Introduction

I've been doing audio reviews for a few months now and have learned about brands all over the world. One brand I did not have to get to know is Sennheiser, especially since I have personally bought many of their headphones over the years. My very first pair of headphones I bought with my own money was the original HD 598, and that tan-and-brown special has moved with me across continents and oceans since. In that time, I have also tried the HD 600/650/700/800/820, bought the HD 600 and HD 820 and sold both for different reasons that are beyond the scope of this article. The HD 650 was quite impressive admittedly, but my poor graduate student budget could not justify having it in the collection, too. Imagine my surprise when I first heard about the (Mass)Drop x Sennheiser HD 6XX a few years ago, and thanks to Drop, I get to see how this version fares.


I've already said it in the teaser title, so let me preface the review by confirming that for all practical purposes, the HD 6XX is a Sennheiser HD 650. Drop, then Massdrop, worked with Sennheiser to create a custom SKU that drops (pun intended) a few accessories and invested in a larger order to make for the lower price the HD 6XX goes for compared to the HD 650. Having a retailer-specific SKU is in itself nothing new—HIFIMAN and Adorama have since worked on a special, discounted version of the HE6SE V2 to give another example. But I have to say there is nothing else in the audio world that even comes close to the allure the HD 6XX has, and thanks to Drop for providing a sample to TechPowerUp so that we may find out why for ourselves.

Specifications