July 2002

ETM Phone Home...
Sennheiser HD600 With The Stefan AudioArt Equinox Cable
Review By Steven R. Rochlin
As a longtime classically trained
musician, there is something immensely emotional and visceral while enjoying
live music. The intricate textures and harmonics reach our ears for our brain to
decode it all. The one factor my body has become accustomed to is also the
physical sense of music. That is, when live music is played the air vibrates
and reaches not just my ears, but also vibrates my body as well. Anyone who has experimented
with vibration reduction devices also understands this. While these vibrations
may be detrimental to our music reproduction system, in my humble opinion it
benefits our soul.
For me, the whole headphone issue has been a love, hate, hate,
and love issue. While in the recording studio i was forced to wear these things. You
know, the usual AKG jobbies so i could hear a click track and
backing bass (or other tracks on the master tape). Like electrostatic/panel
loudspeakers, the main drawback for me is the sheer lack of physical impact in
this type of music reproduction. With decades of live music experience, my
body and soul demand a matching of physical vibration to the sound being
perceived by my brain. Regardless of this circumstance, it is hard to deny the
benefits of enjoying music through headphones.
Studio Work
As the owner of a high resolution digital audio workstation
(DAW), my Royal Reference 3A MM De Capo (see
review here) and Linn Sizmik 10.25 self-powered subwoofer (reviewed
here) make up the current playback monitors of choice. Then i can burn a
"test" CD-R for playback on the main rig (custom digital front end
with cj Premiere 17LS pre-amplifier, Wavelength
Audio Cardinal X-1 single-ended 300B tube monoblock amplifiers, and Avantgarde
Acoustic Duo hornspeakers). With all this gear one might feel that headphones
are redundant. After all, both systems provide very high quality playback and
monitoring. That assumption could not be further from the truth!
The benefit of headphones, for me, is mainly two-fold.
Headphones provide good isolation from outside noises, thereby reducing the noise floor.
The other benefit is in the ability to have the audio equivalent of a microscope
into the sound of the recording. As a percussionist/drummer, small timing cues
are extremely important! There is a difference between sounding like a perfectly
timed drum machine, or "playing in the pocket". One may give perfect
timing, while the other grooves. This is analogous to Kraftwerk versus George
Clinton P-Funk/Funkadelic. As for myself, i prefer "the pocket" to drum machine timing. Since i am far from being Steve
Gadd, Neil Peart, Buddy
Rich, Carmine Appice... or the late great Jeff Porcaro, there are moments where
my playing could use a bit of spicing up or overdubbing. Far be it for me to use
such plug-ins as pitch correction, timing correction and other band aids as used
in many pop recordings today.
As for the audiophile side of this, there are times when my
neighbors might not enjoy Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, Zappa, Zeppelin, Roger
Waters, or Pink Floyd at 2 a.m. in the morning. Headphones are the natural
choice when you may want to enjoy music while your spouse wants to watch TV. And
with that out of the way, here is my assessment of the Sennheiser HD600
headphones with both the stock cable and Stefan AudioArt cables.
Phoning Home
By now virtually every audio rag has reviewed these headphones,
and for good reason. They are probably the single best units that provide great
accuracy, harmonic richness, and subtly. In fact our very own Todd Warnke reviewed
them in May 2002 during his headphone survey. While Todd chose the $119
Clou Cable Red Jaspis cable made in Sweden, my choice for cabling is the Stefan
AudioArt Equinox made right here in the good ol' U.S. of A. While not having the
ability to try the same cables Todd reviewed, there was quite a bit of great
comments regarding the Stefan AudioArt and, hence, this review.
i will not cover the specifics on the Sennheiser HD600 so as not
to bore you (see Todd Warnke's review of the HD 600 by clicking
here). Odds are you have become familiar with these headphones from other
reviews both here and in other publications. As for the Joseph AudioArt Equinox HD600
cable, it is compatible with both the HD600 and HD580 headphones. The cable
construction itself employs four-conductor quad-braid field geometry high purity copper with individual strain isolation enclosed
in a Teflon/Oxygen dielectric. The cable itself is protected with Techflex to
reduce damage to the precious cable. Techflex is the same material i choose for Enjoy
the Music.com™'s Max
Rochlin Memorial Digital Audio/Video DIY cable. Naturally it is a
well-established "known good" within the cable industry. Gold contacts
for the headphones are used while the headphone jack can vary according to one's
desires. The cable supplied for this reviewer were terminated with a 1/4"
gold plated male stereo jack. All of the connectors are applied to the cable with Stefan AudioArt's
"UltraSolder" process. A one year parts and labor warranty is included
and the nine foot cable as supplied cost $189.
No Phony Sound, Please
So why would one seem to need an aftermarket cable when
Sennheiser has long been known to make great headphones? Simply because the
stock cable, in my humble opinion, leaves much to be desired. It limits
the highs, muddles the bass, and lacks overall resolution. It also lacks
durability with very thin conductors encased in a relatively thin flexible
plastic covering. While being more flexible than the Joseph AudioArt Equinox HD600,
the Equinox is far from those overly stiff "garden hose" loudspeaker
cables. The picture below gives you a better idea how the system looks. Note the
ten inches of exposed twisted pair of white cables for each channel near the
headphones. This adds flexibility while allowing for many different head sizes
and application flexibility. So what does it sound like?
The difference is not subtle. Those who claim all cables sound
the same would be hard pressed to heard the difference and continue being
"flat earthers". Both the highest and lowest of frequencies are more
extended while overall transparency is greatly enhanced. In fact i began to
wonder why Sennheiser would ship their critically acclaimed HD600 with such less
than optimum cables that limit the overall sound to such a high degree. Of
course costs factors may be one factor as there are obvious saving by using the
same wire for much of their entire product line. If each and every headphone
used a totally different cable, then additional costs and parts stocking
expenses would add to the retail price of their products.
The enhanced sound with Joseph AudioArt's Equinox HD600 also pertains
to small timing cues. Ah ha, now we know why drummer Steve loves these cables so
much! À l'effet contraire mon ami! It is the overall improvement from top to
bottom (and left to right as it were) of the reproduced music by the HD600s.
With the Equinox in place the overall realism was enhanced while i was able to
better decipher intricate musical passages both from my DAW to my home music reproduction
system. In fact it is so good that Yours Truly, the guy who generally hates
music reproduced through headphones due to the lacking of physical body
vibrations, is now seeking a top-quality tubed headphone amplifier due to the
power hungriness of the HD600s! So stay tuned because, as they say, the fat lady
has yet to sing! Of course
in the end what really matters is that you...
Enjoy the Music,
Steven R. Rochlin
Specifications
Sennheiser HD 600
High-quality open metal mesh earpiece covers
Computer optimized magnet systems minimize harmonic and intermodulation distortion
Extremely lightweight aluminum voice coils
Neodymium ferrous magnet systems
Detachable, Kevlar reinforced, OFC copper cable
Price: $449.95
Stefan AudioArt Equinox HD600 Cable
Construction: 4-conductor quad-braid field geometry cable consisting of ultra high purity copper with individual strain isolation enclosed with a Teflon/Oxygen dielectric finished in black Techflex with white cabling.
Cable Geometry: oval variable-lay construction 8cm x 6cm
End Connectors: Gold plated Sennheiser spade connections, terminated with a professional-grade
heavy-duty male headphone jack. Connectors are applied to the cable with Stefan AudioArt's exclusive UltraSolder process.
Weight: 90 grams / 2.9 ounces (nine foot without 3.5-mm/1/4"
termination)
Warranty: One years parts and labor
Price: Nine foot length with standard 0.25 inch connector $189
(other lengths and connectors available)
Company Information
Sennheiser Electronic Corporation
1 Enterprise Drive
Old Lyme, CT 06371
Voice: (860) 434-9190
Fax: (860) 434-1759
Website: www.sennheiserusa.com
Stefan AudioArt
115Grennan Road
West Hartford, CT 06107
Voice: (860) 313-8088
E-Mail: stefanaudioart@yahoo.com
Website: www.stefanaudioart.com