HD660s2 coming out soon
- Thread starter RoA
- Start date
krenzler
pfm Member
February 21 and $600 according to the ones in the know.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/sennheiser-hd-660s2-thread.966685/
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/sennheiser-hd-660s2-thread.966685/
krenzler
pfm Member
"The revised coil of the S2, for instance, now matches the 300-ohm impedance of the legendary HD 600 & HD 650. This new coil also provides higher magnetic force and electrical dampening for cleaner impulse response.
The surround is now more compliant, too, dropping the resonant frequency to 70 Hz. Considerable effort also went into optimizing the airflow around the transducer. There’s more sensitivity over the entire frequency spectrum because the magnet´s air gap works more efficiently now. Taken together, these measures result in even greater precision, speed, and resolution — with double the sound pressure at the lowest frequencies."
The surround is now more compliant, too, dropping the resonant frequency to 70 Hz. Considerable effort also went into optimizing the airflow around the transducer. There’s more sensitivity over the entire frequency spectrum because the magnet´s air gap works more efficiently now. Taken together, these measures result in even greater precision, speed, and resolution — with double the sound pressure at the lowest frequencies."
ToTo Man
the band not the dog
The rise from 500Hz concerns me a little. As far as my ears are concerned the HD6-- series is commendably flat between 100Hz-1kHz so I question the need to beef up this area. Looks like an attempt to move towards the Harman curve?
My experience with planars is limited but the bass seems to sound a little different to dynamics.
The way I got round Bass distortion on the Beyer is to lower pre-amp level in Roon's EQ and then adjust the rest incl raising bass a little.
I briefly did the same on the Sennheiser and got solid, well extended bass but they are currently back on the Hegel running in.
I look forward to compare the 660S2 to the 58X. If there is a noticeable difference I will buy it. 4 times the price though so it will need to be noticeable whilst still staying true to the 6 series sound signature. It was the reason to get this in the first place.
The way I got round Bass distortion on the Beyer is to lower pre-amp level in Roon's EQ and then adjust the rest incl raising bass a little.
I briefly did the same on the Sennheiser and got solid, well extended bass but they are currently back on the Hegel running in.
I look forward to compare the 660S2 to the 58X. If there is a noticeable difference I will buy it. 4 times the price though so it will need to be noticeable whilst still staying true to the 6 series sound signature. It was the reason to get this in the first place.
ToTo Man
the band not the dog
Not in my experience. How are you implementing the EQ? It's important to reduce the overall output level of your digital source by at least as much as you're largest EQ boost, to reduce the risk of clipping the output signal. e.g. if you're applying a LF shelf boost of +6dB, you should reduce the overall output level of the music by at least -6dB so that the digital output never exceeds 0dBFS. I've never heard audible distortion from any headphones I've applied EQ to apart from very cheap ones that have poorly-designed drivers with low Xmax. Then again, I'm not going crazy with +12dB or +15dB bass boosts, - IMO the HD6-- series headphones don't warrant such an extreme EQ correction.
Of course I always do that, nothing over 0dB in fact usually a bit below, my guess is you play back at a fair amount lower volume than me and/or do not have better gear to compare with. Distorting low bass is a thing with the HD600, which can also be clearly seen in measurements from Solderdude and many others. Even my AKG K612 which are no bass monsters has audibly much lower bass distortion. The HE400SE when equalized is in a totally different league, and the DT1990Pro is somewhere in between. The Sony MDR-Z7M2 is in the vicinity of planar bass
I would say HD600 bass capability is comparable with Beyer DT880/990, an improvement would be welcome. From what I've read HD650/660S can take some more juice than HD600 but not remarkably more.
ToTo Man
the band not the dog
Perhaps I misread your post. When you wrote "distorts heavily" I took that to mean the kind of startling, nasty 'crackling' distortion you get when you push a driver beyond its mechanical limits, - the sort of thing that happened on the Focal Elex that a lot of people complained about. I've never experienced this kind of distortion on any of my HD6-- headphones, but I am aware that the bass response isn't as clean and precise as it is on some other designs. (FWIW my other references are all dynamics, e.g. Audio-Technica ATH-ADX5000, Beyerdynamic DT880, Focal Utopia, Sennheiser HD800S. It's been a while since I last heard planars like the DCA Aeon and Ether). A bit of harmonic distortion at low frequencies doesn't bother me, - it's certainly far more tolerable than issues in the midrange and treble!