With a little more listening i would say the gap has widened a bit. Arbitrary percentage I would say is about 10-15% different.
The HD600 reminded me a little bit of the 800 where it was leaner, neater, cleaner, quicker. More articulate. Bass is there the same but is felt less than the HD6XX. It still kicks out on hip hop tracks and is more than adequate and nearly meets the HD6XX, but on other tracks, bass guitar runs are heard but barely felt.
The 600 has better technicalities and you hear more of the full picture. The 6XX seems to highlight that forefront better.
If I was asked to provide the “best” listen for someone and i only had these two I would go with the HD600 9 out of 10 times. I think it is superior technically.
But if i was asked to keep one because even though we all have collections we may want to trim things down and the reason for this comparison is to finally hear both and decide which flavor of the 6## legacy you want to stick with… then the answer would be “fuck”
While the hd600 is technically superior, the hd6xx leans into it more. More mids, more sultry, more romance. I always said the 6xx was the rainy Sunday morning headphone, best served with a cup of tea. It’s hard to move away from that to be honest and in the end that may make it the keeper of the two.
Oh and to note, I used the Plussound x8 copper for this comparison. The HD600s stock cable made things sound much thinner, and the PS gave it some nice body back.
I will need to check the connections as they were staticy and cut out if moved or touched with the bulkier adapters and cable, the stock cable worked perfect.
Anyone have experience with disassembling the headphone and rebending the cable pins into shape? It looks like there is an innerfidelity video from the old days but seeing if anyone has done it first hand.
I used the Tyll video and was able to pop off the driver lollipop assembly, the 4 clasps golding it on can be a pia so i only dis the left side.
Pictured above you can see how the springs inside make contact with the plug. They got bent wide enough to not be making great contact so i used tiny flat head screw driver and pushed them together a few times and held each side for a minute. Got to be careful around those red leads as theyre delicate and cannot be repaired. The springs also like to want to pop out.
But in the end it seems that was the fix needed. Left side no longer cuts in and out or has any static. The adapters either had enough weight or leverage to make a bad connection.
That happens because Senns have the most… whatever the opposite of foolproof headphone connecting cable system under the sun. Well, besides MMCX maybe.
MMCX connectors clasp/connect very snugly…actually, way too snugly IMO. I’ve seen countless online posts of people pulling too hard on the cable connector and ripping the MMCX jack out from the headphone/iem entirely.
I wonder what causes it to wear out faster. Either plugging and unplugging or constantly leaving a cable in?
My HD6xx has had the stock cable and then the adapters plugged into it 24/7 and no issue with either. 600 was good with stock but those nearly are recessed into the plastic body, the adapter’s weight must just be wiggling to an angle that is inconsistent.
I think if it’s new and you keep them always coonected, you’ll never have a problem. The issue with the Senns is the only thing that keeps people from flipping the connector around and accidentally pushing it in the wrong way is that there’s really no mechanical key keeping this from happening.
The only safeguard is one ping being thicker than the other and in theory it shouldn’t “fit” when you try to put the cable in backwards. But we know all bout theory and the real world don’t we? Once you jam the thicker pin into the thinner connector, it’s a downward spiral. People don’t normally take the cables off, but if the can has a previous owner history or has changed hands, you know that’s what’s happened.
Remembering plus / minus, front / rear, Left / right when you have not used them in a while and are used to standard 3.5 or mini xlr. You decide to switch cables and kind of go Uh? Son of a …!!!
Any cable prefrences for HD580? This thing is legit good enough off of aic speaker taps that im considering a real cable for it (which is wild). If prion 4 is a good move i can always get adaptors
The plussound x8 works well with my hd600. It adds a bit more depth, texture and meat/thickness. Is it the optimal cable. Not sure if its optimal vs other aftermarkets but if i had to go back to the stock i would be worried about thinness on the hd600.
I can only speak to modern HD600s, but I feel like the stock cable that comes with it is worse than even Sennheiser’s own XLR or 4.4mm cables that you can buy, so yeah, I’m not sure what the deal is.
For anyone thinking they need new pads for their HD6## series.
It seems there is a shortage on these as well.
https://www.audiosanctuary.co.uk/ has some. I purchased 2 sets today and it comes out to be about the same if not cheaper than buying from senn. Anyone with them in the US is gouging, and other places dont like shipping to the US. Senns store themself is basically useless and its now near impossible to get one of their reps on the line like you used to.
