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So glad I got to see these guys live... on acid no less. Granted it was not with Roger Waters, but the power and grace of Floyd is still stunning to me. FWIW, I have a tremendous renewed appreciation for them since finding headphones. Their music was truly intended for a set of cans.

i wish you could hear my front stage...a SINGLE pair of 6.5" components with 640w rms per channel it's crystal clear and stays ahead of my two 12" subs very nicely....staging is awsome my ground pounder had only two 6.5" mids and a tweeter in each door that kept up to four 15" Xcons easily (800w rms per door) listen to M5....stay away from SMD install photo's if you want it to sound good... a door stuffed full of assorted drivers gets loud.......but sounds like shit as far as staging and SQ

She could use either set. The picture she painted of me when she was mad is nasty. I'm pretty bummed now, how do other couples work? I've been pushing projects more and more behind just because I spend time with her. If this doesn't work out, I shall do my best to find somebody who has a strong passion for something, doesn't have to be the same passion as mine. When first dating it's nice if somebody has hobbies and uses up their free time to grow and evolve. When the relationship gets serious you begin to spend more time with each other and the hobbies start to lag. Then it becomes a problem for the other person that you don't have hobbies anymore. Rant over, I should be working now.

We measured up to 128dB in front of the main stage. It was seriously loud.

So my 17 year old son is all into music (from playing various instruments from violin, viola, fiddle, guitar, and keyboards) and has had a real hard on for headphones over the past year or so. Last Christmas I got him the Beats on ears he wanted. 2 months later for his birthday he wanted the Beats Studios (circumaural) which my mother got him. I kept telling him about Sennheiser and he scoffed at them. When I got the Momentums he listened to them and admitted they were impressive. He said they sounded more realistic then both his sets of Beats, but that he liked the bass drops of his Beats better. When I got the amp he started messing with it, using his Beats and My Momentums... slowly but surely he was using my Momentums more than his Beats. Today he came in my room and said he could hear my music all the way into his room. When he saw the HD600s on my head his jaw dropped "Where did you get those, how much did they cost, can I try them?". He put them on, and I was midway through Seether's live acoustic version of Pearl Jam's Immortality (great song by both bands, but being in the middle of my Acoustic set listening Seether's version was playing). He asked if he could mess with them for a bit. He played several songs, from rap shit, to some bluegrass, to rock, to a piano version of Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd). He told me that while his Beats definitely got lower he didn't care. He said the Senns sounded so real that he HAS to get a pair. He said he had never heard music so pure before. That was his word, "pure". So now he wants to sell both his Beats in the hopes that he can get some Senns. I may surprise him with some 598s, since they are 50 ohm they will be easier for him to drive with his devices. This will give me another opportunity to sample Sennheisers lines a bit further as well.

The Sennheiser HD600s don't come in any carry case, unfortunately, but I guess that is because they are not really intended to be used in public places. I have read tale of how they are really efficient and even though they are 300 ohm units they can be driven by many mobile devices. I'd dare say that is not really true. While I did not plug them into an iPod or my HTC One M8, I did plug them into my headphone amp with the same low gain switch and volume knob setting I use for my Sennheiser Momentum On Ears (30 ohm unit). The switch went immediately to high gain and the dial got turned up. I will mess with these a bit more in the coming days with various sources, but for the first impressions I wanted known source and amplification so I can gather more of an understanding of what a really nice, highly regarded circumaural headphone can deliver, relative to a solid on ear headphone. Sources include all digital music from a high end laptop with a decent sound card. This sound card will be my weak point as my DAC is still in transit, but I am familiar with this source. I used spotify premium and high quality streaming through equify, and WinAmp with full bitrate flac conversions. A PA1502A tube amp drives the phones, which is fed off the spdif feed from the PC. A black corrugated box protects the box that is to be used to house the HD600s when not in use. I felt the presentation was cheap for a $450 set of headphones, but I honestly don't care about that. Inside the storage box is the HD600s, the Y cable, instructions for use (a quick reference guide, really, with tech specs), warranty information, and a user manual. The cables have a nice 1/4 jack that appears to be the cable itself, but it is an adapter over a 3.5mm jack. I'm not sure how I feel about the build quality on these. There is nothing physically attractive about these cans. IMO they are flat out ugly. They use a decently sturdy seeming headband that is made out of plastic, with a cheap granite finish. The way they overlayed the band with the logo does look decent though. The articulation point where the ear cup forks meet the band is very fluid. It conforms to your head easily, so easily in fact I have concerns about the durability. But as far as function, it is sweet. The ear cups are large. They easily wrap around my ears and rest comfortably on my head. Clamping force seems a little tight to me, but I don't find these uncomfortable at all. Being open backed they are very loud on the outside listening in. Everyone will know what you are listening to. The grill that protects the back of the driver unit is solid as hell, and not particularly attractive. Of course, I am not sure how to make it look really good. I think the 598s to a fair job of making it look better though. Now to the meat and potatoes of them. They should be a long way from broken in, but the initial listening is what we are getting at here. These may be really ugly from a physical standpoint, but after spending a few minutes with them singing in your ears, you don't really give a fuck about how ugly they are. They are so detailed that I am picking up a lot of information I have never heard before. From Sarah McLaughlin's feet moving on piano pedals, so lips separating and sticking a little (should have worn less lipstick that day), to tiny nuances in music that I have not heard resolved before, they are extremely impressive. FR seems really good to me. There is a slight bump in the 10K region, but it really isn't an ugly bump. There is some rolloff in the bottom octave or 2, but after a few hours it seems to be settling back. I have read about midrange softness that made some vocals seem veiled, but I am not getting that at all. If anything, I feel vocal presentation may be a little forward at this point. Interestingly I am using the 6p6p tubes, which I found too laid back in the mid range with the Momentums. I will play with the Tung Sols tomorrow and see how they sound through these monsters. Image presentation is really surprising. I expected a closed off stage like I have experienced with all other headphones I have listened to, but I find the image to be very accurate, and the soundstage broad. Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb seems to come at you from outside the ear cups, just building into the main image from nowhere. Attack is precise, decay is lovely. They are very articulate, and extremely quick. I have messed with several genre thus far and have not really found one these dislike. Bass impact it solid and precise, with kick drums from Death's Scavenger of Human Sorrow providing articulate and bold impact, although perhaps a little weak in the bottom couple octave rolloff I mentioned before. So far I am very pleased and surprised. These showed me several characteristics I did not expect from a set of cans. I have listened to a few sets, but never really found them much worth writing home about. My introduction to headphones on a somewhat serious level began with the Momentums. I was impressed enough to buy an amp and research a better set. I had no idea that higher end sets could do what these HD600s do. This might wind up becoming yet another expensive hobby for me.

First impressions coming soon. I put the 6p6ps back in the amp for my first session since they are broken in already. I also have an amusing impression from my son (part of the Beats by Dre generation) that will make a true audiophile chuckle... As I type this, I can hear Sarah McLaghlin's foot depressing and lifting off the pedal of her piano in the piano version of Posession... Gonna make a snack and will post in a bit.

There are a lot of vehicles that will go 200k if you take good care of them. It is a Toyota, sure it will go 200K plus, but mine will be as close to new as you could possibly find.

ANY two drivers playing the same frequency will create cancellation. Conveniently for subs the wavelengths are really long, for the rest you get a mess. You can't just arbitrarily pick cross points and have stuff work either. You REALLY need to listen to them. I am not arguing. I am simply asking a question. Telling me to sell/return most of the equipment i purchased isn't teaching me anything. Or telling me that what I have is overkill/no good is not helping either. I am not saying he is incorrect, i am simply asking for explanations.It is your job to ask questions on things you don't understand, spoon feeding isn't helpful not even in the short run. Compounded by the fact that you showed up on the board with the typical run of the mill SMD misinformation that is prevalent in a ton of new members. Most then exhibit the stubborn behavior that they are unwilling to learn nor ever cared to. Only posted here to have someone say nice choices. When that fails they run. More than willing to help, but surely won't pad any comments to help with feelings. All that being said, it sounds like my comments DID help. You are actually questioning what you were going to do. Before that wasn't the case. Now it is your turn to choose what you'd like to learn and make better. Bummer you already spent the money, but at least you haven't wasted the time/money on the install which is btw more important than the gear. Easy to pick gear, hard to make it work perfect.

Like the other been following your build...bad ass! Welcome to SSA.

Glad you can make it man, been following you on SMD. Hopefully one day I can get a demo.