Audio review
Sennheiser HD 600 Review: Nobody Agrees About the Bass
One source measured a 6 dB drop below 80 Hz. Another calls the bass well extended. A third says enormous reserves. Twenty-five years on, they still cannot settle it.
By Paulo GerchonPublished 2 min read
Illustration, not a photo — we don’t have a licensed image of this product yet.
Sennheiser
Sennheiser HD 600
Good · researched from 3 sources
A design that has outlasted almost everything launched alongside it, largely because you can replace every part of it yourself. Listen before buying if bass matters to you, because our three sources describe three different low ends.
- Buy if
- Critical listening and vocal-led music in a quiet room · Anyone who wants headphones they can repair rather than replace · Long sessions, once the clamp has loosened
- Skip if
- Bass-heavy genres, on two of three sources · Any environment with background noise · Anyone who wants isolation or portability
We don’t list prices, because Amazon’s change hourly.
Three descriptions of one low end
Higher Hz: a 6 dB drop-off below 80 Hz against a neutral target, and a noticeable lack of low-end depth.
Sound Gear Lab: well extended, lacking quantity, accurate without muddying anything else.
Headphone Check: enormous reserves in bass and treble.
Those are not small differences of emphasis. They are three people listening to a headphone that has been in production for over twenty years and reaching incompatible conclusions.
The most likely truth is a low end that is present, flat and completely unemphasised, which one listener calls accurate and another calls missing. What it definitively is not is elevated. If bass is why you listen to music, buy something else.
And three views on whether it needs an amp
Headphone Check measured 306.85 ohms average and says these are designed for headphone amplifiers of corresponding power, and are not ideal for portable devices.
Higher Hz agrees, recommending a separate amplifier for best performance.
Sound Gear Lab says the opposite: easy to drive despite the impedance, and no dedicated amplifier strictly required.
For comparison, the HD 560S elsewhere in this catalogue is 120 ohms and SoundGuys says any computer jack drives it. At 300 ohms this is a genuinely harder load, and the honest answer is that it will play from anything and will be noticeably better controlled from something with power behind it.
The argument that actually settles it
Sound Gear Lab: every part of this headphone except the drivers can be replaced by the owner if it breaks.
Headphone Check adds that the headband cushion can be replaced through Sennheiser servicing, alongside the user-replaceable ear cushions.
That is why a design from the late 1990s is still in production and still being recommended. Pads wear, cables fray, headbands crack, and on this headphone every one of those is a part number rather than a replacement purchase.
Set against the AirPods Max elsewhere in this catalogue, where a reviewer noted replacement earpads are not sold through official channels at all, this is a different philosophy of ownership.
The soundstage argument
Headphone Check: openness of spatial impression, good depth gradation, convincing three-dimensionality.
Higher Hz: narrow, and specifically narrower than the HD 650.
Sound Gear Lab: decent but not big or wide, with imaging good enough to place instruments easily.
Note that a fourth source, reviewing the cheaper HD 560S, rated its soundstage more accurate than the HD 650's. The internal ranking of this family is contested by everyone who writes about it, which is worth knowing before treating any single verdict as settled.
The small complaints
Higher Hz calls the headband flimsy against robust earcups, and notes the detachable cable disconnects if snagged, which is a safety feature and an annoyance depending on the day.
Sound Gear Lab says the supplied cable lacks quality.
Headphone Check's is the most specific: unplugging and reconnecting the cable requires an awkward combination of strength and intuition.
And they are open-backed, so everyone in the room hears your music and you hear the room.
How it scored
The overall 8.3 is the weighted average of these five criteria — we never adjust it by hand.
Sound quality
Headphone Check praises fine airy treble and good depth gradation. Sound Gear Lab calls the signature transparent and balanced. Higher Hz finds it midrange-focused with a narrow soundstage.
Value
Headphone Check scored 4.5 out of 5 and calls it a classic and a real bargain. Sound Gear Lab still rates it among the best budget audiophile headphones after two decades.
Build quality
Sound Gear Lab's key point is that every part except the drivers can be replaced by the owner. Higher Hz calls the headband flimsy against robust earcups.
Comfort
250 to 260 g with velour pads. Headphone Check rates comfort great over long sessions; Higher Hz and Sound Gear Lab both note the clamp is tight until it loosens.
Ease of use
300 ohms, and the sources disagree about whether an amplifier is required. Open-backed, so there is no isolation, and Headphone Check finds the cable connector awkward.
Pros and cons
What we liked
- Sound Gear Lab notes every part except the drivers can be replaced by the owner
- Headphone Check praises the openness of the spatial impression and depth gradation
- Velour pads and a padded headband, at 250 to 260 g
- Headphone Check says the headband cushion can be replaced through Sennheiser servicing
- Sound Gear Lab describes a transparent, balanced signature with no colouration
- A design still in production and still recommended after more than two decades
What we didn’t
- Higher Hz measured a 6 dB drop below 80 Hz and calls the low end deficient
- Higher Hz calls the soundstage narrow, where Headphone Check calls it open
- Sources disagree on whether the 300 ohm load needs a dedicated amplifier
- Open-backed, so there is no isolation in either direction
- Higher Hz calls the headband flimsy and notes the cable disconnects if snagged
- Sound Gear Lab says the supplied cable lacks quality
Specifications
| Type | Open-back, over-ear |
|---|---|
| Impedance | 300 ohms nominal; 306.85 ohms measured average per Headphone Check |
| Sensitivity | 97 dB |
| Stated frequency range | 12 Hz to 39 kHz |
| Weight | 250 g without cable per Headphone Check; 260 g per Sound Gear Lab |
| Pads | Velour, replaceable |
| Repairability | Every part except the drivers is owner-replaceable per Sound Gear Lab |
| Isolation | None |
| Cable | Detachable, and it disconnects if snagged per Higher Hz |
How we researched this
We have not had this unit on the bench. This review synthesises the manufacturer’s published specifications, independent measurements and owner reports listed below. Every figure on this page comes from one of those sources rather than our own measurement.
3
sources reviewed
Headphone Check supplies the measured average impedance, the weight, the comfort assessment and the spatial impression, and scored 4.5 out of 5. Higher Hz supplies the specific frequency response deviations including the 6 dB bass drop, the soundstage criticism and the build observations, and scored 4.0 out of 5. Sound Gear Lab supplies the repairability finding, the sensitivity figure and the dissenting view on amplification. The three disagree about bass extension, soundstage width and whether an amplifier is required, and all three positions are reported rather than reconciled.
What we read
Common questions
Do the Sennheiser HD 600 have enough bass?
Do they need an amplifier?
How wide is the soundstage?
Can I repair them?
Are they comfortable?
The bottom line on the Sennheiser HD 600
A design that has outlasted almost everything launched alongside it, largely because you can replace every part of it yourself. Listen before buying if bass matters to you, because our three sources describe three different low ends.
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