That’s hilarious. Perfect for first thing in the morning with coffee!
Good thing the father didn’t prefer the house sound of HiFiMAN. Or Abyss.
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That’s hilarious.
Such a hard decision when I have kids.
I do love the 6xx a little too much 
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Maybe Sennheiser will soon be Chi-fi? I would think that’s where the money is to invest in consumer electronics.
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Oh goody. Private equity strip mining another brand.
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Oh dear. Olympus just went down that road and it’s too early to tell how that’ll turn out, but it created unwelcome uncertainty for brand loyalists.
My best hope is that their better headphone work will stay in the “pro line”. If they’re just spinning off stuff like the Momentums and such, I could live with that.
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If this means only pure consumer wireless and mediocre $100 products…that’s fine by me. They are not appreciably better or different than Sony, Bose, and many other brands.
If this ‘consumer business’ includes the 500, 600, (700), and 800 families then perhaps they are getting eaten alive by Focal, ZMF, etc. Or, perhaps they know there will soon be clones of the 6XX/650 cash cow? With competition, all technology must adapt to price declines over time.
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Headphones aren’t in the pro line according to the press release
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Premium Headphones, Enhanced Hearing, Audiophile and Soundbars segments Are what they are selling.
Drop is set to announce a new headphone in 2 days. Based on the silhouette in the teaser image, speculation is rampant it will be the long requested HD8XX.
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An HD8XX would be a great thing for the hobby but I’m not holding my breath and, yes, the speculation really is rampant. As part of that speculation, an image of an edited version of Drop’s teaser image is doing the rounds, one that would seem to suggest it’s based on the HD800. But, then again, someone posting in the comments on Drop claims “It’s my edit lol, I just layered an HD800 image on top.” So, er, no, then. He also claims that the headband and yoke are identical. Again, I’m skeptical; I’m not sure you can see enough to tell.
A few further thoughts: on the one hand, it would be incredible if there were to be a sub-$1,000 HD8XX. There’s not much in that price range that does the things the HD800 excels at, such as soundstage and technicalities. It could be great for modding. On the other hand, though, I hope this isn’t a case of Sennheiser using this Drop as a means to attract interest in, or raise the sale price of the consumer audio division.
It would be a shame if this were to be the last hurrah of Sennheiser’s consumer audio business, especially if, as @generic wonders, it includes the 500, 600, and 800 series. I’d assumed they make a killing with all their dozens of affordable headphones. A search for “sennheiser headphones” on Amazon yields a wide variety of models. But given the Verge article, I wonder if they’ve failed to gain traction in a highly competitive market.
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I just bought a new set of HD650’s just to have them in case this ship sinks…
They are lovely paired to a Schiit Lyr 3…
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Great combo. I have a pair of HD660s on my head, considering if going pure tube with Valhalla 2 (my choice) or Lyr 3 (a voice inside is telling me go hybrid but I reply to it: I hate silver and I want pure OTL 
).
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The issue with the Vahalla 2 is it will not work as well with a wider span of headphone impedances…the Lyr 3 will work with low and hi-z cans much better IMO…
Alex
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Yes, this is the only thing stopping me at the moment.
Having an Asgard 3 for planar and low impedance headphones I’m thinking about getting an OTL to fully experience tubes and match it with HD660s.
My mania in tuning is the other thing making me think since with Lyr 3 would be much easier.
When I’ll be sure I’ll pull the trigger.
Thank you for the infos.
Enjoy.
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EIther a Bottlehead Crack or the Schiit Vahalla 2 will really pair well with most any high impedance dynamic can…the HD series will love either one…ones a kit and ones not…
I had both for years and they both are exceptional with the Senns…ya cant go wrong with either amp.
The cost is relatively low in comparison to those mega buck amps…and the difference in sound is not worth that high delta in price!
Good Luck!
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I wasn’t expecting to love so much the HD660s.
Probably I had too many others opinion in my mind.
I’m more a planar kind of listener but 660 really surprised me with some of the music I listen outside of what I listen for study.
Price of both BHC and Valhalla are so affordable to justify a “one can, one amp combo”.
660 really gave me peace about headphones and complement very well my other stuff.
Higher end amps are well worth the expense at the condition of being sure and conscious of what you’re getting.
I firmly believe in synergy in equipment.
Budget headphones will air well with budget amp for sure.
Thank you so much for your hints, highly appreciated.
The speculation was correct. Drop announced their Sennheiser HD 8XX today (Feb 18, 2021). Copied from the website:
Hey Friends,
Tomorrow morning at 9am PST, we are releasing the DROP + Sennheiser HD 8XX.
This headphone is the result of hundreds of thousands of community posts and four years of collaboration between the teams at DROP and Sennheiser.
Analyzing discussions around the HD 800S, we saw clear mandates from the community around bass extension and midrange balance. The HD 8XX incorporates two novel changes to accommodate those mandates.
Where the HD 800S uses a single resonator, Sennheiser developed a dual resonator system for the HD 8XX, creating bass extension down to 10hz (+5db @ 10hz vs 800 S) by changing the resonant properties of the housing.
Sennheiser’s team, lead by Jermo Koehnke, reached the bass solution pretty quickly, but our goals for the midrange proved demanding… bordering impossible. After significant research, Sennheiser reached a solution; altered acoustic impedance in the transducer’s dampening material to smooth the FR from 2.5k to 8k.
This means the transducer in the HD 8XX is unique, it’s a new ring driver.
The HD8XX goes live tomorrow at 9am PST with 3000 units available, shipping in November. These 3000 units represent the full production we anticipate for 2021. We’ll make more available if the capacity increases, but this launch is the only guaranteed HD 8XX availability until 2022.
Launch pricing for the HD 8XX is $1100 and you’ll receive $200 worth of drop points (20,000 points) with purchase.
For future units, HD 8XX pricing will increase to $1200+.
So come by tomorrow morning at 9am PST, pickup your HD8XX, use your drop points to buy a DROP + THX 789 for $99 and enjoy the endgame this November.
^ this is the direct link for 9am tomorrow, thanks for your support
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wait hang on these are shipping in November?
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