HD650 to 660S worth it?

Things change I've changed · 15 Apr 2018 at 11:15

mcc49 said:
The HD58X essentially uses the same 'new' driver as the HD660S and the measurement is almost a carbon copy.

Thanks for the heads up on the HD58X, seems like a bargain, I think this will be my first drop.

GTiPUG · 17 Apr 2018 at 08:56

Strange to see criticism of the HD660S. I grabbed a pair after humming and harring for a few weeks. Was previously on Beyer DT770s, upgrade was either a pair of DT990s or Sennheiser HD650, that was until I heard the HD660S. Absolutely fell in love with them and dropped the £425 on them on Amazon. Over the moon with them still after several months.

PapaLazaru · 17 Apr 2018 at 11:55

GTiPUG said:
Strange to see criticism of the HD660S. I grabbed a pair after humming and harring for a few weeks. Was previously on Beyer DT770s, upgrade was either a pair of DT990s or Sennheiser HD650, that was until I heard the HD660S. Absolutely fell in love with them and dropped the £425 on them on Amazon. Over the moon with them still after several months.

The criticism is between the 650 and 660s. Nobody is denying that in their own right they are not good headphones, but the 650 are being dropdro from the lineup for a supposedly slightly weaker product.

ToTheMax · 17 Apr 2018 at 12:37

PapaLazaru said:
The criticism is between the 650 and 660s. Nobody is denying that in their own right they are not good headphones, but the 650 are being dropdro from the lineup for a supposedly slightly weaker product.

Maybe because the HD6XX version is so much cheaper than the HD650's just weren't selling?

PapaLazaru · 17 Apr 2018 at 14:31

ToTheMax said:
Maybe because the HD6XX version is so much cheaper than the HD650's just weren't selling?

660s is not the 6XX. The 660s is the successor to the 650. The 6XX are cheaper versions of the 650 as built in China instead of Ireland.

mcc49 · 17 Apr 2018 at 14:42

He meant Sennheiser dropped the HD650 line because the HD6XX was eating into it's sales.

The HD6XX's are made in Ireland in the same facility as the HD650. Sennheiser has confirmed this on one of the Massdrop discussion thread and it even says on the specification of the listing that it is 'Made in Ireland'

PapaLazaru · 17 Apr 2018 at 16:25

They did not release the 6XX as it was eating into the sales of the 650, that would be madness, who tries to undercut themselves?
The 650 was as cheap as £220 this time last year in the UK. Prices have increased since it has ceased production.

The 6XX was likely released purely to deplete stock due to the release of the 660S.

deFiniLoGy · 17 Apr 2018 at 18:18

PapaLazaru said:
The 6XX was likely released purely to deplete stock due to the release of the 660S.

Why?

It’s perfectly reasonable for Sennheiser to continue producing HD6XX since that is driving the demand for this particular headphone much more than the HD650.

They may be earning less for each headphone sold, but that can be easily justified by the sheer demand, not to mention that the HD6XX also absorb the market share of the sub-$200 market.

TD:LR, they could be earning much more over time from HD6XX than HD650 that it make sense for them to forgo the HD650 production line, but it doesn’t make sense for them to EOL the HD6XX given the current demand for them.

PapaLazaru · 17 Apr 2018 at 18:34

The demand was being driven by the cost. Why not just lower the cost of the 650?

I might be wrong, but I just cannot see a company palming off one of their most famous products to a third party reseller and changing the name.

mcc49 · 17 Apr 2018 at 21:26

deFiniLoGy said:
TD:LR, they could be earning much more over time from HD6XX than HD650 that it make sense for them to forgo the HD650 production line, but it doesn’t make sense for them to EOL the HD6XX given the current demand for them.

This^^

Dropping the price also would not create as much marketing hype and demand than releasing a 'new' product.