This is interesting. I caved to the “audiophile standard” pressure and bought a set. Plugged them in and listened to one song and unplugged them.
(Disclaimer- Do not yet have a balanced cable for them to use the balanced out on the Magnius/Modius. Some claim the single ended output on this stack is bad. I will retry after cable arrives.
2nd disclaimer, reference cans are Ananda, which cost a touch more.)
Not to offer a knee-jerk response - I’m plenty critical of the HD 6XX above - but I shared your initial disappointment to these headphones. I was also coming from brighter and more open sounding HifiMan headphones (in my case, the 400i).
You might be rewarded with patience: it took me a while to settle into the HD 6XX; the more I listened, the more I liked them, and the more I assimilated the differences between them and other headphones. They became increasingly appealing for what they do well - e.g. timbre for acoustic instruments - and I found myself becoming less bothered by what I didn’t like. Every time I return to them, though, I have to go through this process of acclimating once again.
Or, yeah, maybe it’s just that you need a balanced cable with your setup and I’m prattling on too much about all this!
Pulled out the HipDac, tried the “Back it Up” Track @SenyorC praised.
I’ll wait on a balanced cable, and will do a much more detailed test, but from what I’ve heard so far, I’d rather spend half the money on a set of Grado 80s. It’s like listening though a pillow.
Great track though.
Have you tried a burn-in? Some are believers, some are not. Set it to play at a moderately loud listening volume and run either white noise/pink noise or energetic music for 24 to 50 hours.
I do believe in it for some cases, yes.
They’re a used set, so I didn’t think about it. I’ll go plug them in the garage and hit them with a couple of days of EDM.
That’s the thing. The “audiophile standard” may not be “your standard”. That Harman target that the “lobbyists” are using is likely to be V-shaped as heck.
If you’re more a neutral-bright kind of guy, the HD600 is the way to go.
Not to be divisive or anything but I’ll have to agree on this one. I only run my HD600 balanced on a (differential yet entry-level amp) Liquid Platinum where signal is coming from another entry level DAC (with a cheap’o Cirrus chip if I’m not mistaken).
So the 650 scales with a TOTL amp? Great. So does the HD600. 
This is my take after almost 1 year with both cans. The 650 is a warmer (and more aggressive) presentation of the 600. The latter reminds me the old paper cone speakers I used to hear in my childhood. That’s likely to be a strong bias on my preference today, but… 
Cheers. 
I haven’t heard the HD600 but based on my personal tastes, I think I would probably prefer them to the HD6XX.
(At least the majority of the time)
Yep, I know what you mean. I’ve thought of it as a muffled sound - it’s what gets called the Sennheiser veil. It mostly goes away with better amplification. My ZDT Jr more or less gets rid of it. But the laid back sound is still there. I wouldn’t have bought that amp specifically for the HD 6XX; I got it for my HD 800, which needs tube warmth.
I should have done this myself long ago; getting the Focal Clear scratched this itch, though, and I kept the HD 6XX for a warmer, less-fatiguing alternative. The HD 600 is probably better suited to @mfadio’s preferences. It sucks that it costs a significant amount more than the HD 6XX.
@generic - did you keep your HD 600 after you got the Clear? Are they complementary?
Especially if you go from Ananda to HD6XX!
Yeah, that’s a brutal comparison. Makes the 6xx sound broken.
If I had a time machine, I’d like to go back and spend a week with both the HD 600 and 650 out of the same chain, one that would give them a good bit of oomph, like @frkasper’s Liquid Platinum.
That would probably have helped me identify or at least understand my audio preferences quicker.
I used to own the SR80e, and sold it because of its similarities to the HD600 (which is better in every way IMO). To my ears the SR80e sounds like the HD600 with the bass cut off, has a slight echo, and has piercing treble. I tried both back-to-back on several amps. The SR80e has scratchy ear pads too.
Yes. I’ll probably never sell the HD600 because they were/are a professional reference standard, have a small size for their quality, deliver a smooth slickness, and bring back nostalgia of my early serious audio days. However, they do require more consideration of the signal chain than the Clear. I’ve had to replace worn out HD600 pads a couple times. The Clear is technically superior in every way of course.
Excuse me for probably the worst analogy I have made so far in this community but I simply can’t hold myself. 
The Zeitgeist is represented by the binary system we see and live these days. Therefore, there’s a big war happening between two audiophile factions: the bass-heads (B) and the treble-heads (T).
The following cans are “fighting” in opposite fields:
(B) 58(0/X), 6(XX/50), 660S;
(T) 600, 800S and 560S (haven’t heard the latter).
(B) Harman target tuning;
(T) Diffuse field tuning.
We all know things are way more complicated than simplification above. But notice the Zeitgeist and one will understand the analogy. 
In short, pick a side and be happy with it. 
Zeos is the one to blame on my HD600 purchase. Because “THEEEEEEEEEEEESEEE, I trust it with all my heart” – I was sold after hearing that statement. 
Not really. All one needs is to be vigilant. I was lucky to get a lightning deal on the (back-then newly) revised Romanian HD600.
Ohh, I just made 1 year with the HD600 actually. 
Therefore, one can get a brand new HD600 for not much more than the 6XX.
Zero sales tax. As they say, Live Free or Die. 
Cheers. 
This is super great stuff!
1- The ear pads on grados are not itchy. Your ears are weak.
2- Will add the 600 to my “want to track down and listen to” list.
C- Super interested and getting more interested in listening to a set of Clears. Are the Clears and Clear Pros the same? (Hey Siri, remind me to track down the Clears thread and start reading.)
IV- My Grado SR60s are old enough to drink. They’ve almost certainly had a few spilled on them over the years. This may have warped my hearing beyond repair. My main speakers are 25 year old Paradigms, and a nice set of PSB monitors in my office. It is becoming obvious that I don’t do dark.
E- This forum is so helpful and kind that I expect to be shown the door when I slip up and my actual personality shows up.
I am in the HD600 and Clear camp but absolutely, positively, 100% NOT a treble-head. I’m a “neutral-head” in @TylersEclectic - speak. Some of the music I listen to is either bass or treble heavy, so I don’t want the headphones to fight the source.
Yeah. Can’t do bright. Maynard, Bill Chase and Kenton’s big bands will pierce concrete with bright.
Same except for color and its curly cable. The Pro is intended for the studio (and seemingly fashion) market. The standard Clear is plain silver and gray, and comes with stiff straight cables.
You have to. That was the whole point of the Zeitgeist exercise. It’s how the youth see things these days, by taking it to the extreme, collectivizing and recruiting. 
On a separate note, I’m happy having you as comrades. We should set a campaign with the Beyer guys and plan for the next strike. The mission is to “lift the veil”. 
OK, probably enough of Sunday night jokes. 
PS.: Not a treble-head myself as well.
So I bought a HD 6xx. I mostly bought it because I find the weight of my Sundaras can get a bit much after several hours and I wanted something lighter that also sounded good. I’m kind of fascinated by the ways it sounds different than the Sundara–they both sound great, but in different ways. I’ll probably write more as I have more thoughts.
If you didn’t know already, the 6xx scales really well with high-performing equipment. It even outperforms the Sundara imo with the exception of bass extension…
Anyway, enjoy it!
