PC360 vs HD600 - Advice Requested

jkulas

jkulas

jkulas

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Hi guys,

I'm currently in the process of RMA'ing my Auzentech Home Theatre, since it appears to have gone senile.

Looking to replace it with either the Essence STX or Xense, from what I understand the Xense will be an essence with 7.1 analogue out, which I can do without (I use spdif to my amp). So the essence should be me fine, feel free to chime in here.

Now to business, I'm looking to match a pair of cans with the above and I've narrowed it down to either the Sennheiser PC360 or the HD600, although I'm open to suggestions in this price range.

In terms of ease of use, the 360s are going to be better considering they have an integrated mic, and cable out of just the one ear. However I'm assuming I would get a much better sound from the 600s or even 595s within this price range. They will be used for music and gaming but I would probably weight the music slightly more highly.

If anyone has any information on how they compare, or anything to add to swing my decision either way I'd really appreciate it.

Look forward to your feedback, cheers.
 
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HD600's without a shadow of a doubt when it comes to sound quality. I think the PC360's are very pricey for what they are.

What are your uses going to be? Gaming primarily? Music primarily? or a bit of both?
 
Both in equal parts really, but I'm more concerned with the audio quality and clarity for music since there isn't a whole lot of finesse in an explosion ;)

Do you see them as a good pairing with the essence or are they overkill without a separate headphone amp?
 
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The Essence is an great sound card for someone who doesn't want to pay any more than what the card costs. A decent external DAC and HP amp would provide better SQ, but you would be paying 2x what the Essence cost at a guess for both. Depends on the individual, some will pay extra to get that better SQ, for some, £150 is the limit of what they are willing to spend, which is the category I fit in. I would say to get the best out of headphones such as the HD600's, a decent external headphone amp would be better, but the Essence's amp will have no trouble driving them.

What kind of music do you listen to? HD600's are not the best choice for rock music etc.
 
The crux of the issue is, am I going to notice enough of a difference on the hd600s to warrant the loss of convenience the pc version brings?

I actually have some old hi-fi separates, including an arcam delta DAC, with a linn wakonda pre-amp, so I could in theory utilise those, but I haven't used them in years since my cd player gave up the ghost. This was basically an exercise to get somewhere near the sound of my old separates in the 21st century, and I've been reading that the essence compares to some pretty solid DACs so its a more compact solution if true.

I mostly listen to acoustic stuff, rock, folk etc, so I'm looking for something relatively warm (I've always loved the warm sound you get from arcam kit) without being overly colourful.

It's hard to judge how this kind of hardware compares to my separates which are now getting on for 15 years old.
 
ive got the 600's mate .. my system is in sig ...it sounded good as was ... i then added a mf v-dac so i could feed it to my rubbish yam av amp which cost £150 .. that was even better .. i then went 2 channel and got the nad 315bee .. and it sounded even better ... and i'm loking to get a dedicated headphone amp at some point ..

id get the senn 600 if i was you ........as they will last you years .. and will improve the longer you play them .. running in time is at least 200 hours for them anyway... so a slow upgrade wil pay dividends
 
Thanks very much for the feeback talon, good to get the perspective of someone who owns the 600s.

I think I'm going to go all out 2 channel. Scrap the sound card and use the onboard spdif to my old DAC and amp, and connect the 600s to that with a separate mic.

I'm going to start work on a SFF media pc to sit under my tv and I plan on doing that all through these old separates. I think that will give me good stereo over average surround.

If anyone has any more thoughts, please share them, you can never get enough info on these sorts of things, and thanks so far for both of your advice.
 
TBH, the HD600's need a dedicated headphone amp to get the best from them, something which you don't get with AV receivers, stereo amps. Some are likely to be better than others, but wont do the HD600's justice like a dedicated headphone amp. As you have SPDIF on your motherboard, then you would buying the Essence solely for the headphone amp. Might be a better idea to get a separate headphone amp, and connect it to a tape out on your amp.

As for using stereo, that's what I did. I used to have a 5.1 setup that was decent for what it was, better than 5.1 PC speakers, but not a patch on 5.1 separates. Didn'y have the cash to get anything of worth as far as separates go, also layout was awkward. Decided to go stereo instead, and I'm glad I did. Granted don't get the thunderous bass a subwoofer provides, but this can be added at some point if need be to a stereo amp, but the Wharfedale 9.1 speakers provide much more range of sound than little satellites, more quality too.
 
How would you go about adding a sub to a stereo amp? Is it as simple as connecting it to another line out?
 
If you have a sub with high level inputs, you connect the sub to the amp using speaker cable normally where the speakers connect, then the speakers connect to the sub. You set the crossover frequency on the sub, so the speakers play the high frequencies, and the sub handles the lower.
 
Hi Jkulas - I own both these pairs of headphones. The HD600s are the better sounding headphones and give a wonderful experience. But as it mentioned here you really need a nice headphone amp paired to them to get the best out of them.

The PC360s are imho the PC headphones on the market (I have owned more than dozen PC headsets) - the mic is great with excellent pick up but the mute when retracted is a great design touch as is the volume control on the right ear can.

The PC360s do sound good with music but if you are only outputting via a sound card the difference is not that great and in gaming barely at all.

So in day to day life I use the PC360s at my PC - they are comfortable, sound great and mic is excellent. The HD600s are now used when I am mood for "dedicated" listening sessions of my FLAC collection.

Either way you will end up with some very nice headphones and I hope you enjoy whatever you get!
 
The 600's really are fantastic, but as said previously, require some decent sort of amplification to get the best out of them. They have a rather high impedance and also take lots and lots of hours of running in.

If your serious about your sound quality, you wont regret these
 
Marsman said:
If you have a sub with high level inputs, you connect the sub to the amp using speaker cable normally where the speakers connect, then the speakers connect to the sub. You set the crossover frequency on the sub, so the speakers play the high frequencies, and the sub handles the lower.
Click to expand...

I am pretty sure my sub can accommodate that, so I will definitely give that a shot. The sub is the only thing I would miss even remotely from my 5.1 setup.

How would those of you that own the 600s characterise the sound? Marsman hinted that they aren't great for rock music and as I said I prefer a slightly warmer sound.

I really appreciate you guys taking the time to help me with my decision :)
 
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