SENNHEISER HD 660 S - HiRes Audiophile Open Back Headphone

I buy a lot of headphones and IEMs. Currently at over 100 pairs, and since buying these I havent even thought of buying anything else. Havent even browsed to see if theres some new hotness. The sound on these is spectacular when it comes to gaming. I had no trouble figuring out direction and separation of sounds.

I was blown away right out of the box. I plugged these in with the stock 1/4 in cable into my Schiit Jotunheim (with AK4490 DAC module) and the clarity is amazing. Not a lot on the low end yet, but that will likely change as I use them and the drivers work themselves in. Im not having an issue with the clamp strength of the headphones, and I have a rather large head so do not let that alone dissuade you. I ordered a custom cable from Periapt terminated in 4-pin XLR, but it hasnt come in yet. Ill update this review with my experience using the XLR instead of the standard 1/4 in cable.

I did an extensive search of open headphones. Narrowed it down to the Sennheisser HD800 and the 660. Tested them side by side. Thought the 660s were 90% as good as the HD800 at a third of the price. The HD800 had just a bit more open soundstage. Love the HD800 but I would be satisfied with the 660 and if I had to do it again would save the money and be very happy

I can hear everything while playing video games. Feels like Im cheating.

Picked this up with a JDS Element. Sounds amazing! Got this as a next headphone and Im blown away. Box it came in was REALLY cool, presentation was amazing! The headphone itself isnt the best build, doesnt scream quality, theres some plastic; not even good plastic I might add, pieces that make it look like a cheap Made in China can. Its comfortable dont get me wrong ofc, its also a bonus that its light, and I use it for gaming mostly and music/ gen use. The foam isnt the softest, the velour is VERY soft, but the foam is kinda like eh, so if you have a large head (and these clamping force is very tight out of the box) it might hurt over time. I wore these 9-12 straight, not a problem like the others might; ears hurting, band digging into your head, etc. The cable is good but not great, comes with 3.5 to 6.35 adapter (for mobile, yes these get powered off my S9 very well), an extra 4.4mm balanced pentaconn cable (first time I saw that) and a 6.35mm cable already in the headphones. For me Im not a huge fan of having the cables be VERY long (most people wouldnt mind, can be pro/con for anyone), this is mostly a desk use headphone unless you wanna walk around with them on thats fine, I can, but they shouldve made it 1.2m to 1.5m long. So now I have to get a replacement cause Im forced to take all the extra cable and put it on my desk, if not is stays down and drags all that weight with it, forcing them down making them heavy. So... In conclusion GREAT sound, decent quality, and all-around amazing headphone. Would recommend to friends and family.

Clamping force too strong. Some people said I may need to wear it for more than a week or so to reduce the clamping force. But how can I do that if wearing it for an hour already give me headache? Sound quality is okay, its over hyped tbh. Overall, I returned.

I run a fiio q3 amp from my phone and plug these into the amp. Sound quality is great with heavy metal to classical. Very impressed!

I have had these headphones for 2 year now. Ive had Bose for $100 and HD 559s for $150 that got me more excited than these. If your looking for any bass at all, stay away. Even for tracks that originally have a mild amount of bass do these just simply sound boring. They unfortunately have been one of the least enthusiastic headphones I have ever owned.

These headphones clamp a bit too hard on my head and not super comfortable. They do sound pretty good especially considering their relatively low price. That said, I ended up sending them back - I prefer Grado 325s for general music listening and HiFiMans HE6ses for acoustic and jazz. Funny story: the clerk at the Whole Foods Amazon return desk couldnt believe I was returning them ;)

Never ever have I written a review for anything.