Sennheiser Consumer Audio HD 600 – Audiophile Hi-Res Open Back Dynamic Headphone, Black
Original price was: $449.95.$319.40Current price is: $319.40.
Price: $449.95 - $319.40
(as of Jan 08, 2025 20:28:08 UTC – Details)
With the HD 650, audiophiles will experience truly unique natural sound. With sound this good, long concerts in the comfort of your home are a certainty, so the HD 650 also sets standards in comfort and convenience. The HD 650 is a genuine masterpiece, which will satisfy even the most demanding listener. HD 650 the Reference Class.
Lightweight aluminum voice coils ensure excellent transient response.Specific uses for product : Professional
Neodymium ferrous magnets maintain optimum sensitivity and excellent dynamics
Sophisticated design, elegantly finished in black and gray
High quality open metal mesh earpiece covers
Detachable, Kevlar reinforced oxygen free copper cable with very low handling noise
Connectivity technology : Wired
Customers say
Customers appreciate the headphones for their sound quality, comfort, and value. They find the soundstage better than expected, with a wider and deeper bass that can be tamed. The headphones are described as well-made and durable. Many customers praise the clarity and detail, describing the highs as articulate and detailed. Overall, they consider these headphones a good upgrade from cheap headphones.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
7 reviews for Sennheiser Consumer Audio HD 600 – Audiophile Hi-Res Open Back Dynamic Headphone, Black
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Original price was: $449.95.$319.40Current price is: $319.40.
Ian –
Excellent sound
Excellent sound and clarity. A big step up from the HD 280, HD 380, and HD 599 I’ve used previously. Well worth the the price tag if you care about your sound.I don’t need to EQ these at all for 98% of songs, but sometimes I turn up the lower end very slightly and turn down the upper end very slightly. I listen to EDM, Rock, and Jazz and they sound great for all. I’ve read that some people don’t like the bass for EDM, but it sounds fine. They’re headphones, not a subwoofer strapped to your head.You don’t NEED an amp to drive these volume wise, but if you want better sound it could help depending on what your setup is. My motherboard has a Realtek ALC1220, which I feed to a mixer that drives these. If I plug them directly into the motherboard they are LOUD, but they could have distortion which an amp could fix. If you don’t have the money for a separate amp and you have a decent audio chip in your PC then don’t worry about it. Really.These are fairly high impedance so I don’t hear the noise interference from my GPU or mouse that I used to hear from lower impedance headphones, but this is true for any high(er) impedance headphones.I’ve seen some people talk about a strong clamping force which I haven’t experienced. They “clamp” tighter than some other closed/open back headphones, such as the HD599, but it’s not painful or uncomfortable to me, even while wearing them for hours. But, I have worn headphones daily for years so I’m used to it. This gets better as they’re broken in as well.Noise cancellation is non-existent; they’re open back headphones. Leakage is not too bad, but you can definitely hear them in the proximity of someone wearing them.Build quality seems solid enough, but we’ll see how long they last. I haven’t read any complaints about build quality anyway so I’m not worried about it.Overall I’m very impressed. They made me upgrade my library because I was able to notice how poor quality some song files were.
forkboy1965 –
All the very positive reviews cannot be wrong…. and they aren’t
My road to the Sennheiser HD 600’s has been a little long and filled with some interesting twists and turns that have, or so I hope, led me to a better understanding of what are a great set of headphones. Naturally it is very typical to wish to compare these to other headphones. After all, isn’t that how we so often make purchasing decisions? We try differing products until we find the one which works best/right for our needs. So my review is going to work on two fronts: a review of the product itself, and a review against some competitors I have acquired in the last year in my quest to find headphones that are right for me. And hopefully for you.Regarding the HD600’s themselves I have mostly nothing but excellent news to report. Personally, I like the way they look. The mottled black and blue coloring is different, but not garish in any way. The large and deep oval ear cups are precisely what one wants for an over-the-ear design. At 6’4″ I’m certainly sporting a larger head than the average male and fortunately for me my entire ears fit comfortably inside the ear cups. My ears do not touch the protective cloth over the drivers, but the outer edge of my ear does touch at places around the inside of the ear cup. This is a minor annoyance and goes unnoticed some of the time. Those of you more average of height and head size will likely never have this issue. The ear cups themselves are very comfortable, seal well to my head and do not get hot even after a good number of hours of use. This also means the head clamping force is perfect for me; I never feel like my head is being squeezed. Everything about the headphones seems to indicate they are well-made, but I cannot help but feel the plastic seems a bit thin. Maybe cheap even. They do not creak and nothing flexes, but it’s the only part which lets me down at all about the headphones.The included box, while awesome for storage, is clearly not oriented for travel. But I would argue these aren’t portable headphones meant for the on-the-go user. They do not fold up. The ear cups do not turn to lay flat. And considering the amplification needed to properly drive these, using a typical portable music player (your cell phone, iPod, etc.) isn’t ideal anyway.Now for what I consider to be the more important part of how I came to select the HD600: research and listening. Let’s first be clear about something… audio equipment is not unlike some other equipment markets in that you often spend exponentially more money for an item just to gain minor, incremental increases in some important criteria. To you speaker X sounds better than speaker Y, all other things being equal. It’s likely speaker X costs more. Most of the time it will cost more, but not all of the time. But how much more does it cost and how much more quality of sound are you receiving for that additional cost? It’s almost always a matter of diminishing returns… loads more money for a bit firmer bass or slightly clearer treble. But this is the nirvana for which we seek in audio equipment.Over the last year I purchased two other sets of headphones: Grado 80e and Sennheiser Momentum. Clearly the Grado’s at $100 are the least expensive with the Momentum jumping up markedly to $299, while the more recently acquired Sennheiser HD600 hit the $400 mark. Comparing my first two purchases, the 80e’s and Momentum’s, the differences were pretty straight-forwarded. To me the Grado’s sounded brighter with good bass and sligthly harsh mids (“smeared” is the word which came to mind as I compared them in listening tests at home). The Mometum’s sounded more laid back (not as bright) with great bass (that could be a bit smeared itself in the upper bass) and definitely superior mids (thinking men’s voices here – became painfully obvious will using a live track from Morrissey between the two headphones). And so it was I came to find myself using each pair for different purposes.The Grado 80e’s became my preferred can for classical music (a genre into which I am becoming more deeply involved of late) as I felt, for my personal preferences, the brighter qualities enhanced the instruments typical of classical music, while the bass was more than sufficient. But when I wanted to rock (or alternative as is more often the case) I broke out the Momentum’s. The accentuated, but not overblown bass, was quite welcome and I noticed less the laid back nature of the treble, especially as I used them more and more.But with the also recent purchase of some better home audio equipment (Marantz CD6005 CD player and a SoundEngine D1 DAC/Headphone amp for my computer – listening to ALAC encoded tracks) I found myself thinking both the Momentum and 80e were somehow lacking. That I wasn’t getting everything I could from my music via this better equipment.From all the research I had done previously I elected to spend the money and purchase the HD600. I don’t think I have found a single bad review out there in the Internet sphere. A few have thought them a little warm or laid back. But most every review hits upon how, and especially for the money, the HD600s hit all the right notes (sorry). Having had them burned in for 30-hours the listening tests began. I had considered this purchase principally for classical music. I really didn’t think I’d get more from them for rock/alternative than I was already getting from the Momentums and so it was the classical CDs came out and I plugged into the CD player. I also plugged in the Grados to the Marantz A/V receiver, direct mode engaged. Adjusting for volume as best I could (this is hardly scientific) I played a handful of very familiar tracks from very familiar CDs; swapping back and forth between the HD600s and Grado 80e.It too almost no time to hear the difference. I’ll concede that it’s sometimes difficult to put into words the differences heard, but I’ll try. The first thing I noticed were the violins. When a number of them are playing notes together the Grado’s sounded smeared compared to the HD600s. Not unlike a poorly created JPEG from a digital point-n-shoot versus a well-made JPEG from an original RAW processed via Adobe Lightroom. Details are are lost in the former, but the latter does a far superior job of keeping the detail even in the process of losing information. The HD600 left me feeling like I was actually sitting there in the room with the musicians. I’m not referring to placement of the instruments (the HD600 do a good job, but I’ve read reviews for other cans that do better), but simply how clear, precise, concise and live-sounding are the violins. Actually, it was true of all the stringed instruments. The resonance of the strings… their very clear nature… was a welcome and astonishing difference.Granted, the Grado’s are one-quarter the cost and I shouldn’t be surprised the HD600’s sounded better. Markedly better. And I didn’t have to listen long or hard to notice the differences. They are obvious; not subtle. That said, I can’t say I was every displeased with the Grado’s. It was only in comparison to the HD600’s that it became possible to hear and understand the Grado’s limitations.And like the stringed instruments, voices also became sharper, clearer, more focused. I had found what I was looking for regarding my classical music interests: a pair of headphones that while generally neutral (which some would consider to be ‘flat’ and flat has, I think, a negative connotation), are not at all boring or flat. I feel the music is more alive than ever in comparison to the Grado’s.So… I also broke out some rock and alternative music (the recently remastered Led Zeppelin discs, some Nine Inch Nails and Pet Shop Boys) to see what the HD600’s could do. Here I feared the Momentum would just kick butt thanks to the fuller bass, but I must say the HD600’s continued to impress. All the good things they brought to mid and higher frequencies (clarity, precision) were still present, but, surprisingly, the bass was rock solid as well. I may hate myself for saying it, but I think the bass was a bit better. The upper-bass bloat in the Momentum’s doesn’t appear on the HD600’s, which tends to make the lower-bass stand out more because they aren’t overwhelmed by the enhanced upper-bass. I’d still say the Momentum’s have more punch and who doesn’t like that when listening to rock or alternative, but I could find myself readily using the HD600’s just as often for The Smiths, The Cure, Skinny Puppy, etc. as I would the Momentum’s.And here I think I have found a most excellent trio of headphones. Finding one perfect pair of headphones for all needs and opportunities is probably impossible. But I think I have accidentally stumbled upon a most excellent hat trick of cans that meet my various needs. I like to listen to music when I’m on the go; I have needs for portability. And while not truly the most portable of headphones, the Grado’s for classical (and still quite reasonable for rock and alternative) and the Momentum’s for rock and alternative (I confess I don’t like them as much for classical as I do the Grado’s for rock and alternative), AND the HD600’s for more critical, at-home listening with audio equipment that has enough amplifier ooomph to properly push them.Add my name and voice to the long list of of folks who think, dollar for dollar, the Sennheiser HD600 are the best value in headphones out there.
VÃctor DÃaz –
Cuando uno se empieza a meter en el mundo del HiFi se suele confundir ente demasiadas opciones en el mercado además de también una infinidad de opiniones. percepciones y hasta gustos. Entonces considerando todo eso puedo decir que:-Estos audÃfonos en sà son muy buenos, su principal fortaleza es la naturalidad con la que se suelen escuchar los instrumento y voces, esto gracias a su enfoque un poco más a los medios-altos hace que se escuchen de forma más presente ciertos instrumentos y voces.- Su mayor fortaleza es al mismo la causa de su punto más débil la cual es la presencia de las frecuencias bajas. Este punto es más o menos notorio dependiendo de la música o incluso canción, hay que admitir que a veces se necesita cierta pegada de los bajos que una canción tenga el impacto deseado entonces puede que existan algunas canciones que se sientan algo flojas, sin embargo son casos muy especÃficos en los que al menos yo he podido notar eso, se podrÃa decir que en el 90% de las canciones los bajos son suficientes y muchas veces te quedas más con el detalle y presencia de las otras frecuentas.- Comodidad muy buena, construcción adecuada sin ser premium ni nada por el estilo, un detalle que al menos a mi todavÃa no me toca hacer es el cambio de los pads que con el uso se siente que irán perdiendo su consistencia y esto según dicen afecta su sonido, entonces solo tener eso en cuenta para un futuro.- Por la naturaleza técnica de los audÃfonos definitivamente se recomienda usarlos bajo una buena amplificación, esto porque dependen de eso para que te puedan ofrecer un volumen, claridad y hasta especialidad del sonido adecuada.En resumen puedo decir que son unos audÃfonos los cuales te sirven de referencia para saber que es lo que te gusta, su sonido se disfruta mucho más si aprecias la claridad y presencia de voces o frecuencias medias/altas sin llegar a ser lastimantes o demasiadas analÃticas, logran representar una versión “natural” del sonido y eso se aprecia mucho sobretodo si tienes otros audÃfonos para sentir esos contrastes.Creo que te ayudan a conocer y definir lo que te gusta, a un precio que considero bueno si los encuentras por debajo de los 7k y claro, considera que tanto con ese como en muchos otros audÃfonos es necesario contar o contemplar adquirir un DAC y amplificador los cuales ayuden a exprimir y apreciarlos al 100%.La verdad no creo que te arrepientas de adquirirlos sino al contrario, creo que te alimenta ese deseo de saber más sobre el tema y seguir en este camino. Incluso como un único par de audÃfonos considero que son demasiados correctos para disfrutar de todo.
JB –
Já fazia tempo que queria testar esse clássico, e não decepcionou. Tem excelente qualidade de som, fica super confortável nas orelhas, excelente pra relaxar e ouvir música como prioridade. Não cansa o ouvido, fico horas escutando minhas listas de músicas.
Kenan GÃNEY –
Ä°ncelemeyi yeni ekliyorum fakat kulaklıÄa uzun süredir sahibim. Türkçe bir yorum görmeyince denk gelenler için eklemek ve düÅüncelerimi paylaÅmak istedim.Yazacak çok Åey var… Kısaca özetlemek istiyorum ki fiyat bandı fark etmeksizin bir kulaklıÄın sunabileceÄi en doÄal ses ve timbre baÅarımından birine sahip. Yine en renksiz (nötr) fakat müzikal çalabilen tonalitelerden (tuning) birine de sahip. AÅırı komforlu, oldukça hafif ve dayanıklı plastikten oluÅuyor. Tek eksiÄi arkası açık neredeyse her kulaklıkta olduÄu gibi yeterince güçlü üretilemeyen bass bölgesi…Fiyatı için kulak üstü arkası açık kulaklık modelleri arasında çok bir rakibi yok, kulak içi iem modellerine geldiÄimizde iÅin rengi deÄiÅiyor. Günümüzde Chi-Fi dünyasının bu denli ilerleyiÅinden sonra pek rekabetçi bir ses kalitesi sunmadıÄını da söylemem gerekir. Mikro-detay ve çözünürlük gibi konularda fiyatı için kabul edilebilir seviyede. Tabii bugün HD800 serisini bile ele aldıÄımızda, Chi-Fi iem modelleri karÅısında 1500 dolar seviyesinde fiyatıyla o da rekabetçi olamıyor… En basit örneÄiyle 40 dolarlık Hzsound Heart Mirror model iem, kutudan çıktıÄı haliyle HD600 ile neredeyse birebir çalabilen bir kulak içi kulaklık. HD600’de tamamen nötr bir ses alabilmek için tiz bölgesinde bazı ayarlamalar yapmam bile gerekirken, heart mirror’da hiç bir eq gerektirmeksizin tamamen nötr, dümdüz çalan bir midrange ve tiz duyuyorum. Tiz bölgesi daha parlak ve havadar, bu açıdan daha iyi mikro-detay baÅarımı bile sunuyor bu 40 dolarlık model. Tabii kulak üstü modelin üretebildiÄi güçlü makro-detay deneyimi, büyük ses olayı farklı bir konu, sürücü çapının avantajı HD600 ile her daim mevcut.Kaynak konusunda kulaklık kaliteli ve kalitesizi insanın yüzüne çarpıyor resmen. ÃrneÄin bir Åarkının 128kb mp3 dosyası ile aynı Åarkının DSD kaydı ile arasında çok ciddi ve net olarak duyulabilen bir kalite ve çözünürlük farkı oluyor. mp3 dosyasında sanki daha alt segment bir kulaklık kullanıyormuÅçasına düz denebilecek bir ses alınırken, foobar2000 üzerinden ASIO sürücüsünü aktif ederek DAC’a direkt DSD dosyasını aktararak dinleme yaptıÄımda ses seviye atlıyor özellikle mid ve tiz bölgesi netleÅiyor, klasik ve enstrümanın bol olduÄu parçalarda bilhassa detaylar ve nüanslar daha belirgin ve kararlı hale geliyor. Bu da kulaklıÄın sürücülerinin aslında potansiyel sahibi olduÄunu, yalnızca bu potansiyeli almak için iyi ve kaliteli bir kaynak ile eÅleÅtirme istediÄini bize gösteriyor. Genel günlük kullanımda ben süreki Spotify kullanıyorum. Tidal zaten çekildi, her yeni Åarkıyı da DSD veya Flac formatında her an bulamayabiliyoruz. Spotify gayet yeterli bir kalite sunsa da, tercihen 96kHz olacak Åekilde Flac dosyalar veya DSD parçalar açıkçası daha iyi bir deneyim sunuyor bu kulaklıkta.Bunların haricinde sürülebilirlik konusuna gelirsek, iyi amfi ve dac kullanımında alınan sonuç daha olumlu yönde olacaktır lakin ben genel kanının aksine “yeterli olarak” sürebilmek için çok da yüksek bir amplifikasyon ihtiyacı olmadıÄını düÅünüyorum. Hassasiyeti gayet iyi, aynı desibellere ulaÅmak için çok daha yüksek güç isteyen bir çok kulaklık var piyasada. HD600 görece kabul edilebilir seviyede bir hassaslık sunuyor, taÅınabilir cihazlarda bile sürme konusunda problem yaÅamadım. Ãrnek olarak Macbook Pro gayet yeterli seviyede doyuruyor ve son seslere çıkmadan tatmin edici bir ses yüksekliÄi de sunuyor. Masaüstü amfiden aldıÄım daha sıkı ve detaylı bass’ları, macbook’un ses kartı üretemiyor tabii. Kaliteli amfinin avantajını size sunabilecek ve scale olan bir kulaklık bu açıdan. Yüksek seviye seslerde ve özellikle de EQ yaparak kullanmak isterseniz, ciddi güçlü (300ohm’da en az 150mW güç verebilen) bir masaüstü amfisine ihtiyacınız olacak çünkü EQ sonrası zaten düÅürmeniz gereken desibeli (çıkıŠgain’i) amfi gücünden yararlanarak geri kazanmak gerekiyor ki istenilen ve komforlu ses yüksekliÄini tekrar EQ sonrası da alabilelim.Genel olarak fiyatına göre saÄlamlık, komfor ve ses bakımından da tonalite, doÄallık, vokal baÅarımı dendiÄinde hala en iyi kulaklıklardan birisi…
B.R.C. –
Ho sentito spesso parlare di queste cuffie, ma avevo troppi pregiudizi riguardo al classico suono sennheiser. Ora vi parlo della mia esperienza dopo circa 1 mese di ascolto. Iniziamo da un aspetto molto importante: il confort.Qualche giorno prima di ricevere le hd600 mi sono arrivate le hd58x le quali mi davano fastidio dopo pochi minuti di ascolto. Ho dovuto fare delle piccole “modifiche” per non avere fastidio! (trovate online) .Ero pronto a scrivere le peggiori cose contro la sennheiser, ma sorprendentemente non ho avuto problemi con le hd600 anzi devo dire che attualmente sono tra le cuffie più comode che possiedo, seconde solo alle 1540. Sembrano costruite molto bene, i cavi sono sottili, ma molto confortevoli al tatto. La qualità del suono è sorprendente, non immaginavo di dirlo, non pensavo che ci fosse questo piacere nell’ascoltare con queste cuffie. I bassi ci sono, sono veloci e non profondi, ma ci sono. Ottimi i medi ed eccellenti gli alti. E’ la cuffia con cui ascolto più dettagli in assoluto, in particolare con il suono della chitarra.Confronto con Shure srh 1540. Le 1540 sono cuffie chiuse per cui già questo fa capire quanto siano importanti queste cuffie se confrontate con le hd600 aperte. Il confort è leggermente migliore per le 1540. Il suono è diverso: le 1540 hanno bassi molto più potenti, se ascoltate film o videogiochi con le 1540 noterete una sorta di effetto surround che non ho mai sentito in altre cuffie. I medi sono alla pari, forse leggermente meglio hd600, per quanto riguarda gli alti vincono nettamente le hd600, purtroppo gli alti della 1540 si addensano…cioè è come se perdessero di palcoscenico e quindi di dettaglio. Altro aspetto molto importante da tenere in considerazione è che le 1540 hanno un suono più stancante delle hd600. Ho notato che le HD600 non stancano l’ascoltatore con le 1540, soprattutto a volume alto, stancano dopo qualche tempo. Il suono delle HD600 è più raffinato con un palcoscenico sonoro leggermente più ampio delle 1540. A volumi alti le HD600 suonano meglio. Secondo me sono due cuffie complementari, da usare in situazioni differenti.Confronto con sennheiser HD58x.Sono più diverse di quanto possano sembrare. Hd600 molto più confortevoli e sembrano costruite con materiali migliori.La qualità del suono delle hd58x è da best buy considerando il prezzo, soprattutto se vi trovate negli USA.Sostanzialmente ci sono diverse differenze di ascolto tra le due: le hd58x hanno più bassi, la voce è decisamente più in avanti delle hd600, hanno un palcoscenico sonoro inferiore, c’è meno spazio tra gli strumenti e gli alti sono meno dettagliati delle hd600. Preferisco le HD600 anche se in alcune situazioni potrei andare di 58x. Da notare che costano mediamente circa la metà delle HD600!In conclusione sono d’accordo col fatto che le Sennheiser hd600 siano delle cuffie leggendarie! Anche nel 2021, naturalmente se usate con un buon amplificatore! Consigliato per gli ascoltatori raffinati.
Chopin Liszt –
These headphones made me cry. More on that later.They come in a sturdy wood-ish type box – not posh polished wood, but sturdy enough and covered with dark brown lining. The phones are nestled in protective grey foam, cut to the shape of the phones to keep them safe during transit. A manual accompanies them, although I just dived in and started listening.I love the sound of a piano so I had plenty of classical themed music to run through these 600s.First up was an old Naxos 1980s Beethoven Piano Concerto No.1 CD. Hmm. The sound was dull across the entire range. The playing is fantastic though and led me to buy the sheet music, which I never could play. To be fair it never sounded great through any headphones, but I was expecting some kind of magic.Let’s try something recorded more recently. Second up was Yundi Li’s “The Art of Yundi” (a fantastic collection of piano pieces – many new to me a few months ago). Flipping heck! What a difference a good recording/sound engineer makes! I heard nuances in individual notes I’d not heard before. I even heard accidentals/accent notes I’d not noticed before. The clarity from top to bottom was simply outstanding. Sparkling brilliance in the upper registers and warm dark sonorous tones lower down.My love of piano music led me to buy an electric piano, 15+ years ago now. It went “pop” a year or so ago and died on me. I was sad but kept it as it’s handy for my home theater speakers. When I’ve saved up I’ll buy another.Back to Yundi. Liszt’s Rigoletto was one of the pieces that was new to me. I must have played it 100 times on the train to work, using my mobile + headphones. It’s an addictive piece and I know it quite well now. Again there were notes/timbres/nuances that sprang into life, as though rescued from the cracks that lesser headphones would leave behind. It was like listening to a completely new recording. Rigoletto draws you in slowly, then makes you addicted with its clever ever complicating recapitulation, then exits the stadium with magnificent massive virtuoso chords crashing down the keyboard. And then silence. But there isn’t. For a few seconds through these headphones you can hear the soundboard and frame of the piano ring and undulate as the brilliance of Liszt, through Yundis fingers, evapourates into the ether. That little piece of magic made me cry. It made me look at my beloved piano, now senza voce, and want to play it. But I could not, ever again. It made me remember all the good times, the bad times, the frustrations, the rare accomplishments but most of all my love of sound itself. Welcome back, my friend.Let’s not get too emotive – it’s just a pair of headphones after all. However, music makes us emotional.Third up was Bachs Toccata & Fugue in D Minor. These phones pick up everything, including quirks of an old air powered Church organ. You could almost hear the beast breathing through its nostrils. At full pelt in the “fff” passages with every single bank of notes from foot to teeth being tormented these phones did struggle. The music got lost as if overwhelmed. To be fair it’s a cruel test as none of my headphones ever succeeded either. You have a huge Church organ pumping gallons of air to make those fat boy pipes play and expect a little piece of tech to replicate that? We need to be realistic in our expectations. However, the different registers/instruments the organ sounded were simply sublime through these. Really sweet.Fourth up was a new addiction of mine. Liszt Hungarian Rhapsodies. Played by the brilliant George Cziffra. Recorded in the early 1970s I didn’t expect much from this CD. In fact I was worried these ‘phones might highlight the fact microphones were not as sensitive then, tape noise, that kind of thing. Oh my – what a blast! Yet again I’m hearing those accidental notes (not really accidental – they are very brief deliberate embellishments and fiendishly difficult to play without whacking). Yet again I feel like my ears have been cleansed or I’m listening to a new digitally remastered release. Brilliant.These ‘phones give your ears exactly what’s on the plate. If it’s a poor recording then they won’t make it better. If it’s a good one then your ears, brain, body and soul will be overjoyed. Yep that’s the word. The music I have gave me joy. Now it’s joy++. Overjoyed.These initially feel tight to wear, but soon you realise you’ve gotten used to slack ill fitting headgear. They encompass the ear (unless you are Vulcan) and fit nicely against the head, instead of pressing into parts of the ear. I find them very comfortable. After a few minutes you forget you are wearing them.My first pair of “opens”. Highly recommended. Closed gives me that “sea shell” experience of hearing my own bloodstream or something. Plus my ears now remain cool, they weigh less and I feel part of the environment rather than in some sensory deprivation chamber. A huge plus when it comes to listening to a concerto where you want to be in the audience, not isolated.Having listened to much piano tonight I noticed sound engineers don’t follow any particular rule regarding left/right; some make you the listener – you are facing the piano being played so high notes come through the left ear and low notes through the right. Very disconcerting if you are a player. As the player you hear low through left and high through right. I’m not a player, but have tried and like to be “in the seat” when I’m doing air piano.Others seem to give a cross-fade which is even more disconcerting.For the wrong-way-round listener experience I found a fantastic tweak you can do to these HD 600s. If you absolutely want the player experience where low=down and high=up then make the following adjustments to these cans. Yes I know these are very expensive, but the modification is reversible:1. Take them off2. Put them on the wrong way roundImmediately you are transported from audience to player. As these phones are symmetrically flexible they feel just as comfortable either way around.Worth the money? If you’re going to do something, do it once and do it properly.With a frequency response of 12Hz-40500Hz it should cover most needs. Oh nearly forgot! So many questions out there about impedance. 32/80/300/600 Ohms. Will my X phones work in a Y thing? There’s lots of “info” about needing to buy a specialist headphone amp if > 32 ohms.These HD 600s are 300 ohms. I have them plugged into my Denon 4300 AVR. My CD is a Panasonic Blue Ray player. They are more than loud enough at 5/10. 3/10 would be my listening preference.These just tell it like it is to be fair. No magic. No pseudo science. Simple transparent acoustic honesty.No regrets at all.