Sennheiser HD 600 - Audiophile Hi-Res Open Back Dynamic Headphone

These are hands-down incredible headphones for non-bass heavy genres. They have a way of letting you hear things in music that you've just never heard before, and might just make you cry. It's truly an experience, and I adore them for it. They're comfortable (though a bit tight-fitting at first), well-made, the cord is good and long. They feel solid but they're not too heavy.The one downside is they do have a significant bass roll-off, meaning they don't perform as well for genres like rap. Everything sounds fine; they're just a bit too 'polite' for music that's meant to have a lot of punch or heavy bass, so if you're looking for that, look elsewhere. But for most other music; rock, pop, classical, some electronic, the experience is -phenomenal-. If you've never experienced a good pair of Senns, you're in for a treat.You will need a DAC/headphone amp to power them, as they are high-impedance headphones. I went with the Topping DX3 Pro+, which works just fine, though I had to use the high gain setting to get the full power out of these. Also, although they sound great out of the box, a little EQ will really let these shine - in Windows, Peace on top of EqualizerAPO will let you choose some great AutoEQ settings that you can then tune to your liking.

These are a part of “knights of the round table” headphones. Let me get something straight — there is no one perfect pair of headphones. It’s a curse to the wallet but yet it’s a blessing in the sense that headphones are a magical journey of taking two of your senses (hearing and touch) to whole new levels you may never experience by simply just by being in it. With so many headphones out there, there’s that many ways to explore audio and more! Exciting, right?I am an audiophile and have a room dedicated to my headphones as well as listening. Audio is an incredible passion of mine and I want to share my take on these 650s!1: So, Sennheiser is among the crem-de-la-crem (pardon the spelling) of headphone producers.2: Sennheiser is a great brand to get into headphones when you’re new to it. It’s also got great value for performance. You honestly can’t go wrong with them.3: If you’re on a budget and can really only afford to just have that one or two pairs of headphones. The Sennheiser 650’s are a jack of all trades with its sound profile. They are a definite buy for sure! Paired with a Khadas Tone Board and JDS Labs Atom, you can have a pretty top tier, affordable setup. For real sides!4: These work well with so many different types of DACS and amps. I personally pair them with THX789’s from Mass/Drop, Khadas Tone Board, or my Okto Research 8’s. The THX 788 made by Monoprice is a nice combo DAC/AMP.5. In terms of the Sennheiser line, there’s the boss tier (not necessary at all to own) like 800 and 820s. There’s the studio recording line denoted by PRO. There’s the lower end with the 598 and below. The 600 range (where these headphones sit at) is the sweet spot of excellence.If you want a bass-y emphasized performance, go with the 58X from Drop.com. They’re the resurrected Jubilees which are an updated, updated version of the HD580s. These are super solid, great for listening for long periods. You can’t go wrong. You can plug these into a device without an amp and get great volume.If you want super duper separated sound with ridiculous detail with more revealing performance in the highs and mid/highs, the 600s are your go to headphones! They’re very objective (an audiophile term generally meaning “as-is” or “unemphasized” as possible). With the wrong setup, they can sometimes even be a little sibilant.The 650s are truly the Goldilocks of the HD600 line. These emphasize the mids much more than the others. It’s often considered a sin by some audiophiles to use EQ functionality to adjust the sound. I can say that the 650s are at that point where they can be lightly EQ-ed to offer more bass and treble response.Now, onto the last thing that I think is important to mention — these have been replaced and succeeded by the Sennheiser 660s. They’re a worthy successor to replace the 650s. They are pretty close in frequency response. However, the upgrade comes with the comfort (clamp force) and the consistency of the drivers to produce frequencies. What does that translate to?- The HD660s really do a good job of sounding good with vocals, slightly less warm, and sound good without a lot of readjustment on your ears. They’re on the brighter side than the HD650. The brightness is a personal preference kind of thing. For some, they might like this for classical music. For some, they may find themselves hitting user fatigue sooner than the 650.My opinion: The HD650 are still my go despite the update with the 660s. I think that the 660s is wonderful but I prefer to stick the HD650s because of their versatility. I can listen to them for hours! It’s a great starting spot for audiophile tier headphones that will always, always be my daily headphones for all kinds of music. They’re also a great starting spot as well as a great spot to end on.Additionally, I would check out the Sundara by Hifiman if you’re wanting to explore planars. They’re very much like the 650s of planar headphones. Enjoy and happy listening! :)

These headphones are slightly colored. Most people prefer that, but if you're using them for studio monitors, you won't find better than the HD800's. Trust me. But for everyday use, these can't be beat for dynamic open headphones. Combine them with a full tube amp and I highly doubt you'll find a better "stuck on an island the rest of your life" headphones.UPDATE: After having owned these for over a year now, let me elaborate on my thoughts on these INCREDIBLE headphones.Value: This is tough. If you like open headphones, and love lower model Sennheisers, like the HD595, HD598, HD600, etc, then you'll surely LOVE these. I owned a pair of HD595's for several years before I accidentally broken them due to the stupid long cable. These sound very similar to those, only with a slightly darker top end, and much much much better bass. And, they're just better overall, in soundstage, speed, bass depth, bass extension, resolution, etc. Some people just don't like the open headphone sound. That's perfectly fine, and if that's the case, you probably won't like these. But if you've owned open headphones and like the open airy spacious natural sound... then you'll ADORE these.Comfort: 4.5 stars. They're Sennheisers. Pretty much all Sennheisers are extremely comfortable. They're light. The pads are usually comfortable soft velour. They usually have medium light to light clamping force. They have really large oval cups that fit the largest of ears. If comfort is high on your list, these might fit your bill.Value: 5 stars. These headphones bat outside their league. Outside their price range. I've seem MANY people go from these headphones to new headphones in the 4 digit range, then go back to these. LOTS OF TIMES. It's for a good reason. These headphones are going to be a future classic. You can quote me on that. If you've never owned "audiophile" quality headphones before, this price might seem high, but trust me, to upgrade from these, you usually have to buy Planar Magnetic headphones like the Audeze LCD-2, LCD-3, LCD-X headphones or similar. Those are all $1500+. If you've never had good quality headphones, these might not be your best first choice. Not because they don't sound good. These sound incredible. It's because these headphones are 300 ohms and require a pretty decent amp. They scale well with good hardware upstream, so a good DAC helps a lot too. (and source audio, you'll want 320 KB/s mp3's and FLAC if possible)Soundstage: 5 stars. Do these have the best soundstage ever? No. HD800's have that title. Why do I give it 5 stars then? Because these headphones have a better soundstage than 98% of the headphones out there.Resolution: 4.5 stars. Great, but not to the level of Planar/Ortho headphones. If you've never heard $1500+ ortho headphones, you won't even know what I'm talking about anyways.Treble: 4.5 stars. I'd give it 5 stars, but the treble on these headphones are rolled a tiny bit. You may hear them described as "dark" or "veiled". That's relative. To me, I prefer darker headphones anyways. Bright headphones are fatiguing and give me a headache after a few minutes. These roll the highs just enough to make them easy to listen to for hours, yet leave enough treble there to leave the top end nice and sharp. No sparkle. Sparkle bad. (depends on who you ask lol)Mids: 5 stars. Sennheisers' bread and butter. These have incredible mids. Through tube amps, or hybrid tube amps, the mids are lush. Liquidy. Warm. Female vocals will give you the chills. The warmth of the mids on these cans will make you smile in aural ecstacy.Bass: 4.5 stars. These headphones are probably the only headphones from Sennheiser with really good bass. The bass isn't as tight or deep as on Ortho headphones, but for open cans, it's incredibly impressive. I give the bottom end a tiny tiny bit of EQ to boost the bass, but other than that, it's the best bass I've heard from open headphones yet. The punch is pretty solid. I'd rate punch 3.5 stars. Bass extension is really good. I'd rate it 4 stars. Overall though, I give it 4.5 stars considering these are open headphones.Scalability: 5 stars. These cans scale like crazy. Upgrade your DAC: you'll heard the difference. Upgrade your amp: you'll hear a difference. Upgrade your tubes: you'll hear a difference. These headphones just keep giving.I used to own HD595's. They blew my mind. The bass on those sucked. Worse than Bose Tri-Ports, which were aweful themselves in bass. But you know what? I loved the lush mids so much, as well as the airy soundstage, I didn't care about the lack of bass. Those headphones broke later (my fault, not theirs), and I was forced to upgrade. These headphones are an improvement in every way. (other than weight and clamping force, the HD595 was lighter in weight and clamped lighter, but not by a whole lot)What's the best amp to drive these? EASY. Bottlehead Crack with Speedball upgrade. They're hands down the best amp for these headphones. Ask around. You'll get the same answer. Any full tube amp will do. Even the hybrids sound good, but for some reason, these headphones come alive with a full tube amp like the Crack.DAC? Any external DAC will suffice. The $99 one from Schiit is fine. Bifrost Uber even better if you can afford it. O2. Lots of choices. Just don't drive these from the on-board audio on your motherboard. That's just wrong.The best part about these headphones? The headphones two to three times its price are only a marginal 10-20% better, if that. And those usually require another 4 digits worth of gear to be worth getting. These headphones are at that bang for buck price point where you really start to get diminishing returns when you try to upgrade from these.Pros: Lots. Value. Soundstage. Lush mids. Soft highs for long listening session with no fatigue. Awesome bass, in headphones that have open airy sound. Removable cable. Scalability.Cons: ONLY con: You will have one HELL of a time finding headphones to upgrade to from these headphones. Be warned! These are so awesome for their price that you'll have a really hard time finding headphones you'll like better. That's not really a con though, but since I can't think of any cons, I'll list it as one anyways!If you've heard other open headphones and like the huge soundstage and open sound, and want to upgrade: GET THESE. Don't even hesitate. You'll be blown away. Just make sure you have good source files (320 mp3's or FLAC) and a full tube amp like the Bottlehead Crack amp. Thank me later! Enjoy!