Sennheiser Consumer Audio Sennheiser CH 650S High End Copper Connecting Cable

My setup: Headphone Massdrop Senheiser HD 6XX, DAC Topping D70, AMP THX AAA 789, Wireworld ultraviolet 7 USB audio cable, XLR Bifale connecting DAC to AMP. Using Tidal on windows 10. Mostly classical music and souldtracks in HIFI quality. Some tracks in Master quality showed an even greater improvement greater than the HIFI tracks.I started out on the audiophile scene way later than I would if I knew how good music can sound. I got the HD 6XX, AMP and DAC early in january and was blown away. I don't know all the technical terms yet but I have some helpful things to say nonetheless.Had my doubts if it would be worth it to spend 227 USD on the CH 650S. This cable is more expensive than the HD 6XX at 175 USD. I ordered a Fanmusic cable from Massdrop but haven't gotten to use it yet, people there complained about fitting problems and I probably will not use it at all now I got the CH 650S.The CH 650S has to be installed exactly the same way the original cables that came on the HD 6XX were. The letters must be facing out. If you look very closely you will notice that one of the 2 pins is thicker than the other. It may cause damage to the headphone to install them the wrong way but I doubt anyone would make that mistake, as all you gotta do it attach it exactly the same way as the original unbalanced TRS 6.35 ends.Immediately there was about 30% increase in overall volume. The individual instruments sound louder. They are not crisper, but they gained depth and detail. It's as if the different sound frequencies became better powered with the CH 650S. Now it feels like some instruments and sounds have lenghtier decay. And I was able to notice some different instruments I can't remember before on the original cable. The sound is louder overall and more lush but I can still perceive the improvement even when I lower the overall volume on windows or the THX AAA 789 knob.There were no perceivable improvements on range, openness, highs or lows. But in my perception, the HD 6XX went up at least one cathegory, so to speak, with the CH 650S. I have no other headphones yet but I would wager that, with quality balanced XLR, the HD 6XX now sounds better than some other more expensive headphones would sound with unbalanced TRS 6.35 cables. It is a very noticeable improvement.The CH 650S cost 227 USD. The HD 6XX cost 175 USD. I would have bought the CH 650S right off the bat if I knew it would improve the sound this much. It feels like it turns the HD 6XX into another headphone. Now I haven't gone back to the original cable and I don't intend to reinstall it just to compare the sound quality, but there is no denying that the CH 650S has brought extra potential from the HD 6XX.It's strange that in the audiophile realm we have cables costing more than DACs and AMPs. It doesn't mean they aren't worth every penny to those who can lay down the cash. As subjective as it is, you will notice a difference when you switch from TRS 6.35 to XLR balanced, and if you are reading this because you worry about regret or if it's really worth it, hear me out - the instant you attach the cables and listen to your music through them, trust me, you will not worry for an instant about finding justification for spending this money on a cable.

So, I got this cable to connect my collection of HD6xx series headphones to my Schiit Jotunheim's balanced output. In that regard this is an excellent cable. The noticeable change in sound quality when switching to balanced output vs the single-ended connection is an obvious improvement over the stock cables. The clarity of the sound, the more open feeling of the headphones, the improved locating of instruments/voices within the defined space, and the additional power available through the balanced output have me running through/rediscovering all of my reference tracks. The reason I knocked off a star is because of the price. I can purchase a factory Sennheiser HD6xx replacement cable for $11 on the Sennheiser site, and aside from the connector this cable appears to be the same. If the wires themselves are improved even that wouldn't contribute to the high cost (though perhaps the relative low volume of sales and likely some hand-building at the factory would). In comparison, I purchased a balanced cable from an American cable builder on EB for $69 which sounds just as good, and I actually like the hand-built look and feel of that cable. I started with this cable because lots of people complained about the sound/build quality of the aftermarket versions available here on Amazon, but after comparing it to the other one I purchased I wouldn't recommend it unless you absolutely want a Sennheiser factory cable. I gave it a 4 Star rating because it is well made and will improve your sound, but man it's expensive.

I have sennheiser hd 650 cans and I decided that I want to plunge into the balanced audio mode, so I bought schiit jotunheim and first I bought another balanced cable from amazon which didn't work properly on higher volumes but once I got this cable and used it to plug my dac/amp to my headphones it worked flawlessly and also the sound goes high up to 90%, so it can get very loud so I would definitely recommend the original senn ch 6560s cable over the standard cable, even though this cable is very expensive, the other balanced cables through other sellers in amazon or other sites have reliability issue, I have tried another balanced cable after I got this one after a month and it also had quality problems where sound would get very harsh after 65% and will warm your ears on the other hand when using these original balanced cables by sennheiser I never felt harshness and sound was neutral. So you can try other brands for balanced cable and may be lucky if it works well. Another thing I did want to mention is that sound can get very loud with original balanced cables when listening to music through it on the other hand the standard 1/4 connector couldn't go very loud pass 70% as the sound will get harsh and will be unbearable to listen. so if you want to be able to listen clean sound that can go pretty high you can't go wrong with this, but if you like to listen to songs on lower volumes then don't switch to balanced cable stay with the original cable that came with the headphone that will suffice for you. I hope this helps answer some of the questions people may have about this balanced cable.

I put these on my 600HDs and it's really awesome. I wish I could get cables like this for all my headphones. Running off my Schiit DacSchiit 6 bandSchiit ampGreat small desk hifi.

These cables made the HD 660s come alive the analytical pieces in the music were holographic and the bass was there but not muddled while enhancing the mods and the hi frequencies.

The shielding is almost nonexistent. Any form of EMF instantly gets picked up. There are cheaper options out there that provide better shielding that are balanced.

This is worth it if you want to drive your headphones with a 4 pin XLR cable from the same manufacturer as your headphones.While other options are out there from 3rd party cable makers, this is still a pretty decent option if you can get them for the right price.

Great

Product received was the proper box , sealed but someone had stolen the cable and replaced it with a dollar-store mini to mini cable. Amazon quickly fixed the issue.The cable itself as is, absolutely beautiful. Sounds great, nice branding and build quality.No idea if it is any better than a custom made one from china but I wanted it :D