Massdrop x Sennheiser HD 6XX Headphones Reviews | Drop

Sep 17, 2018

TheFieryHazeOne thing to consider,with headphones or any type of speaker-you mentioned how you noticed more and the better they sounded as you listened to them,a lot of this is due to what is called "burn in",all speakers require a burn in period before they reach their optimal sound. To burn in speakers or cans,play them at varying power levels for at least 24 hrs continuous,you can leave them at a single power level too,and just let them play while restraining yourself from cranking them up to full,the longer the break in the better they sound imho-i also personally do a minimum of 200 hr burn in on any new speaker purchase,i dont go above 50% power till im done w/burning them in.This is just what "I" do with my speakers etc,to each their own,but give it a try,just hook them up to any output,and let them play at a low to medium power for 5 days,listen to them before,and then after and revel in the improvement,you can as you have,listen to them and hear the quality get better each time,w/my home theater speakers-Klipsch RP series,when not watching TV i would turn the volume down low enough to where it didnt interfere w/anything and let them go,was much harder to keep the theater at lower levels while burning in,but i knew when i did throw power to them they would be ready for it,the R-115SW took a while longer,which lengthened the process,but was worth the piece of mind-no im not looking for a bragging contest-i know there are better speakers,but at their price range you arent going to get anything better.

Jan 23, 2019

AmraBurn in is a myth all that really happens is that you get used to the sound after time.

Jan 23, 2019

Florianskilmao-if you say so

jah1138

Feb 1, 2019

AmraWhy lmao? There is still no proof that burning in does anything to headphones. If I've missed the conclusive study, please post a link!

Feb 1, 2019

jah1138Exactly! There is no measurable difference, physical proof or even a theoretical explanation.

Feb 18, 2019

jah1138I'm laughing because this is always the same argument,the PROOF is minimal and subjective,,but if there is a benefit to doing it,when i spend hundreds on cans or thousands on speakers,i'm gonna do it,its the same as breaking in an engine,some say it'll go or blow,while others go through a break in period,again when thousands of dollars are on the line im going to err on the safe side,afterall,what is it going to hurt??? I feel it makes a difference,i havent gone through and searched tons of threads for proof,im not wasting my time,as i really dont care what others do with their equipment,i do care about mine and I feel,think,hear a difference,you can say i dont,but you cant say for sure as you have no proof that it doesnt.So its always the same argument,just doing a quick search after just getting a notification that my comment was approved i did find this and it was the first link i clicked on.But i will not continue this subjective conversation as its just a matter of opinions and isnt worth my time,you know what they say about opinions,they are just like ___holes,everybody has 1. https://www.tested.com/tech/accessories/459117-science-and-myth-burning-headphones/

Feb 18, 2019

AmraI agree. Of course you dont have to be my opinion and of course you are free to believe in your audiophile religion.

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Mar 9, 2019

Florianskiit really isn't on hd650/6xx. of the five other sets of cans i have, subjectively, listening to the 6xx brand new out of the box was absolutely NOT the experience i have now listening to them. a transition from truly awful to absolutely NOT awful- and having listened along the way to what was happening, the bass/midbass develops, and the treble becomes infinitely less harsh. had i listened the ENTIRE breakin period, i wouldn't have gotten so far, and most of it was done without my ears being involved (thank goodness :D). placing these beside my other cans which i've had for years, NOW they sound very much more in line tonally with them NOW-- but certainly not at first. implausible as it may seem to you-- it is absolutely NOT getting used to it, because i wouldn'tve bothered if sennheiser were making cans that sound like they sound new out of the box.

Mar 9, 2019

shorthandedYou just described the definition of getting used to it.

Mar 10, 2019

AdonaelSo if burn in is so real and a "fact" then surely you, the clearly superior human beeing in this conversation, can explain to me, how burn in works and what exactly happens to the driver and its diaphragm so that it changes the sound? No of course you cant because that would require some understanding of technology and physics but im sure you are just way too intelligent for such kind of things. Oh and why exactly bring up climate change? What has that to do with this conversastion and why should i negate its existence?

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Mar 10, 2019

FlorianskiWell, no, no I didn't. I'm not utterly denying that there's not a piece of 'getting used to it' involved. Any new presentation is going to have some acclimatization time, I'll give you that. But in this instance-- I have two pairs of studio monitors, and 4 other sets of cans I know well to check my ears next to alongside the 6xx. When I got them, they truly had very little midbass, leaving a brutally prominent upper midrange and a super over snugged feel to them, both of which changed over time. It wasn't a subtle shift at all, and I had a good amount of next-to-real-time evidence on hand to compare it to, and 25 years of sound recording to hopefully have a sonic basis to judge against. And as I stated, the majority of the changes happened while OFF my ears. If I 'got used to it', it would've happened in possibly 30-45 minute listening sessions once a day during a week of 24 hour a day playing, because they didn't sound like music until much later. It's really not rocket science, man, and despite your lack of belief-- it happened. I suppose you could've gotten a magical pair, or mine were cursed: tough sayin' not knowin'.

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Mar 10, 2019

shorthandedAnd yet still nobody can explain how "Burn in" is supposed to work. Neither the driver nor the diaphragm changes in any way or form during use so why should the sound change?

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Mar 11, 2019

FlorianskiBut how is it that you're so certain about drivers NOT changing? Are you doing electron microscopy and surface analysis? B&K analyzers on individual drivers? Probing analysis into microfissures in the suspensions of drivers? Maybe you are, and you'll share said analysis in support of your premise. Any mechanical system will change under load, and any material in a mechanical system will undergo stress. That's just physics. How do I validate that I heard a change? By saying what I hear. If you can hear the differences between headphones, speakers, and recording-- judge them good and bad, and assess them qualitatively-- then we are using the same skills as listeners. \ I would assume, since you've chosen to consort with people discussing audio this is your world as well. Now, if I can actually tell you the details of what occurred sonically, have standards against which I compared it throughout, and an ear trained to hear differences as a recording engineer, I'd say that I have a ghosts chance of believability. That you have no data, were not present, did not hear what I heard, and your evidence is 'It is not so' leaves us in a he said she said scenario, and to this point, you haven't offered a lot of compelling information either experientially or scientifically. Ultimately, I'm fine with your disbelief and don't need your validation, nor for 'science' to be on my side. But I've yet to see good science presented that trumps what I hear as 'good'.

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Mar 11, 2019

shorthandedIt is true that any machanical system will change under load however in a driver there is basically no load! There is no significant change in temperature and almost no friction at all because the diaphragm is extremely lightweight, durable and well suspended. Believing in burn in is just like believing in god. You cant theoretically explain it, nor measure it nor proof its existence, so why should i believe in it? If you could show me a good compelling study or scientific paper that proves that burn in exists I would change my mind. Its not that i dont want to believe in it its just that if there is no proof and it makes no sense, I wont believe it. There are just so many audiophile myths out there that are so stupid and I here thinking like: "damn these people have absolutely no understanding of how this works..." For example: theres people that believe in cable burn in! Yes you heard that right they think if you freeze the cable and heat it up again, the sound will change even though the cable has no effect on the signal that is sent through it. Or the countless fools that think they can hear the difference between a lossles audio and a 320kb/s mp3. Or the people that think a tube amplifier is superior to a normal amp even though a tube amp colours the sound a lot. Or the people that think vinyl is more accurate than digital. What im trying to say is: Theres so much bullshit said on the internet which just proves that most "audiophiles" are just idiots that like to brag about their equipment but dont have any technical understanding or knowledge. Anyway as I said before in this conversation to Mr. Amra, you are free to believe in your audiophile religion. All i want is that you stop treating unproven things like facts. Thank you.

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Mar 11, 2019

FlorianskiI understand that absolutely, and believe me, there's plenty of people committed to the crazy. In that regard, we are fully copacetic, and I would gladly tip a beer with you to toast the eschewing of the crazy for a facts based focus on audio! Previous to this, I'dve said it was an overstatement that there'd be HUGE changes to a 50mm driver. I've experienced it in 12" drivers... but the surface area is WAY bigger, it's a way bigger driver. Sure-- makes sense. I've even seen weird anomalous frequency responses in other cans-- but they generally work their way out. Who knows.. manufacturing tolerances? Bits of glue? A general limbering of the suspension? Not truly sure. Haha.. but Florianski, this defied my expectations. Of course-- everyone hears the tale of HD650s being lovely and open and lush and wonderful. And they are. Just not initially. What happened? I can't tell you-- yes, they worked, they played sound, they did in fact move air, but there was in my opinion a vacuous sucking of musicality... taut, infinitesimally small soundstage, bright, cloying, nasty, upper midrange heavy, all low bass, no midbass, no upper treble. In fact it made me miserable to put them on because for an open backed headphone, it felt as if wasn't stepping into a big broad world of music, but a narrowly fitting box on my head. Made an impression, didn't it? It sure did. I'd like those initial hours of hearing damage back, and will be billing Sennheiser forthwith. Currently I'm listening to them, two weeks later after a week of white noise, and another week of playing actual human music, and it's a much more vivid 3d presentation, with full frequency range, and sounding very much like they're described by people who like them. I am now glad to say I agree. Do I have a full grasp on the actual dynamic afoot? Nah. But my visceral reaction as a musician of 40 years kinda puts it in perspective that I'm not believing in this for the sake of backing up an audiophile myth, and believe me, I'd rather be listening than putting my brand new cans in a box with a blanket on them and blasting white noise, right? I'm sure they'dve gotten there if I just played music, but as ludicrous as it sounds, I'd ask you to suspend your disbelief for at least ONE pair of headphones- 'cause truly, these 'broke in'. Believe me-- I know there's mythologies- and this isn't a case of suspending cables on stones, magic power cables, cryo'd cables or tubes or even just the power of suggestion. That sound initially wouldn't sell many cans, I promise you.

jah1138

Mar 16, 2019

Amra"im going to err on the safe side,afterall,what is it going to hurt?" This is what we call superstition, like crossing yourself or throwing salt over your shoulder. Not much penalty to doing it, so why not, on the off chance that it actually does something? People are free to burn in if they want to, but if it actually made a real difference in the sound of the headphones, that difference would be measurable. This is science. You wouldn't have to search thousands of threads for the proof, it would be established knowledge and everyone would have graphs showing it. Proof is not subjective; it is measurable and repeatable. Now, again, people are more than free to feel like burn in makes a difference, and that's fine. We all have our things. I do things without proof. I just don't claim that they are proven fact, and I don't laugh at people who point out they aren't. Because they aren't.

Mar 16, 2019

jah1138Couldnt agree more.

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Mar 18, 2019

Florianskiit's a shame you guys don't have any more conclusive scientific research on the subject either so you could substantiate such a superior stance. :D of course, there is that ONE inner fidelity article and lots of blab pieces on the interwebz.

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Mar 18, 2019

shorthandedand literally thousands of reports corroborating the phenomenon.

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Mar 18, 2019

shorthandedThen why dont you share those thousands of reports and scientific studies with us? Id love to read them send me a link!

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Mar 19, 2019

Florianskiyou're as far as your browser to find many anecdotal experiences. insofar as 'scientific studies', you'll find as many as you offer in support and to the contrary in the same place. i trust my ears far more than i believe the credibility of The Intarwebz Expert in either regard. ultimately, doesn't matter to anyone but yourself-- but rage on at the windmills don quixote! onwards brave rocinante!

Mar 19, 2019

shorthandedI find your answer rather disappointing. Ive done research before but i havent found a single convincing pro burn in article. I was hoping you could provide one that i didnt find.

Apr 12, 2019

FlorianskiYou also have to consider moving parts,which speakers and cans do have,when you first assemble moving parts they do not move as smoothly as they do once the have been run and get broken in,so the coils in speakers will move smoother once they have run over a length of time making them more efficient than they were new.I wish i knew how to get a million dollar grant to try to prove or disprove this phenomenon.

Florianskihttps://www.audioholics.com/loudspeaker-design/speaker-break-in-fact-or-fiction/speaker-break-in-fact-or-fiction-page-2

Apr 12, 2019

AmraYou audiophiles always tell such things without giving a source! Why the hell should the parts in a newly assembled speaker not run as good as when its "burnt in"? If this was the case the this would be a huge construction flaw. A clock has wayyy more moving, mechanical parts and yet it still doesnt need burn in, it runs good as soon you provide power.

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denalan

Apr 12, 2019

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Apr 13, 2019

denalanLife Hack: If you break in your headphones at full moon you will get clearer treble. And if you want a larger soundstage you have to sacrifice a goat before breaking in.

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Apr 13, 2019

Florianskiyeah and a watch has built in gemstones to aid in the smoothness of it running,you just want to argue with everyone,im personally done even trying to discuss anything with you,so keep on believing the earth is flat and have a good time arguing with yourself,youre going to run out of people that will talk to you

Apr 13, 2019

AmraActually the earth is donut shaped.

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Apr 13, 2019

Florianskiand i actually cant believe ive wasted this much time on such a fanny

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