6 ms·

My dad’s Sennheisers from the 1980’s still work well. They have the huge plug, so we have the adapter on it, but otherwise works fine. Foam had to be replaced

by MR4D 6y ago

My dad’s Sennheisers from the 1980’s still work well. They have the huge plug, so we have the adapter on it, but otherwise works fine. Foam had to be replaced once or twice, but otherwise it has surprised me how long they’ve lasted.

Hamuko 6y ago
>They have the huge plug That's pretty standard even in newer Sennheisers. I think HD 650 and above you get the big plug. Some might come with two cables, one with a standard plug and one with the bigger.
- MR4D 6y ago
  Other than ancient compatibility purposes, does the big plug actually offer any better listening experience?
  - nomoreusernames 6y ago
    its standard in audio. all mixers, guitar amps etc support them. big plug means stable wide signal, and it does not break. never had one break ever. even the shitty cables. they are well shielded.
  - Hamuko 6y ago
    I don't think it's about ancient compatibility but rather just the fact that audiophile stuff tends to have it and if you are marketing to audiophiles, might as well design it that way. I have a pretty modern stereo receiver (Onkyo A-9010) as my computer's headphone amplifier and it has the bigger socket only. Same with my home theatre receiver (also an Onkyo). But I believe there's no difference in listening experience. The bigger plug is probably a lot sturdier though. I've had some 3.5 mm jacks bend on me. Can't imagine that on the good ol' 6.3. I have totally busted a 6.3 mm to 3.5 mm adaptor though.
  - jjulius 6y ago
    >Other than ancient compatibility purposes... That's actually not true. That plug is commonplace on a lot of music equipment, DJ mixers, etc. that are still manufactured and used commonly today.
    - MR4D 6y ago
      Sorry, I wasn’t very clear. I simply meant the standard has been around forever, not that it was obsolete. I figure there has to be some reason for it in an age when companies are constantly cutting costs.
      - formerly_proven 6y ago
        6.35 mm jacks are quite a lot more robust than their smaller 3.5 mm brethren.
        trasz 6y ago
        Which can be a problem when you plug them into the phone - you probably don't want your plug to be more robust than the socket.
        leetcrew 6y ago
        you might if your headphones are worth more than your phone ;) I doubt many people are trying to drive HD-650's with a phone anyway.
  - Green_man 6y ago
    As others have stated, it's usually more about compatability. Most (nonportable) headphone amps will have a 1/4" plug rather than the 3.5mm, and it makes more sense from the "female" amp side to convert the larger 1/4" --> 3.5mm than the other way around. Many home "audiophile" headphones I've used (Audeze or Beyerdynamic) actually have the smaller 3.5mm jack, but because they are so focused on home use (bulky, open backed, expensive, and not very shovable into a backpack), users rarely use them connected to a phone or laptop.
  - astrange 6y ago
    There is no signal or quality difference between different sizes of headphone jacks, except that bigger ones might last longer. For very long cables or high RF you might want a kind of cable called "balanced", which comes in every size except 3.5mm. Some audiophiles think these make headphones sound better, but it's probably not true.
- vbezhenar 6y ago
  I bought new Sennhrisers every few years for the last 10 years. They randomly stop working. This time I bought Sony, no much hope, though. I just got used that keyboards, mouses and headphones are to be replaced every few months or years if I’m lucky.
  - llimllib 6y ago
    I've had Sony MDR-7506s for about 7 years now, two cup replacements but otherwise going strong. I've also had my Audio Technica ATH-M50 for a solid 12 years, one cup replacement, sound great and work perfectly. I have basically worn one of those two pairs of headphones every single day at work since I bought them; I guess I've just had good luck.
  - Hamuko 6y ago
    Sounds a lot like the problem is between the keyboard and chair considering the absolute number of shit that you burn through in a couple of years.
  - archi42 6y ago
    Which Sennheisers? Their 25 Euro in ears broke on me as well (C25x?), but as a pupil I couldn't afford better and just burned through some of those. Time lapse to a decade later, and I got myself the HD650. They sound exceptionally while still being relatively affordable (not that this would still be an issue, but I'm not a maniac who spends all their money on audio equip) AND they can take some abuse. At least that's what long time owners report, and that's also my own limited experience after 4 years - I take care not to trip over the cable and throw them across the room, but that's about all the care they get from me. [edit: okay, and if I stuff them in a bag, I'll stuff them on top or put some clothes between them].
- SV_BubbleTime 6y ago
  My Senns came with a 3.5mm plug threaded for the 1/4” plug adapter. I thought that was standard now.
  - Hamuko 6y ago
    Not really. I took a look at kind of a cable Sennheiser bundles with each headphone from the website: HD 559: 6.3 mm plug. HD 560 S: 6.3 mm plug. HD 569: 6.3 mm plug + 3.5 mm plug. HD 579: 6.3 mm plug. HD 599: 6.3 mm plug + 3.5 mm plug. HD 600: 6.3 mm plug. HD 650: 6.3 mm plug. HD 660 S: 6.3 mm plug + 4.4 mm balanced. HD 800 S: 6.3 mm plug + 4.4 mm balanced. HD 820: 6.3 mm plug. So really the 3.5 mm cables are an exception that are also bundled with Sennheiser's audiophile-tier headphones and absolutely everything has a 6.3 mm plug out of the box.
    - vaduz 6y ago
      That 6.3mm / 1/4" plug is 3.5mm + converter (you just pull it apart comes apart into two pieces), at least on 5xx and 6xx range. It's not even screwed on, just a tight friction fit. Unless, that is, Sennheiser decided to cheapen out in the last 10 years and redesigned them... Never had original 8xx cables to check but I would be surprised if they weren't the same.
      - Hamuko 6y ago
        This is what you get with a HD 599: https://assets.sennheiser.com/img/18231/product_detail_x2_desktop_HD_599_Cable_Sennheiser_01.jpg https://assets.sennheiser.com/img/18231/product_detail_x2_de... HD 559: https://assets.sennheiser.com/img/18214/product_detail_x2_desktop_HD_559_Cable_Sennheiser_01.jpg https://assets.sennheiser.com/img/18214/product_detail_x2_de... HD 650: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61vm4c%2BhbPL.jpg https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61vm4c%2Bhb... HD 660 S: https://assets.sennheiser.com/img/25816/x1_desktop_sennheiser-hd-660s-cables-and-adapter.jpg https://assets.sennheiser.com/img/25816/x1_desktop_sennheise... HD 800 S: https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/cVSs2jBo28NYKPkdGtZhnR.jpg.webp https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/cVSs2jBo28NYKPkdGtZhnR.jpg... I'm not seeing a lot to back up your claims. Especially since a lot of those headphones come with a 6.3 mm to 3.5 mm adapters.
archi42 6y ago
Oh, did the old ones already have replaceable cables? I got a shorter cable with a different plug for my HD650 from Aliexpress for ~24US$. Incidentally, one of the reasons I got the HD650 was how my headphones/headsets broke every other year and all I could do was trash them and get new ones. That, and I enjoy listening to music and the usual stuff <100 Euro sounds like garbage. Now I've got something more "SO-friendly" than my "two towers" ;-)

by MR4D 6y ago

Hamuko 6y ago

>They have the huge plug That's pretty standard even in newer Sennheisers. I think HD 650 and above you get the big plug. Some might come with two cables, one with a standard plug and one with the bigger.

MR4D 6y ago
Other than ancient compatibility purposes, does the big plug actually offer any better listening experience?
- nomoreusernames 6y ago
  its standard in audio. all mixers, guitar amps etc support them. big plug means stable wide signal, and it does not break. never had one break ever. even the shitty cables. they are well shielded.
- Hamuko 6y ago
  I don't think it's about ancient compatibility but rather just the fact that audiophile stuff tends to have it and if you are marketing to audiophiles, might as well design it that way. I have a pretty modern stereo receiver (Onkyo A-9010) as my computer's headphone amplifier and it has the bigger socket only. Same with my home theatre receiver (also an Onkyo). But I believe there's no difference in listening experience. The bigger plug is probably a lot sturdier though. I've had some 3.5 mm jacks bend on me. Can't imagine that on the good ol' 6.3. I have totally busted a 6.3 mm to 3.5 mm adaptor though.
- jjulius 6y ago
  >Other than ancient compatibility purposes... That's actually not true. That plug is commonplace on a lot of music equipment, DJ mixers, etc. that are still manufactured and used commonly today.
  - MR4D 6y ago
    Sorry, I wasn’t very clear. I simply meant the standard has been around forever, not that it was obsolete. I figure there has to be some reason for it in an age when companies are constantly cutting costs.
    - formerly_proven 6y ago
      6.35 mm jacks are quite a lot more robust than their smaller 3.5 mm brethren.
      - trasz 6y ago
        Which can be a problem when you plug them into the phone - you probably don't want your plug to be more robust than the socket.
        leetcrew 6y ago
        you might if your headphones are worth more than your phone ;) I doubt many people are trying to drive HD-650's with a phone anyway.
- Green_man 6y ago
  As others have stated, it's usually more about compatability. Most (nonportable) headphone amps will have a 1/4" plug rather than the 3.5mm, and it makes more sense from the "female" amp side to convert the larger 1/4" --> 3.5mm than the other way around. Many home "audiophile" headphones I've used (Audeze or Beyerdynamic) actually have the smaller 3.5mm jack, but because they are so focused on home use (bulky, open backed, expensive, and not very shovable into a backpack), users rarely use them connected to a phone or laptop.
- astrange 6y ago
  There is no signal or quality difference between different sizes of headphone jacks, except that bigger ones might last longer. For very long cables or high RF you might want a kind of cable called "balanced", which comes in every size except 3.5mm. Some audiophiles think these make headphones sound better, but it's probably not true.
vbezhenar 6y ago
I bought new Sennhrisers every few years for the last 10 years. They randomly stop working. This time I bought Sony, no much hope, though. I just got used that keyboards, mouses and headphones are to be replaced every few months or years if I’m lucky.
- llimllib 6y ago
  I've had Sony MDR-7506s for about 7 years now, two cup replacements but otherwise going strong. I've also had my Audio Technica ATH-M50 for a solid 12 years, one cup replacement, sound great and work perfectly. I have basically worn one of those two pairs of headphones every single day at work since I bought them; I guess I've just had good luck.
- Hamuko 6y ago
  Sounds a lot like the problem is between the keyboard and chair considering the absolute number of shit that you burn through in a couple of years.
- archi42 6y ago
  Which Sennheisers? Their 25 Euro in ears broke on me as well (C25x?), but as a pupil I couldn't afford better and just burned through some of those. Time lapse to a decade later, and I got myself the HD650. They sound exceptionally while still being relatively affordable (not that this would still be an issue, but I'm not a maniac who spends all their money on audio equip) AND they can take some abuse. At least that's what long time owners report, and that's also my own limited experience after 4 years - I take care not to trip over the cable and throw them across the room, but that's about all the care they get from me. [edit: okay, and if I stuff them in a bag, I'll stuff them on top or put some clothes between them].
SV_BubbleTime 6y ago
My Senns came with a 3.5mm plug threaded for the 1/4” plug adapter. I thought that was standard now.
- Hamuko 6y ago
  Not really. I took a look at kind of a cable Sennheiser bundles with each headphone from the website: HD 559: 6.3 mm plug. HD 560 S: 6.3 mm plug. HD 569: 6.3 mm plug + 3.5 mm plug. HD 579: 6.3 mm plug. HD 599: 6.3 mm plug + 3.5 mm plug. HD 600: 6.3 mm plug. HD 650: 6.3 mm plug. HD 660 S: 6.3 mm plug + 4.4 mm balanced. HD 800 S: 6.3 mm plug + 4.4 mm balanced. HD 820: 6.3 mm plug. So really the 3.5 mm cables are an exception that are also bundled with Sennheiser's audiophile-tier headphones and absolutely everything has a 6.3 mm plug out of the box.
  - vaduz 6y ago
    That 6.3mm / 1/4" plug is 3.5mm + converter (you just pull it apart comes apart into two pieces), at least on 5xx and 6xx range. It's not even screwed on, just a tight friction fit. Unless, that is, Sennheiser decided to cheapen out in the last 10 years and redesigned them... Never had original 8xx cables to check but I would be surprised if they weren't the same.
    - Hamuko 6y ago
      This is what you get with a HD 599: https://assets.sennheiser.com/img/18231/product_detail_x2_desktop_HD_599_Cable_Sennheiser_01.jpg https://assets.sennheiser.com/img/18231/product_detail_x2_de... HD 559: https://assets.sennheiser.com/img/18214/product_detail_x2_desktop_HD_559_Cable_Sennheiser_01.jpg https://assets.sennheiser.com/img/18214/product_detail_x2_de... HD 650: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61vm4c%2BhbPL.jpg https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61vm4c%2Bhb... HD 660 S: https://assets.sennheiser.com/img/25816/x1_desktop_sennheiser-hd-660s-cables-and-adapter.jpg https://assets.sennheiser.com/img/25816/x1_desktop_sennheise... HD 800 S: https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/cVSs2jBo28NYKPkdGtZhnR.jpg.webp https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/cVSs2jBo28NYKPkdGtZhnR.jpg... I'm not seeing a lot to back up your claims. Especially since a lot of those headphones come with a 6.3 mm to 3.5 mm adapters.

archi42 6y ago

Oh, did the old ones already have replaceable cables? I got a shorter cable with a different plug for my HD650 from Aliexpress for ~24US$. Incidentally, one of the reasons I got the HD650 was how my headphones/headsets broke every other year and all I could do was trash them and get new ones. That, and I enjoy listening to music and the usual stuff <100 Euro sounds like garbage. Now I've got something more "SO-friendly" than my "two towers" ;-)