This was posted 3 years 3 months 16 days ago, and might be an out-dated deal.

Related
  • expired

Massdrop x Sennheiser HD6XX US$195 + US$15 Shipping (~A$285.24 total) @ Drop

1241
Massdrop x Sennheiser HD6XX US$195 + US$15 Shipping (~A$285.24 total) @ Drop
Go to Deal
Cashback
jasswolf on 02/09/2021 - 13:55 drop.com (4076 clicks)
Last edited 06/09/2021 - 00:13 by 1 other user

The legendary headphone for vocal timbre that still holds its own against $1000+ headphones in that regard while offering great detail and resolving ability, especially in its price point. Slightly warm sound that trades some of that warmth for a more relaxed treble as the pads break in.

You will need an amp to get the most out of it, and the better the amp, the better this sounds because of how low distortion this is overall for a dynamic driver headphone, with only old school AKG open backs besting it's distortion characteristics around this price point, but they trade a lot of timbre and tonality for imaging and soundstage width.

If you're trying to keep things to a reasonable budget, this is the headphone to start with for at-home listening, unless you're very serious about competitive gaming, and it's probably a headphone you'll use for 10-15 years until headphone technology takes a serious leap.

Cheapest it's been since January 2020, with the all-time low being $269 delivered. US$10 off for new accounts.

Don't get sucked into buying extra pads, they are not the stock (HD 650) pads.

Enjoy!

Referral Links

Referral: random (79)

Referee receives $10 on a new signup with referral link. Referrer receives $10 credit upon the Referee completing a purchase.

Electrical & Electronics Headphones Sennheiser

Related Stores

Drop
Drop

closed Comments

    • jasswolf on 02/09/2021 - 21:58
      +5

      It comes down to what you're looking for out of your headphones.

      The other options that people will gravitate towards are (in my order of preference for a daily driver):

      • Audio Technica ATH-R70X (better tonality, imaging and soundstage, worse detail and timbre)
      • HIFIMAN Sundara (better tonality, imaging, soundstage and detail, worse timbre)
      • Focal Elears (with Clear pads, aka the Elex) if you can get the local deals (better dynamics, imaging and detail, worse timbre and tonality)
      • Drop x Koss ESP/95X (better imaging, soundstage and detail, worse timbre and tonality… possibly discontinued?)

      People will mention others like the HIFIMAN Ananda, the AKG K612 and K702, and the Audeze LCD-1, but they just sit a bit further behind.

  • Slopshua on 02/09/2021 - 21:25

    Damn you ozb. Now $485 poorer

  • pollambo on 02/09/2021 - 21:52

    Someone please tell if my iMac will be able to drive this 300 Ohm beast?

  • jmel on 02/09/2021 - 22:55

    great value for money beginner headphones. Don't forget to get an amp with dac. Brands like thx, schiit and toppings are decent

  • blergmonkeys on 02/09/2021 - 23:27
    +2

    For those that haven't seen my other comments. I bought the HD6XXs 3 years ago via drop. I had a limited budget at the time so went for a fiio BTR5 with balanced cables to power it. Whilst that little device was good, I always felt it didn't have the power to truly open up these headphones. I then tried the fiio K5 pro. Another great little amp/dac. Noticed an improvement but then I couldn't use my powered speakers through it because they would play at the same time as the headphones (unless I turned the speakers off). I then sold that and the BTR5 and finally bit the bullet for something decent. I did lots of research and price comparisons and fell onto the topping EX5. It's a combo amp/dac with switchable outputs/inputs via a remote, a nice little LCD display and bluetooth connectivity. It cost $460 from amazon, not cheap, but holy crap. I didn't know these headphones could sound like this. Plugging them in and powering up tidal with some MQA tracks, I was speechless. I honestly come home from work most days and eagerly anticipate the time when the kid is in bed, the wife is reading her books and I can sneak away to my home office for some music listening time. I haven't done this before but it's like crack. Absolutely blown away.

    Here's a fairly decent write up with measurements of the device.
    https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/s…

    Available here
    https://www.amazon.com.au/Topping-ES9038Q2M-Bluetooth-Headph…

    • piupiupiu on 03/09/2021 - 06:18

      I’ve always been curious about balanced cables (and I assume it was the Drop balanced cables?), did it make big difference compared to the stock cable?

      • blergmonkeys on 03/09/2021 - 12:45

        The reason for balanced cables in the audiophile world is to eliminate ground loop noise. Whether this makes a perceptible difference, I don’t know.

        The reason I used a balanced cable was due to the BTR5 having much higher output voltage in balanced mode. Even with this though, that little dingus has issues driving such high impedance headphones.

  • mediumjon on 03/09/2021 - 01:36

    Will an audient evo 8 be enough to drive these?

  • johnwickspuppy on 03/09/2021 - 02:22
    +4

    If you're trying to keep things to a reasonable budget, this is the headphone to start with for at-home listening

    A lot expert knowledge coming from OP and other Ozbargainers but be careful, you might go down a rabbit hole you'll regret. Already some are suggesting you spend an extra $500 or more to drive these 'budget' headphones. Next thing you know you are an audiophile :)

  • piupiupiu on 03/09/2021 - 06:30

    Is it worth getting the 2.5mm DROP balanced cables at all? Or maybe other more affordable options?
    Been meaning to try balanced cans and I think this probably is one of the easiest and most rewarding cans without doing recable mods..

    • blergmonkeys on 03/09/2021 - 12:46
      +1

      If you have an amp that does 2.5mm balanced output and which may provide more power this way, it may be worthwhile. It really depends on your setup though. Note that most amps do not have a balanced 2.5 so you’ll likely also need an xlr or 4.4 to 2.5 adapter.

      • piupiupiu on 03/09/2021 - 15:06

        I actually do have both player and portable amp that does 2.5mm, been meaning to try those but haven’t got any cans that does have separate cable for each channel. The 6XX will be it I guess.

    • jasswolf on 03/09/2021 - 14:15

      I don't dabble with balanced audio, and probably never will unless I wind up with a DAC/amp combo that is balanced (or at least attempting to run balanced) and has shocking unbalanced performance, so I'm not the best guide here.

      I'd imagine for the 650/6XX you're probably going to get better deals on AliE and eBay, but strongly advise to ask around on forums, though prepare yourself for many cable debates as people argue about audible differences of copper versus silver, etc.

      • piupiupiu on 03/09/2021 - 15:08

        Fair enough.. I’m definitely not going into the silver vs copper debacle, too much bias here and there, but will definitely look into getting one of those cheapos from AliExpress, cheers for the heads up..

  • [Deactivated] on 03/09/2021 - 09:19

    Looking at grabbing these followed shortly by a Hennesy / Modi 3 Schiit stack and will use my Xonar Essence STX sound card while waiting for the stack.

    Question though, any recommendations on where to get a decently priced short RCA cable, having a look around plenty of people recommending cables from a website called monoprice for only a few $$, but i would rather try and get the cable locally because of shipping.

    • jasswolf on 03/09/2021 - 14:20

      AliE, Amazon and eBay, maybe something with gold-plating just to help marginally with noise and maybe corrosion longer term.

    • Vieira4 on 09/09/2021 - 12:51

      Look for the PYST short rca cables on Schiit website. They’re USD20.

  • Subere on 03/09/2021 - 09:29

    Dumb question, but what kind of music are people listening with these kinds of headphones?
    I do buy quite a bit of music from Bandcamp so FLACs with artists like Nils Frahm and 65daysofstatic (and then there's the multiple CDs I have of OST, hip hop and new pop like Chvrches and Banks etc)

    Dumb question 2: I have a Steinberg UR12 interface and always wondered if that would be enough as a DAC/Amp. Probably longish term it'll be ok as a DAC but might need an amp eventually if I ever go down this path?

    Also have a Denon home cinema receiver and always wondered if this is sufficient for headphone listening also?

    • jasswolf on 03/09/2021 - 14:33
      +1

      Q1. All kinds of music, but they are best suited to vocal-forward music, acoustic music and probably pre-2000s music. They are no slouch with modern stuff, they just don't have a Harman bass shelf (like most open backs), notable sub-bass rumble or really thrash around in the highs. It's a relaxed listen, and there may be some heavier EDM-themed tracks or tracks that weren't mixed neutrally that might show up a little poorly.

      From my own personal perspective, there's no headphone that does it all, so you try and cover your music library with a few options, while trying to keep a modest budget. The 6XX and the Sundara would be a good mid-fi combo, for example.

      Longer term, angled ribbon drivers with an appropriate (speaker) amplifier would probably be the go for at-home listening, but there's design and manufacturing work to be done to make that more affordable.

      Q2a. https://www.ozbargain.com.au/comment/10987959/redir

      Q2b. I would assume the Denon has a headphone jack that does a decent job, but it comes down to how that part of the circuit is wired. It would almost certainly be superior to the UR12, but it's likely best performance would be via the speaker outputs, and that's the territory where you're dabbling with output levels that can accidentally blow your driver.

      I think planar (high current demand) and ribbon headphones (extremely low impedance) would benefit the most from this technique, but flicking the gain dial or transient loads when powering things on and off could cause driver damage so make sure you're read up and you know what you're doing if you want to go down that path.

  • Edamamme on 03/09/2021 - 10:27
    +1

    Wow I ordered yesterday & have just got an email this morning saying they’ve shipped it already. Nice 👍

  • BCnow on 03/09/2021 - 11:30

    Very tempting, anyone recommend a MIC to go with it for gaming?

    • blergmonkeys on 03/09/2021 - 12:47

      I have the blue yeti nano and use rtx voice. Brilliant combo.

    • jasswolf on 03/09/2021 - 13:19

      Headset boom, or desk, lapel, shotgun?

      • BCnow on 03/09/2021 - 14:33

        Hmm, probably any except the lapel, I'd assume that would be clunky to use on a daily basis.

        • jasswolf on 03/09/2021 - 15:09

          Headset boom wise, there's plenty on YouTube covering that, though I wouldn't recommend the option.

          Desk wise, you're looking at $50-$400 for a good range of XLR (including interface cost) and USB based options, but that's before considering stands/arms. Dynamic mics were intended for stage use, so they reject more noise, while condenser reject less and were designed for studio recording.

          Shotgun mics were designed around rejecting outdoor noise while recording audio in front of a video camera, but they can be an alternative to a dynamic mic if you want a clutter-free desk, ableit an expensive one. I'm not across the options, but there's streaming educator-focused YouTubers who cover this.

          Coming back to the more price-conscious options, here's some previous comments I made that cover the desk options around right now:

          XLR: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/comment/10895365/redir + Behringer XM8500 & USB-to-XLR cable for budget dynamic option, XLR interface recommendations would be Behringer UMC202HD for $100 @ Amazon or stepping up to the Audient Evo 4 for $180 @ Amazon

          Some USB comments: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/comment/10895365/redir + Razer Sieren X when sub-$90

          While you've said voice comms for gaming, I have no idea if you intend on streaming, making content, future plans elsewhere, etc. You don't want to be grasping at mic after mic every 18 months, so try to get a little more value for money and something that lasts the journey with you.

          If you want a quick and dirty option while you wait for prices for some of the above to settle or return, you might be able to score a high quality capsule desk mic that operates via USB, but it's really hit or miss in terms of which ones are known to sound good. The last one from KMart went for $2.50 and was pretty great, but it's gone now.

  • bbbargain on 03/09/2021 - 11:59

    Hey Jasswolf. Hoping for some advice. Wanting to buy these and use with Android usb c phone. Have an Apple usb c dongle, would that be sufficient to pair with schiit magni 3+ and my mobile phone? Or should I get modi 3+ too? I'm leaving towards the Apple dongle being enough.
    Thanks and great post.

    • jasswolf on 03/09/2021 - 13:20

      When you're running it through like that, that's called double amping, so you're amplifying whatever noise and distortion is in the small amp inside the dongle. If you're exclusively using these with a phone, you may want to look into a portable DAC/amp combo instead.

      The dongle alone will make them listenable, but you will lose control in the bass, and the upper treble will roll off a lot harder.

      • bbbargain on 03/09/2021 - 13:22

        Isn't the dongle a dac and the magni is an amp? Where does double amping come from?

        • jasswolf on 03/09/2021 - 13:31

          The dongle is a small, low-powered DAC/amp combo, as are the headphone jacks in every digital device you've ever used with one. The Magni 3+ is a desktop amp.

          The noise, distortion on these small amps tend to show up as you crank the volume, and the max volume with these high impedance and somewhat low sensitivity headphones will be rather meagre, and again lacking control (dynamic drivers have varied impedance, generally with a bump in the bass, and rising again in the upper treble).

          I'd start with the dongle, and get yourself familiarised with what you want out of your setup going forward, as there are some decent dongles out there that might give you what you're looking for, as well as things like DAPs and of course the aforementioned portable DAC/amp combos.

  • OzBargainingPower on 03/09/2021 - 12:29

    Fantastic headphone. Got this during the last Addicted to Audio sale and have been using it with Audiogd NFB 11.38 Amp and DAC combo. Couldn't have been happier!

  • giBiLatoR on 03/09/2021 - 15:51

    I'm highly considering adding this to my lineup to compliment my Hifiman Arya's and DT1990s. Running them through an SMSL SH-9/SU-9 stack currently. I know the lineage of this headphone and have owned a set of HD800s previously and LOVE Sennheiser but does anyone know if these would bring anything new to the table that the Aryas/1990s don't do too well?

    • jasswolf on 03/09/2021 - 15:58

      A more balanced and relaxed tonality, and great timbre without overly sacrificing detail (at least against the Arya). Imaging and staging would take a hit in both cases, particularly the Arya, but that's the trade-off they made with the HD 650/6XX when trying to create a more natural sound from the HD 600 design.

      Another direction for you to consider in the longer term might be angled ribbon headphone drivers, which I've mentioned briefly in these comments. The RAAL SR-1A is a sort of window into that future, but that's an earspeaker design and $5000 on a good day:

      https://raalrequisite.com/product/sr1a-earfield-monitors/
      https://www.headphones.com/community/reviews-learning-and-ne…

      Audeze did a limited release of their current ribbon R&D via the LCD-R, but that's not angled, but remarkably cheaper with a supplied amp. I think ribbon options may arrive in mid-fi in the next few years, which is really exciting stuff so long as they take more advantage of their dispersion patterns in an angled alignment to create an enormous headstage.

  • ek1m on 03/09/2021 - 16:44

    I own dt 990 250ohm (probably favourite)
    Sennheiser HD 599 (nice sound, not exciting/lack of bass for my tastes)
    Meze 99 Neos (Pretty close to ideal, bit muddled bass bleeding into mids etc)
    ATH m50x (10 year old god pair that is still going strong but eh - 990s and meze neo > )
    Focal Listen Wireless (Bought cheap from addicted to audio and they're kind of bad but fine I guess, but don't listen to them unless needing wireless for whatever reason)

    But I've always had an eye on/heard about the HD 6— series. Wanted to try the 600s in particular and from what I can tell these are similar to the 650s?

    Are these a decent upgrade over what I already own? Do I try sell some off to make myself feel better about owning headphones? e.g sell the 599s and Focals (they're pretty bad, got them for 150$ from addicted to audio down from 500)

    Thanks Mr Audio Man with the good replies

    edit: running through a k3

    • jasswolf on 03/09/2021 - 17:03
      +1

      ATH m50x (10 year old god pair)

      That'd have to be the original M50 then, which was much loved and the reason why the M50X (which I'm not a fan of) was made and sold to consumers.

      Wanted to try the 600s in particular and from what I can tell these are similar to the 650s?

      These are 650s with a slightly cheaper chassis and no real change in the sound, given the 650 itself has been iterated and also manufactured out of different countries over the journey. Compared to the 600, they lose a bit of soundstage and imaging, but they gain pleasant warmth and fantastic vocal timbre. They were hand tuned to make the 600 a more musical headphone in a way that scaled with gear, and they really did succeed on that front.

      Are these a decent upgrade over what I already own?

      I would call them a good blend between the Meze, the 599 and the DT990, in the sense that it brings detail, but with a pleasant, gently warm tonality and Sennheiser mids. What it will lack compared to the DT990 and the 599 is imaging and soundstage performance, but certainly for older music, you're not going to care.

      Do I try sell some off to make myself feel better about owning headphones?

      Yeah I'd move on from the 599 and the Focal, and with respect to the DT990 and the M50, I'd recommend demoing the HIFIMAN Sundara and the AKG K371 respectively, and if you like them, picking them up during Amazon's Black Friday sales, complete with stacked cashbacks.

      If you still need a bluetooth headphone in the short term and want to dabble in ANC, the AKG N700NC M2 is a great buy at around $120, or otherwise you can hook up a decent bluetooth adapter to the K371, or even just a USB-C dongle if you're connecting to your phone.

      • Cliche Guevara on 03/09/2021 - 17:18

        The Hifiman HE400SE are currently $219 on Amazon. Interested in your opinion in comparing these to the HD6XX.

        • jasswolf on 03/09/2021 - 17:38
          +2

          That's their standard price now. The HE400SE are a tonal upgrade on most of their recent name sakes, somewhat reminiscent of the original Sundara. They're similar to the 2020 HE400i, which I have heard.

          I think you're trading the timbre and the quality of the mids of the 650 to get a somewhat wider soundstage with better imaging, and a more forward treble. Both have a smooth treble, but the HE400SE (Stealth Magnet version by the way, because there are two versions out there) really pushes up after 10kHz.

          I personally wouldn't make that trade, and I'd be in the majority, but what they've brought to the $200 price point is very impressive, and in the context of Black Friday sales, extremely hard to beatm but those mid-range issues might put some people off and put them towards the HD 560S and the 6XX depending on their tastes.

          Start with the 6XX IMO, and then demo the HE400i/HE400SE and the Sundara as future options if you're building up a collection that compliments one another.

      • ek1m on 03/09/2021 - 17:23

        Thanks heaps.

        Yeah it sounds like these may be a nice replacement/supplement for the 599s and the somewhat regrettable purchase of the focals - I'll try offload them.

        May take your advice on checking out the Sundaras and the AKG K371. Sundaras, 1990s and Elegia are what I've thought my next jump would probably look like instead of constantly buying around the $2-300 range seeing as I'm clearly not satisfied in this price range - but just been chasing that audiophile high without sinking that $5-700+.

        May just have to at some point though. Thanks again.

    • jalwa on 04/09/2021 - 10:03

      I had the original ath m50 and would consider these a clear upgrade. Don't have experience with the rest of your gear.

  • harthagan on 03/09/2021 - 23:16

    The trap for young players is that these will still sound damn good direct out of a phone or ipod etc, but to truly hear them open up fully and sing you need a decent headphone amp. Otherwise you may as well just buy something for half the price that will sound just as good or even better out of your iphone due to better sensitivity and lower impedance.

  • stubro on 04/09/2021 - 09:02

    Can anyone recommend replacement pads for these? I bought mine a few years ago and the ear pads have worn down quite a bit.

    • piupiupiu on 04/09/2021 - 10:07
      +2

      I would suggest getting the original Sennheiser 650/600 pads. I’ve tried third party ones, no good. Maaaybe dekoni or brainwavz, they are quite okay, but I’d still prefer the OG ones better..

  • jalwa on 04/09/2021 - 10:00
    +1

    I have the Schiit stack but prefer to play these straight out of my phone and hear no real difference. I don't think I am deaf as I can easily tell the difference between lower and higher bit rate music upto 320kbps. 320kbps and lossless sound identical. And I can't tolerate playing out of laptop audio-out or cheap sound cards due to the added noise.

    My point is, once you have a reasonably clean dac\amp and high enough bit rate, investing in further improvements may not be meaningful for most normal humans.

    • piupiupiu on 04/09/2021 - 10:11

      I agree with this, been using old iPods to direct drive my high impedance cans, sounds okay, but sometimes it is missing the dynamic feel especially on faster rock songs.

      But the main reason I like having desktop amp is… physical volume knob! Something about physical controls that feels so satisfying..

    • jasswolf on 04/09/2021 - 14:31
      +1

      As I've mentioned a few times, the extra power is about being able to quickly match the more varied impedance in the 20-150Hz and post 10kHz ranges.

      Subject to noise, distortion, and capable volume, you're not missing information in the midst and lower treble, you're missing control and authority in the bass presentation, and presence in the air frequencies.

      Depending on what you're listening to, you may not notice this readily, such as electronic instruments other than say bass guitar or drums, heavily processed vocals (or any recordings with a significant high pass or low pass filter), and with acoustic recordings in a sound-treated room that's not been setup for significant binaural recording, where the air frequencies that capture subtleties of the acoustic space will be diminished and the bass sits way further back in the mix.

      It's going to vary track to track because of mastering, recording and the original information, and on headphones that produce a significantly large headstage and don't over or under-emphasise the air frequencies, you do pick that up more readily.

      For the 6XX, you're going to notice it more in the bass, but it still some imaging capability if you're familiarised with the track on more capable headphones in this regard.

      I should ask though: which Schiit stack models exactly, and what have you got your DAC outputting?

      • jalwa on 04/09/2021 - 21:32

        Modi 2 uber and magni 3. There might be some benefit in certain frequencies, but if we need to look that hard, then it's probably not material for most.

        According to many, if an amp can drive enough volume, then extra power doesn't really help.

        • jasswolf on 04/09/2021 - 23:20

          I mean I mentioned frequency ranges, not specific values. Here's the impedance curve for the 6XX.

          RE: the DAC settings you didn't share, you want at least 24-bit 48kHz, with increased sampling rates smoothing out the response. Spotify will support up to 32-bit 192kHz, though the extra bit depth only helps in post with a recording, as a lot of decent DACs will fall in the range of about 18-24 bits in terms of the analog signal (plus you'd probably need a leap in speaker driver tech).

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join