You guys are so on crack.

Pfff -- firmly in the 600 club right here.  Not that I have anything against you guys who are wrong, I think it's just a matter of taste.  Wrong taste.

 

And amps.  They're close enough that a subtly different amp could make one sound better than the other.

 

It's just that the 600 is better.  I think Tommy Chong said it best when he said, "dude, wait, what?"

In on annual HD580/600 vs HD650 debate

 

 

HD600 crew checking in

Pfff -- firmly in the 600 club right here.  Not that I have anything against you guys who are wrong, I think it's just a matter of taste.  Wrong taste.

 

And amps.  They're close enough that a subtly different amp could make one sound better than the other.

 

It's just that the 600 is better.  I think Tommy Chong said it best when he said, "dude, wait, what?"

  

In on annual HD580/600 vs HD650 debate

 

 

HD600 crew checking in

Thank you for returning the sanity back to this thread.

(In old headfi voice) you hd600 haters simply don't have good enough of an amp to drive them (old headfi voice)

600 better here also

They're different in sound signature but very close in quality.

 

For my taste, I'd take HD600 over HD650 K702 over both.

HD580/600 Grill/650 cable... b/c the 600 is one of the ugliest headphones I've ever seen.  Pairs great with the AriPower Extreme.

 

Also, it's the only full size can I have, so I gotta like it, no?

 

**BRENT**

I smoke weed listen to 650s and 580s erryday.  The 650s are driven by an HRBD fed by a Quad 99 CDP-2.  The 580s are driven by a ca. 2004 GLite + DPS fed by a (much older) Parasound DAC-800.  The two rigs sound remarkably similar to me, but I have tin ears and can't be trusted.

Edited March 16, 201313 yr by Knuckledragger

I prefer the 600 too. I always thought the 600 are a bit bass-heavy, kind of warm, yet resolving. The 650 are a bit too much of a good thing. Maybe more resolving, but being warmer and more bass-heavy, sort of less enticing. I could live with either of them anyways, I still keep my 14 years old (or so) HD600 pair.

 

 

Pad condition make a huge difference wrt to sound. The fully squished pad one is my favorite, sounds direct, no upper mid sink.

If you took the refinement of the 650 and the more neutral tonal balance of the 600 that would be a nice can.

^Indeed. Make that a $400 can and you have an absolute mid-price champion.

Thanks for the bump, guys.  

 

I guess it's obvious I'm in the HD 600 camp, but they're both really nice.

If you took the refinement of the 650 and the more neutral tonal balance of the 600 that would be a nice can.

I think that is the best assessment I have seen of the two phones.

I have 2 HD600's and 1 HD650.

I like all of them.

Also have 1 Cardas smurf blue cable, 1 Zu Mobius cable and 1 Equinox LE cable.

At the risk of starting a war, I must say that all 3 aftermarket cables are better than the stock ones.

The cardas cable on my old 650 was the only time I thought I heard a difference between cables.  Real, placebo, bad hearing...all possible.

Excerpt from my response on InnerFidelity:

 

I have always favored the 650s, but I do not agree that they are much warmer and certainly not "too warm" or veiled when cabled and amped right.  I wrote a Head-Fi review of replacement cables a million years ago and still feel the same way (all my personal taste, ymmv, blah, blah, blah):  650s sound their best with SAA Equinox and other fast, resolving cables, and 600s sound best with copper cables like the Moon Audio Blue Moon or Cardas Fat Pipe.  Balanced drive does make a big difference, especially with fine OTL tube amps or really good SS amps.

Edited March 22, 201313 yr by Voltron

Maybe instead of replacing the pads on my 17 year-old 580s I should just buy a pair of 600s or 650s.

Maybe instead of replacing the pads on my 17 year-old 580s I should just buy a pair of 600s or 650s.

 

Oh my, spot on, Graham.

 

Al -- ...or Cardas Neutral Ref...

 

Which people have totally ruined for me by calling them "smurf blue". 

 

So I just shut up and enjoy the sweet sweet headbanging music.

Next curious item of agenda - hearing my 600's with a cardas (currently 650 cable).

Excerpt from my response on InnerFidelity:

 

I have always favored the 650s, but I do not agree that they are much warmer and certainly not "too warm" or veiled when cabled and amped right.  I wrote a Head-Fi review of replacement cables a million years ago and still feel the same way (all my personal taste, ymmv, blah, blah, blah):  650s sound their best with SAA Equinox and other fast, resolving cables, and 600s sound best with copper cables like the Moon Audio Blue Moon or Cardas Fat Pipe.  Balanced drive does make a big difference, especially with fine OTL tube amps or really good SS amps.

 

Thanks for your comments, Al.  I won't shill for pageviews, so here's my response there:

 

 

I reckon my perception of the difference comes from having them side to side, and in listening my preference seemed pretty clear to me. Don't think the measurements are telling the whole story...don't think they ever do, TBH. They both have their merits, and I do like the more refined sound of the 650. I think with proper care and feeding (see your comments on cables and balanced/really good amps, which I agree with) the 650 might surpass the 600 for me, but I haven't really sussed that out.

 

I agree, both these cans play well above their price in today's market.

Awesome, G-Man!

 

Shill away, Tyll!  I'll definitely go back and pump it a few times to see what crap other people write in response. 

 

Oh my, spot on, Graham.

 

Al -- ...or Cardas Neutral Ref...

 

Which people have totally ruined for me by calling them "smurf blue". 

 

So I just shut up and enjoy the sweet sweet headbanging music.

 

The smurf blue cable is not Cardas Neutral Reference to my understanding.  That is a different cable for speakers and interconnects, not for headphones that I recall, and is way more money.  The Fat Pipe was a HeadRoom exclusive Cardas blue (then grey) cable with a different shielding or just different sheath.  Tyll should be able to clarify because he was hawking them at meets back in the day and I thought they were among the best, especially for HD600s.

You're right, it wasn't Cardas Neutral Ref, it was just Cardas Headphone Cable.  It's hard for me to say "Cardas" without immediately saying the words, "...neutral ref".

Cardas now has some of the Clear and Clear Light headphone cables in addition to the original; I have the Clear Light and it gives my favorite (Revelation Audio Lab) a hard run for the $ on both the 580's and 600's.