NewFantasia 4-pin XLR Balanced Male HiFi Cable Compatible with Sennheiser HD650, HD600, HD580, HD660S, HD58X, HD565, HD545, HD535, Massdrop HD6XX Headphones Silver Plated Audio Upgrade Cable

To those who thought a high end cable upgrade to improve the music sound is a myth, this cable will prove otherwise.As many in the previous reviews had attested, this high quality cable WILL noticeably changed the sound of your music. It could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on what you are used to listening.Let me explain.Each cable, depending on their purity and type of material, whether copper silver mix, pure copper, or pure silver (which is the purest material) will transmit signal differently.The difference between pure copper and pure silver is very negligible so it is not worth it to pay 90% higher price to get an extra 1% in sound improvement.Depending on the purity of the material, the cable will subtract the signal and information that travel through the cable to your headphone.That might not be a bad thing because headphone manufacturer tweak the material on their cable to make their headphone sound "warm" or "high" with more bass or more treble signal that goes through to your headphone.Now back at our cable at hand. This is a high end cable that will let all of the sound signal through to your headphone. It will make your music noticeably louder, if your average listening level is 80, you are going to crank the music volume down to 60 to match the volume level that you are used to.This cable will also make everything sharper, a lot sharper, and more in your face.Like they say, be careful what you wish for...So yes, this cable will do what you expect it to do, but whether you will like the sound upgrade if you are used to your usual, non-balanced 35mm jack cable on your Sennheiser headphones, is another story altogether.I bought this cable and pair it with the New Fantasia 2.5 TRRS balanced male to 4pin XLR balanced female adaptor to plug into the 2.5mm balanced input of my Fiio X5 hi res FLAC player and boy was I shocked at the major sound difference I am hearing on my Sennheiser HD 660s headphone.Everything sound even crisper than the already-crisp-sounding music and it also remove the warm sound of the music and make it sharp and rather "clinical" and colorless.This is understandable because a high quality cable material will let all the signal through so you will hear every imperfection of all of the music as it was recorded in the studio.Lower grade cable tends to be more forgivable and average out the imperfection in the music because some information will be lost when transmitted to your headphone.I do not have any issue with microphonics when the cables rub or slide across your clothing or any surface like some other reviewer mentioned in their review. This is a well-made cable that come in a packed sealed plastic bags to retain its purity of quality.This is a rather thin cable that if you are going to walk around the street with it. I recommend not buying this version with the 4 pin adaptor because the adaptor is heavy and should only be laid on a surface when you listen to with your headphone. If you plan to walk around with this headphone, buy the version with the straight phone jack that let you plug it to your music player.Each of the headphone end of the cable has a recessed L and R label that let you identify which side of each cable be plug into so you won't make any mistake.When I first plug into my music player. it did not make any sound but when I unplug and replug it back, the sound come on right away, I chalked that off as new cable quirk that takes care of itself right away.In conclusion, I do not regret this purchase, nor do I plan to return this cable because it deliver as it promised, a non-hold-bar signal transfer that will dramatically alter the soundscape of music in your headphone.It will make the music sound louder without the help of an amp (if you play from a hi fi player like Fiio), make the treble sharper, the bass deeper, and the mid separation much more noticeable. If you are used to the way your music sounds right now, this new soundscape might take a little time to get used to.Enjoy the new sound...!

Fits my Drop HD6XX with no issues. I’ve seen some reviews saying it causes noise when the cable drags across objects but I don’t notice this. The cord is very thin though, time will tell how well it holds up. A fraction of the Sennheiser cable costs so happy with it.

I own a few different pairs of Newfantasia cable's and I have never had any issue's with there products.I was a bit worried ordering these balanced cable's due to all the reviews about the microphonics. I can confirm this to be true however my strategy around this has been in taking two steps.1. Do what you can to straighten the cable out. Due to packing its really stiff & obviously coiled. I attached mine to my headphones and hung them on a nail above my door letting the XLR end hang. The weight of the XLR connection is heavy enough that it only took overnight to do the job.2. I'm going to wrap the cord from the XLR end to the point where it splits into the L & R ends in 550 Paracord (can find it at any Walmart in the sporting goods or crafts department for cheap)I know these are extra steps that I'm sure nobody really wants to do but concidering the price of balanced cable's for sennheiser headphones from most places these are a great deal. Even if you don't wanna take all the time wrapping the cables in nylon straightening the cable is the one thing you should definitely do cause it helps a lot.

I just dont like the cord. Its a hard material and i can hear it when it touches anything. Needs a softer material around the wires.

Ran balanced out from monoprice thx amp into HD 650. Because of covid and more family members back home I’m listening with headphones in my den not at a desk. Therefore the microphonics everyone talks about isn’t an issue for me.However, since I have several pair of headphones with 3 hooked up simultaneously ( 1 xlr balanced,1 using 3.5 mm se and the third 1/4” se jack) I came to realize the channels were reversed as i had them hooked up. There are NO Right or Left markings on the connectors into the hd 650!That’s shameful.2/14/21 UPDATE:I hadn’t used the cable for several weeks sincei posted the review above. However when I went to plug it in tonight I noticed that there were slight embossings on the left and right channel. They are ingrained or raised in in the plastic. So they are encoded left and right. I upgraded my review to 5 stars though I wish I could do 4 1/2 as it should have been better marked - live and learn.

I had high hopes for this cable but it's a huge disappointment. It has a loose connection and the left speaker intermittently comes on and turns off depending on how I hold the cable. If I squeeze the rubber next to the balanced connection then everything works fine -- but I'm not paying this much money for a cable that I have to sit and hold. Total disappointment, poor quality control.

I'm no audiophile and I didn't spend hours doing A/B comparisons for this cable but from my experience this cable is a great value.I got these after getting a new dac/amp with a balanced output and so far I'm impressed. You won't get much of a change in audio quality from what I've noticed but that's not the reason I got these. I always had an issue with my (possible trash quality) 1/4 inch adapters moving slightly and introducing distortion or mudding up my right side, with this cable and connection my headphones feel like they're finally living up to their potential.There are microphonics when the cables rub or slide across your clothing but in my opinion it's not bad and I can't hear it when I'm actually listening to audio. Maybe I have the ears of a simpleton, who knows, but I can't complain.With my Jotunheim and HD58X I'm very happy with these cables.