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FPScolton
4
Dec 8, 2017
Out of the box I was thinking "Hmm, they're nice, but are these really worth twice the price of my HD598?" Well after listening to the HD6XX for a couple hours I would say yes and no. Yes in that they are obviously an improvement, but are they twice as good? No. However, after doing some A/B testing, the improvement for me is easily worth the extra $100-$140 these cost (when both are on sale). I think I'll be selling my HD598 in the near future, I feel no desire to return to them at this point. Thing is, this extra cost is so minimal when you consider how long you'll own these for, and how many hours of service they will provide.
After my first 2~3 hours with the HD6XX I decided to try going back to my HD598. Right away I could tell a difference, this surprised me since initially I was thinking they almost sound the same. When doing a direct comparison, the HD598 definitely sounded thinner and less enjoyable overall. With the HD598 I could still sense the changes in the lower frequencies by the way it sounded, but it lacked fullness. Kind of like listening to music in a regular family sedan, vs a luxury vehicle with 2x the amount of speakers. That said, I still would not call these a bass heavy headphone, and compared to my Logitech G933, these cannot provide even half of the deep rumbling bass that those can. (I'm not saying the G933 is a better headphone for music, but don't expect a HUGE amount of bass from these open backed audiophile-grade headphones, they're still tuned for accuracy rather than a V curve). Before directly comparing the HD598 and the HD6XX, I didn't really think there was that much of a difference, but there definitely is.
I find with these types of headphones, if you've just been listening to music with speakers + subwoofer, you need to give your ears 10~20 minutes to adjust, at which point the 'flat' sound will completely disappear and they will sound very rich and full.
Initially I found the clamping force quite strong. I thought I'd get used to it, but after 1 hour I was in pain. This never happened with my HD598. So I decided to *slightly* bend the head band (by the metal portion) and now these are possibly more comfortable than my HD598! The headband padding/design is *definitely* more comfortable. When going back to the HD598 I immediately notice a hot-spot on the top of my head, where with the HD6XX it's divided, and as a result the headband is much less noticeable. The clamping force is still much stronger and the pads are stiffer but I don't find it uncomfortable anymore, these don't move around when I lean back.
FYI, these are noticeably harder to drive. To achieve the same level of volume on the HD6XX as the HD598, I needed to increase Spotify volume slider by about 20% (I'm still not even passing the 12:00 position on my Schitt Magni v1, so this is not a problem). Overall I must say I'm a happy customer.
E111
192
Dec 8, 2017
FPScoltonWhat DAC/amp were you using? those makes a big difference, onboard/phone/ipod the 6xx will sound a bit better than something like a 598, but with a good amp and DAC the 6xx scale so much it sounds so much better than the 598.
FPScolton
4
Dec 8, 2017
E111Magni/Modi V1.0. I think the more I listen to the 6XX, the more I can appreciate its sound over the 598. It still isn't the same obvious jump that the 598 were from a random $50 pair, but it is noticable and I no longer feel that they sound nearly the same. It's almost like the HD6XX sound like a combination of my HD598 and my ESW9A with some magic 'enhance' option turned on haha.
E111
192
Dec 8, 2017
FPScoltonWhen I go from good headphones to better ones I give the better ones a week of use exclusively then I go back to the old ones and appreciate how much better the new ones are.
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