General Headphone Audio

Things change I've changed said:
HD6XX and HD650 (latest version, a lot of people say that the originals were darker sounding) are the same as far as I can tell, a few people seem to think otherwise, I still think to this day the HD600 is the best headphone of their line.

Main issue with HD650/6XX is the effect that pad wear has on the sound, if used regularly...
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The big difference that seems to get picked up on the 600 & 650 is the black screen vs white screen. And some YouTubers and people will speak as that of the holy grail as if it makes a massive difference. Same people that tend to comment on the plastic. My hunch is differences are there, but in reality are marginal, or confirmation bias.

Regarding the pads I did read a detailed article on the newer 6x0 pads Sennheiser introduced around 2021. If I remember correctly they have the clear plastic backing but are said to be slightly firmer and were meant to be a tad more durable. All of my 3 models have these. And the replacement pads I bought last year (part. 050635) are these ones too.

So I don't know if the newer pads are different. Sometimes I go weeks between using my 6x0 models so my pads are all still fairly full. My HD 58X are the most used, just because they are great for YouTube and stuff and the pads seem fine. But I do get why people say you need to replace often and know from experience how massive 'pad rolling' and deterioration can have on a headphone.
 
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Timber said:
The big difference that seems to get picked up on the 600 & 650 is the black screen vs white screen. And some YouTubers and people will speak as that of the holy grail as if it makes a massive difference. Same people that tend to comment on the plastic. My hunch is differences are there, but in reality are marginal, or confirmation bias.

Regarding the pads I did read a detailed article on the newer 6x0 pads Sennheiser introduced around 2021. If I remember correctly they have the clear plastic backing but are said to be slightly firmer and were meant to be a tad more durable. All of my 3 models have these. And the replacement pads I bought last year (part. 050635) are these ones too.

So I don't know if the newer pads are different.Sometimes I go days between using my 6x0 models so my pads are all really thick and full. My HD 58X are the most used, just because they are great for YouTube and stuff and the pads seem fine. But I do get why people say you need to replace often and know from experience how massive 'pad rolling' can have on a headphone.
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I agree regarding the black vs white screen, it's hard to know if it really makes much of a difference if at all imo, I think the new pads don't suffer as big a difference in FR changes due to wear from what I've heard.
 
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Now on the slightly more saner side of the spectrum,I managed to pick up a pair of HifiMAN Sundara Closed Back headphones from their Aliexpress store for the princely sum of £34 just for a play around with. Also got hold of a FiiO KA13 for about the same amount. HifiMAN and FiiO had quite a few reductions in their summer sale on Aliexpress. The BTR7 is under £70 including VAT.

Raymond Lin said:
The truth is I use my HD600 as reference as a it seems to be the standard go to headphones when reviewers do when they do comparisons. They always refer it back to the HD600.

Plus I bought it years ago, for £120.
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I remember when Richer Sounds had them for that sort of money - was 20 years ago!

But honestly after taking a chance on the Aune AR5000 headphones,they seem to preserve many of the HD600/HD650 characteristics with better bass and spatiality. Plus they are very easy to run and very light.

Aliexpress has them for £150 excluding VAT during their sales,or about £280 in the UK.

@mrk
Aune have announced the AR9000:

They will be over a $1000 though! :(
 
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CAT-THE-FIFTH said:
Now on the slightly more saner side of the spectrum,I managed to pick up a pair of HifiMAN Sundara Closed Back headphones from their Aliexpress store for the princely sum of £34 just for a play around with. Also got hold of a FiiO KA13 for about the same amount. HifiMAN and FiiO had quite a few reductions in their summer sale on Aliexpress. The BTR7 is under £70 including VAT.



I remember when Richer Sounds had them for that sort of money - was 20 years ago!

But honestly after taking a chance on the Aune AR5000 headphones,they seem to preserve many of the HD600/HD650 characteristics with better bass and spatiality. Plus they are very easy to run and very light.

Aliexpress has them for £150 excluding VAT during their sales,or about £280 in the UK.

@mrk
Aune have announced the AR9000:

They will be over a $1000 though! :(
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The Sundara Closed as you are probably already aware got universally panned but for that price I guess I can't lose, they've got to be better than many unknown brands on amazon that cost more, the Fiio KA13 is a bargain if you got it for a similar price, really good dongle.
 
Things change I've changed said:
The Sundara Closed as you are probably already aware got universally panned but for that price I guess I can't lose, they've got to be better than many unknown brands on amazon that cost more, the Fiio KA13 is a bargain if you got it for a similar price, really good dongle.
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A combination of codes and other discounts. Apparently they EQ well so will be having a play around with that.

The BHD Pro was as low as £23 with coins but the KA13 has a high power output mode for desktop usage. Will use it for gaming.

I have SMSL DO100 Pro and Myryad headphone amplifier for more serious usage.

mrk said:
Hmmmmmm
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You going to test a pair?
 
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CAT-THE-FIFTH said:
A combination of codes and other discounts. Apparently they EQ well so will be having a play around with that.

The BHD Pro was as low as £23 with coins but the KA13 has a high power output mode for desktop usage. Will use it for gaming.

I have SMSL DO100 Pro and Myryad headphone amplifier for more serious usage.



You going to test a pair?
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I'll send out comms but have had no dealings with their side of business so who knows, we will see :p
 
Something a little different. I wanted something cheap and like the open Airpods but stays in my ear. Airpods (non-pro) always fall out of my ears.

These were on sale for £40, got them today. Very cute case, if a little bulky, certainly not one to carry in jeans pocket but I like it for being different.

Sound wise they do remind me of Airpods and that is a good thing. Because it is open I can hear everything around me and in doing so, I lose the sub bass but I also notice the very fine details in the music is faint and not really present when compared to the others. They also don't get that loud, even maxed out it won't blow your ears off but probably not a good idea to do that all the time. It's not something you would want to wear in a loud room, like on the bus because you are just going to max it out. But it does the job for £40. And open set of ear buds for the office so I can hear the room around me.

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The app is quite neat though, there is a section where you can upload your EQ setting or download others', it's only a 5 band but it does change things up to a degree.

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Nice I have a pair of Baseus open-air as well as an older pair from another brand, open-air always intrigued me but the ones I have tried don't deliver the kind of bass response I was looking for, only when you press them further in do you get decent bass.
 
mrk said:
Nice I have a pair of Baseus open-air as well as an older pair from another brand, open-air always intrigued me but the ones I have tried don't deliver the kind of bass response I was looking for, only when you press them further in do you get decent bass.
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Okay, after a bit longer now I really like them. The biggest thing is comfort, especially in this weather. The sound is perfectly good enough, and it’s very comfortable and I forget I have them on because they are not in my ear and I can totally hear everything around me.

I’m definitely getting a V2 if they release one with a smaller case but I do find it very charming.
 
I'm intrigued, if they do sound good then I'd be happy to go back to mobile music listening as I walk a lot.

Time to look up specs.
 
mrk said:
I'm intrigued, if they do sound good then I'd be happy to go back to mobile music listening as I walk a lot.

Time to look up specs.
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There is bass, is it like a planar? Nope but it’s enough for what I need. Plus at work I listen to more YouTube videos than anything else where bass is not critical.

They don't get that loud so I think if you are outside, it isn't going to work very well.

I will try it on to work tomorrow and see how it fares.
 
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Watched a review, the case is massive, there is no way that will be comfy in my gilet pockets let alone trousers lolll. I will look again when they do one that is in a normal shaped case like every other tws.
 
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Yes, it's bulky for a earbuds.

People might ask "why aren't you using your Airpod Pros?"...the left one just play White Noise.

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Looks like another guy who has an early review sample of the X9 also has channel imbalance of the headphones XLR port, though his SE and 4.4mm are fine. Almost certainly be a review sample issue then I guess. Awaiting to see what the devs over there say. In the meantime I will keep using the X9 as DAC and pre-amp as those area s of it are exceptional and I like its tone as you know.

This ultimately means I will look to get a dedicated HP amp, which means the K13 R2R needs to hurry up. I think the K11 R2R with upgraded power supply sounds more to my taste for headphones out to the Hifimans than the DX5 II does out of the box without mucking around with the PEQ, so if the K13 R2R is solid, then that will fill the gap I think. Shame as I really really like the X9's headphone out, all without needing to apply the HP-EQ, so if the K13 R2R can match the headphones output quality of the X9, or even get fairly close, then awesome.
 
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Timber said:
The big difference that seems to get picked up on the 600 & 650 is the black screen vs white screen. And some YouTubers and people will speak as that of the holy grail as if it makes a massive difference. Same people that tend to comment on the plastic. My hunch is differences are there, but in reality are marginal, or confirmation bias.

Regarding the pads I did read a detailed article on the newer 6x0 pads Sennheiser introduced around 2021. If I remember correctly they have the clear plastic backing but are said to be slightly firmer and were meant to be a tad more durable. All of my 3 models have these. And the replacement pads I bought last year (part. 050635) are these ones too.

So I don't know if the newer pads are different. Sometimes I go weeks between using my 6x0 models so my pads are all still fairly full. My HD 58X are the most used, just because they are great for YouTube and stuff and the pads seem fine. But I do get why people say you need to replace often and know from experience how massive 'pad rolling' and deterioration can have on a headphone.
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The blue marbled version with built date around 2010 to 2021 the memory foam goes funny after about 10 years and the sponge over the speakers starts to fall apart :( earlier ones and the ones with monochrome headbands supposedly are more durable (slightly different headband foam design but my oldest pair are still firm whereas my 2015 pair the foam has gone limp).

Sound difference is minimal and mostly comes down to the different materials IMO but the old old pair of HD600s (date unknown) I have definitely sounds darker than my 2015 pair and newer ones again aren't quite as dark as my 2015. I actually prefer the 2015 ones for my listening tastes they suit best and I prefer them for my listening tastes over the 650s.
 
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I knew there was another x9 that had the imbalance, I just couldn't remember where I saw it, if it's only a review sample issue which hopefully that is the case then I don't see why it's not worth buying one outright if Luxsin doesn't replace yours, at only 1k if it does everything you want then that's a bargain.
 
Yeah that has crossed my mind this evening already so will be waiting to see what they come back with, if they say yes the samples sent out were just early samples and the retail units are newer revisions then great, I guess the best option is to just buy one for myself.

Edit* They did say in the headfi thread that a special edition is being considered, and that an X10 is a possibility, plus they are considering releasing a version with a display lid so you can see the innards as they had a demo one at canjam which looked really cool. I'd be all over that, though I come form the days of manually modding glass windows into your PC side panel so would happily take to the thick lid on mine as a test to see if I still have that skill.
 
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Well here's some good news to wake up from the few hours sleep that i could manage in this heat... Luxsin are sending me a new one because the samples sent out were old revisions, they say changes were made to the hardware in the final units. It's too trivial for this unit to be sent to China for analysis so said just keep both.

Guess I have a fulltime reference DAC/headphones amp/pre-amp now after all then and I can do a full teardown of the early one.

Edit*
Alternatively, if anyone here wants the early one to use as a DAC/pre-amp , you're welcome to it, just cover postage. I will be selling on my DX5 II and using those funds to buy the K13 R2R if FiiO don't pull through and send a sample unit to check out.
 
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