The issue: It doesn’t have Zero Two on the box

Honestly… this is kind of why I started selling off most of my collection. While I still cycle through headphones and IEMs, there seems to be a handful that I always come back to, and others spend most of their time on a shelf, only coming down once in a while

Rtings has a bit of a reputation of jumping to conclusions and iffy rating methods.

The SHP9500 and 6XX are a night and day difference to me. The 6XX has a very smooth treble representation, and I percieve it as sounding “more detailed” for lack of a better term.

The SHP9500 on the other hand has rather rough sounding treble, and even after experimenting with EQ, it always sounds grainy and harsh in comparison.

Now, the 6XX is a little more “narrow” sounding, but for me personally, I find much of the appeal of Soundstage loses luster after a while, and the other qualities of the 6XX shine much better

It’s a matter of sound pressure level at your eardrum. So being open or closed doesn’t make a difference in that regard.

The place it does make a difference is isolation. With closed backs, you may be inclined to listen at a lower volume because you’re not trying to overcome the ambient noise of the room like with open backs

Regardless if headphones or IEMs have single or multiple drivers for each side, surround sound in headphones is still just 2 channels, with simulated 7.1 effects through software. There isn’t anything special about “7.1 surround headphones” in terms of driver technology, it’s all in the software and processing.

So, yeah, you can pair the software with pretty much any headphone type, and it will probably sound more spacious and might have more accurate imaging for games

Everything seems to be adding a tip option by default now. Even self checkout kiosks may start having them from what I heard

Usually aliexpress or linsoul

You don’t need to worry about burn in. There isn’t really anything to support it. It’s more of an old audiophile claim that marketing supports since it uses up your return window

I’d say the 6XX is the best built 600 model out right now. The 6XX uses the old plastic mold, which is the same one that lasts decades. There’s still old 600s and 650s from the old mold that have lasted all this time, and have a reputation for their durability.

The current 600 and 650 models have a new mold which is more angular, but also uses thinner plastics. Going from my 6XX to a modern 600 felt like the 600 was way cheaper built and lighter (although I’m sure it’s still durable)

There is the timing and volume level between the ears, which has already been commented on. But as well, if you were to listen to a source in real life from different locations, the response at your ear will be different as well.

Here’s an example of a Kemar, with free field frequency response measurements at different positions. This is just the left ear, and showing how the response changes at different positions and distances from the head. https://imgur.com/a/Lj8Di0R

So as a source would change its location, not only would the timing and volume change for each ear, but the sound itself changes too for each ear, which our brain can interpret and compare all the information from both responses to pin point the location of a source. It’s really interesting because even though the sound is changing, your brain still hears it as the same sound

With headphones, it is a little different since the sound localization is coming from “nowhere”. But with binaural recordings or certain mixing, it does seem possible to simulate some of the localization effects in the recording itself.

The KZ ZSN Pro X isn’t really recommended anymore. Yes they do have a lot of hiss depending on your source. Years ago, KZ did have an upper hand compared to the competition at the time, but nowadays, their tuning is considered shouty, and there’s IEMs for the same price which many would consider as better tuned

So, if you’re having issues and you don’t like it, don’t feel that you’re doing something wrong.