Legendary for a reason, just not my cup of tea
The HD600 deserves its accolades as a legendary neutral reference. It’s just too neutral for my tastes. One of my current daily drivers is the Hifiman HE1000 Stealth V4 (purchased from audio46). Comparatively, I found the soundstage depth, detail, width and overall ‘presence’ of the 600 lacking in comparison to the HE1000 Stealth (as well as other headphones in my portfolio). During, A/B listening of various genres between the two headphones, I found the overall tonality of the 600 lacking. What was heard in the HE1000 seemed relatively muddled or, on occasion absent, from the 600 (more so in the upper frequencies, to a lesser degree in the lower frequencies). There is a chance I would have kept the 600’s if not for other headphones I own that reflect the Harman target (e.g. Dan Clark Audio Aeon 2 Noire) or others that I have with somewhat neutral or ‘warm’ tuning (e.g., ZMF Auteur). I didn’t put multiple hours into my 600 listening….it was like putting on a new shoe that was soon apparent it ‘didn’t fit’. The drivers for my headphones are: Roon Nucleus, Benchmark DAC3 B, and a Benchmark HPA4 headphone amplifier. Headphone cables, interconnects and power cords are all super expensive, super ‘premium’ and outrageously priced…purchased from a time I ‘wanted to believe’, did not wish to leave any stone unturned in seeking audio nirvana, and when I just did not know any better (properly engineered and manufactured cables are all the same…save your money…unless inherently defective, cables in themselves make absolutely no difference says the man who used to A/B test rarified extracts of silver and copper cables). I note the equipment used along with my subjective opinion so you might know where I’m coming from. If you buy the 600 you’d likely be happy unless you are dialed in to a given brand’s house sound or are familiar with and have a preference to wider range of different headphone tunings. Overall, a great headphone that’s likely pleasing for long listening sessions, it just did not wow me as I had hoped….but, now I know and that’s why I initially bought it, to understand for myself what I’ve heard so many rave about. Unfortunately, the 600’s are going back to audio46….thankfully, they trust their customers and have a very customer friendly return policy.
