Sennheiser HD600 Headphones

OK, these are about my favorite purchase of 2026 so far. I got them at a great price here - on sale, not sure that's still going on. I was looking for higher end headphones but everyone says these are the baseline headphones that all others are judged by. I hate expert reviews. Reading them, I'm left with the impression these are the best and the worse. I'm saying I love them The should is great. You can add a balanced cord if so inclined (I did). They are well built, soft and comfortable on the head and ears and sound absolutely great to me. I Eq them up a bit on the low end and down a bit on the high end. Supertramp, Pink Floyd, Queen, Queensryche all sound excellent. Keep in mind, these are open back (for a reason). The fallout from that is that during soft passages you can hear your surroundings. During loud passages, your surroundings can hear you. My wife wears her WH1000MX6 noise cancellers so that takes care of my concerns. If you are looking to own some of the best headphones around, headphones you can judge all others by for better/worse/different, these could be the ones for you. In my case, my search for higher end headphones is on hold.

Preface: I am 23 years young and I know I have a lot to learn about music production and sound quality. I have listened to thousands of different songs ranging from hard rock, thrash metal, hard bop jazz, cool jazz, classical, blues, hip-hop, Christian contemporary music, psych rock, prog rock, southern rock, folk, acid blues, jazz-fusion, funk. I’m not saying I’ve heard everything, but I will say I get around when it comes to musical diversity. These headphones sound unbelievably detailed/clear/full and have a very nice soundstage. I am extremely impressed with the quality of their sound. They are also extremely light and comfortable, the cord is nine feet long which is amazing. If you don’t own a pair of over ear headphones, buy them. They are worth your money; it is like hearing music for the first time.

If you are reading this, chances are you’re stuck in the exact same predicament that many of us find ourselves in at some point, including myself recently. Which HD6** series headphone would suit me best? Despite reading hundreds of forum posts, analyzing dozens of squiggling graphs, and scouring in-depth reviews for that potential “ah-ha!” moment that would convince me one way or another, I still found myself going in endless circles deciding on what to get. I started with the HD6XX due to its ridiculously good price when on sale ($179). With how impressed I was with it on my xDuoo TA-66, I just knew I had to try the others. Naturally, nothing in audio ever seems good enough, and once again I succumbed to the curiosity that something “better” was right around the corner. And now we’re here. The only real difference between the three as far as “what's included” are the cables. HD6XX has a 4.5ft terminated into 1/8th (with adapter), HD600 has a 9ft into a 1/8th (with adapter), and the HD660s2 has two 6ft into a 1/4th and 4.4. HD600’s cable is the thinnest and most flexible, but both the cable and connectors are quite a bit smaller and don’t seem as durable. Other than the extra cable the HD660s2 includes, it also comes wrapped in a microfiber bag instead of a plastic bag like the others (must be where all that extra cost comes in). Jokes aside, physically all headphones are nearly the same with slight variations in frames, color, and swivel. HD660s2 and HD600 have flatter earcup frames whereas the HD6XX is more rounded. The HD6XX also has slightly less swivel range but is less creaky, whereas the HD600 and HD660s2 had a bit more swivel but there was more of an audible rattle when handling or setting down the headphones. Very minor and in no way a flaw, just something I noticed. A word on amplification and gear. I'm using the Topping DX5 as the DAC (sometimes with the headphone out) and the xDuoo TA-66 OTL tube amp. In conjunction with the stock tubes, I’m also testing RCA 6AS7G and 6080 for the rear, and Gold Lion 12AX7 (with adapter) and Voskhod 6N2P-EV for the front. Some combinations I’ve definitely liked more than others, but the stock tubes are FINE! Having owned the HD600 and HD650 many times in the past and heard them on a variety of equipment, after hearing them on the TA-66 I can confidently say these Sennheiser’s really DO need tubes to sound their best. And for $250, I simply cannot recommend the TA-66 enough. I do believe an OTL tube amp is essential for any of these headphones as the sound changes/gains are quite obvious. Match made in heaven. So the adventure began with the HD6XX and the TA-66. I was so overjoyed with this combo and quite honestly, I’ve never heard the HD6XX/HD650 sound this good! My favorite combo was the RCA 6080 and the Gold Lion 12AX7, both waking up the HD6XX and injecting it with more energy. However I was NOT a fan of the RCA 6AS7G as it made them sound really mushy and strained. With how much I was enjoying the HD6XX this time around, I knew I had to get the HD600 once more, having preferred it to the HD650 in the past. To my surprise, I didn’t necessarily… like it more? While the slightly more neutral sound signature was nice for some things, the HD6XX had a more pleasing and likeable tone. The HD600 could sometimes sound a tad thin in comparison. Honestly, both were so close and kept trading blows to the point where I couldn’t choose between them. Thus, the tie breaker is price. HD6XX takes it. Next up, the HD660s2. Having never heard these (or the originals), I wasn’t sure what to expect. I went into it fully hoping that they would be a clear winner with their “extended bass” and other tweaks. I had to do a bit of mental gymnastics to get past the price in comparison to the others ($399 on sale), but I told myself that if they were the tiebreaker and I generally preferred them to the other two that I’d keep them despite representing the worst value of the three. Immediately upon first listen, I did NOT like them! What was this? Bloated bass, darker sound than the HD6XX, a slightly wonky tone, and no noticeable technical improvement in any other area? I was beside myself. This is Sennheiser’s latest and greatest HD6** headphone? First thing that came to mind was the HD700 with Dekoni pads. Was not a fan of those either for the same reason, but at least those were more comfortable and had a larger soundstage. Bass is what you notice first and foremost, and it distracts you from the magic mids. All things considered, the bass isn’t great either. Don’t be fooled into thinking this is a HD600 or HD6XX with “deep bass”. If you want headphones with deep bass, you’d be better off choosing planars or closed-backs. Another way of putting this is to think of the neutral reference HD600 as a “0” on a scale representing its level of bass, treble and sound signature with each sequential number decreasing treble, increasing bass, and sounding warmer. The HD6XX would slot in as a “1”, a little less treble, a little more bass, a little warmer. HD660s2 would then be a “3” as I think the difference from the HD6XX to HD660s2 is larger than the HD600 to HD6XX. The DT880 would probably be a “-1” on this scale, being colder and brighter sounding. Honestly, after following up listening to the HD660s2 with the HD6XX, the HD6XX sounds like it should be the HD660s3, because it “fixes” the flaws I had with the HD660s2. I just don’t get it. HD6XX and HD600 are clearly sidegrades to each other, whereas the HD660s2 is a downgrade in my opinion. Focusing on just the HD600 and HD6XX, these are some of my favorite headphones of all time. Their glorious midrange is still unmatched and I have yet to find a headphone with better tone or timbre. The only other headphone I can recall liking more overall is the HE1000 Stealth. Despite my preference for light bass (I use Magnepan LRS+ with no subs for example and LOVE them), I actually lean more toward the HD6XX than the HD600 which surprised me. I think the HD6XX synergies with tubes a bit more and the sound seems just a little smoother, more cohesive, and more weighty. I think the HD600 is objectively the better headphone, with the HD6XX being subjectively the better one. My brain says HD600, but my heart says HD6XX. Again, very minor differences between them and both are incredible headphones, but the HD6XX is unequivocally the no-brainer simply because of its price. On solid state amps, I find this series can be too mellow, uninvolving, or restrained, but tubes really capitalize on their strengths and are the key to unlocking their full potential. Let’s recap real quick and see the current standing. So we have the HD6XX around $200, the HD600 around $300, and the HD660s2 around $400. The HD6XX and HD600 are too close to call making the extra $100+ not seem like a good investment, yet here we have the HD660s2 which is unquestionably in 3rd place… yet they are DOUBLE the price of the HD6XX? Absolutely not. At the current pricing structure, quite frankly, the HD660s2 is a joke. Do I think the HD600 and HD6XX are $300 headphones? Absolutely. How about the HD660s2? No way. I think they sound like a $200 headphone at best, but based on the HD6XX’s price, I personally would not pay more than $150 for them. By the same token, I also do not think the HD600 is worth $300+ considering the market disruptor HD6XX can be had for $179 or $199. That being said, I don’t think the HD660s2 is a bad headphone. In fact, I still did enjoy it once I got used to it. No doubt its flavor would appeal to some over the HD6XX or HD600 in direct comparison, but I emphasize “direct comparison”. Because at the end of the day, I can’t stress enough just how similar all three of these headphones sound and to just buy whatever is cheapest or most available to you. Case in point, of the many hours I was comparing these three, I can’t tell you how many times I would lose track and literally forget which of them was on my head, only to be blindsided when I pulled them off thinking it was one of the others. This really proved to me that once I started listening, the finer details and small tuning differences faded into obscurity and I was then just listening to a “Sennheiser” headphone. Wrapping up, the biggest discrepancy with this trio of headphones is undoubtedly price and value. So what do I recommend? If you don’t own any of these headphones, get the HD6XX when it's $179, a TA-66 for $249, have some fun rolling tubes, and enjoy the music! The tube swaps provided a bigger sound quality change than switching between any of these headphones and for a whole lot cheaper! And if you already own one of these headphones and are tempted to purchase one of the others hoping for an upgrade or just a different flavor, don’t bother… you only need one HD6** headphone. Famous last words: “you only need one”.

My road to the Sennheiser HD 600's has been a little long and filled with some interesting twists and turns that have, or so I hope, led me to a better understanding of what are a great set of headphones. Naturally it is very typical to wish to compare these to other headphones. After all, isn't that how we so often make purchasing decisions? We try differing products until we find the one which works best/right for our needs. So my review is going to work on two fronts: a review of the product itself, and a review against some competitors I have acquired in the last year in my quest to find headphones that are right for me. And hopefully for you. Regarding the HD600's themselves I have mostly nothing but excellent news to report. Personally, I like the way they look. The mottled black and blue coloring is different, but not garish in any way. The large and deep oval ear cups are precisely what one wants for an over-the-ear design. At 6'4" I'm certainly sporting a larger head than the average male and fortunately for me my entire ears fit comfortably inside the ear cups. My ears do not touch the protective cloth over the drivers, but the outer edge of my ear does touch at places around the inside of the ear cup. This is a minor annoyance and goes unnoticed some of the time. Those of you more average of height and head size will likely never have this issue. The ear cups themselves are very comfortable, seal well to my head and do not get hot even after a good number of hours of use. This also means the head clamping force is perfect for me; I never feel like my head is being squeezed. Everything about the headphones seems to indicate they are well-made, but I cannot help but feel the plastic seems a bit thin. Maybe cheap even. They do not creak and nothing flexes, but it's the only part which lets me down at all about the headphones. The included box, while awesome for storage, is clearly not oriented for travel. But I would argue these aren't portable headphones meant for the on-the-go user. They do not fold up. The ear cups do not turn to lay flat. And considering the amplification needed to properly drive these, using a typical portable music player (your cell phone, iPod, etc.) isn't ideal anyway. Now for what I consider to be the more important part of how I came to select the HD600: research and listening. Let's first be clear about something... audio equipment is not unlike some other equipment markets in that you often spend exponentially more money for an item just to gain minor, incremental increases in some important criteria. To you speaker X sounds better than speaker Y, all other things being equal. It's likely speaker X costs more. Most of the time it will cost more, but not all of the time. But how much more does it cost and how much more quality of sound are you receiving for that additional cost? It's almost always a matter of diminishing returns... loads more money for a bit firmer bass or slightly clearer treble. But this is the nirvana for which we seek in audio equipment. Over the last year I purchased two other sets of headphones: Grado 80e and Sennheiser Momentum. Clearly the Grado's at $100 are the least expensive with the Momentum jumping up markedly to $299, while the more recently acquired Sennheiser HD600 hit the $400 mark. Comparing my first two purchases, the 80e's and Momentum's, the differences were pretty straight-forwarded. To me the Grado's sounded brighter with good bass and sligthly harsh mids ("smeared" is the word which came to mind as I compared them in listening tests at home). The Mometum's sounded more laid back (not as bright) with great bass (that could be a bit smeared itself in the upper bass) and definitely superior mids (thinking men's voices here - became painfully obvious will using a live track from Morrissey between the two headphones). And so it was I came to find myself using each pair for different purposes. The Grado 80e's became my preferred can for classical music (a genre into which I am becoming more deeply involved of late) as I felt, for my personal preferences, the brighter qualities enhanced the instruments typical of classical music, while the bass was more than sufficient. But when I wanted to rock (or alternative as is more often the case) I broke out the Momentum's. The accentuated, but not overblown bass, was quite welcome and I noticed less the laid back nature of the treble, especially as I used them more and more. But with the also recent purchase of some better home audio equipment (Marantz CD6005 CD player and a SoundEngine D1 DAC/Headphone amp for my computer - listening to ALAC encoded tracks) I found myself thinking both the Momentum and 80e were somehow lacking. That I wasn't getting everything I could from my music via this better equipment. From all the research I had done previously I elected to spend the money and purchase the HD600. I don't think I have found a single bad review out there in the Internet sphere. A few have thought them a little warm or laid back. But most every review hits upon how, and especially for the money, the HD600s hit all the right notes (sorry). Having had them burned in for 30-hours the listening tests began. I had considered this purchase principally for classical music. I really didn't think I'd get more from them for rock/alternative than I was already getting from the Momentums and so it was the classical CDs came out and I plugged into the CD player. I also plugged in the Grados to the Marantz A/V receiver, direct mode engaged. Adjusting for volume as best I could (this is hardly scientific) I played a handful of very familiar tracks from very familiar CDs; swapping back and forth between the HD600s and Grado 80e. It too almost no time to hear the difference. I'll concede that it's sometimes difficult to put into words the differences heard, but I'll try. The first thing I noticed were the violins. When a number of them are playing notes together the Grado's sounded smeared compared to the HD600s. Not unlike a poorly created JPEG from a digital point-n-shoot versus a well-made JPEG from an original RAW processed via Adobe Lightroom. Details are are lost in the former, but the latter does a far superior job of keeping the detail even in the process of losing information. The HD600 left me feeling like I was actually sitting there in the room with the musicians. I'm not referring to placement of the instruments (the HD600 do a good job, but I've read reviews for other cans that do better), but simply how clear, precise, concise and live-sounding are the violins. Actually, it was true of all the stringed instruments. The resonance of the strings... their very clear nature... was a welcome and astonishing difference. Granted, the Grado's are one-quarter the cost and I shouldn't be surprised the HD600's sounded better. Markedly better. And I didn't have to listen long or hard to notice the differences. They are obvious; not subtle. That said, I can't say I was every displeased with the Grado's. It was only in comparison to the HD600's that it became possible to hear and understand the Grado's limitations. And like the stringed instruments, voices also became sharper, clearer, more focused. I had found what I was looking for regarding my classical music interests: a pair of headphones that while generally neutral (which some would consider to be 'flat' and flat has, I think, a negative connotation), are not at all boring or flat. I feel the music is more alive than ever in comparison to the Grado's. So... I also broke out some rock and alternative music (the recently remastered Led Zeppelin discs, some Nine Inch Nails and Pet Shop Boys) to see what the HD600's could do. Here I feared the Momentum would just kick butt thanks to the fuller bass, but I must say the HD600's continued to impress. All the good things they brought to mid and higher frequencies (clarity, precision) were still present, but, surprisingly, the bass was rock solid as well. I may hate myself for saying it, but I think the bass was a bit better. The upper-bass bloat in the Momentum's doesn't appear on the HD600's, which tends to make the lower-bass stand out more because they aren't overwhelmed by the enhanced upper-bass. I'd still say the Momentum's have more punch and who doesn't like that when listening to rock or alternative, but I could find myself readily using the HD600's just as often for The Smiths, The Cure, Skinny Puppy, etc. as I would the Momentum's. And here I think I have found a most excellent trio of headphones. Finding one perfect pair of headphones for all needs and opportunities is probably impossible. But I think I have accidentally stumbled upon a most excellent hat trick of cans that meet my various needs. I like to listen to music when I'm on the go; I have needs for portability. And while not truly the most portable of headphones, the Grado's for classical (and still quite reasonable for rock and alternative) and the Momentum's for rock and alternative (I confess I don't like them as much for classical as I do the Grado's for rock and alternative), AND the HD600's for more critical, at-home listening with audio equipment that has enough amplifier ooomph to properly push them. Add my name and voice to the long list of of folks who think, dollar for dollar, the Sennheiser HD600 are the best value in headphones out there.

I've been shopping for some new headphones now for nearly a year to replace my aging Sennheiser HD 525s that I probably bought close to 20 years ago. They've been quite the faithful set of cans, but replacement parts have gotten impossible to find. First Sennheiser quit selling the replacement ear pads, then the headband was discontinued, then their replacement cables got really expensive. So it was time to look for a new set to hopefully get me another 20 years of headphone-y bliss. Although I seriously considered jumping to another brand, I wound up coming back to Sennheiser based mostly on the reviews of these headphones here and on some other sites. I really prefer a well balanced sound over the bass-heavy "urban" style or treble-heavy sound of some other styles like Grados and AKGs. Plus, having prior experience with a similar model of headphones, I kind of knew what to expect, with both the good and bad points. First point I gotta make has nothing to do with fidelity. Dang, these are some ugly looking 'phones! They are nicer in person than the pictures convey, but still not something people will compliment you on for having good taste. Luckily, looks mean nothing when it comes to sound quality. Frankly, I'd rather look kinda dorky but smile every time I hear my music than look "cool" but grumble at a flawed set of headphones. Second, the build quality as new seems on par with the current asking price, but I do wonder about long term longevity since the plastic, while thick, feels kind of brittle. My old HD 525s were mostly well taken care, a few "oopsie" moments aside, and have held up well. But they're also pretty flexible, which this HD 600 set does not seem to be at all. Hopefully it'll loosen up a little over time. That will also help with the fit; right now they are a bit on the tight size for my slightly larger-than-average sized melon. The best I can say as a non-audiophile is that these are at least on par with my previous Sennheisers. They do seem to offer tight, clean (but not over-emphasized) bass and clean mids and highs. My hearing is a bit… wonky, though, so even with good headphones I need an EQ to "clean up" some of the oddities. Rather than have a hearing curve that peaks around human speech frequencies like normal ears, mine starts off below human speech with mild loss, then grows more and more sensitive until it goes literally off the charts in the high frequency range. In fact, in a test setting I peaked at around 22 kHz at the age of 25, although age has surely taken some of that high-high end ability away. It still leaves me with a massive peak around 6-8 kHz, which I have to EQ out when I can, otherwise I get headaches with treble-heavy music. The old HD 525's I had required about a -4 dB drop on the EQ at the 4 and 8 kHz bands. These require about a -6 dB drop, which is a noticeable difference to me, so I suppose they are brighter than the old set, but only by a bit. (By contrast, a cheaper set of JVC headphones I tried recently required -12 dB, the maximum the EQ could do, and still caused me to get a headache after a few minutes of rock music listening at a moderate volume level.) I realize this information is of zero use to everyone, but it felt good to at least explain why I even need an EQ in the first place, since they're rare as hen's teeth in modern audio systems! So far I've only been able to find two real complaints. Because they are so stiff, they clamp down on my large melon of a head quite a bit more than the old set did. Thankfully, they are still surprisingly comfortable due to the velvety soft ear cushions. Here's hoping Sennheiser doesn't discontinue selling replacement ones any time soon! The other complaint is while listening to one particular song I did encounter some buzzing from the left channel during a passage with a pretty loud mid-bass range audio section. It was likely just the particular timber of the sound itself and I haven't been able to replicate the buzz with other music yet, but it did give me a second of pause, wondering if something was loose internally already. My HD 525s buzz and rattle like an old Chevy on a gravel road, but they didn't start doing that until just a few years ago. Overall, I think these may be the perfect "jack of all trades" headphones. They're not perfect for hip-hop or rap or bass-heavy electronic music necessarily, nor will they satisfy those who crave a brilliant bright high end for classical music. But for everyone else, be they fans of rock, pop, jazz, country, folk, blues or — heaven forbid — even polkas, these may be the best headphones can by for the money.

I bought these specifically for music production, and they ended up solving a problem I didn’t fully understand until I experienced it. I already own a pair of closed-back headphones (DT 770 Pro), and while those are great, I noticed when recording vocals that having the sound fully isolated in my ears would throw off my pitch. It feels unnatural, like everything is happening inside your head instead of in a room. That’s where these come in. The open-back design lets you hear your own voice naturally while still hearing the music, which makes it much easier to stay on pitch and feel connected to what you’re recording. It feels more like you’re actually in the room with the music instead of separated from it. Sound-wise, they’re extremely clear and natural. Not hyped, not exaggerated—just accurate. I switch between these, my studio monitors, and my closed-back headphones when mixing, and these help give a more realistic perspective. They are a bit tight at first. The clamping force is noticeable, but after using them for a while, it becomes less of an issue. Still something to be aware of if you’re sensitive to that. Because they’re open-back, you will hear your surroundings, and sound will leak out. That’s not a flaw—it’s exactly what they’re designed to do. But it does mean they’re not ideal if you need isolation. I use these for music production, recording vocals, and even gaming sometimes, and they’ve been great. I also run a couple of music-focused YouTube channels where I work on recordings and mixes, and these have become part of my regular setup. Overall, I wouldn’t replace my closed-back headphones with these—they serve different purposes—but I’m very glad I have both. For vocals and natural sound, these are hard to beat.

It's easy to forget that, next year, the HD 600 will turn 20 years old. Admittedly, audio transducers have a funny way of sticking around longer than just about any other piece of electronics equipment. A line of speakers will, usually, be in production for at least several years. Even when they've been replaced, they usually aren't even close to obsolete, because even mid-fi has gotten pretty far into diminishing returns. But, even in this alternate timeline of audiophile-dom (others might call it an alternate reality, an insane asylum...) the HD 600s are freakin ancient. I can only think of a few other cans with this kind of longevity: The Sony MDR-V6; so old that it still has "for DIGITAL" emblazoned on the side. A quick trip through audio theory will reveal that this is meaningless, but in 1985 it sounded really cool. The Beyerdynamic DT770/880/990; so old that they still have shag carpet earpads. Various Grados; so old that it's too late for anybody to admit they sound like trash. Instead, they just mumble something about "sparkle" and then go buy something else. And yet, 20 years later, the HD600 is still the headphone that, within headphone circles, everybody talks about and everybody has heard. There's a reason for that: it's not just really good. Purely on the strength of its sound, it stands out as excellent. When price is considered? It might just be the best headphone in the world. THE SOUND: Inevitably, whenever anyone tries to talk about the HD600 or the HD650, someone brings up the "Sennheiser Veil." This so-called veil was a kind of muffling of the sound, and the people who complain about it would have you believe that the HD6XX sounds like Apple Earpods. I cannot state emphatically enough how much the veil does not exist. It is either a product of the imagination of people who wish the AKG K701 was a bit brighter, or the result of people trying to plug the HD6XX straight into an inadequate source, i.e. most phones, MP3 players, iPods, laptops, etc. They need an amp. More on that later. At any rate, these headphones are as veiled as Eva Green in The Dreamers. You. Will. See. erm, Hear. Everything. That's both a blessing and a curse. Lesser headphones - even my Sony MDR-V6s, for instance - can mask the flaws in a bad recording. All of those 128kbps MP3s you've pirated because you're a bad person? They're gonna sound awful. If your father-in-law-to-be hands sends you some recordings of his garage band, grab however awful a set of backup cans you need for it to sound good. Because these will tell you the truth. Yet, to a good recording, they are shockingly flattering. If you put garbage in, you'll get garbage out. Give it something good, though, and you'll get magic. I've listened to just about my entire music library with these, and there are a few recordings in particular that really demonstrate how well these shine: -In the Air Tonight (Phil Collins, Face Value, 1981): On a decent-to-good set of headphones, this song sounds ominous; it sounds cool. Whatever. On the HD600s, it's a religious experience. Sounds swirl around your head. The crescendos and diminuendos blow you away. The vocals sound perfect. Incredible. -In Your Eyes (Peter Gabriel, So, 1986): The entire album is fabulous. Listen to it over and over again. But there's a reason this song is singled out. It's a sibilance nightmare. On my MDR-V6s, it's unlistenable above a moderate volume. Enter the HD600s: there's no hiding how much sibilance there is, but they handle it as gracefully as possible. Enough ink has been spilled over how these handle classical and jazz (spoiler: fabulously), and their vocal presentation in particular is spot-on. THE STUFF YOU'LL NEED: To get all of this brilliant sound, you're going to need a few things. First and foremost is an amp. This can get crazy pretty quick, so first let's draw a distinction: solid state vs tubes. The HD600 has a high enough impedance to really get along with OTL amps (ie, most headphone tube amps). This will color the sound somewhat, get hot, be unreliable, need to warm up, etc. If you want to go down this road, you can. There's also a lot of really expensive solid state amps. Or, you could just get a Schiit Magni or a JDS Objective2, both of which sound... well... about perfect. Next, you'll need to think about a DAC. Now, a lot of people just assume they'll need one. That may not be the case. If you have a Retina Macbook Pro, for instance, skip it. You'll never hear the difference between it and whatever you get for 150 bucks. Same deal if you're plugging a (good) CD player or receiver or whatever straight into the amp. If your source is something else, like a midrange PC, you'll need to evaluate this yourself. Unfortunately, I can't help you with that. If you decide you need a DAC, there are a lot of expensive options out there. Or, you could just get a Schiit Modi or a JDS ODAC, both of which sound... well... about perfect. (Side lesson: The internet audiophile community fights back and forth all the time about whether the O2/ODAC or the Magni/Modi is the better setup. Realistically, their performance is nearly identical. Buy whichever you think looks better.) (Another side lesson: You seriously probably don't need to spend a ton of money on DACs and amps. The O2/ODAC was designed by some wacky internet crusader who wanted to prove that the performance of the Benchmark DAC2 and HPA2 could be achieved without spending thousands of dollars. From an engineering perspective, this is obviously possible. If you look into this further, you will still find people who insist that the O2/ODAC doesn't sound as good as significantly more expensive gear. Just remember that these are audiophile crazies, who think they need 192kHz recordings because Nyquist-Shannon doesn't apply to special snowflakes. The two most important things in any digital-to-analog system are the input file and the transducer.) Finally, you're going to need good recordings. iTunes is sufficient. Vinyl is pretty good (repeat after me: vinyl does not sound better than CD, it is objectively worse, a record will only sound great 25 times, and will be the equal of the CD never). CD is your best bet, particularly those mastered before the "loudness wars" started up in the late 1990s. However, the world isn't perfect; fear not, the Senns still sound good with stuff that has a compressed dynamic range (within reason). Anything beyond the Redbook CD standard is simply a ploy to get you to spend more money for things you can't hear, and that your dog can't either. SOME REALITIES: The way that the Senns achieve all this great sound is by being "open-back" headphones. This means that, on the side of the driver opposite your ear, there's just some mesh to protect it from damage. This means that you can't really use these outside a quiet environment, because you'll hear everything around you. It also means that you probably won't want to listen to them in public, because it's really difficult to look cool when everybody knows you're blasting the Bangles. Also, they're ugly as sin. But they aren't leaving your house, so who cares? A WORD ABOUT THE HD650: Released several years after the HD600, the HD650 at first glance looks like an upgrade. That... depends. The HD650 is darker and smoother at the expense of detail. That's all. I prefer its sound signature. But, it usually costs between 75 and 150 dollars more than the HD600, and so it wasn't worth it for me. It probably isn't worth it for you, either. So, yeah. These headphones sound just about dead neutral, wonderfully crisp, and yet smooth enough that you can listen at high volumes without fatigue. They can usually be had for less than 300 dollars. And for the price, they have no equal. Now we just have to hope that someday the HD800S can be such an easy decision to make.

I have sort of an emotional attachment to these headphones. I've had them since September 25th, 2011, and I love them/their sound more now than I did back when they were new. I just figured I'd finally drop in and say some words about this product. Equipment: I have a Bottlehead Crack amp with speedball upgrade. I also have some nice tubes (about $75 each) plugged into my amp. I have an HRT Music Streamer II+ running from my computer into my amp. I've gone through the typical route of entry-level amp/dacs, grabbing the Fiio E7/E9, Electric Avenue PA2V2, and Fiio E17 along my journey of tasty music. I've heard the Bottlehead Crack with multiple different stock or "cheap" tubes, and now with my nice ones that I researched around before buying. Also, I replaced the cable with the HD 650 cable (mainly it's just more durable imo). The Headphones: They're beautifully made. Their aesthetic is fairly timeless if you ask me, as is true of any well-designed product. They're stiff and strong, and they really fit well. I can keep them on my head for about 6+ hours at a time before having to rip them off, which is truly saying a lot. My ATH-M50's are really uncomfortable by comparison. I love the velour pads and the memory foam padding, they're really nice and I personally love them, I'll never go with anything but velour earpads ever again after being treated to HD 600's pads. I have since ordered Velour pads for my ATH-M50s and it's a much-needed upgrade in the comfort department. The Sound: The sound is *very* clean and balanced, which is what these headphones are known for. The whole breadth of the music, from the lowest lows to the peaking (yet non-fatiguing) highs are apparent in every song of every genre. There are no awkward boomy frequencies, and nothing sticks out more than anything else. As an example, times when this is most apparent is during a jazz track with an upright bass. The upright bass is naturally a loose-sounding/boomy instrument where the bass vibrates in and out of different volume levels every time it's plucked. These headphones can tame the loose upright bass, while the piano, drums, and brass have their separated place, playing as a blended ensemble instead of a just collection of instruments. These headphones are very revealing, and it's amazing to come from listening to "veiled" headphones (headphones that muck up detail) to this analytical sound. [Side Note]: Before I broke them in, they sounded a little too "dry", aka 2-dimensional, flat or lifeless in a sense, where there's not really any excitement or dynamism to the sound. It was detailed, but not dynamic or lively. After breaking the headphones in for 200 hours, they are much better, as are any and every headphone I've ever had. Breaking-in headphones truly works, I've experienced it with speakers, subwoofers, and headphones all all the same (except earbuds). If you're used to a lot of bass, it can *seem* disappointing, but if you give these headphones enough juice through a nice amp and DAC, the sound fills out nicely. The bass becomes more full, bellowing and resonant, but NEVER overpowering; always tasteful and clean. Separation of instruments increases, allowing you to hear more pieces of the music at once instead of one wall of sound. It almost seems like the HD 600's grow additional mini-speakers within the drivers to play each part of a song separately, as that's the best way I can describe it. In short, the sound becomes full-bodied and never fatiguing when you give these cans the juice they need to shine. Also, don't be afraid to spend money on a $300 amp and DAC, seriously. I baby-stepped my way through, and I'll say that I never really had that come to Jesus moment until I got the Bottlehead Crack amp. Also, when you're listening for differences or trying to justify that you just bought this amp and are going to "hear" the differences, you won't really "hear" it. You can't "listen" for more of this or more of that, more bass or more separation, it's honest to god just a feeling. To me, I felt myself bobbing my head a lot more than I usually did with songs I'd heard many times before, because I was really feeling the music in my head bounce like never before. It's not quantitative, it's a feeling more than anything, and the head-bobbing will be your yardstick here, it was for me! I love these cans, I love the design, I love Sennheiser, and I love the capacity for growth through the use of amps and DACs. Also, I love head-fi.org, it's your ticket to peer-reviewed audio bliss. Thanks for reading, and I wish you luck on finding your favorite cans!

Editado el 21 de junio de 2023: Llevo siete años con estos auriculares (desde 2016) y siguen siendo mis favoritos. He probado otros auriculares más caros (HIFIMAN Edition XS, Sennheiser HD 660S2) pero no hay otros que tengan este timbre tan realista, la neutralidad que ofrecen y la respuesta de agudos tan refinada. Lo único que puedo aconsejar para mejorarlos un poquito más es amplificar con ecualizador los subgraves (por debajo de 100 Hz). Estos auriculares son una maravilla que vale cada euro y que te pueden durar más de diez años sólo cambiando las almohadillas. ----- Editado el 25 de septiembre de 2020: Han pasado cuatro años y medio desde que los compré , y todavía los disfruto muchísimo. Hoy los he estado comparando con unos Fidelio X2HR de Philips y he podido comprobar cómo estos Sennheiser tienen los agudos más refinados que he escuchado en unos auriculares. La única pega que he tenido con los HD 600 es que he tenido que cambiar las almohadillas este año, y son bastante caras... Aun así éstas aguantan hasta 3 años de uso exhaustivo. He añadido la imagen de una medición de la respuesta de frecuencias en el rango de los agudos, comparándola con otros modelos como los Philips X2HR y los Beyerdynamic DT 880. Esta es una de las razones por las que me gustan tanto los HD 600. La respuesta de los agudos se siente de buena calidad, suave y detallada, porque no sufre ningún pico irregular, al contrario de tantos otros modelos. ----- Después de haber usando los Beyerdynamic DT880 durante tres años, hace un mes decidí probar estos auriculares, ya que había leído que eran sinónimo de neutralidad. Me arrepiento de no haber comprado estos tres años atrás. Me han encantado desde el primer momento. La comodidad es excelente (los DT880 son también muy cómodos, pero prefiero estos por ser completamente abiertos). El sonido es tan detallado como en los Beyerdynamic pero, además, puedo disfrutar de una respuesta de frecuencias neutra. Estoy de acuerdo en que algunas producciones pueden parecer planas, "aburridas", pero desde mi punto de vista eso es problema de la producción y no de los auriculares. Además, siempre se puede remediar con un ajuste de ecualización. Estos auriculares ganan presencia en los medios comparado con los DT 880 y no me cabe duda en que el sonido es en su conjunto más natural. No producen nada de fatiga auditiva. El único público al que no recomendaría estos auriculares es a quienes buscan sólamente bajos explosivos de pistas electrónicas. No estoy diciendo que estos auriculares tengan mala respuesta de bajos, de hecho me parece correcta, pero de ningún modo llegan a ofrecer sub-bajos "aniquilantes". En esta opinión intento ser objetivo, pero tened en cuenta que en el mundo del sonido toman también mucha importancia los gustos, y si bien yo disfruto los HD 600 por encima de los Beyerdynamic DT 880 y los considero una mejor opción, a otra persona le puede parecer lo contrario. Pero no cabe duda de que los Sennheiser ofrecen una respuesta más neutra. Y, desde el punto de vista objetivo, neutralidad y fidelidad son sinónimos. Añado que en realidad no son tan llamativos como parece en la fotografía, sino que son más discretos y elegantes. El color azul es muy suave, casi gris. Esto para mí ha sido una agradable sorpresa (esto lo escribí hace años, ahora el diseño es gris oscuro...).

Materiali ottimi, molto ma molto comode, e suonano una meraviglia, grandi dettagli, ottimo soundstage (ovviamente ascoltando da sorgenti di qualità, non da dei miseri mp3 da 128 kbps, in tal caso vi meritate solo cuffie da 20€, le HD600 non sono per bambini), nitidezza e naturalezza del suono assoluta e 0 distorsioni anche a volumi alti, mi ha sorpreso soprattutto il fatto che il suono resti pulito a qualsiasi volume, bassi profondi, mai invadenti (ovviamente non aspettatevi un basso tipo Beats, i bassi nelle HD600 sono calibrati al punto giusto, così come dev'essere, e si sentono eccome, soprattutto nei brani che li richiedono), medi fantastici e alti cristallini, ovviamente per la loro impedenza devono essere accoppiate ad un buon amplificatore, altrimenti la resa finale ne risentirà, io le ho collegate ad un Fiio E10k e suonano molto bene, con un volume piuttosto alto devo dire (impostando High Gain sul DAC), chiaramente potrebbero fare molto meglio di così, ma data la spesa abbastanza contenuta del Fiio, il risultato finale risulta essere già ottimo, si può dire che sia un buon punto d'inizio. Nel packaging è incluso anche l'adattatore jack di 6.3mm, applicato direttamente alla cuffia (infatti all'inizio pensavo ci fosse solo il jack da 6.3mm e già mi stavo preoccupando di dover comprare anche l'adattore, invece sono andato a rimuoverlo ed effettivamente c'era anche il 3.5, lì ho tirato un sospiro di sollievo). Comunque per finire, se avete già un buon amplificatore oppure avete la possibilità di acquistarlo insieme a queste fantastiche cuffie, non pensateci 2 volte. Esclusa questa, di cuffie Sennheiser ne ho provate solo 3: Sennheiser GAME Zero (non una cuffia ma un headset, che suonava bene ma aveva bisogno di un'amplificazione, cosa che "ai tempi" non avevo, per cui non potei neanche provare ottimamente il microfono), Sennheiser HD 280 Pro (Molto buona, soprattutto per il prezzo) e infine le Sennheiser HD 599 (che non mi hanno entusiasmato parecchio, anche per il loro suono piuttosto ovattato e non chiarissimo), e nonostante la differenza numerica di 1, la HD600 vince a mani basse su di essa. Io non conosco le sue sorelle maggiori (HD650-700-800) ma vi posso assicurare che già con questa starete apposto per tanto tempo, e io difficilmente mi tengo una cuffia che costa relativamente così tanto. EDIT: Le sto provando da circa 1 settimana e qualcosa, e non posso che confermare, ancora una volta, l'assoluta qualità di questo prodotto, io credo che molto ma molto difficilmente si possa anche solo immaginare qualcosa di meglio, e se esistesse, costerebbe una barca di soldi in più. Le ho fatte rodare un po', semplicemente usandole, ma comunque non credo che ne abbia bisogno molto, le cuffie mi hanno sorpreso fin dall'inizio, per quanto mi riguarda svolgono egregiamente il loro lavoro con tutto (film, gaming e musica). EDIT 2: Il suono sembra essere diventato ancora più chiaro e meno cupo di prima, ma potrebbe essere una mia impressione.

ゼンハイザーの撒き餌ヘッドホン？であるHD599SE購入からまんまと釣られてグレードアップとしてこちらの商品を購入しました。 私はオーディオマニアではありませんが、HD599SEで開放型ヘッドホンの装着感の軽さ、長時間つけてても蒸れない気楽さにハマりました。 HD599SEはとても気に入っていたのですが、１年ほど使用していてもう少し音質の良いものが欲しくなりこちらのHD600にたどり着きました。 以下、HD599SEとHD600を聞き比べてみた個人的な感想です。 【HD599SE】 比較してみて初めて感じたのは、HD599SEは半開放型とでも言いましょうか、ヘッドホンとは耳元でギュッと密閉された空間で音が鳴るものである。というイメージから離れすぎない鳴り方に感じました。 ですので、開放型で気楽な装着感でありつつ耳元に音が近く、多少音楽に迫力も欲しい。そういうヘッドホンが好きな方はHD599SEのほうが好みかもしれません。 しかしHD600と聞き比べると構造的には開放型なのかもしれませんが、音的な解放感はいまひとつです。 【HD600】 比べてHD600は、まさしく開放型ヘッドホンです。という鳴り方です。 イヤホンで音楽を聴くと頭の中で音が聞こえるような印象を感じることがありますが、あの感覚に近いですね。そしてその上で音がこもる感じがなくスッキリと広がっていくというか。 うまく言えないのですが音がずっと耳の近くに居続けない感じですね。耳元で鳴るスピーカーのような。 HD599SEよりは音場も広いと思いますが、用語に詳しくないので上記は音場が広いというのとはまた別の感覚かもしれません。 音質は、まずシンプルにHD599SEよりもきめ細かく感じました。 鳴っているそれぞれの楽器の音を聴き分けができるくらい音のひとつひとつの解像感も高いのですが、その上でヴォーカルが埋もれない綺麗な聞こえ方をします。変に前に出てくる楽器がない感じです。 ですので、何か誇張をしたり劇的に音が変わるのではなく、それぞれがそれぞれとしてちゃんと聞こえるという印象です。 それゆえに人によってはあっさりした音だと感じるかもしれません。 まとめると、HD599SEと同様に長時間使用しても疲れが少なく、HD599SEよりもう少し音のきめ細かさや解像感のある音質と、音としての広がり、解放感を求めていた私にはイメージ通りで追加で買い足して後悔のない商品でした。 なお、こちらのHD600はよく据え置きアンプ必須のようなレビューを見かけますが上記は１万円程度のドングルDACで聞き比べした印象です。ヘッドホンの本領を発揮できてるのかはわかりませんが、スマホ直挿しでも一応それなりに鳴りますのでご安心ください。 HD599SEをお持ちで、HD600が気になっている方の参考になれば。

These headphones made me cry. More on that later. They come in a sturdy wood-ish type box - not posh polished wood, but sturdy enough and covered with dark brown lining. The phones are nestled in protective grey foam, cut to the shape of the phones to keep them safe during transit. A manual accompanies them, although I just dived in and started listening. I love the sound of a piano so I had plenty of classical themed music to run through these 600s. First up was an old Naxos 1980s Beethoven Piano Concerto No.1 CD. Hmm. The sound was dull across the entire range. The playing is fantastic though and led me to buy the sheet music, which I never could play. To be fair it never sounded great through any headphones, but I was expecting some kind of magic. Let's try something recorded more recently. Second up was Yundi Li's "The Art of Yundi" (a fantastic collection of piano pieces - many new to me a few months ago). Flipping heck! What a difference a good recording/sound engineer makes! I heard nuances in individual notes I'd not heard before. I even heard accidentals/accent notes I'd not noticed before. The clarity from top to bottom was simply outstanding. Sparkling brilliance in the upper registers and warm dark sonorous tones lower down. My love of piano music led me to buy an electric piano, 15+ years ago now. It went "pop" a year or so ago and died on me. I was sad but kept it as it's handy for my home theater speakers. When I've saved up I'll buy another. Back to Yundi. Liszt's Rigoletto was one of the pieces that was new to me. I must have played it 100 times on the train to work, using my mobile + headphones. It's an addictive piece and I know it quite well now. Again there were notes/timbres/nuances that sprang into life, as though rescued from the cracks that lesser headphones would leave behind. It was like listening to a completely new recording. Rigoletto draws you in slowly, then makes you addicted with its clever ever complicating recapitulation, then exits the stadium with magnificent massive virtuoso chords crashing down the keyboard. And then silence. But there isn't. For a few seconds through these headphones you can hear the soundboard and frame of the piano ring and undulate as the brilliance of Liszt, through Yundis fingers, evapourates into the ether. That little piece of magic made me cry. It made me look at my beloved piano, now senza voce, and want to play it. But I could not, ever again. It made me remember all the good times, the bad times, the frustrations, the rare accomplishments but most of all my love of sound itself. Welcome back, my friend. Let's not get too emotive - it's just a pair of headphones after all. However, music makes us emotional. Third up was Bachs Toccata & Fugue in D Minor. These phones pick up everything, including quirks of an old air powered Church organ. You could almost hear the beast breathing through its nostrils. At full pelt in the "fff" passages with every single bank of notes from foot to teeth being tormented these phones did struggle. The music got lost as if overwhelmed. To be fair it's a cruel test as none of my headphones ever succeeded either. You have a huge Church organ pumping gallons of air to make those fat boy pipes play and expect a little piece of tech to replicate that? We need to be realistic in our expectations. However, the different registers/instruments the organ sounded were simply sublime through these. Really sweet. Fourth up was a new addiction of mine. Liszt Hungarian Rhapsodies. Played by the brilliant George Cziffra. Recorded in the early 1970s I didn't expect much from this CD. In fact I was worried these 'phones might highlight the fact microphones were not as sensitive then, tape noise, that kind of thing. Oh my - what a blast! Yet again I'm hearing those accidental notes (not really accidental - they are very brief deliberate embellishments and fiendishly difficult to play without whacking). Yet again I feel like my ears have been cleansed or I'm listening to a new digitally remastered release. Brilliant. These 'phones give your ears exactly what's on the plate. If it's a poor recording then they won't make it better. If it's a good one then your ears, brain, body and soul will be overjoyed. Yep that's the word. The music I have gave me joy. Now it's joy++. Overjoyed. These initially feel tight to wear, but soon you realise you've gotten used to slack ill fitting headgear. They encompass the ear (unless you are Vulcan) and fit nicely against the head, instead of pressing into parts of the ear. I find them very comfortable. After a few minutes you forget you are wearing them. My first pair of "opens". Highly recommended. Closed gives me that "sea shell" experience of hearing my own bloodstream or something. Plus my ears now remain cool, they weigh less and I feel part of the environment rather than in some sensory deprivation chamber. A huge plus when it comes to listening to a concerto where you want to be in the audience, not isolated. Having listened to much piano tonight I noticed sound engineers don't follow any particular rule regarding left/right; some make you the listener - you are facing the piano being played so high notes come through the left ear and low notes through the right. Very disconcerting if you are a player. As the player you hear low through left and high through right. I'm not a player, but have tried and like to be "in the seat" when I'm doing air piano. Others seem to give a cross-fade which is even more disconcerting. For the wrong-way-round listener experience I found a fantastic tweak you can do to these HD 600s. If you absolutely want the player experience where low=down and high=up then make the following adjustments to these cans. Yes I know these are very expensive, but the modification is reversible: 1. Take them off 2. Put them on the wrong way round Immediately you are transported from audience to player. As these phones are symmetrically flexible they feel just as comfortable either way around. Worth the money? If you're going to do something, do it once and do it properly. With a frequency response of 12Hz-40500Hz it should cover most needs. Oh nearly forgot! So many questions out there about impedance. 32/80/300/600 Ohms. Will my X phones work in a Y thing? There's lots of "info" about needing to buy a specialist headphone amp if > 32 ohms. These HD 600s are 300 ohms. I have them plugged into my Denon 4300 AVR. My CD is a Panasonic Blue Ray player. They are more than loud enough at 5/10. 3/10 would be my listening preference. These just tell it like it is to be fair. No magic. No pseudo science. Simple transparent acoustic honesty. No regrets at all.

Je réfléchissais depuis quelques temps pour renouveler mon casque Sennheiser HD265 Linear et je tombe à 8h00 du matin, hier , au démarrage des soldes, sur ce modèle soldé à 135 Euro au lieu de 327. Bien sur je me dépêche d'en commander un, à 8h30 y en avait plus.. Voilà, en ce moment je l'ai sur la tête et je savoure le son qui m'emplit les oreilles.. Pas la peine de disserter, ce casque est exceptionnel, et ce n'est pas pour rien si il a été produit pendant plus de 10ans, c'est un "winner" comme on dit et il a souvent été comparé avec des casques à 600 euros. C'est mon 5ème casque de la marque Sennheiser, depuis 30a. Avant lui j'avais opté pour un HD265 Linear, casque fermé, pour avoir plus de pression sonore, car les casques ouverts, chers à la marque,avaient tendance à manquer de patate... Avec le HD600 il n'en est rien et le son est très confortable et très détaillé. Je viens d'écouter l'album "All'n All" d'Earth Wind & Fire que je connais par coeur et j'ai découvert un petit contrepoint à la clarinette, que je n'avais jamais remarqué, dans le morceau "Serpentine Fire". Ce casque est hyper précis et très musical.