Subjective for sure but I would go with the 660S, as the 600 is too in-your-face sounding for me. Neat at first, too much over-time. Let me know what you go with!
@Nurse the 660s scale to a point but it's not infinite like the 600 and 650 because they're not 300 ohms and because they're smooth and they lack dryness like 100% many people know this but the 660s eventually do hit their limit unlike the 600 and 650
i bought the 660s a month ago and couldnt be more satisfied. they sound incredibly good. soundstage and imaging is also good. i use em for gaming and movies and they sound amazing
@@mammedthn Do you think I would need a amp right away? Should I save for both the headphones and a amp or would it still sound good enough out the box
@@cheese4434 if you mean plugging it into the pc jack then no, i'd say wait and buy both a dac and the headphones, because they need 150 ohms to get their full potential and sound like they are intended
Ghaaa!!! Trying to find an open back headphone to play mostly singleplayer games. Sooo much contradiction, different opinions out there. I'm willing to pay between 150-200 dollars approximately. Can't deside. Been looking at tons of RU-vid and read forums since 3 days back now. 😁 Currently using hyper xcloud alpha but I wanna get that extra immersion. Been hearing so much about the spacious sound of open back. Great channel by the way. 👍 Just discovered it.
Thank you for the kind words. Best advice I can give is watching/reading and most importantly determining what you personally like. I try to help by making videos focused on measurements instead of flowery language. I also really like to game and most don't spend much time on it, so I like to share those thoughts as well. If you have feedback on how to make these more helpful, don't hesitate to share!
I wish this review had appeared earlier... I am a more or less fortunate owner of a 660s. I agree 100% with your criticism of the headphone. My question is what would you recommend to me if I want to upgrade? My DAC / AMP is an RME ADI-2 and iam looking for better imaging and bass performance. I was thinking about a 800s or Focal headphone. Competitive gaming and psy-trance music is what i care most and the 660s are not fit well for this. Overall thank you for your great work for such a niche hobby!
The imaging on these is ridiculous. Theyre not as wide as the 1990 and 1990 can do 360 imaging better, but within the stage that the 660s is given, it can image like a mf.
Great video. Right now I have the he400i 2020 but want an upgrade since they're not really good at pin pointing footsteps. Use: mainly multiplayer/competitive games and music (Classic rock). 65% gaming 35% music. Which headphones under $500 would you recommend? Id really appreciate your thoughts
560s/660s beyer dt 990pro/1990 pro. Sundaras are great as well. Personally i prefer the dt1990 if you dont have big ears. Great for gaming good for musik with a tad of eq
personally I would just get the 600 because I like the in your face mid-range and in your face everything cuz it gives me the sensation of not losing detail in comparison when you widen up the sound stage and I like the newer newer body style they're using instead of the old style where they squared the frame off in a lot of areas the one thing that makes the 580 600 650 6xx not the 660s is its natural timbre which is quite rare in a headphone couple of ZMF'S headphones do that specifically their zmf Auteur and the ZMF Vérité but I'm a person doesn't pay attention to timber a whole lot I notice it but I don't find it a priority for me the one thing that's disappointing about the 660s is it's a very marginal upgrade in terms of detail retrieval from the 600 and 650 but it also doesn't have the smoothness and the lack of dryness so it's very buttery in its nature and it doesn't scale well with amps because it's not 300 ohms and it's not as Amp picky compared to this headphone those are some of the big major complaints it's tamber and buttery nature which this headphone is unable to do it scales to a point but not infinitely as the original
Great video, In this price bracket, My top choice is the Hifiman Sundara with EQ except for gaming as I find planar imaging difficult to pinpoint compared to my TYGR 300R, but for music, the Sundara with EQ (Boost the bass and sub-bass) are just incredible.
@@TOM7952 I'm really tempted to try out the Hifiman Arya, or if the HE6se V2 goes on sale again, going for that. I wanted the Focal Clear Mg, but if I'm going into that price bracket, I think the Arya would be a more noticeable jump over my current two.
@@jasonfranciosa I think it depends a lot on your preferences. The HE6se is $700 on Adorama on a regular basis so the $700 sale will definitely be back soon. The HE6 is one of the hardest headphones to drive though so make sure you have a juicy amp.
@@TOM7952 True, I wonder how it compares with the Arya, at $700, that's less than half the price of the Arya. Plenty of cash to get a powerful amp to push it.
@@jasonfranciosa I haven't heard either but I can't imagine they're giving you THAT big of a discount on the HE6 over the Arya. That being said, I've heard the HE6 is great as long as you can drive it properly (even a Magni/Heresy or Atom might be enough power since those are budget powerhouses). On a side note the original Clear is now on a steep discount on headphones.com but the lead time is like 4+ months.
Yes these sound more clinical than 660s and more sub bass. But 660s are warmer more natural with better timbre and vocals. Both are amazing u cant go wrong.
It will help, I consider getting Zen Can an ultimate fix for both bass and 3 blob effect for the whole HD6 series (+ HD58X). Of course it still won't be a ton of bass, but it definitely makes a difference, I like mine very much this way :)
my fav i own stellia ,sundara ,ndh20s the 660s is effortleslsy 2 use and sounds greate with zen can xbass i love my portas and they have somthing magical in comon
Great video but I wouldn't quite put the DT1990 and 660S in the same price bracket considering sale prices. On Adorama you can get the 660S for $319-350 every now and then. The DT1990 rarely ever drop below ~$550 and it's usually extremely brief so unless you have a notification set up you'll likely miss it.
You can find the 1990 on deal around $450/$479. I have bought two new pairs at around that. The 660s goes on deal at $399. Somewhat subjective I guess but $50-$80 is close to me in that price bracket. Adorma does list open box units of the 660S for around $350 and used ones even cheaper. All depends on deal pricing at the time you are looking and how patient you are willing to be.
Hi! I recently purchased the HD660S to go join my family of HD600 & HD650 headphones. I wanted to ask; can i use the pentaconn cable that came with it with the HD600 & HD650? I know the HD660S is 150ohm & the other aforementioned two are 300ohm so not sure if the pentaconn cable will work correctly if i plugged it into my HD600/650. It also says on the Sennheiser website for the HD660S: "We packed your HD 660S with a versatile set of essential cables, each one impedance-matched with ultra-low capacitance." This is where i get confused... Is the pentaconn cable impedance-matched to the 150ohm thereby making it a bad match for the 300ohm HD600/650? Thank You in advance for the advice & clarification!
They aren't great for gaming, but they get the job done. I think it matters what else you plan on using them for and what kind of sound you want. Best advice is to nail down what it is you want in a headphone. Be patient in making a purchase. Buy from someone with a great return policy like; Amazon, Sweetwater, Adorma - they have all given me outstanding service.
@@gamingaudioguide9292 Thanks brother for the advice. I do have a audio technica athm50xbt.. Even for gaming I think its a big step up with 660s over athm50xbt. Still not sure what do you think?
@@seda3357 Know you arent asking me but I will toss my 2 Cents, with a bit of relevant backstory, what I will write will mostly be an add-on to what GAG said I tried out several headphones, including "gamer" ones from Razer, Logi, Hyperx Also had a comparison with ATH AD-1000x, ATH-ADG1X, DT770 Pro, and DT177x GO Despite quite decent competition the HD660s are my mains, I replaced the pads with sheepskin ones though, hated the velour I an avid competitive FPS player with thousands of hours sank into Rainbow Six Siege and CS-GO and Warzone I am also a hard music lover(Love me some AC-DC, but also vocal-focused songs) and love my RPGs, especially the story driven ones with tons of dialogue and story First I would say-buy from seller that has a good return policy 100%, in case you dont like the heapdhone, sound is very subjective after all Overall in terms of sound for gaming the answer would be, it depends to be honest, what kind of games do you choose and how overall sensitive your ears are If you are so vigilant in terms of audio the I would make an assumption that you would be similar to me in terms of games of choice If you are, these are good for comp FPS shooters, majority of the firefights in which you rely on precise sound as a main source of info happen up close and these have a great directional audio especially in Siege where sound is a very complex phenomena in of itself, you can also hear gunshot directions just as well in more open shooters like PUBG and Warzone, there will be no issue with their performance whatsoever, these will be great for FPS, I personally prefer the weaker base and trebble since they dont fatigue my ears as much when playing siege where its all CQC and theres a bunch of explosions and loud as hell gunfire-those sounds are distracting from footsteps and shuffling sounds If you will use them for story driven RPG then those are also good cuz dialogue and surroundings sound grand in these These wont be as good as some of the more Bassy-Trebbly options if it come to hollywood-action stories though, with loads of axplosions, shooting and action, the explosions wont be as meaty and so wont be the gunfire if you compare it so the DT line from Bayer But at the same time if you dont really listen to a ton of music while paying 100% of your attention to it, honestly the 6xx would be a much better bang for your buck Hope it helps, toss any more question if you have any I will be happy to help with whatever I can @Gaming Audio Guide Great review man! glad I found your channel, also cool to see a fellow Cape Town enjoyer lol
@@Phantom_Nyan Thanks for your detail information. I will probably buy them cause I dont like that much base. Now im trying to find a perfect amp/dac to use it together with them. Will probably go with Shiit Hel, they can do 300ohm more than enough for hd 660s 150.
@@Phantom_Nyan I'm having souch trouble finding an audiophile headphone and it's killing me lol. Right now i have the turtle beach stealth 700 gen 2. But i know that they aren't as good as audiophile headphones. I play on my xbox one s and I was wondering since you play siege what headphone would you recommend? I was looking into the beyerdynamic dt990 pro since I've seen many people use it. I know I need a mixamp of some sort since plugging the dt990 pro directly to the 3.5 mm headphone jack on my controller wouldn't be too good. Since a controller cant support 250 ohms. So if you can help me I would appreciate it a lot
Would these be a good upgrade compared to the artic Pro wirless? Been offered a hd660s and a e10k for £220. Problem I have is my gaming pc is in the living room near the TV. I can hear the TV while gaming so guessing this would be even worse compared to my pro wireless? I tried some on yesterday and they sounded great. But it was in a demo room with no etc noise
that's a fantastic deal. they are awesome. amazing imaging, detail. they don't have good sub base but base is still tight and punchy, which i like but some consider feels lacking. you can wear them for a very long time. it feels like they will be fatiguing cus of the clamping pressure, but they disappear after a few minutes. something to note: if you wear them without music, you can basically go about your day talking to people pretty much as if you aren't wearing headphones. not for sound isolation.
Well picked them up got home set them up and the sound was really good. A improvement over the the Arctic pro wireless. Not a great deal but a improvement esp distancing sound like gunshots explosions etc.sounds are very clean and fast footsteps and imaging are abit clearer. Very happy with them. But....... the house was quiet I had to turn the pc fans down and towards the end of the game I was playing the wife and kids came in and all the negatives arrived (not the wife and kids) the lack of isolation. I do feel I'm going to keep these and use them for quiet days when I game. Think I gaming focused dac/amp may improve the bass with a slight tweak to the eq maybe a soundblaster g6? This will only be a gaming focused setup
I doubt you ever tried the pc38x but I'm not excited about paying 600 for fps headphones like the dt 1990. In your experience, ignoring sound quality and only counting imaging/soundstage/footsteps, are the 1990's really that much better than the 990s? (the tygr is just always OoS and makes you waste money on a mic)
You are right, I have not yet tried the 38x. Only the 37x and game one. Tygr 300r is best out of those when you can get it, as the dampening does tame the treble spike. A lot of subjectivity involved here but I would probably get the 880 over the 990. 880 Black isn't my favorite but is the closest 880 to the Tygr 300R and won't require the treble taming the 990 might.
Hey 👋 i would like to use the beyerdynamic dt990 pro on my xbox one s and then also plan to get the series s. May you help me out a little maybe and possibly give me suggestions on what I need
@@Anomalyn1 yes they do ,in my opinion get the NEW 2021 original pads , they are stiffer ,thicker and better sounding .U can recognize them via the new transparent ring inside.
Wouldn't make sense... cause the hd700 is one of the best headphones for competitive gaming. Would like to see a review of the HD700 on this channel...:)
@@pr3t Actually, I'm almost certain Sennheiser confirmed it's the same driver. The difference is two VERY different enclosures. The HD700 doesn't cover/dampen the driver at all, causing extreme treble spikes. You won't see a review here. I am sensitive to treble spikes near 6/7k. I bought the HD700 several years ago to try it out. The treble spike caused me to not be able to wear headphones for two weeks. One of the worst experiences I have had. If you do some digging, it's fairly common. There is a part of the populace unaffected by spikes in that area - and for those folks they are probably great. The build is good and they fit nicely.
Hello! Nice review, I'm happy I found your channel. Could you please get your hands on Audio-Tehnica Ath AD700x, I heard they are really great for fps games, but there are not really a lot of reviews about them and a lot of gamers are interested in them. Keep up the good work! And please comm or like my comment so I know you are considering those headphones.
thank you for the kind words. The AD700 (non-x) was one of my first headphones! They were fine. Creaky headband assembly, itchy pads, okay sound quality for the price. they did positional audio pretty well. We'll see about a future review, right now it's not really on my list.
@@gamingaudioguide9292i had the audio technica adgx1 wich are the same in terms of design and build quality ect. only the sound differs a little bit, and i totally agree. build quality is super cheap. the inline volume dial was glitched out and the pads hurt my ears after about an hour of usage. sent them back and bought the sennheiser hd 660s and im super happy and satisfied. more expensive but you do get what you pay for.
I have had the 6XX and currently have the DT1990 Pro and I primarily use them for gaming. If I were trying to find something thats great for single player games but still resolving enough for PvP games like Battlefield or Hunt Showdown(footsteps and whatnot) which would be better: The 560S, the MG Clear or my current DT1990 Pro (I currently have the analytical pads on it running from my line out to a Topping A90)?
Your 1990 pros are one of the best headphones on the planet for gaming and hd560s would be a downgrade. I own both and higher end cas.. also if hd800s are the best gaming headphones In the world then the dt1990 are a second best and the hd560s/pc38x are like under those. No reason to EVER upgrade your dt1990 pros for gaming EVER in your life. If you wanna upgrade your headphones do it for music, look into higher end planar magnetics like the Hifiman Arya/ananda, or like a Focal, or Audeze.
@@soraflame66 You seem to know alot of about high end headphones. What is your take on the Beyer 900 Pro X. My friend is thinking of getting it. He wants something high end without spending like 1000 Canadian lol.
@@dustinmihalcheon5013 then the 900 pro x is definetly a good pick. A mini 1990 with less harsh treble. I upgraded from a 1990 to focal clears and it’s not worth the extra money if you ask me. I am even thinking about buying a new pair of 1990 pros because I love those cans even tho I have 3 really good headphones laying around (focal clear, focal radiance and aeon noir)
@@Corporalis The funny thing is I thought about the Focals too. Tried the 900 Pro X. The OG HD 650s. Some Audezes among others and ended up buying another DT1990 Pro when it was on sale when I already had a HD 8XX lol. Do the 1990s do it all perfectly? No but they sound amazing and still impress me with what they do manage. Leaps and bounds above most of the high end audiophile type headphones I tried. At least for games. Run then off a Schiit Hel 2E.
I have both. More intimate than sundara -fuller, richer sound signature and overall a lot better timbre. Better/fuller more punchy midbass also. Sundaras are impressive and sounds great, and thet have better stereo effect. Dont get that headphine feeling in the same way. Light and airy are the first things that comes to my mind when i go from 660 to sundara. This comes with a downside as they seem to have a thin and kind of metallic/synthetic sound to them compared to the 660s -Especially on acoustic instruments. I would say for electronic and a lot of overproduced pop and som soundtracks, the sundaras are hard to beat. But for classic, Jazz, Folk country everthing played on real instruments including voices just sounds so much better on the 660s its not even funny! But again that is really important to me cause 99% of my listening is in this category. For someone else the Sundara will be the better choice. And i still enjoy the "wow" factor of the Sundaras. Music like Knower sounds absolutely amazing on them seperation and imaging is incredible!
And the 660s are very much EQ-able! They respond very well and the mentioned lack of sub-bas can be fixed. Also worth noting the difference between sub bas and mid bass. Im a bass player myself and i LOVE the bass on the 660s especially after a little EQ-ing ;)
Yup, this 100%. Better bass extension and larger stage = more immersion in SP. Angled drivers and FR make for a better competitive gaming headphone as well. 660S wins in overall resolution/fidelity and sounds more natural.
Still think they're better than dt's and their murder treble I keep a 1.5-2.0 kd in shooters not fantastic but competitive and I've never once found the need for headphones with insane treble you can hear footsteps in games these days 100x better. Regardless none of these are tuned for games even remotely and are gonna have trade offs. Nothing comes close to planars in games to me anyway most people don't need 500 cans for gaming buy sundaras or something game audio in general is pretty shittly mixed other than turning footstep sounds up to 12
The treble of the DT's does need to be addressed (I cover that in each video typically recommending a passive filter or EQ profile). Footsteps being audible is only one piece of the equation. Some headphones are tuned great for them, others are really bad at it. Many gaming-specific headphones are mostly marketing and pretty colors and actually really bad at it or come with awful build quality. You pay for colors, sponsorships and marketing, so you typically get less there, although not always (see my review on the Cloud Alpha). The 660S is competent (I mention that as well), just not special. It isn't "insane treble" that makes or breaks a headphone for gaming. It's typically a combination of FR, driver angle, dampening, housing, etc. Planars are awesome for single player gaming immersion and for most people they are horrendous at spatial acuity in comparison to a good dynamic headphone. They sound big and musical making them really great at atomosphere. Yeah, if you watch my videos, I completely support the fact that you can spend roughly $100-$130 and get a great gaming headphone. It's hardly a Sennheiser vs Beyer thing. Senheiser 598 & 560S are terrific for competitive spatial imagining and better than the audiophile line (6XX, 650, 660S) at it. They just aren't as resolving or natural sounding. Audio is extremely subjective in regards to preference. On top of that, our ear shapes are different and respond differently to audio. If you have found something that works great for you, that's really all that matters. Thanks for checking out the video and sharing your thoughts/experiences!
Love things like this, why is weight a sign of quality? Why did anyone bother to invent carbonfibre? Has anyone ever seen a 500lb sprinter or an F1 car built like a tractor? Should I bother with a tech review that doesn't point that out?
Forcing your voice into the low end of the spectrum (bass) like in the beginning of the video is terribly unpleasant. Maybe your mic placement isn't ideal? Also, not sure reviewing "High End" headphones for "Gaming" is judicious for views. But... Why Not! Still a good idea 😊 Interesting review BTW. KUTGW.
Yeah, I am specifically looking at this review because of gaming needs. There is a audience for this type of review. You have to remember that there are more than one type of view/need.
