Наушники — Sennheiser HD 600

The HD 600 is an open-back, over-ear headphone from Sennheiser, the German audio company. Introduced in 1997, it has remained in production for decades and is used by sound engineers as a reference. It is manufactured in Ireland to strict quality standards, including the selection of matched driver pairs.

Key specs that matter

It uses 42 mm dynamic drivers. Frequency response is 12 Hz to 40.5 kHz, nominal impedance is 300 ohms and sensitivity is 97 dB SPL at 1 V. Total harmonic distortion is 0.1%, and contact pressure is about 2.5 N. The headphone weighs 260 g without the cable. The detachable, double-sided cable is 3 m of oxygen-free copper, with 3.5 mm and 6.3 mm jack connection.

Engineering and use context

The drivers are hand-built, with aluminium voice coils kept light for fast transient response and short decay. Neodymium ferromagnetic systems, computer-optimised to minimise harmonic and intermodulation distortion, provide sensitivity and dynamic range. The open design, with a metal mesh cover over each earcup, lets the rear of the driver radiate freely, which avoids the resonances of a sealed chamber but means the headphone leaks sound and gives no isolation. The response is diffuse-field equalised, a target intended to reproduce the response of a reference listening environment. The high impedance allows very low driver current for a given level, but it requires a source capable of higher voltage swing. The cable attaches to each earcup through separate two-pin plugs, the same connector used by the HD 650 and HD 660 S, so it can be replaced or upgraded, and circumaural velour earpads with a cushioned headband distribute clamping force over long sessions. Sennheiser's current production version, available since 2019, keeps the specification while updating details. Load rating is 200 mW, well above what normal listening requires, and the headphone is supplied with a two-year warranty. Earpads, the headband pad and the cable are all available as spare parts, so a worn pair can be restored rather than replaced.

Pairing

As a result, phones and laptops often cannot reach full level. Dedicated headphone amplifiers with several volts of output, including valve output-transformerless designs, suit the HD 600 well, and balanced cables allow use with balanced amplifiers.

Alternatives

Sennheiser's HD 650 is the related open-back model of the same family with a different tuning.