Back in the early 2000s, Sennheiser’s HD 650 headphones were the best headphones the market, renowned for their top-tier performance. But they were — and still are — very expensive — retailing for $500.
You don’t have to pay that anymore, though. Community-sourced design shop Drop partnered with Sennheiser to rethink the HD 650s while also making them much more affordable. The result is the Massdrop x Sennheiser HD 6XX headphones, which normally retail for $220 but are on sale for just $195 right now — a massive $280 less than the HD 650s.
There isn’t much difference between Drop and Sennheiser’s version. A midnight blue has replaced the old gray of the HD 650s, but the headphone design itself looks very similar. One significant change is a detachable six-foot cable, four feet shorter than the original, and an eighth-inch plug instead of a quarter-inch plug (although Drop includes an adapter if you need it).
Just like the HD 650s, these headphones can be completely disassembled by hand, making replacing faulty parts easy, as well as allowing you to modify these headphones on your own. These aren’t just knockoffs — it’s a Sennheiser-improved design, so parts work just the same, and the support comes from Sennheiser, making these a great buy.
But what you’re likely interested in if you know what the HD 650s are is the sound quality. Well, they sound just the same, if not better. The driver and sound structure is unchanged. While you won’t get the fancy noise-canceling of many headphones today thanks to its open-back design, you won’t sacrifice sound quality by choosing these over the HD 650s.
The audio community influenced the revised design, so many believe they’re better.
While these headphones will do well on their own, Drop has a ton of various accessories to improve your listening experience even more. One is a 2.5mm-balanced cable that allows you to plug in your headphones to 2.5mm-compatible digital audio players, portable amps, and the latest premium audio devices, while two other headphone amplifier options, including one manufactured in collaboration with THX.
This sale is only good for a limited time, so act quickly. While even at full price, the HD 6XX are a great deal. And at under $200, it’s even better.
Instagram is making its way to yet another screen, and this time, Apple TV is getting a taste of the Reels rabbit hole. The company has launched a dedicated Instagram app for Apple TV, bringing Reels, longer videos, and live shows to the big screen. So, if watching one quick clip on a phone somehow turns into an hour of scrolling, there's now a much larger screen for that.
Instagram brings Reels and more to Apple TV
Audio-Technica, a brand well known for making some of the best studio and professional headphones on the market, has just come out with the ATH-AWX7000, which the company itself claims to be its "finest headphones ever." The new flagship closed-back headphone has debuted at an eye-watering price of $3,799. It combines hand-finished Japanese woodwork with a newly developed 58mm driver.
The earcups are made from Kiso cypress, a prized wood historically used for Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. Each housing is finished by hand with traditional Echizen lacquer, which brings out the grain and is expected to darken over time. The frame and sliders are finished in a deep navy kachi-iro shade traditionally associated with samurai.
This post is brought to you in paid partnership with Best Buy.
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