Sennheiser HD 600 casque studio version 2019

I have found that many reviews relating to ‘Reference’ headphones and speakers often comment on the ‘listening experience’ i.e. how pleasing they sound - “extended bass”, “nice treble end”, “forward in the mid” “fatiguing”etc. However, for me it is about how uncoloured they reproduce the original source material and shouldn’t be ‘pleasing’ at all unless the original recording is pleasing at the point of capture.
As you read through articles/reviews and listen to examples/comparisons this seemingly basic expectation turns into something quite different and time consuming. Fortunately, negotiating this minefield has been made a lot easier by ‘those who went before’ leaving us with benchmark models in various price brackets and the Sennheiser HD600 and to some degree its sibling the HD650 are exactly that. I ended up going for the HD600’s as these have long been regarded as ‘flat’ but with a relatively steep-ish bass roll off and my experience so far is exactly that. I use them for tracking and mastering.
When compared to the HD 650 and HD560S the former has a noticeable lift in the treble and the latter a noticeable lift in the bass which for me defeats the object as it may result in inaccurate, overcompensating eq’ing decisions from the start even down to mic positioning and for someone advancing in age I realise I don’t want to trust my ears that much. Other industry standard headphones such as the Beyer DT range also differ across the models and with other makes such as Sennheiser….so much for ‘reference’ and ‘neutral’? Well, it seems to prove how subjective it all is.
The Sennheiser HD600’s have a proven track record, are detailed and clear and do a great job of keeping it real within the price point without needing to fall into the abyss of expensive diminishing returns and sits comfortably as an affordable tool in the requisite kit needed to cross reference. The decisions you make translate well to monitors and other listening sources and after all, this is what it’s all about.

The number of options available to headphone buyers might be daunting. For several years, I've been listening to open-back design headphones, and I've tested a variety of models with a variety of reference tracks in the hopes of finding a better alternative to my existing headphones, which I use for both music listening and sound editing. I'd like something that is relatively accurate and has a smooth motion. I'd like the one, that's pretty accurate and has a smooth frequency response, but comfort and cost are also important considerations in determining the best headphone for my needs. The Sennheiser HD 600 headphones are a good example of this. When compared to the others that live in my backpack for listening to music on my commute or while travelling, I prefer listening to music on these significantly more. There are many headphones that cost more than others, as well as many headphones that cost less. The Sennheiser HD 600 headphones strike a good balance between audio quality and value for money. Spend more, and you'll enter the region of diminishing returns, which is aimed at audiophiles who are willing to part with their hard-earned cash. You won't get their smooth, accurate, warm sound if you spend less, but there are plenty of worthy rivals. Overall a great quality, amazing sounding set of headphones at a very competitive price. I am super happy with them.