CNET Editor's rating: 8.2 out of 10
Reviewed by
Philip Ryan
Review date: 05/13/08
The good: Sennheiser's high-end open-air headphones deliver deep bass, luxuriously padded ear cups, and a replaceable cord for a more economical price than their flagship model.
The bad: Expensive; not the best solution for portable listening; gray and black plastic finish doesn't scream high end.
The bottom line: The Sennheiser HD 600 headphones are a good choice for home listening if you're willing to pay for high-quality sound.
When Steve Guttenberg reviewed the Sennheiser HD 650 headphones, he rightfully called them "fit for a king"--while noting that they retail for a correspondingly princely sum of $500. Thankfully, the HD 650s aren't the only model in Sennheiser's high-end audiophile line. The Sennheiser HD 600s can be bought at a 40 percent discount to their big brother. Yes, you'll be substituting a grey and black plastic finish for the 650s' fancy titanium metallic housing, but you'll still be getting a high-end pair of open-air headphones while saving enough money to buy a really nice bottle of vintage wine to sip as you listen to your music of choice. (For me, that would be the losslessly encoded FLAC version of Phish's live June 6, 1998, rendition of "Piper.")
If you're not familiar with the open-air design, they leave the outside of the ear cups open so that sound waves moving away from your ear can continue away unimpeded and cannot interfere in any way with the sound moving toward your ear. In the case of the Sennheiser HD 600s, there are pieces of black metal mesh on the outside of the ear cups to cover the drivers and protect them from accidental damage.
Speaking of those drivers, Sennheiser is happy to point out that the HD 600s use computer-optimized neodymium magnet systems, which is supposed to minimize distortion, to drive lightweight aluminum voice coils. A 9-foot Y-cable (one wire to each earcup) delivers your tunes to the drivers and is terminated in a gold-plated 1/8-inch (3.5mm) stereo minijack connection. (Sennheiser also includes a phono adapter for the larger headphone jacks that snap securely over the smaller headphone plug.) Both the earpads and cable are user-replaceable--though Sennheiser is, of course, your only choice when doing so. Replacement earpads will cost you about $41, while cables cost about $25.
Since the HD 600s aren't nearly as efficient as most earbuds, you won't get ear-splitting levels of volume out of them with a portable music player, such as an iPod. However, listening to music at such levels can damage your hearing. I typically got a comfortable volume out of my iPod with the HD 600s. However, with some recordings I did crave a little more volume from time to time. Also, given their open-air design, which lets in outside sounds, you might have trouble cranking your music to try to compete with sounds in a loud environment. I wouldn't want to use them on the New York subway or to try to drown out my dorm-mate while he practices his guitar.
If you really do plan on listening to Phish play that 20-minute-long version of "Piper," you'll definitely appreciate the soft cloth padding on the ear cups. During my listening tests, I was able to wear the HD 600s for hours at a time, in some cases nearly an entire workday, without the annoying sweat that you sometimes get from headphones with leather-padded ear cups. Another bonus to the cloth padding is that you won't have to worry about the leather flaking off as you would with some headphones, such as the Sony MDR-V6.
Given their open design, the HD 600s really shine on live recordings giving the impression that you're really in a big space rather than a small room with cans on your ears. They deliver a wide range of the audio spectrum and deliver it well, digging deep into the bass registers, and reaching way up into the higher frequencies. However, despite the fact that they faithfully recreate very low bass, it lacks the oomph some closed-ear-cup designs can deliver. Specifically, I was able to compare the HD 600 directly with the similarly priced Denon AH-D2000s and enjoyed the more powerful presentation they gave to bass when compared with these Sennheisers. Also, the HD 600s felt a little shy in the uppermost treble regions, where there was just a very slight bit less definition and clarity to the sound. For instance, while listening to "Rise Up" on the excellent album Tonic by Medeski, Martin, and Wood, Mr. Martin's precise ride cymbal work popped more on the Denons than on the Sennheisers. The Denons delivered a crisper snap when the stick hit the cymbal, while the Sennheisers were ever so barely less snappy, though admittedly some people will probably have a hard time hearing the difference and most likely won't notice much deficiency if they can't do a direct comparison. The relative lack of warmth to the Chris Wood's upright bass and slight lack of punch to John Medeski's ascending bass line on the piano on the Sennheisers compared with the Denons is more apparent, but again is mainly a side effect of the open design. So, if you're already a fan of open-air headphones, this will likely not be a big issue and indeed, you may prefer it to the Denons' closed design.
Even though I have outed myself as a fan of closed headphones, that hasn't stopped me from thoroughly enjoying the Sennheiser HD 600s for the last few weeks. They are exceptional headphones and, in my opinion definitely worth the money, especially if you use headphones often. If you're a particularly persnickety listener though, you may want to step up and shell out the extra cash for Sennheiser's HD 650s. Just remember that these are really intended for home listening--ideally when connected to a home stereo with a solid amplifier.
10 out of 10 - Perfect The Best There Is... If...
If you're prepared to invest in a great DAC/CDP (Rega Saturn, Marantz SA8100, CA 840C, Monarchy M24, etc.), ...
If you're prepared to invest in a great DAC/CDP (Rega Saturn, Marantz SA8100, CA 840C, Monarchy M24, etc.), a great head amp (e.g. X-CANv8, or DV332, or SP Extreme, etc.), and... "de'veil" them, as well as buy the HD650 cable, or RAL Cryo-Silver cable - you'll find it very hard to find anything better, if as good.
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by rcalbin1 (see profile) -
May 20, 2008
10 out of 10 - Perfect superb audio and comfort
I've had my HD600 for a couple years and they are the reference for your music. They are high ...
I've had my HD600 for a couple years and they are the reference for your music. They are high impedance and will not perform adequately without a separate headphone amplifier if you are not using a high-end stereo system. They sound awesome. You won't believe what you hear with these. You will hear the singers breath in the microphone, the fingers on the guitar strings, and a band member strike a match to light a cigarette. They sound best with vinyl records. They are so true to the source that MP3's will sound tinny and weak (because they are). If you insist on using these with an Ipod or other mediocre source, buy a headphone amplifier, such as one from Ray Samuels, and though it's expensive you will hear everything the Ipod has to offer (which isn't much when you're accustomed to audiophile CD players and stereo amps.) If you enjoy your portable music, don't buy these because the revelation will forever take away the joy of your ipod or zunepod. If you want to listen at home, buy these to find out if your stereo system is up to snuff. If these don't sound good at home, get better equipment, because it's not the headphones.
Few "receivers" or stereo amplifiers sold in consumer stores will probably have enough power at the headphone outlet to adequately drive these phones, but if you do have a good amp or are using a separate headphone amp with these, you will hear heavenly music.
These also sound great with a good quality home CD player, in addition to a vinyl turntable. The CD's will sound great. The reaction you will have, and your friends too when they try them, is "You can hear everything!"
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by phantomphlyer (see profile) -
May 18, 2008
9 out of 10 - Spectacular great sound for home use, comfortable
As one reader put it, they are for serious home listening only, I don't even like using them with ...
As one reader put it, they are for serious home listening only, I don't even like using them with my computer, only my home stereo. I bought them for the combination of comfort and sound which I'd rate as 8 and 10 respectively, hence my 9 overall rating. I disagree with the other reader who gave them a 6, if you use them outdoors with MP3s they are worse than that, but indoors with CDs, they are great. These phones are made for music lovers. Cheaper phones will be fine for most pop crap, but if you want to listen to music that was excellently recorded and produced - classical, folk, all acoustic music, jazz and some rock, these will do a great job at home. Try the new Sony MP3 player with noise reducing ear buds for outdoors - well reviewed by CNet and my friend's daughter says it works well even on a very noisy band bus.
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by paskunyak (see profile) -
May 14, 2008
8 out of 10 - Excellent Great sound, but excellent bass as reported by CNET is a new one to me.
I can't write about how recently produced HD600s are these days; my set must be at least seven or ...
I can't write about how recently produced HD600s are these days; my set must be at least seven or eight years old by now at the time of this writing. Sennheiser doesn't exactly stand still with their designs even if the model number soldiers on in their lineup. They do tweak models as time progresses to keep them updated and freshened, and I suspect the HD600 has probably seen a few of these since I first purchased my pair all those years ago.
All review qualifiers now out of the way, what I DO know about the HD600 is that they've been a wonderful set that I still use regularly, even though they've been supplanted by my HD650 as my most-used headphones here at home. The sound quality of my HD600 is excellent to superb, with tremendous depth to its soundstage and a tremendous ability to reproduce detail with both finesse and clarity. Mid-bass and up, my HD600s are the epitome of the perfect headset; even the HD650 is hard-pressed to match that sonic wonder. From a comfort standpoint, they're an exact equal to the wonderfully comfortable, non-fatiguing HD650.
But ultimately there's an Achilles heel to the design. With my set, it's the lower frequencies that are the downfall of the HD600, based on internet postings (head-fi.org, for example) a trait common with at least those that were earlier production iterations...like my set is. When I read that CNET's sample set was capable of producing excellent bass, I had to wonder if we were REALLY taking about the same Senn design, because excellent lows is NOT a known characteristic of my particular HD600 set.
My HD600's impedance rating is hardly a match for ANY portable device and, as mentioned above, never has been anywhere close to satisfying at producing much in the way of bass, deep or otherwise. I believe Sennheiser now ships a mini adapter cord roughly 9" long--rather than the simple miniplug adapter that came with both my HD600 and HD650--that makes their high impedance headphone designs compatible with the impedance ratings of iPods, Zunes, Zens and the like (at least I saw and listened to one with a recent demo HD650 I used with several new MP3 players I was sampling a short time ago). So at least playing nice with portable devices seems to be addressed. As for this newfound bass performance...I guess I'll have to take CNET's word for it...at least until I sample a newer HD600 for myself.
Like I posted in my review of my HD650, I had similar sound quality issues with the headphone cord that the factory supplies. And like I have with my HD650, my HD600 wears an aftermarket cable, the same Stefan Audio Art Equinox cable that my HD650 runs with. However, unlike the cable that I first bought for my HD650, this particular Equinox cable was poorly made, where the separate wires appear to have issues with poor soldering and cross-contact of channels, which depending on the positioning of the cable will actually recreate a monophonic(!) listening experience. I've complained LOUDLY to the manufacturer...but alas, it appears to have fallen on deaf ears, or at least ones plugged with ear wax. Considering that this second set was more expensive than my first--SAA's newfound popularity apparently has its (inflationary) price, it seems--I've not been amused at all and Stefan Audio Art is no longer worthy of my Favored Manufacturer's Status rating that it once blissfully carried. Through it all, however, none of that blame can be placed on the HD600's doorstep. When its Equinox cable is working RIGHT, the HD600 sounds sweeter and deeper than in its original factory configuration. Too bad that it doesn't always stay working right.
In the end, unlike Stefan Audio Art I'd have no problem whatsoever promoting the Sennheiser HD600. You do save some money over the HD650, although if you hunt around on the web these days it's not as much of a savings as it once was. I'd say that even with my own bass-challenged set, I still get roughly 90% of the HD650's performance with the HD600, and that isn't a bad thing at all. But as much as the rest of the frequency range sounds so sweet on the HD600, it's been hard not to notice its lack of bass performance when compared to its sibling. I'd still recommend the HD650 if price is not a concern, but the HD600 is still very much a worthy device for anyone looking to save some green.
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by make_or_break (see profile) -
May 15, 2008
0 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
6 out of 10 - Good MP3 and iPod fanatics need not apply
Very comfortable earcups since they are ergonomical. Generally, these headphones are not for MP3 fanatics due to many MP3 users ...
Very comfortable earcups since they are ergonomical. Generally, these headphones are not for MP3 fanatics due to many MP3 users thriving to compress music, as I have tested these headphones with 128kbps AAC and they do sound horrible if you compress it. I can't give it good praise since this was only meant for audiophiles who live their life for ultra-rich sound. Also, due to open-air technology, it can't be used on a mobile-to-mobile basis. If you are planning to listen to a lot of music in noisy environments and/or if you are planning to do a lot of travel, then these headphones are not for you. It's for home use, and possibly for use by Deejays, so it's not a headphone for everyone.
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by vesther (see profile) -
July 15, 2006
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