Seeing as there’s not a thread for the HE600, I thought I’d post my initial thoughts here for others to weigh in also and hope they may be of use to those wondering about whether to pull the trigger or not.
I received my HE600 yesterday and am very pleased with them. I wasn’t quite expecting what I got, lol. Thought I’d write this little resumé of my use case and opinion on them, along with a bit of my background to help others with a decision, as opinions are so varied.
I am moving from an aged pair of Beyerdynamic T1 gen 1 into the modern age, basically, triggered by a recent purchase of a couple of R2R devices which I love the sound of, the FIIO M33 and K13. I have been into headfi since around 2012 or so when I purchased my 1st bits of gear, some Grado iems and an old fiio DAP, an X3 or somesuch. Since then I’ve been through loads of iems, and a load of portable gear, DAPs and DACs, mainly fiio stuff but also a Chord Mojo which was quirky but lovely and for which I bought the T1, to finally arrive at the new-gen of R2R stuff. Never thought really about upgrading the over-ears until now.
I should say, that for me, Hifi is just a means to get closer to the music, to become emotionally affected by it, to experience it wholly and completely. Not interested in tones, technicalities per se other than means to an end to make the gear disappear, so to speak, and to allow me to connect to the music.
Back to I bought them blind and was reading very mixed reviews and opinions on forums and such.
Worst case, I was expecting uncomfortable fit, painful even, and maybe a bit of an imprecise, yet open soundstage, and lacking in bass, overbright, perhaps, difficult to drive just about ok with my K13 Fiio. I had also read that they were quite genre specific, good with acoustic and orchestral but not good with rock. Also I was a little worried they may be a little delicate physically. Oh, and I wear glasses so I was also worried about bad fit and further pressure on the side bars of those.
Best case, I expected a tightish, but not uncomfortable fit, a balanced and detailed sound with low end punch, and abilty drive them with my Fiio M33 with good results in desk top mode. Something which could also play well with all genres if given good amount of juice.
The reality?
Out of the box, the build is noticeably solid. I don’t have any qualms about build quality or longevity.
Fit is surprisingly good, a little tight on the ears but not uncomfortable; able to wear them for maybe an hour or two easily without fatigue. Not quite as comfortable as the T1 due to pressure, but that’s all. NO glasses issue. I may remove the headband and try to bend them out a bit. I recall bending out my T1 also at the start to reduce pressure a little. Will see…
Coupling with the 2 devices I am using, the Fiio M33 and K13 are, so far, yielding similar results. I’ve put a 4.4mm cable on the HE600 straight away, so I’m getting around 1w max out of the M33 and 2w out of the K13. Other than volume matching setting a little higher on the M33, the sound quality seems very similar with AB listening which is very good news indeed for me, as I wanted to be able to use the HE600 with a (relatively high powered) portable. Both sound powerful, dynamic, not lacking. I feel that I generally don’t listening particularly loudly, rarely going past around 50-60/120 or so in low gain on the K13 and around perhaps 60 or 70 also out of 120 in the M33 on high or super high gain. Depends on recording levels of course and ymmv also of course. For example am listening quit loudly for me the Eagles 1st album 24/96 at 70 on the M33 high gain (not desktop mode) and 60 on the K13 low gain for similar output levels. ie… both devices have a lot of room to spare. The good thing is, I can be listening to one or the other and not really realise which I’m listening to. It’s not like I feel I’m left wanting if I’m plugged into the M33.
Ref sound…
As I don’t have much of a comparison to make with other new headphones, I can only go by my own subjective opinion about the sound with the music I listen to which is quite eclectic; jazz, rock, classical, folk, blues, country, electronic, prog rock and prog metal.
I can say that the HE600 surpasses by a large degree the sound of the T1, and in all areas. I’d been raving about the new lease of live the K13 had given my T1 only a couple of weeks ago and now they’re gathering dust on a high shelf. That sort of made me a little sad, lol. I feel like I’ve got Buzz Light year and chucked Woody in a box.
The sound is very nice to my ears. Great balance of tone at all frequencies, including a surprising amount of bass which is not bleeding into upper frequencies. More than the T1 and better defined. If I were to compare to the T1, the HE600 is just more of everything, more dynamic, more presence, clearly a better link between me and the music.
It’s delivered quite a few “moments” already. Yes Turn of the Century came across as I’ve never heard it before. What I have noticed is when there’s some background synth going on with vocals and other instruments, the soundstage can take on a sort of surreal impression, it’s hard to describe, an out of the head experience. (PS… I was completely sober when listening, lol), that was intoxicating. Also female vocals are very expressive, I was tearing up immediately listening to Tigerlilly by Natalie Merchant, the melancholly was palpable. A Face in the Crowd, by Tom Petty is another good tester for spaciousness, and the HE600 delivers in spades.
Timbre is fine, nothing to complain about. Quite rounded and good across frequency range.
Also, they play well with all the stuff I’ve thrown at them. Not to say they don’t shine more with certain inputs than others, but they ARE a decent allrounder. Another win for me and check for my list of worries. The most capable I’ve heard them are with enhancing of already spacious and well recorded tracks, with a big lush soundstage, like Chemistry by Rush for example, this comes over very well. Or Graceland by Paul Simon. Stuff where there’s a big soundstage with quite a lot going but resolvable. Everything is pushed into your senses with great energy but also with great smoothness which makes you want to listen and listen closely. Sultans of Swing is another great test track and the HE600 shines with this. They give you some awesome moments where you have to catch your breath, and you get a lump in your throat, certainly combined with the sources I have.
I think, for me, the most noticeable, is the punch, the dynamics, the clarity, the dichotomy of the closeness of the sound and yet airiness in the sound space. There is seemingly no distance between me and the music. These are NOT laid back. They are visceral, incisive. Like an injection of all the music all at once into your brain. You can’t escape the music. It’s got you! That’s what I come away with when listening to these with my gear, ie M33 and K13. It’s enticing and addictive. It’s possible it might get a bit tiring for some over time, and a less engaging pair of cans may be what some are looking for. The HE600 are not harsh, they are very balanced and even smooth sounding throughout the range, yet they are very dynamic, very in your face. Laid back these ain’t!
Those are my thoughts, how do you find them?