Sennheiser HD 600 replacement cable suggestions sought

I had a cat that liked to chew on the 580 cables for some reason. The last time I had to replace them I got the 650 cable. Sounds great.

I'm glad Sennheiser makes the replacement parts available at a reasonable price. I replaced the headband padding on my 580s after it began to deteriorate and thr cost was only about $8.

 

The new Musical Fidelity M1 HPA is a winner with the HD600 or HD650. Here's my unboxing video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1oKdmvxchQ

 

I also prefer the stock cable to the Cardas on my headphone system. The Cardas seems to increase the mids (especially lower mids) at the expense of the frequency extremes, which might work well in some set-ups, but not with my current headphone amp. My stock cord also needs replacing, but I'm not sure whether to go with the 650 cord or pay extra for an original 600 cord--I'm worried that the "upgraded" 650 cord might sound more like the Cardas.

 

How can you change cables on those?!

 

The cables come with plugs. You unplug the old cable and plug in the new one. The cable is a 'Y' and attaches at the underside of each earpad.

 

Cardas makes the best cable for the 600, any length you want too.

 

Sennheiser spec their cable to do the job
Why would you buy an expensive alternative?

 

Why do people put fancy wheels on cars.

 

Just got my HD 650 cables yesterday. Many thanks to the folks who rec'd getting them (2 pairs from Senn Deutschland, as Senn USA is not accepting foreign orders currently). 15 €uros apiece and a quite noticeable sonic upgrade.

Only downside is that the cables only have the 1/4" jack, not like the HD 600 cable which has a mini-jack plus 1/4" adapter, both gold-plated.

 

If you need a mini jack adapter look for the type of adapter that has a short bit of cable between the mini jack and 1/4" socket. The one piece mini to 1/4" adapters put too much weight and leverage on the mini socket in your amp or portable and can end up damaging the mini socket connection.

Grado sells a nice mini to 1/4" adapter. Cardas has one. And for a low cost option there is the Hosa MHE-100.5. Sennheiser also sells a similar style adapter. I have the Hosa cause I'm cheap.

 

Thanks for the info!

 

I had a good search through Senn Deutschland and they don't seem to sell them directly, just a link to the authorised German dealers, have I missed something? 15 Euros isn't as good as the US price, but it's still better than £20 and if I bought two or three cables the postage might not be much.

 

Just upgraded my 600's to the thicker Sennheiser cable & plug.

Listening to an Island 'Teaser and the Firecat'. Wow, this is a nice upgrade - the acoustics sound great!

 

I just tried the hd650 cable on my hd600 and noticed an increase in bass. It kind of made them sound like the hd650 which I didn't like with over emphasized bass muddying up the mids. Any of you also found this to be true after using the 650 cable on the 600?

 

Just bought a pair of HD 600's but am having a devil of a time figuring out how to remove the detachable cables on the phones as am thinking of upgrading the cable. Even watched a YouTube video and can't seem to get the hang of it. Don't want to do damage to a brand new pair of phones, so can you or someone advise me as to the easiest way to detach the cable from the cups? Thanks!

 

There is an "L" and "R" on the plugs that plug into the ear cups. The "L" and "R" should be facing outwards, away from your head. Sometimes the plugs get put in backwards, so that the "L" and "R" face your head. In that case the plugs can get stuck in the ear cup jacks. The cables have two little plugs on the end. One plug is slightly larger diameter than the other. If the plugs get plugged in backwards the slightly larger diameter plug gets forced into the slightly smaller jack hole. If that happens the cable can get stuck and difficult to remove. If that has happened then I'd call up Sennheiser USA support and ask them what to do. They have certainly had to deal with that situation before and would know the best way to go about fixing that in a way that doesn't damage the headphones.

 

Thanks for the info! Went to the phones and this time was absolutely determined to get the plugs out. After much pulling, the "R" red one came out. The "L" black one was more difficult but finally did come out as well. FYI: the plugs were in correctly with the "L" and "R" facing outwards. Just bought a backup cable from Amazon as the price was reasonable and I'm absolutely brutal on my various headphones when it comes to cables, so I'm taking advantage of the fact that these cans allow me the option of replacing the unit's "umbilical cord". Most of my others throughout the years didn't have that option and vividly recall having to trash a fine pair of Koss Pro 4AA headphones back in the middle 1970's due to the cord giving up the ghost. Finally after all my patching attempts no longer would work, the cable fell off the left earpiece after dangling there in limbo for months. Thanks again!

 

Weird. If the cables were inserted correctly (not backwards) they should be easy to remove.

If the headphones were used it's possible the previous owner did something to cause the cable plugs to be held more firmly. The HD600 and HD580 had a reputation for having an intermittent connection. So a few nutters would go a little extreme in trying to fix that potential problem. Doing things like using electrical contact enhancing fluids on the connectors or gluing the cable plugs in place using something like fingernail polish so they can't wiggle or get pulled out. If a previous owner did something like that then that could make it difficult to remove the cable.

Here's three web pages or articles that describe how to fix the intermittent connection problem, how to disassemble the HD600 to fix the problem, and show pictures of what the connection inside the headphone looks like. Once you see how the intermittent connection issue could be a problem, and possibly see how your cable could have gotten stuck. The HD650 and later versions of the HD600 changed to using a stronger spring along with some other fixes which helped to mostly fix the intermittent connection problem.

InnerFidelity review of the HD580, HD600, and HD650. See page two of the review for a video that shows how to disassemble the headphone.
580_intermittency_repairs
How to Fix an Intermittent Connection in Sennheiser 580 & 600 Headphones

I have an old HD580 and old HD600. I switched to using the HD650 cable and haven't had any intermittency problems since switching to the HD650 cable. The HD650 cable has a larger plug housing that fits more snugly in the headphones. The snugger fit prevents the wiggling that can cause an intermittent connection.

 

The phones came directly from Sennheiser and were brand spanking new or at least as far as I can tell. Tried unplugging the L and R connections this morning and it's much easier now then that tug-of-war last night. Funny thing is I'd ordinarily be very glad for the tight fit, but that was simply too tight and not conducive to removing the prongs without possible damage to something. I'm interested in hearing your opinion as well others as to the possible differences (if any at all) between the standard cord the phones come with and the replacement cord I purchased (also made by Sennheiser and think the part # is 92885). Should I get a bit of a boost in sound quality then fine and good, but I really bought the replacement cables to stash away in case needed as just got the phones last week and haven't even had a chance to sit down with them. Thanks again for your input and for the links, too!

 

I seem to remember the old cable detaching fairly easy then using a firm push for the new ones to slide in. Sounds like you're good now.

The HD 600's are great cans and the thicker (HD 650) cable is an inexpensive sonic improvement.