JAR HD600 Impressions and Measurements

Thanks for the measurements and impressions, interesting stuff. I wonder why not many people mod their 600s.

 

@Hands, is your jar 650 still out? Definitely interested in hearing your more detailed impressions between the two using different back foams.

 

After reading @Hands ’s impressions on the JAR600, I became curious with the mods and contacted @ext1 (Jupiter). He was more than happy to send me a review unit for me to try before deciding whether to purchase or not. I think about a week later, the headphones arrived at my doorstep and I was quite smitten by the sound as soon as I put it on my head. I couldn’t put it down for many hours even though I still had studying left for the day.

Listening chain: Eitr > Gungnir Multibit A1 > ZDT Jr.(loaner from @ChaChaRealSmooth ) > JAR600 | 650K

• Aesthetics and non-sonic related: JAR600 is a bit heavier than the stock HD600 due to the added parts, but no where near ZMF and Audeze level and still extremely comfortable.
• Overall tonality is that it retains a similar overall signature to the original 600, but slightly tweaked to get rid of that hot upper-mids and technical refinements on the macro level. Like Hands has stated previously, the upper mids are nowhere near as hot as the original HD600. It’s quite enjoyable to listen to now. The hot upper mids were the major nitpick I had with the stock 600 that made me choose the 650 over the 600 even though I preferred the treble presentation of the 600. Ultimately, the JAR mod fixed that issue for me. It has a bit of that “focal aggression” or forwardness that I personally enjoy without the metallic timbre.
• Macrodetail and Macrodynamics: Overall, it feels more focused and dynamic on the macro level. What I mean by “focused” is that sound feels less dispersed and blurred out and each component of sound seems to be more localized and exact. Therefore instruments are better separated and compartmentalized than stock 6X0. Images sounded less blobby than with stock 600/650.
• JAR600 vs. 650K: Everything seems tighter and hits a little harder with more energy and impact. Cymbals have more “crisp” and energy contributing to the overall livelier sound. When comparing complex passages in classical music, the JAR600 is a step above the 650K in terms of rendering macro detail and transient. Music sounds more snappy with a bit more air in the JAR600, where the ends are more clearly defined. Attacks are just a bit sharper without being overly bright or causing listening fatigue. Long and complex piano passages sound a bit rounded on the 650K when directly compared to the JAR600. Listening to classical music on this headphone was just pure bliss.
• I still love the 650K as it instantly made me doubt my kilobuck headphone purchases. Sure it sucks at bass extension, but it’s super resolving and affordable. But from time to time, I would get listening fatigue from it. Maybe it’s the quarter-sized hole that exposes the driver directly up against my ears from the mod? I’m happy to report that there was no listening fatigue at all when using the JAR600.
• Bass still rolls off in sub bass but there is more heft and weight into it, contributing to the increased macro-dynamics. definitely punches harder than the stock 650/600. I listen to a lot of vocal oriented music so the roll off doesn’t bother me as much. I’m sure this could still be a deal breaker for some. Maybe give JAR650 a go if this bothers you, or look for a different headphone with better extension.
• Clarity: No Sennheiser veil here. Excellent clarity without a hint of veil or darkness. Vocals and instruments sound vivid and clear. Switching to JAR600 from 650K, it felt like cranking up the contrast knob... More vibrant images and I was kept engaged with any genre I threw at. Seriously addictive sound.

Closing thoughts: To be honest, I was a bit skeptical at first, but JAR600 is legit. It won't transform your 600 into a different headphone, but a noticeable jump in some inherent qualities such as macro-detail and -dynamics. It's livelier, snappy, full of color, and with a hint of aggression and forwardness for more engagement. Even though the JAR600 felt brighter, it was less fatiguing for me than the 650K. Jupiter is doing something right with his mods. I haven’t heard the JAR650, but I’m perfectly happy with how the JAR600 sounds and effectively dethroned the 650K as my daily driver.

 

First of all, a big thanks to @ext1 for hand-delivering me his latest JAR600 (along with a modded HD800).

I met @ext1 in person for the first time last year, when his JAR650 was still a work in progress. When I had heard it, I preferred it to stock HD650 (which sounds too veiled and congested), but I wasn't sure if I liked it more than my trifecta-modded HD650. With enough feedback, I felt there was room for improvement.

Fast forward a year later, @ext1 told me how he has moved on to HD600 as his newest project.

To provide some context, I never liked the HD600, because it was way too bright. Pairing it with an euphonic amp like ZDS did not help. Honestly, I don't understand people who say that HD600 and HD650 sound similar, because they have completely opposite tonality. I hate both headphones in stock form, but if I had to choose, I would rather listen to HD650 than HD600. Modding the HD650 makes some of its veil go away and open up the sound a bit more, though it's not a night-and-day difference. On the other hand I've never heard a modded HD600. All HD6xx family of Sennheiser headphones I've heard, stock or modded had the so-called "Sennheiser veil" which could only be pierced by a select few amps such as Jotunheim or Studio. I have not heard the Bill-p modded HD580, which is said to be a good compromise between HD600 and HD650.

Well, after listening to JAR 600, I gotta say that this is the best iteration of HD6xx I've heard.

Its tonality lies somewhere between HD600 and HD650, closer to HD600, but nowhere as bright. It is more exciting and aggressive than the HD650, which sounds laid-back and muted in comparison. I don't hear treble roll-off, and bass is tight. Soundstage is slightly better than both headphones in stock form. As for the Sennheiser veil, it's still there but less so. Imaging and resolution are excellent, though (obviously) eclipsed by those of HD800.

I know there are still a lot of fans of HD6xx here. If you are one of them, then the JAR600 is a must-listen. It's not perfect, but we know how well they scale an a TOTL amp.

A comparison between JAR600 and Bill-p's HD580 would be interesting.

 

Borrowed these from @brencho for a day, and I guess he got them from @tommytakis . Here's a chart -



You'll see on this chart there are a few places where the 580 and 6xx overlap and track each other - keep in mind these Senns (aside from the stock 800... ew) are more similar than different. And a 1-point difference is hard to quantify when there are various degrees of subtlety - best not to consider quantities an equivalent scale on every quality, but the differences on each quality are relative among the headphones compared.

Overall I enjoyed the JAR600 - its an energetic phone, but somehow I could get more volume with it than I could with my stock 580 despite the 600 sounding generally hotter and livelier. Not sure how or why - that's just what happened. If the 580 /6xx were snare drums, the 600 would be a piccolo snare - higher tension, faster snap, more controlled decay. I was surprised at the improvement in image clarity as well, though the soundstage remained mostly the same in terms of width, depth, etc.

Definitely lifted a veil over the others (including the stock 800). A bit on the lean side and not quite enough bass for my tastes, but the tactility was nice and I enjoyed them more than I thought. Makes me want to hear the JAR 650.

Swapping from the JAR to the 6xx felt like throwing a blanket over everything (alright, maybe this is a bit hyperbolic - I mean this in the sense of dynamic contrast and imaging moreso than FR). Swapping from the JAR to the 580 was a bit strange - 580 does feel fuller in the mids and smoother on top, but somehow I couldn't turn it up as much without fatigue. Maybe the JAR cleaned up some ringing I didn't even know was there.

Some of the markings on the graph might be polarizing - like me hearing the 6xx as airier than the 800. These quantities were determined using Eitr > EAD DSP 9000 III > Valhalla 2 / Feliks Echo (wish I had a better amp to do this with but that's what I had on hand the one day the headphones were here). Side note - my HD580 pads are the most broken-in pads in the world. Pads were fresh on the JAR and the 6xx. It's weird to see the stock 6xx score better on the graph than the 580 - I like the stock 580 better most of the time. HD800 scores well but I absolutely hate it (just keep it as a reference). Read between the lines.

I don't do avg. SPL matching because I always listen at the highest possible level I can without fatigue (only way to have a tactile and engaging dynamic experience with headphones IME) - catch is I get fatigued at fairly low levels with most headphones, so in most cases we're talking probably between 75-85dB. I'm very treble sensitive.

 

JAR 600 vs HD 600



I am a long-time fan of the HD 600, and recently found myself wanting to own a pair again as a backup to my ZMFs. When I put out the WTB request on SBAF, @k4rstar was nice enough to sell me a JAR 600. I was ecstatic as I have long wanted to try this mod. Thanks to USPS dysfunction currently though, I ended up having to wait 6 weeks for them to arrive. During that time, I bought a stock HD 600 as well. Timing lined up great to spend a better part of the past week comparing these two headphones. It has been an interesting experience. The high-level takeaway is that the JAR 600 is still distinctively a HD 600. It fixes some of the “sins” of the HD 600, with very few drawbacks. Are the drawbacks a deal-breaker? That is going to be based on personal preferences.

Chain used for testing: Gungnir Multibit A2/Tavish Vintage Phono with Sumiko Amethyst cart -> Freya S -> Cap Modded Liquid Platinum with Amperex Bugle Boy D-Getters (NOTE: First few days I did all my testing with the same 7n OCC braided balanced cable, but eventually started to use a silver cable with the JAR 600 as I will explain later)

I am going to assume most people are decently familiar with the signature of the HD 600, so going to present my findings as a pros and cons of the JAR 600 vs stock. (DISCLAIMER: This is personal pros and cons, some of these findings could certainly shift from pros to cons and vice versa based on your preferences)

Pros:

• Soundstage: The JAR 600 unfolds the HD 600 stage like an accordion. It gives the stage a cavernous sort of sense and creates separation that is just not there with the stock HD 600.
• Plankton: Ok, everyone hates this term, but this is one of the most noticeable differences to me. That unquantifiable quality of extra meat on the bones of the sound. You notice extra little nuance to certain instruments and sounds that are just buried under the shouty and compressed presentation of the stock HD 600.
• Low end: Not just talking about bass here, there is much better detail and texture from the mids on down with the JAR 600. It was especially noticeable to me with low piano notes. They feel real and visceral from the JAR 600, with a real sense of the hammers hitting the strings. When it comes to the bass, it is much cleaner and more articulate. The HD 600 sounds incredibly bloated and rounded by comparison. Bass quantity is roughly the same though or slightly less than stock, just more restrained at least.
• Bye bye sizzle/etch/shout: Even if you like it, it is hard to argue against the take that the stock HD 600 is HOT HOT HOT. The JAR pretty much entirely alleviates that issue. Sometimes when I would switch back to stock HD 600 my knee jerk reaction would be “Why are you shouting at me?!” The JAR rounds out some rough transients. This was especially noticeable on cymbals and other percussion that sometimes has that “ttssst” sort of sound on the stock HD 600, but would sound much more natural and less fatiguing with the JAR 600.

Cons:

• Recessed Vocals: This one is the potential deal breaker for me. When A-B testing the JAR vs HD 600 it is undeniable that vocals are pushed further away, and you lose some of the defining 600 character. I mentioned earlier that I moved to a silver cable with the JAR 600, it was primarily because I found it significantly helped alleviate this issue for me. Vocals sounded dare I say veiled in comparison to HD 600, but the silver cable helped lift that veil a bit.
• More laid-back: I suppose this one is not surprising, the HD 600 is certainly not a laid-back headphone. The JAR makes everything sound less forward, instead prioritizing stage depth and separation, the drawback is things feel significantly more laid-back. Everything felt more like a groove in the pocket. It reminds me more of the HD 650 in that regard. Could these be a pro for some people? Absolutely, but for my particular preferences and chain I missed the HD 600 energy much of the time as I swapped back and forth.
• Detail presentation is more subtle: Similar to the last one, and another one that is up for debate, but I like the aggressive/exciting presentation of the HD 600. Things are much more delicate and nuanced with the JAR 600, sometimes at the expense of certain detail retrieval. Kind of like certain sounds are having trouble poking their head out of the darkness. This could probably be alleviated based on your amp pairing. (EDIT: I realize this kind of contradicts my previous pro comments, so I will clarify that I am mainly talking more subtle macrodetail here, JAR 600 strength comes in microdetail/plankton)

Bottom Line

If you are someone that thinks the stock HD 600 is too fatiguing/hot but otherwise are a fan, this is the HD 6X0 headphone for you. I would say it is the HD 600 Smooth Edition, undeniably a HD 600, but tuned with some HD 650 sensibilities. Whichever way you fall preference wise, it is hard to argue against the conclusion that the JAR 600 is technically superior to stock. @ext1 has done amazing work here and his craftsmanship is second to none, I was blown away by the quality of the construction of this mod. Official production-quality work for sure.

I really enjoyed the process of comparing these headphones, because it taught me a lot about my personal preferences. It helped me realize things that bug me about the HD 600, but at the same time helped me identify the intrinsic qualities that make me enjoy them so much. I guess based on these findings it is not surprising I landed on HD 600 rather than KISS modded 6XX when I owned both in the past. The JAR 600 helped remind me just how much I miss my ZMF Auteur, as I would say they are very similar headphones. Both have a very similar stage presentation and timbre, at least based on memory and reviewing my previous notes as I do not own one currently. Auteur just has an edge of increased musicality, more emotional dynamics, and obviously has vastly superior bass presentation/quantity. Ultimately, I will be opting for buying an Auteur again and finding the JAR 600 a new home and holding onto the stock HD 600 as my secondary/backup cans. The next deep-dive comparison from me then will be between Auteur and Verite!

 

I've been listening to this for a couple weeks now. Really great work with the mods: it definitely sounds different (and improved) from the stock HD 600. A lot of what I have to say about this headphone has already been said by Inoculator and Hands, so I'll be focusing on just enumerating the key differences between this and the Auteur that haven't been already mentioned.

The largest, and most striking difference to me, is just the general difference in the overall sonic presentation, likely due to different FR's and decay characteristics: above all, the JAR HD600 has a sense of being nimble and very light on its feet, whereas the Auteur sounds much more grounded, earthy, and weighty. This doesn't mean the JAR HD600 sounds artificial: although the images are definitely less fleshy than that of the Auteur, they don't sound -thin- or metallic. Perhaps a little dry, though.

I think it's because the images of instruments are generally less saturated and "thick" than the Auteur that the JAR HD600 manages to sound "quicker". But the sense of quickness I'm trying to get it is not just transient quickness. The Verite has very quick transients, but also sounds fairly weighty and dense in its timbre. By contrast, the JAR HD600 is a headphone where the timbre is relatively unsaturated, and instrument images are a bit smaller on the soundstage, leading to an overall impression of speed, airiness, and weightlessness.

The Auteur, by contrast, has a much more fleshed out and filled out low-end, with better bass detail, slam, extension, and texture. But though the bass doesn't necessarily bleed into the mids on the Auteur (it doesn't), the very filled out lower-end (particularly in the sub-bass) gives the impression to the listener that the music is a bit...fuller on the whole, and in doing so makes some of the upper frequencies lose sparkle and verve. Ironically enough, it is the characteristic weakness of the HD600 - its lack of bass extension - which lets its mids and treble shine so brightly.

Transitioning to the Auteur after listening to the JAR HD600, it occasionally sounds as if there's an anchor dragging down the upper frequencies of the music, leading them to sound somewhat fuller than they have the right to be. When transitioning to the JAR HD600 after a long session on the Auteur, meanwhile, one sometimes gets the impression that the mid and upper frequencies have no real sense of foundation, and are just floating above you, doing their own things from the bass. This means that the Auteur has a much better sense of overall sonic coherency, I suppose. However, there's something very pleasing, at least in certain tracks, to this particular lack of coherency: when listening to some of Vampire Weekend's stuff with a lot of upper-midrange and upper frequency energy, the JAR HD600 presents it with more verve and less restraint than the Auteur. This can be fun.

For what it's worth, I think that the Auteur manages to beat the JAR HD600 in almost every technicality, save perhaps what I've called "vibrancy" in prior posts and sense of transient speed. Someone earlier thought they came somewhat close in resolution - I didn't hear this. Auteur sounded much, much more resolving to me, particularly of microdetails, even though the JAR HD600 has pretty good separation and layering. If I had to choose one headphone, I'm pretty sure I'd choose the Auteur - odd as it is to say, the lack of real sub-bass extension does make JAR HD600 something of a flavor can for me. But it's a fun flavor.

Oh, and one more really cool thing about this headphone: somehow it is considerably less fatiguing than the Auteur to me despite being sharper in its timbre and having more perceived treble energy. Not sure how they pulled that off, but it's cool.

 

Short version:
Just like purrin, the JAR600 will probably be replacing my 6xx as my "regular daily driver". They just don't really do anything wrong or cause me any fatigue and are enjoyable with a very wide variety of music.

Performance wise - yes, it's still a Sennheiser 600 series, but again, I like the overall sound enough to see myself using it more than my other HP. Performance wise it's already enough to be in the "fun zone" with my smaller amps and the Stellaris is able to push it further into the fun zone.

With regards to fatigue - I listened for about 4-5 hours with no listening fatigue - fatigue only came from the headband - easy fix by swapping to a HD6xx headband. It's weird because after 10 minutes I *think* I'm going to get listening fatigue but it never actually happens. I may try to obtain an extra 6xx headband for the longer listening sessions - it works better for me than current the HD600 headband does. The only other thing that may cause fatigue is I'm normally a pretty quiet listener - I don't listen as quietly with these - idk why, they just don't seem to come to life for me with my typical very quiet listening. I *speculate* that the dampening is the reasons for this but

Sound wise - It's good. Oddly - it looks and initially sounds like it's *going to be* overdampened, have a sort of thin sound, bad separation, muffled dynamics, and a loss of resolution in the first 2 seconds. Yet, just like the fatigue thing - once I start listening more, none of the above happen. As a matter of fact, it's the same or better than stock in these areas for me. And yes, as others have mentioned, the stock HD600 treble spikes and peaks are tamed. Sound is not 100% neutral (which is not what I want on every HP anyways), but probably the most neutral of the Sennheiser 600 and 800 iterations and mods I've heard.

Will post more thoughts after I spend more time with these.