Sennheiser HD660S Speculation

Discussion in 'Headphones' started by Junki, Oct 8, 2017.

  1. Solrighal

    Solrighal Facebook Friend

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    That line stood out like a sore thumb for me too but to be fair to Frans English isn't his first language & he does know what he's talking about. Pretty much everyone over there are good guys.
     
  2. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Haven't heard it yet, but I'm telling you (and already wrote a prediction a few posts back). It's an HD650 with faster transient response. The question to me is how the transient response compares to HD600 and HD650M/K transient response. I mean, this could be a complete waste of money for folks who already have HD650M/K mods. Or not...

    And any claims of greater resolution or plankton are bullshit unless a summit-fi amp and source are used.
     
  3. mkozlows

    mkozlows Friend

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    I think your history is wrong about when the 580 was discontinued. I'm pretty sure they were still around when the HD650 came out, and were discontinued around that time.

    (Also, I am still going to maintain that there is, or at least was, a huge, obvious difference between the HD-580 and HD-650. I understand that rolling changes have been made to the line over the years, and maybe they're the same now, but in 2004, the HD-650 was way more veiled and rolled-off, but with more bass to make up for it.)
     
  4. Metro

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    €40 increase in Europe for the new model, but no MSRP increase in the US.
     
  5. ultrabike

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    You are probably correct about the discontinuation timeline. But the existence of the HD600 (being a special edition remake of the HD580) made the cheaper HD580 irrelevant. The writing was on the wall. And indeed, the HD580 is no more.

    I completely and thoroughly disagree with you in the "huge" and "obvious" difference between the HD580 and the HD650. I have yet to see a much "more veiled and rolled-off" HD650 relative to an HD580 and I've seen/heard many, old and new.

    I cringe every time I read "huge" and "obvious" differences when we are dealing with subtle differences. I don't mean to sound disrespectful towards you. But it really pisses me off because I personally have been mislead this way many times.

    That's not bad. But like @Marvey said, if you already have an HD600, is an HD660S an upgrade? Is it a side-grade? If any difference, which one should a consumer pick according to his/her preferences?
     
    Last edited: Oct 25, 2017
  6. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    @wnmnkh: here you go. I'm sure others are interested too. HD650/HD6XX over the past two years...

    Uber HD650 from over two years ago. I bought these at $399 and sold them off to someone here for not much less. I felt bad about it, until I realized this might have been a unicorn pair.
    HD650 May 2015 HD.jpg

    Fast forward one year later. I took several measurements just to be sure. Here are two of them.
    HD650 May 16 2016  HD.jpg
    HD650 May 17 2006 HD.jpg

    And here is Massdrop HD6XX by November 2016
    HD6XX Nov 2016 HD.jpg
     
  7. Solrighal

    Solrighal Facebook Friend

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    Has anyone ever compared a physically modded HD 650 with a stock HD 650 running through Sonarworks?
     
  8. ultrabike

    ultrabike Measurbator - Admin

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    I've seen similar part to part variation. Even between two drivers in the same unit. While the drivers may be well matched in frequency response, distortion might be a little different between drivers.
     
  9. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Too close to call and likely the higher order distortion is going to be masked by lower order.
     
  10. jowls

    jowls Never shitposts (please) - Friend

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    HD600 comparisons? Piqued interest. I’m more inclined to want an ‘improved’ HD600 than HD650. HD650m fixes most of its issues, whereas HD600 is fairly agnostic to mods, IME.
     
  11. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    I should have an HD6XX, HD600, and HD650K on hand. Does anyone know if HD600 pads are the same as HD650 pads?
     
  12. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    I've never felt HD600 needed mods. HD600's presentation (above and beyond frequency response) is arguably more lively with quicker transients than HD650. Maybe a slight push down around 4khz or so on HD600, but that's hard to do with physical mods. Essentially, I've always felt the HD600 is perfect for what it is.
     
  13. imackler

    imackler Key Lime Pie Infected Aberdeen Wings Spy

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    "Know"? Almost. Senn sells the same pads to replace both. I've owned both multiple times and am confident they're the same. But i don't have a HD650 on hand to compare. (I do have an unused HD600 if it ends up being needed to compare.)
     
  14. ultrabike

    ultrabike Measurbator - Admin

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    I believe they are. I think the replacement pads have the same part number: 049789
     
  15. mkozlows

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    I'm with you on this in the general case, but not in this specific case. Most things aren't obvious, but this was an immediate jump-out-at-you thing from the instant I got the 650.

    Like I say, it might be specific to the vintages of the headphones in question (a 580 from like '97, and 650 from '04), maybe it was some kind of old-vs-new thing, I don't know. And if I were the only person who'd ever noticed this, I'd be willing to chalk it up to an idiosyncratic pair maybe, but this mini-history of the lineup notes the same thing that I'm talking about, so I think it is, or was, a pretty broadly true distinction.
     
  16. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Yeah, it's all a cluster f**k because not only are there revisions, but pad wear does affect the sound. Craig's got these ancient HD600s where the pads are crumbling and have been bleached brown through the wash. They are pretty bright sounding and have poor seal.
     
  17. ultrabike

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    I've yet to see this huge difference man.

    @Marvey has a great point. Wear can account for some differences.

    EDIT: I tell you what. I did observe a substantial difference with one of @anetode's HD650s. It was on one driver. It was poorly positioned against the cup. Fixing the positioning made the difference go away.
     
  18. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    The HD600s are supposed to be repackaged HD580s, but I'm just not too sure. I've had HD600, HD580, and HD650 all together and preferred the HD580s. Maybe it was pad wear, revisions, etc. Bill-P's had measurements of these three that showed the HD580 in the middle between HD600 and HD650 in terms of frequency response.

    So I will use the same set of pads on HD6XX, HD650M, and HD600 when comparing to HD660S, whichi has slightly different pads. Want to eliminate pad differences.
     
  19. jowls

    jowls Never shitposts (please) - Friend

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    Post mortem of used HD600 and HD650 pads suggests they are constructed of same materials.

    HD600 is pretty close to a perfect dynamic for me, especially with BW2. 2-4khz can be improved though.
     
  20. Bill-P

    Bill-P Level 42 Mad Wizard

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    Just to chime in on this...

    Even though the part number is the same, I have personally seen Senn do some "small revisions" to the part in question.

    For instance, if you buy HD600 grills from Senn, you may get what I'd call an "earlier version" with more intricate internal designs, whereas the ones that I have received recently seem quite obviously different internally: simpler, less intricate, not as crazy. They look the same from the outside, though.

    Also HD580 up to the Jubilee line may have some slight differences in magnet config/design, too. Some earlier ones have a brass/copper/something-golden ring right in the middle of the hole. The later HD580/HD600/HD650 don't seem to have this golden ring thing anymore.

    And that's just the HD6xx line. On the HD800, the same part number for ear pads seems to yield different ear pad thickness beyond simply being "manufacturing variation" as well (and "manufacturing variation" is essentially non-existent with Senn IMO). I think I briefly wrote up the main differences between the old HD800 pads (thinner padding) versus the newer ones (thicker/wider padding) a while back.

    So I'd say... don't assume anything with Senn. They could do some random things.
     

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