Help please for headphones. Sennheiser HD 660s meh.

A few years ago I treated myself to the HD650s, while my main phones were/are the HD598. When I got them, I too was very underwhelmed. The famous veil (more like a wet towel) was there and nothing really sounded good. Reading here about the need for proper amplification, I got the Marantz HD DAC1 (same one you have) which is a great piece of hardware. But it did nothing to improve the HD650s muddy sound, that is how they sound. I am halfway convinced that the HD650s that I got from Amazon are not legit. Phones with such a high reputation cannot sound that bad, even accounting for taste. I only use them now to listen to jazz trio (piano, bass, drums) because that type of music seems more forgiving and I think it is a good practice to rotate headphones in your daily listening so as to not get too used to a single model.

Again swayed by the SHF, I just ordered the MassDrop HD6xx which I waiting for right now, will report back on those. I got them for a flat $200 ($20 discount, no shipping or sales tax), whereas I was already ready to order the HD599s from Amazon, which would have been $149 plus 11.5% sales tax (Puerto Rico). We will see if I made a good deal or not.

 

Ha. How can they not be legit?
Box and everything looks spot on.

 

If anything breaking them in will make them sound warmer. Which for me would accent the stuff I already don’t like.

 

It is not for the purpose of ‘breaking them in’, but rather exclusively for your ears/brain
to become more accustomed beyond the initial assessment/contrast which you have already
experienced between the m50x’s and your new set, it does take time.

 

I actually prefer my Koss Porta Pros with aftermarket pads over some much more expensive phones.

 

Why not bring your current A-T headphones with you to World of Stereo (in SF) or some other shop in SF with a similarly good headphone selection? You’ll be able to audition and compare whatever the store offers in your price range.

Headphones and IEMs are a highly personal choice, even more than loudspeakers. Audition, audition, audition, especially when you’ve got shops where you can do that in the city where you live.

 

I would have but none have brands and models I want to check out. Great idea

 

Ha. I only meant it half seriously, but my point was that such highly rated headphones were so disappointing to me. I never use them for anything else but jazz. And only because I don't want to feel like I threw a lot of money away, including the $750 Marantz. Rock just sounds off, muffled, weird freq. response.

 

Yeah muffled is right. I mean they are revealing. But just so laid back. No snap at all.
You can literally fall asleep to AC/DC. Lol.
Like I said before. I have a few guitar amps. One is a 68 plexi clone. With a 4x12. I know exactly what that sounds like. When I put on Van Halen through the Sennheisers, I was like wtf?

 

Dude. I got the Beyerdynamic DT1990 pro today.
LOVE EM!

No contest with the Sennheisers

Punch , clarity better imaging and a tad wider.
And NO veil.

Loving them. Can’t stop listening to stuff on them. Been listening for hours.

 

I got the Beyerdynamic DT 1990 pro today.
No spike. I actually prefer the analytical pads on em too.
Btw I had my hearing checked a couple years back. I have hearing of a 20 year old. Thank god I protected my ears all these years.

I mean if you listen to a brash bright recording it will show on the beyerdynamic.

I love them. Happy

 

Good deal!
A treble peak like that is something that bothers some people and doesn't bother others. Only way to find out is to try a headphone like that for yourself.

One thing to be mindful of when listening to headphones with a treble peak. If you play the headphones too loud for too long you can notch your hearing at that peak frequency.

As an example, a headphone with a +5 dB peak should be played at 5 dB less overall volume than a headphone that has no peak. If you consult a chart, like the Dangerous Decibels decibel exposure time guidelines chart, you need to add in the treble peak value for the headphones to determine what listening level is actually safe for longer listening sessions. You can actually listen to a Senn HD600/HD650 louder longer safely because the Senns have no peak.

 

Totally agree. Headphones should be used sparingly. No matter which ones.
And I agree the ones with spikes are even worse.

Thanks for the link and the reminder. Sometimes when the music is good and the equipment is good we can get carried away.

 

I am still waiting for my Senn HD6XX, but looking today at the Drop website, they have a frequency response graph that shows a deep notch at 9 KHz. That would explain a lot, but not why would that be desirable trait. I have a feeling I am not going to like them either. I wish I had seen that graph before I ordered.

 

Can’t you return them if you dont like em?

 

I haven't check Drop's policies, but I have a psychological quirk where I don't like to return things just because "I don't like them" if they do perform as advertised. If they are defective or broken, I don't have a problem returning stuff, but not if they are (reasonably) as promised or as advertised. My wife returns stuff all the time, just because. It is just me, I just can't, I just won't. Drives my wife crazy. And this goes for both ecommerce and brick-and-mortar.

I think that this comes from owning a business where people often try to return their purchases for trivial reasons or make up a supposed defect. I don't like it when it is done to me, so I don't do it to others.

My quirk, I literally can't.

 

Can’t return them to Drop unless they’re defective.

I’m also not a Sennheiser guy. I had the HD600 for 6 months and the HD650 for about 5. I spent the entire time wondering when the “magic” everyone was raving about would hit me. It never did.
The good thing about Sennheisers is there are a lot of guys who do like them. The resale value is very high so you probably won’t lose much if you sell them.

 

Why do you want different headphone if you like the m50 so much. I have the m40 and m50bt for away from home. Get a schiit loki and make them sound any way you want. You can take the sizzle out of them m50s and keep the sparkle. I just found out spotify has an eq on my iPhone. I got the AT M50 Bluetooth headphones out and have been playing around and it works well. I raised the mids and lowered the highs a fuzz and they sound great!

 

And just to make me feel worst, Amazon just dropped the price on the HD599, which I am sure to like.

 

I usually like something on the bright side with some balls. Be it speakers or headphones. And tame it with little eq if need be. Taming a bright headphone works better for me than trying to bring life to laid back ones sound wise in my very untechnical opinion. None are perfect that I have used. But im nobody. Peace!

 

I bought a pair of Massdrop HD6xx headphones about four months ago.
Found them dull and lifeless.
And there is nothing wrong with my amp. (Emotiva A100)
Also don't understand why they have such a high reputation.
My earbuds plugged into a Sandisk Clip portable player sound better.

 

Headphones, like so much in Hi Fi, are simply a matter of taste. I Love my 650s. To me they are not dull or veiled. Each to their own i guess

 

I always find myself never using eq. I like flat most. The way it was meant to be mixed.

Did they use you equipment when they made the recording with your ears. It was suppose to give you fatigue and headaches on one set of headphones and be dull and lifeless on another? If equipment sounds different and headphones sound different how is that different than using some eq?

 

I am totally in the same camp man.
I like balls and on the brighter side without being too harsh.

 

The Seinheisser HD 599 SE on sale for $130 CAN for Prime Day. I’m very tempted.
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B07RFNZYJZ/