HD 600 Build Quality, Design, and Listening Tests
It’s not often
that I review headphones as most of the models I’ve heard aren’t much to write
home about. However, upon speaking with Ivy
Scull of HeadRoom,
she sold me with a pretty convincing argument about the sonic joys of a quality
set of cans (headphones that is). I
asked her to send me a reference performance headphone system that is also
comfortable to wear. One of my pet peeves
with headphones is ear fatigue (not to be confused with listening fatigue) often
experienced after an extended wearing session such as a typical 4-5 hour plane
flight or listening to the entire Seconds
Out Live Genesis double CD. On
lesser designed headphones, I often find them unbearable to wear after about 30
minutes. Ivy suggested I try out a pair
of Sennheiser HD 600s which he claimed would meet my performance and comfort
requirements. For years I’ve heard the
raves among audiophiles and reviewers about Sennheiser headphones. I was excited to finally try them out for
myself to determine firsthand if their reputation was well warranted and if
they passed my ear fatigue test so many others have failed.
From
the moment I unboxed the shipping package, I knew I was in the big leagues as far as high performance headphones go. The HD 600s came with their own well built
carrying case that snugly and securely housed the headphones, cable and user
manual. This case is a keeper and you better
be sure to place your headphones back in when they are not in use. I’ve been known in the past to accidentally
step on headphones or remote controls left on the floor and if you’re like me,
you could rest better at night knowing that your $450 investment is well
protected from clumsy walkers or the external forces of gravity wanting them to
unexpectedly greet the floor.
The HD 600s are well crafted headphones. They have plenty of padding at the top of the adjustable head band and have a beautiful glossy marble finish which is prevalent throughout the entire housing. The cable is removable, color coded and keyed to ensure proper polarity and channel identification upon connection to your headphone preamp. To me, having a removable headphone cable is essential, especially since mini plug terminations always seem to go bad over time with lots of usage. If after a few years you experience static or intermittent signal drop out, simply order a new cable and swap out the old one. You can always keep around the old cable in case you ever experience the urge to do some jump roping.
Design Overview
The Sennheiser HD 600 is an open air dynamic headphone design. This means that the headphone driver remains open to the outside, providing very little noise isolation from the outside world along with excessive sound leakage making them less than ideal for the cubical office environment. While they wont win over favors from your neighboring office buddy subjected to your listening session of Metallica's One album while he/she is trying to fill out their TPS reports, they will make audiophiles rejoice as open air designs tend to have far less distortion. Sennheiser claims the diaphragm is optimized using laser interferometry and claims to have eliminated standing waves and undesirable diaphragm distortions. The driver motor structure is composed of neodymium ferrous material for a powerful compact design. The published frequency response is 16 to 30kHz (-3dB) with a 300 ohm system impedance and an unusually high sensitivity of 97dB (nearfield measured at 1kHz).
The HD 600s have an excellent frequency response for a set of headphones and I was eager to put these cans through their paces to see if they could really deliver the goods. I was pleased that Sennheiser made these a relatively benign load impedance, allowing for a greater flexibility of portable electronics that can effectively be used with them and still achieve good sonic results. In the past, I have found quality headphones such as these really required a good headphone preamp to reach their potential. It was now time to see just how well these headphones did with common portable devices, AV receivers and, yes, even a dedicated high-end headphone preamp.
Listening Tests
I used a variety of source equipment with the Sennheiser HD 600s including the headphone out of my desktop computer DVD player, my Denon AVR-5805 and the Micro preamp and DAC from Headroom.
Track #1 “Striker” exemplifies the amazing guitar work of Daryl in full clarity on the Sennheisers. There is a reason Genesis has elected Daryl their "permanent-temporary-part-time member" (as Phil Collins refers to him) of Genesis for the last 30 years for their live shows – he rocks. The bass drum in Track #4 “Dream in Blue” and track # 7 “Heavy Heart” had all of the depth and feeling on the HD 600’s that you typically hear in a full range loudspeaker system. His stylistic solo playing on track #4 was reminiscent of his fabulous solos of Firth of Fifth during his live tours with Genesis. Track #8 “Meltdown” reminded me of the music from fusion jazz group Tribal Tech. The drums and guitar were focused front and center while the background percussions seemed to emanate beyond the plane of the headphones similar to how a good speaker system can extend its soundstage several feet behind and around the speakers.
CD: Harry Connick – When Harry Met Sally
When Harry sings his more traditional, non New Orleans style music, he reminds me of a
young Frank Sinatra. This CD is well
recorded with a couple of tracks that really stand out for music lovers and
audiophiles alike. In Track #2 “Love is
Here to Stay” the trumpets had a very real sound and weren’t dull like so
typically found on lesser headphones or speaker systems for that matter. At times, Harry’s voice sent chills through
my body.
Track #9 “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off” had bass that was very tight, controlled and extended while the vocals remained dead center and articulate. The brush on the cymbals had plenty of air and there was clear reverb in Harry’s voice which was well presented. The piano had a very dynamic and forward presence to it. Never did the sound turn too mush during complex passages.
CD: Dianne Reeves Never Too Far
Track #1 “Hello Haven’t I Seen You Before” had the same
articulate bass and tightness I was used to in my reference system, though gave
up a bit of extension and slam that I was used to in my four subwoofer setup. Extension was impressive for a headphone
system, vocals were tonally correct with a very warm sound character making
them non-fatiguing.
Track #4 “How Long” is a powerful song fueled with
passionate lyrics from Dianne Reeves and excellent instrumentals. This is a song that sounds better the louder
you play it. The bass was so good on
these headphones that I found myself using them as a reference on known source
material to ensure I properly setup my own home theater system. The drums exploded on scene and the vocals
filled the front plane of the headphones and seemed to extended beyond their
boundary similar to how I heard it on my reference speakers.
SACD: Rebecca Pidgeon – The Raven
Chock full of obscure lyrics, this is a recording I still keep in my collection as a reference for a variety of reasons. For one, it’s a very revealing recording that you can hear details in the instruments and background noises that simply wash away on less than stellar equipment. Track #12 “Spanish Harlem” remains the benchmark track I test gear out with when using this SACD as the source material. Rebecca Pidgeon adds her own flare on this remake hit originally recorded by Ben E. King back in 1961. It’s a close-miced recording with lots of ambience and sometimes reveals a tad too much siblance in her voice, but it sounds wonderful nontheless. The HD 600’s did a fabulous job of conveying the full depth of the recording. You could hear all of the nuances in the recording, including background shuffling that likely wasn’t intented to be there. The piano had a nice airy feel to it and the Sennheisers managed to capture a close approximation of what I heard on my $15k/pair RBH Sound reference speakers.
