Sennheiser HD660S Review (Headphone)

[rkt31]

If one compares hd600, hd6xx, hd650, hd660s, hd560s and r70x, r70x is best in overall tonality, comfort , smoothness. r70x has angled drivers, helping in imaging further. Only gripe can be the circular opening of pads which can be a problem for some with bigger ear lobes. To me it is end game with mojo 2 and tiny eq.

 

[threni]

Acoustic changes is what he said they were working on. This was over half a year ago.
No idea how significant, I assumed small improvements.
I hoped to get a sample but there has been no response for months now.

Is it possible they've handled that change as a rev and that explains sample variation? Perhaps they've done this several times already? Maybe for sennheiser a model is what it looks like/costs, not so much what it sounds like.
I listen to mine every day - have done for a couple of years, and I think they're great; the best headphones I've ever used.

 

[solderdude]

From what I understood the revision was planned and still under development about half a year ago.
No changes from day one except the pads (which is not a real revision).

I think the HD660S is a good sounding headphone. Should be priced between € 300 and € 350 or so. When it came out it sold for € 500.-

 

[threni]

From what I understood the revision was planned and still under development about half a year ago.
No changes from day one except the pads (which is not a real revision).

I think the HD660S is a good sounding headphone. Should be priced between € 300 and € 350 or so. When it came out it sold for € 500.-

There have been at least two versions sold in the UK. I have the newer version. Frequently reduced to £340ish on Amazon which is what I paid. So I'm not really feeling the overpriced criticism. I managed to break my lead and the pointless balanced lead doesn't help me so I guess they could have saved a little money and offered a choice there!

 

[nyxnyxnyx]

Thanks for the review Amir. I just realized that you enjoyed and recommended 2 sennheiser headphones that a part of audiophiles community shunned on (660s and hd58x). Never had all of them side-by-side to compare but you summarized the strong fortes of 660s so well!

 

[Chyżwar]

These headphones don't sound smooth like the HD600 / HD650. Without EQ the tonality is worse, this peak around 5kHz is audible and annoying, and the lack of sub-bass is another problem.

But, they look nice, they're quite comfy, and they're easy to drive (my LG G7 had no problems with that).

Overall I think they're fine

 

[soundwave76]

Nice. Sennheiser HD series rarely disappoints.

 

[solderdude]

There have been at least two versions sold in the UK. I have the newer version. Frequently reduced to £340ish on Amazon which is what I paid. So I'm not really feeling the overpriced criticism. I managed to break my lead and the pointless balanced lead doesn't help me so I guess they could have saved a little money and offered a choice there!

That's only looks that changed, not the sound.

 

[AudioSceptic]

I own HD600, HD58X, HD6XX and HD660, I by far much prefer the HD660S than the rest. It sounded the most tonally correct and neutral. I also own a pair of Verum One (the one that Amir reviewed was my unit), it sounded good after EQ but I still prefer the HD660S even at stock settings (I prefer it better with Dekoni Elite Hybrid Earpads though, it has noticably better bass extension). For what it worth, I've heard 4 pairs of HD660S at a local store and they all sounded different than each other. One pair had grating, harsh treble and sounded so wrong. Dunno what's up with that.

That level of variation is unacceptable for such an expensive product. At first I thought it must be caused by slight differences in the ear pads altering the fit on *your* ears, but that can explain only some of it. I have a pair of Drop HD 6xx, bought during a promotion for $194 delivered. They're good but I can't imagine paying over double that without a really big improvement.

 

[threni]

That's only looks that changed, not the sound.

Ok, I wasn't sure. They were charging extra for it! They were selling both for a long time.

 

[enricoclaudio]

@amirm , thanks again for another great review. I had the 650 and 660s side by side and kept the 660s. The 660s are my favorite headphones so far. To the point that I returned my DCA AEON 2 Noires as I was listening to the 660s more and more. With EQ and a good amp like the Topping A90, they sound fantastic.

 

[Blew]

I love these headphones, but found they perform best with a good headphone amp with a *low* output impedance. I can set this with the low-Z switch on my Singxser SA-1, which is 1.4 ohms on balanced out. When set to high-Z (11.4 ohms) I find the high frequencies sound a little distorted.
They sound very precise and revealing to me, and is no veil when compared to the 600 or 650.

I do have an issue where I get slight crackling/popping from time to time. This mostly happens on the left. It happens on all headphone amps I've tried, but seems to be much better when using the above fully balanced setup. Does anyone know what could be causing this?

 

[enricoclaudio]

I love these headphones, but found they perform best with a good headphone amp with a *low* output impedance. I can set this with the low-Z switch on my Singxser SA-1, which is 1.4 ohms on balanced out. When set to high-Z (11.4 ohms) I find the high frequencies sound a little distorted.
They sound very precise and revealing to me, and is no veil when compared to the 600 or 650.

I do have an issue where I get slight crackling/popping from time to time. This mostly happens on the left. It happens on all headphone amps I've tried, but seems to be much better when using the above fully balanced setup. Does anyone know what could be causing this?

Sounds like a bad cable. I got Hart Audio Cables for my 660s and Sundaras with balanced un unbalanced terminals. I love their cables and they are not that expensive.

HC-5: Dual Senn Balanced Headphone Cable

Seen pictured in use with the massdrop 58x Jubilee Sennheiser headphones, the HC-5 is also compatible with other Sennheiser HD headphones. It includes dual 2-pin Sennheiser connectors terminated to a female 4-pin mini XLR. This is a balanced cable and is compatible with our entire interconnect...

hartaudiocables.com

 

[itz_all_about_the_music]

I own HD600, HD58X, HD6XX and HD660, I by far much prefer the HD660S than the rest. It sounded the most tonally correct and neutral. I also own a pair of Verum One (the one that Amir reviewed was my unit), it sounded good after EQ but I still prefer the HD660S even at stock settings (I prefer it better with Dekoni Elite Hybrid Earpads though, it has noticably better bass extension). For what it worth, I've heard 4 pairs of HD660S at a local store and they all sounded different than each other. One pair had grating, harsh treble and sounded so wrong. Dunno what's up with that.

"...I by far much prefer the HD660S than the rest..." So, when might your HD600, HD58X, HD6XX's be for sale?

 

[solderdude]

I do have an issue where I get slight crackling/popping from time to time. This mostly happens on the left. It happens on all headphone amps I've tried, but seems to be much better when using the above fully balanced setup. Does anyone know what could be causing this?

Sounds like a poor connection somewhere. When it doesn't happen used balanced most likely the unbalanced cable makes poor contact... somewhere.
It is highly unlikely it is the headphone itself unless it is always on one side and happens when you wiggle the connector into the headphone.

11.4 ohm output R can not have any influence on the treble and the influence on bass is marginal (0.3dB bass boost around 100Hz)

 

[Renerem]

Yep, looks exactly like they sound in comparison to the HD600: muffled treble, worse midrange and a peak around 5kHz.
I don't really get the point of these headphones, especially for the price. The HD600 and 650 are just superior, cheaper and they scale better with higher end sources.

 

[Renerem]

Hi Amirm, will you review the DCA Aeon 2 Noire in the near future (Including measurements with the different tuning materials that come with the headphones)? I think many people are interested in it's measurements because of the "reasonable" price point and the already good performing other DCA headphones, e. g. the Stealth.

 

[Zensō]

This is a nice headphone but the relatively high price made it a flop, especially when compared to the less expensive 6XX and 58X.

 

[Svperstar]

In the office listening to my 58X right now. Never saw a compelling reason to spring for the 660s over the 58X there were rumors back in the day that they were the same headphone tho I guess that isn't true? I'm out of the loop on that discussion.

 

[heraldo_jones]

Having tested the whole 6xx series, these are by far the best sounding and the ones with the least "veil effect", in fact I prefer them much to other headphones included planars like Hifiman 400se or Audeze LCD-2. I use them without EQ but I really like them with the Realphones software and diffuse field curve from Oratory1990.