Upgrade headphone from Sennheiser HD600

[Toshinden]

I recently scaled up my AMP and DAC and I'm looking to upgrade my headphone at the same time.

• Amp: jds labs atom
  
  
• DAC: Topping d70
  
  
• Headphones: Sennheiser HD600

The HD600 have theses specs:

bass:neutral

midrange:neutral

treble:neutral



I want to find a studio headphone with similar specifications with more upgrade,(better imaging and soundstage,bass etc).
Specifications neutral as possible.

For the moment,I hesitate between HIFIMAN ananda, Focal Elear and Mrspeaker Aeon.
I have 1000$ budget.

If you have more suggestions and advice,dont hesitate.

 

[JJB70]

In terms of bass, do you want more of it? There are plenty of much more bass heavy headphones. However that would not be neutral, you also say you want neutral headphones.

 

[solderdude]

Mr speakers Aeon closed (misses the clarity of HD600 but great bass)
Focal Clear instead of Elear
Ananda, but needs the treble peak addressed which will annoy after a while, there is a fix for that.
Bass is well extended but feels a bit light when playing softer.
ATH-MSR7 (a bit bright but can be fixed)
DT1990 (it is very treble happy though, there is a fix for that which makes them exceptional) Atom is more than sufficient.

The HD600 is no slouch. EQ works well with the HD600 but won't change the narrow 'headstage'.

When you don't mind on-ears the One More Triple Driver Over Ear is an option. Too much bass and treble is a bit off but there is a fix for that too.

 

[soundwave76]

I love the HD600 and Focal Elegia is awesome, closed though. I did not like the HD800. Now looking into the world of Stax...

 

[hetzer]

I recommend using software like sonarworks or morphit with a decent closed-back headphone.

 

[MRC01]

About 5 years ago I did the same thing: after owning HD600s for years upgraded them. After trying a few different headphones I decided on Audeze LCD-2 Fazor. I liked them so much I bought a second pair for work, and upgraded to the 2016 drivers. Still listen to them daily, love them with no plans to upgrade.
The HD600 is a great headphone, but the LCD-2 resolved some of its limitations. Most noticeably, deeper, tighter cleaner bass and smoother, more natural and open midrange.
The LCD-2 has a response dip from around 2k to 9k. To make them more neutral I use digital parametric EQ, +3.5 dB @ 4500 Hz, Q=0.67.

 

[garbulky]

Well I have used the HD600 for most of a decade with a variety of amps. I also have good experience with the Sennheiser HD6xx and the HD700.
(note subjective impression here) I can say the HD700 delivers the "upgrade" I was looking for. It sounded cleaner, quicker, bigger, and went lower. It's not perfect - they are slightly bright to the ears. But it's not glare central like some of the reviews may say. They are simply quite amazing in sound for me.

Now your budget is quite a bit more than the HD700 so you may want to consider other Sennheiser products like a used 800S or 800 but I have no idea what they sound like. Keep in mind that I found Sennheiser headphones are amp sensitive. So it really does take a beefy amp to really deliver what these headphones are capable of. I use the Emotiva Bas-x A-100 and it sounds silly good with them imo but it does require a dac with a volume control upstrea.

 

[Damian]

I recommend using software like sonarworks or morphit with a decent closed-back headphone.

I've tried the sonarworks demo with a HD598 and it makes it sound dull, boring, mudded and without and definition. I greatly prefer it without.

Back to the the OP topic, best bet would be to test the headphones. I've tried the Focal Elear and no love for it. The Clear and Utopia are great. Ananda, I found the comfort subpart with a tick piece of pleather or god knows what is, very uncomfortable besides I don't trust hifiman.

Neutralish but no bass you have the Koss LP95X, those are super clear and 500 bucks. I like that LCD2 Closed a lot, more imaging and soundstage than the 600/650. I you really crave soundstage then a used HD800 is the king, haven't heard anything with such a wide soundstage in any other hp. The Eons could be anemic, from my experience with an extremely linear headphone like the Shure SRH 1840, is not really for music pleasure.

 

[daftcombo]

When you don't mind on-ears the One More Triple Driver Over Ear is an option. Too much bass and treble is a bit off but there is a fix for that too.

I have a pair. Hell lot of clean bass. I like it.
My ears are hot after 1h though.

How do you EQ it?

Cheap at Drop.

 

[solderdude]

I have a pair. Hell lot of clean bass. I like it.
My ears are hot after 1h though.

How do you EQ it?

Cheap at Drop.

does this:

 

[solderdude]

I you really crave soundstage then a used HD800 is the king, haven't heard anything with such a wide soundstage in any other hp.

^this^ but it absolutely needs EQ.

 

[JJB70]

There is the HD650 and HD660, they are well within budget, safe recommendations and a step up the Sennheiser ladder. The HD600 remains an excellent headphone and is probably already past the point of diminishing returns.
Solderdude has mentioned the Audio Technica MSR7, despite its modest price it is a superb headphone, the performance belies the modest price. Slightly bright but not unduly so.
If you find a shop which still has stock the Oppo PM-2 is a terrific model, lovely build quality and pretty balanced sound.
If you want to spend a lot then there are some good offers on the AKG N90Q, the big negative is it is a pure active model with no passive mode but stunning build and a very balanced sound but with good bass. Given your desire for good sound stage the cross feed and surround modes do enhance the sound stage. The cross feed mode feels very natural but the surround mode really pumps the sound stage up.

 

[garbulky]

There is the HD650 and HD660, they are well within budget, safe recommendations and a step up the Sennheiser ladder. The HD600 remains an excellent headphone and is probably already past the point of diminishing returns.
Solderdude has mentioned the Audio Technica MSR7, despite its modest price it is a superb headphone, the performance belies the modest price. Slightly bright but not unduly so.
If you find a shop which still has stock the Oppo PM-2 is a terrific model, lovely build quality and pretty balanced sound.
If you want to spend a lot then there are some good offers on the AKG N90Q, the big negative is it is a pure active model with no passive mode but stunning build and a very balanced sound but with good bass. Given your desire for good sound stage the cross feed and surround modes do enhance the sound stage. The cross feed mode feels very natural but the surround mode really pumps the sound stage up.

The HD650 imo isn't necessarily an upgrade. It's more of a different tone imo.

 

[pwjazz]

DT1990 (it is very treble happy though, there is a fix for that which makes them exceptional)

I own and love the DT1990 but if OP is looking for a larger head stage I'd recommend looking elsewhere. It images very precisely and generally feels less congested than the HD600, but compared to my LCD2C it sounds fairly closed in.

I actually prefer my felt modded HD58X over my old HD600. It has many of the same positive qualities but with noticeable better extended and clearer bass and to my ears a slightly larger head stage (though this is very subjective).

 

[MRC01]

^this^ but it absolutely needs EQ.

Yep, the HD-800 has a response spike around 6 kHz. For EQ I recommend -6 dB @ 6 kHz, Q=2 as a good starting point. From there, adjust to taste.
It also rolls off the deep bass, but there's not much you can do about that. If you boost it, it sounds wooly. If you want tight clean bass down to 20 Hz, you need a good planar magnetic.

 

[Bob-23]

First I'd try to eq the HD600 - the headphones are eq-friendly, as Solderdude noted. Don't rush. Listen to it a few days, your ears have to 'burn in'. And what you finally like is not necessarily that what others like.

Try Crossfeed, I could not do without it. It may project the soundstage somehow 'before head'. Listen to it for a while, then decide, if you like it or not. When listening I usually don't think at all about if it's 'in head ' or 'before head', but if I concentrate on it, I may even switch between them, there's a lot of 'psychoacoustics'...

With regard to soundstage: There are many recordings where I perceive a narrow soundstage, but there are also recordings where I have the perception of a wide soundstage, with the same headphones. To me it largely depends on the quality of the mastering and recording. (Mainly listen to Jazz and Classics.)

 

[MrGoodbits]

I would say the HD 600 is definitely in the sweet spot for cost/performance, and the next step up is EQ and cross feed, and only then consider paying more for headphones. For neutrality plus listenability, the HD 600 works very well with Sonarworks and CanOpener. It’s an excellent little combo that punches way above it’s weight class.

 

[daftcombo]

cross feed

How do you crossfeed them?

 

[MRC01]

As someone who has owned both HD600 and HD580 (which have similar frequency response), I'll offer some EQ tips.
They roll off the low bass (below 50 Hz). If you boost it back to flat it sounds bloated. Adding +3 dB @ 30 Hz Q=1 seems a decent trade-off. It brings it up closer to level (still rolled off) but not enough to make it sound bloated.
Also, you can tame its small resonance peak at 8-9 kHz with -4 dB @ 9 kHz, Q=2. Subjectively, to me this makes it sound more natural, reducing the slightly brassiness of its midrange-treble voicing.
This is what I apply to my original old HD580s, making them sound more neutral, at least to me.

 

[MrGoodbits]

I hope I'm interpreting the question right. Cross feed is what CanOpener does, there’s other tools that do it, it mixes a little of the left channel into the right channel and vice versa. It also uses delay and EQ to sort of simulate in headphones what your head does as sound waves from left/right speakers reach your ears.

The net effect is to move the headphone sound from being right around/ between your ears, which can get annoying during long listening, to be just enough in “front” of you to not be so annoying. If done right, that is. CanOpener is the only one I’ve found that can be dialed in to crossfeed a subtle amount that works good for everything without feeling the need to tweak it for each recording.