s) rave about it.

Sennheiser usually offers good support, especially for the HD6** line. You can't go very wrong with HD560S nor with HD6** series in that respect and differences, especially with EQ are too small to matter.

 

[Robbo99999]

Comfort of the HD560S is lower than that of the suggested HD490. Depending on the age of the HD600/650 the comfort of the HD6** series is higher or lower.
The newer versions have a much too high clamping force where the older ones were much more comfortable. At least to me.
The HD560S has better 'tone' out of the box.

And yes, while the build quality is good of the HD5** range it 'feels' cheap in comparison with HD6** series when handling it. For some that may not be an issue at all but others may be put off by exactly that 'feel'. I'm not bothered by it either but some are.

But yes, sound quality and comfort are the most important qualities but build quality, availability of spare parts over time are other concerns.
Maybe not so much for folks that trade headphones every few years though or as soon as something new comes out and some reviewer(s) rave about it.

Sennheiser usually offers good support, especially for the HD6** line. You can't go very wrong with HD560S nor with HD6** series in that respect and differences, especially with EQ are too small to matter.

I definitely think Sennheiser put their headphones together pretty well - I mean I have the HD560s & HD600 and they both seem very durable to me, ie lasting a long time and unlikely to get easily damaged, I mean I haven't tried sitting or standing on them though!

 

[Deckard01]

So you think that hd560 is an HD600 with better soundstage and better bass response? A soundstage similar to K701/02?

 

[Robbo99999]

So you think that hd560 is an HD600 with better soundstage and better bass response? A soundstage similar to K701/02?

Pretty much, the New Version HD560s is probably even better balanced tonally than the HD600 because the HD600 needed just a small bass increase of a couple dB to get best out of it just to enhance the stock sound, whereas New Version HD560s doesn't really need anything done to it at stock in terms of overall tonal balance. HD560s has better imaging - smoother panning of sound left to right and avoids the 3 blob effect (left/centre/right) of the HD600. HD560s has an overall wider soundstage I find too. K702 has bigger soundstage than HD560s. A fully optimised EQ'd K702 I find more fun than fully optimised HD560s because of the better soundstage of K702, but the HD560s is more capable at providing good bass definition / bass detail. This has been my experience after still owning these 3 headphones & doing lots of listening & EQ experimentation on them. To conclude an answer to your question I think you got it right in that first sentence of yours.

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

Pretty much, the New Version HD560s is probably even better balanced tonally than the HD600 because the HD600 needed just a small bass increase of a couple dB to get best out of it just to enhance the stock sound, whereas New Version HD560s doesn't really need anything done to it at stock in terms of overall tonal balance. HD560s has better imaging - smoother panning of sound left to right and avoids the 3 blob effect (left/centre/right) of the HD600. HD560s has an overall wider soundstage I find too. K702 has bigger soundstage than HD560s. A fully optimised EQ'd K702 I find more fun than fully optimised HD560s because of the better soundstage of K702, but the HD560s is more capable at providing good bass definition / bass detail. This has been my experience after still owning these 3 headphones & doing lots of listening & EQ experimentation on them. To conclude an answer to your question I think you got it right in that first sentence of yours.

Amir’s reviews imply the 600s can take the bass being EQ’d, but the 560s can’t. At least that’s how it reads to me.

 

[Robbo99999]

Amir’s reviews imply the 600s can take the bass being EQ’d, but the 560s can’t. At least that’s how it reads to me.

I do find that strange. I find it more the other way around. The HD560s is my best open backed headphone for bass quality after EQ, tied with EQ'd Hifiman HE4XX (planar) anyway. But I really don't listen at loud levels. However, when Oratory measured one of my HD560s the bass distortion was really quite low:

Besides, if you have a look at Amir's distortion measurements for HD600 vs HD560s, you'll see HD560s having lower distortion. I don't think people's have to worry about distortion in the HD560s.

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

I do find that strange. I find it more the other way around. The HD560s is my best open backed headphone for bass quality after EQ, tied with EQ'd Hifiman HE4XX (planar) anyway. But I really don't listen at loud levels. However, when Oratory measured one of my HD560s the bass distortion was really quite low:
View attachment 364106
Besides, if you have a look at Amir's distortion measurements for HD600 vs HD560s, you'll see HD560s having lower distortion. I don't think people's have to worry about distortion in the HD560s.

I have indeed had a look, and you are indeed right. And yet the 560s are considerably cheaper.

 

[Robbo99999]

I have indeed had a look, and you are indeed right. And yet the 560s are considerably cheaper.

They're also a newer design of headphone, so there's often progress at companies like Sennheiser. So it's good to see that.