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Broken-Heart
15
Apr 28, 2018
What I have to say might trigger some audiophiles. So, remember that I'm NOT an audiophile.
The sound quality of these headphones is incredible when paired with my newly purchased O2 Amp. I have a bit of an unusual setup because I connected my Amp to my Xonar DX soundcard instead of buying an external DAC. The sound remains clean and clear with no interference whatsoever.
I also own the HD 598 headphones (Ivory color) which are also open back and I think I've hit the limit in what I'm willing to invest in audio equipment because there's little to no difference in the overall sound quality between the HD 6XX. Sure, there's some extra power felt in some scenarios but when you notice a difference, it's NOT worth the extra cost compared to the HD 598. DO NOT buy if you have the HD 598 or 518 or 558
This is as far as I will invest in headphones or audio in general because I've hit diminishing returns. I Absolutely LOVE these headphones and will never replace them unless they break
I've mostly used cheap headphones. When I bought the first somewhat decent headphone, The Roccat Kave (The original 5.1 version), I was blown away by the jump in sound quality. When I later read some reviews for them, quite a few people felt that it sacrificed sound quality for the surround effect.
I decided that I would invest a bit more in audio to see if there would be any change in sound quality. I bought the Sennheiser HD 598 because of the insanely positive reviews and again I noticed a decent jump in quality, I lost the surround effect but was amazed by all the extra details I detected in all my usual songs and games. The open back design made me feel that the sound was not coming from the headphone but from further away. The 598 was THE MOST comfortable headphone I've ever used.
After that I bought the HD 6XX and noticed that they are less comfortable than my HD 598 and don't provide and meaningful jump in quality to justify the extra cost.
raansire7
1506
Apr 28, 2018
Broken-HeartI totally get what you mean, friend, and I totally agree. Although I owned the HD 598 SE for a year, I relate to what you say in regards to my DT 990 Pro 250 ohm, T90 Chrome, and DT880 Edition 600 ohm. I purchased them in that order. Being used (but not amused) to my Audio-Technica M70x, I was impressed by the DT 990's soundstage and details, but irritated by their sharpness and lack of mids compared to the full, realistic-sounding (but duller) HD 598 SE. That was the first time I started getting suspicious of the headphone world's pecking order. So I got the T90 Chrome out of curiosity to see if there was a noticeable jump in sound quality. Tesla drivers and all, they are refined DT 990s. No poetry needed. There is a noticeable difference in the sound presentation, which I like more, but it's not in the sense of better or worse. The contrast is just in the aspect of "to sound this different, more money needed to be spent by the manufacturer and by me", not in "these T90s have better sound quality because they're higher in the model lineup".
That higher model number and higher cost got me not superiority, but something that fit better the mold of my preferences. Once we reach a certain threshold, it's difficult to hear the difference in sound quality, which is in my opinion objective to a certain extent, but subjective for the most part. There is a wall that exceeds our ear and brain's capabilities, and (fortunately) the price is less than $1000 in my experience. Over that wall, that's where audiophiles climb and start imagining things, getting poetic, and they start using esoteric terms and otherworldly logic.
So after realizing that I liked the T90 more not because they sounded better than the DT 990, but because their sound signature, although still exceedingly and unnaturally sharp to my ears, was more tolerable, I decided to "downgrade" and got the DT 880. Instantly, I liked them more than the T90. I was like, "THESE are the better, superior-sounding headphones if there was such a thing. Man, ah, this is so much more tolerable and doesn't sound technically worse than the T90, just different. These hit the spot. I wanna hug them."
So yeah, I was going to eventually get the HD 6XX out of curiosity, but after reading you and seeing that I'm on your same wavelength, I'll probably skip them if they're not better than the HD 598, but different. I gifted my HD 598 SE to a friend because I wanted more highs, even though everything else sounded acoustic and real. All my three Beyers have a metallic, bright sound signature, and way too much highs and not enough of the muddy mid-lows and mids. In my opinion, a little muddyness from the mids down to the mid-lows is OK, because that's how real-life sounds.
You know what combination I'd like? The T90's airiness and space, the DT 990's lows, the DT 880's highs, and the HD 598's muddy mid-lows and mids...but keeping the smooth, realistic tonality of the Sennheisers (versus the bright, metallic tonality of the Beyers). Those would be my ideal fun headphones.
I'm not an audiophile in the sense of the psychological disease that attaches the big ego of people to their bigger wallets in search of a non-existent audio nirvana, but I do care about sound more than what is deemed normal. I consider myself to have higher polished ears than the average person, because I've been involved in sound producing and engineering for 16 years. It's a fact that working with EQs and compressors and other sound shaping tools polishes the ear and trains the brain to notice subtleties and nuances, which translates in music enjoyment to noticing the difference in sound textures between different headphones. It find it highly rewarding when headphones let me hear deeper into the music, and if not deeper, then differently. But I keep it real, because the closest thing to the audio nirvana that audiophiles seek is attained during the mixing stage, not during music consumption with obscenely expensive gear. In that mixing stage the overall sound is still manipulable because every single track and sound shaping tool is still available to be freely adjusted. Then the final stage is mastering, which is when the entire music track is "fairy dusted", nuanced, and receives its final compression and limiting to get the final overall volume and dynamic character.
Once the mastering is completed, that's the music tracks' birth. So audiophiles want a perfect baby, when the baby was already formed by the mixing and mastering engineer. Knowing all this, I buy headphones being conscious that there is a point where there won't be more to be had, and again, it can be reached below the $1000 mark in my experience.
Broken-Heart
15
Apr 28, 2018
raansire7That was a very nice insight into the process of music production. I thank you for taking the time to tell your experience. 16 years in audio production does make you an expert on the subject. If I understood what you're saying correctly, you're saying that you can produce a music track in such a way that $200 headphones can provide the same level of detail as $2000 headphones. Am I right?
raansire7
1506
Apr 28, 2018
Broken-HeartThanks, friend. To answer your question, yes.
Any capable sound engineer can capture and preserve the maximum retrievable detail. All nuances and subtleties will be there. How it's presented depends on the equipment. There is good and bad equipment, and that is objective until a certain point, which is subjective. Beauty is in the ear of the beholder.
Why? Because the brain and ear threshold of perceivable objective quality is lower than people believe, and after it's crossed, it's all subjetive. Companies will not reveal. How will they make more money?
A hoopty Toyota Tercel takes you places as effectively as a Lamborghini Huracan Performante. Which is the better car? Better at what? At their main purpose, the Tercel meets the threshold and the Huracan exceeds it...on a subjective level. But objectively, no one is better at taking you from point A to point B. See how consumerism enslaves mankind? Same with headphone companies. I buy headphones for the difference in audio presentation, not superiority, because not only I consume music, but I produce it. But most people don't. So they want to reach stars that do not exist.
Higher-end equipment objectively sounds different, and subjectively sounds "better"...but contrary to the diseased audiophile psychology, it will not reveal what is not there. The capable engineer had the superior aural experience when crafting the tracks. No amount of expensive gear will rival or surpass that experience in the studio. It's impossible! 😀
Broken-Heart
15
Apr 28, 2018
raansire7I thought the fault was with my hearing because apart from sounding more powerful, No extra detail was observable by "upgrading" to the HD 6XX. I wish I talked to you before buying these. They cost me more than $500 if you count the mandatory O2 amp. Customs in my country is 45% for audio equipment and shipping internationally came close to $100 on its own. Nobody learns for free, I guess.
raansire7
1506
Apr 28, 2018
Broken-HeartWell, if you enjoy them, that's all that matters. Plus, they get "better" with "better" equipment. Enjoy them in good health, friend. Don't be discouraged by what I said. It's my personal experience and it should not deter your enjoyment. You made a good purchase. It's better than what the majority of the population has. Seriously. The audio summit isn't much higher than where you are, but just prettier.
Listen carefully with them and you'll hear their superiority versus the other ones. It's just not evident unless you know what to look for. The difference is there once you learn them. What I wrote is true from my sound engineer viewpoint, but my likes and tastes are subjective. I'm here on Massdrop browsing just like you and everyone else. My knowledge doesn't deter me to enjoy, but makes me a smart shopper and inmune to company marketing.
Two months ago, I gifted my Superlux HD-668B to a brother in my local church, where I'm the soundguy. He asked me about good headphones, because he wanted to buy some Bose headphones, and I felt bad and gave him my mint Superlux headphones for free. He loved them and praised them. I saved him money and taught him about how branding and marketing works and how people are programmed to hear what is not there.
Thee Superlux are $38, but are one of my favorite headphones and I can hear everything through them. Yeah, they have piercing highs and recessed mids, and the sound quality and transparency is not as good as better cans, but the 3D image is good and the bass is fun. I like them more than my $300 Audio-Technica ATH-M70x.
In all seriousness, I can spend $5,000 on headphones if I want to, but why? My brain cannot be tricked. Knowledge is like an anti-virus. A program cannot execute in an environment that is safeguarded against it. Enjoy your music through your headphones and delight in the nuances. Don't worry about anything. God bless you, friend!
Broken-Heart
15
Apr 28, 2018
raansire7And you too. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge.
Jaron_27
1
Apr 30, 2018
raansire7Hey man, read through your comments and really gained some insight! Just on a side note, I am looking for new headphones and saw that you mentioned the DT 880s. What types of music are they good for and are the highs ear piercing? I owned the DT 770s and the highs after an hour or so of use would cause me headaches. Would I b ebetter oof with lower end headphones like the Sennheiser HD 579? Thanks!
raansire7
1506
Apr 30, 2018
Jaron_27Hey friend, I could not answer your question accurately. I do listen to properly mixed gospel reggae and Christian music with lots of acoustic instruments. For that, I think the DT 880 are great even if they're studio reference monitors and not Hi-Fi headphones for music consumption. I also make electronic music for personal use and they work great for producing tracks and then enjoying the final mixdown. They let me hear really deep into the music. Because of that, for badly mixed or "noisy" music, I say they are not enjoyable. They sound as good as the source material.
I don't know what to recommend to you, but if you could endure about an hour on the closed-back DT 770s, which I haven't used, then I'd conclude that you have high tolerance for bright headphones and would not enjoy duller headphones like the lower-end Sennheisers. I don't think you'd enjoy them. I gifted away my HD 598 SE because although sounding realistic and 3D, they were too dull for me. If they had sharper highs, I would've kept them because my Beyers don't have that type of sound presentation. What sound do you want from headphones? What are you seeking exactly compared to the DT 770?
ludachris
314
May 14, 2018
Broken-HeartI agree. Hype doesnt maoe the hd6xx better. Im waiting for the 660s
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