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KTech
57
Sep 25, 2018
checkVerified Buyer
There are plenty of accurate and detailed reviews of this headphone around the internet that I don't feel the need to describe in super analytical detail their exact sonic experience. I would however like to compare these to their closest massdrop siblings, the hd58x, and perhaps the hd598 and hyperx clouds.
First build quality. Compared to the hd58x, these are the exact same. I would trust both to stand up to some heavy abuse and to be fair these have a matte paint job while the 58x have a glossy black paint job that I wish these either had a matte version of or the exact same paint job. I prefer the 6xx's black glossy grills to the hd58x's matte grey grills but personal opinion may vary. They just feel like I am less likely to chip the paint off of accidentally. They clamp just as badly as the 58x out of the box but over time they improve similarly. One point of contention is that the pads on the 6xx are both deeper, wider, and softer than the 58x. they just feel better and unlike the 58x my entire ear isn't being pushed into the foam covering the driver, only the outer edge of my ear. Their headband is identical save for the 6xx having a thicker one again for some reason. I preferred the 600 headband so I may switch at some point. It should be noted that the 598 air ride headband was more comfortable for me as well as the hyperx cloud's band being excellent as well. The 598 does have a deeper overall cup but their little plastic bump inside, presumably for sonic effects, does still touch my outer ear.
Sound wise the 6xx are fairly similar to the 58x and not similar at all to the other two headphones mentioned in this review. Compared to the 58x, these seem slightly less wide in their overall sound stage but their imaging is better. They are definitely more resolving which should be a surprise to no one considering their extra voice coil winding increasing their impedance. The 6xx are more of a warmer laid back sound overall. Their vocals are more present which should't be a surprised based on the increased sound stage on the 58x. Surprisingly to me, the 6xx have more bass overall. They don't extend any better than the 58x but they have more power to bass across the entire spectrum. In terms of highs, the 58x with their foam in place are still more quantitative than the 6xx but neither are fatiguing. Both sound good the 6xx just sounds more warm and treble detail is slightly less present. With the foam removed in the 58x the treble detail is hugely apparent and on sibilant tracks definitely becomes sibilant also. The 6xx can become sibilant on already heavily sibilant tracks as well. I preferred the 6xx for classical and it was a wash between the two for all other genres except country. I preferred the 58x for some reason. Weird since I don't even like country music... Oh well every headphone has their best genre I suppose. Speaking of, the 598 sounded sibilant in comparison and thin overall with very little bass presence or definition though their sound stage was similar to the 58x but without the imaging accuracy. The hyperx clouds sounded like they lacked mids with highs and bass really shining through. It wasn't anything that I couldn't get used to after switching to them for a while but they were worse overall than all of the other headphones imo.
Now I probably committed a sin by putting the foam damping from the 58x into the back of the 6xx but curiosity got the better of me. First off it makes the headphone's aesthetic look super sexy. The back of the grills turns pretty much completely black and stealthy looking. Damn I wish the rest of the headphone was black and not a very very dark blue. Anyways, the foam actually didn't completely ruin the sound signature of the 6xx. Actually it sounded really good! It eliminated sibilance in sibilant tracks without removing treble detail in other tracks. The bass was given a decent boost without making it muddy which actually sounded best in pop songs rather than electronic music where I thought it would. It also allowed me to enjoy country music in a different but equally pleasing way to the hd58x. I ultimately decided to just leave the foam out of both headphones since I preferred the more open sound stage without it on both headphones. With that noted, the sound stage was slightly smaller with the foam in but imaging remained strong and I was still very easily able to make out where instruments were. There was a pleasing quality to this where it sounded like music was coming from next to your head rather than from elsewhere in your room or inside of your skull which I thought was pretty nice. If you have both headphones, give it a try and let me know how you found the experience.
Overall these are fantastic headphones and a great compliment to something like the 58x. I am still waiting on the 4xx to arrive so that I can compare these to planar magnetics but these are excellent all rounder headphones. Just make sure you have the amp to drive them. While my Pixel XL was able to make them sound decent, the lower impedance 58x sounded better across the spectrum when coming from that source. With the Schiit Magni 3 they really shined. Both these and the 58x make great gaming headphones and it comes down to whether you want a better sound stage with very good driveablity or something with better resolution and imaging with a more relaxed sound signature but that requires more gear to drive properly. Congrats to those of you who actually read this whole review. If anybody has some insightful comments I look forward to reading them.
Cheers! :D
Excelsior41
0
Jul 8, 2019
KTechWould you now how well these interact with Dolby Atmos? I'm new to being an audiophile, and I'm still using my ATH-M50x's on my PC's sound card which is surprisingly decent (Aorus Gaming 7 Motherboard) and Xbox One X. Although I haven't gotten an AMP/DAC (looking at getting Schiit's Modi/Magni) set up yet I was wondering if I should upgrade to the Sennheisers. Based on your review they sound really enticing for my use-case of PC/Xbox gaming, music, and video audio enjoyment, and better than my M50x's. For never owning open-back headphones, let alone cans of this caliber, I'm concerned whether or not these will be a meaningful upgrade to my set-up and if it'll benefit from Atmos at all for 3d sound moments in games like Battlefield 1 and etc. Thanks a lot for your input!
KTech
57
Jul 8, 2019
Excelsior41While I deeply love my hd6xx and they will forever remain my go to music headphone, I also own the hd58x and the he4xx. I don't personally know how these headphones deal with Dolby Atmos as I never found the need to pay to get that functionality. With that said, from my experience the 6xx are probably the least "immersive" set in that their sound stage is the smallest of all three. Powering all three from an x399m taichi connected to a magni 3, the hd58x has the widest sound stage and it makes it very easy to get the feel that you are surrounded by explosions and such using the war tapes preset in battlefield 4, 1, and 5. The hd6xx still sound incredible but it sounds like you're in a room sized area rather than maybe a living room of sound. My personal favorite gaming headset of these three is going to have to go to the he4xx which have a pretty open sound stage as well (pretty close to the 58x and maybe surpassing it). But what really sells it for me in especially games like battlefield is that their bass is smoother and has more linearity to it which makes rumbles far off easier to hear. gunshots and other general noises sound a slight bit sharper and more realistic especially in spatial awareness and distance largely in part of the faster decay of decent planar magnetic drivers. The other benefit of planar magnetic drivers is that their generally lower distortion lends well to eqing and "fake surround sound". However with the he4xx you WILL need an amp like the schiit magni 3. the hd6xx benefit greatly from one and the hd58x benefit but not as much as the other two and are perfectly capable of being powered by most smartphones decently. What you're going to notice the most out of any of these headphones though is that outside noise gets in pretty well. As long as you don't mind hearing the occasional car or have a quiet place that you can play, then these headphones will naturally give you a "wider" sound stage which will feel more immersive. However if you have loud noises around you a lot when you're gaming then you're probably better off just sticking with your ath-m50x's or if you're really in the space for an upgrade looking into a closed back version of the fostex trp-50 or whichever version it is that the audiophile market seems to love so much though you will absolutely again need an amp with those.
Excelsior41
0
Jul 10, 2019
KTechMuch obliged KTech, I'll take your advice into account! Thanks for sharing your experience, preferences, and tips with me; it's very encouraging to get that kind of support and learning some of the essentials.
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