Sennheiser HD650 - The classic beauty in a grey dress Appreciation thread!

I see most people as joking I don't see any personal attacks mate more disagreements with a bit of cheekiness thrown in.

I think the majority have heard all this before on other forums and the whole bitrate myth has been argued to death with the majority agreeing there's no big difference.

I'm also one for not believing our ears are all different. I believe that healthy ears for the most part, are all similar (Not including IEMs)with some people being more sensitive to differences than others due to experience and equipment used etc.

I believe if there was a difference someone would have easily picked it up as there's some experienced ears on this board. I can't comment on your track as I've not heard it on tidal but it sounded great on Spotify, usually on low bit rate tracks you get that veil that doesn't show the subtle background sounds and textures but it sounded great.

I'd say my hearing is around the normal ranges for a 28 year old although they have been abused with loud volumes I'm not really missing much apart from some slight high frequencie loss(Can hear about 19k and all the way down smoothly.

If you hearing that good you can hear those difference I would seriously consider some role in the industry.
 
I use the Mojo which is tiny and it's a treat just taking it wherever. Makes me wonder why I've even got a tube amp as I'm listening more in other rooms these days, might sling it up for sale if I continue not to use it.
 
My wife gets ****ed off with seeing me with different headphones LOL I bought some Lime Green Q701's last year and she walked in the room saying "What the HELL are those" then moaned.

Luckily with the 650 she's seen me with them many times so doesn't noticed they've gone haha. She hasn't noticed my LCD-2's have gone yet so I might buy some for gaming haha.

She also knows there's always some AKG variant on my desk so I can get away with those as long as they are not a funky colour to draw attention.

She didn't say much about my Beats Solo2 apart from why do you have Beats? LOL Man Latinas are scary.
 
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She knows about the PC I don't think she minds about gaming stuff too much. Saying that I sold my Black PS4 last year to buy the Red Metal Gear PS4 and she said "WHAT IS THAT" I think if I stick to dark coloured electronics I'll be ok.
 
Is anyone else starting to prefer their HD650 over their gaming phones? I don't know why but I feel the 650's better micro detail is really benefiting from the X7's more open presentation.

The K702's staging is wonderful though but would it be safe to assume the 650 has a more accurate staging? I feel like I'm more involved in the game than the AKG's but at the same time there's a sense of scale with the 702 that I don't get with the AKG's. Sometimes I feel with the 702 that there's a hole in the middle, think being in the middle of a field, you have the sounds going on around you but there's a ring of nothingness then the sounds are on the outside of that, does that even make sense? Never noticed it that much until today.
 
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The HD800 is the most technically impressive headphone there is but it'd not for music listening IMO. The 650 has a smoother and more natural response. The 650 on a high end system is quite close to the HD800 in performance.

If you have a entry level to mid range set up then the LCD-2, K712 may be worth a look, it would save you a lot of money rather than going to the HD800.

650 is like a project, the more you put into it, it's possibilities are endless.
 
db2431 said:
I personally dont notice any difference between my note 4 and fiio e6 compared to creative zxr with headphone amp on my hd600, I think the whole amp thing for hd600/650 is massively overblown
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I thought that until I hooked them up to a £2000 system and they started spanking every Planar I could grab. They scale, and scale endlessly.
 
db2431 said:
So 2 grand is the minimum you need to spend for any improvement?
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No, otherwise I'd own something else...;)

You have listed to entry level sources and said you can't hear a difference, then you doubt the 650 scales as much as people say. Try them on a resolving DAC/AMP
 
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db2431 said:
that wasnt what you said though, you didnt say spend a couple of hundred on a schit stack and see noticeable improvement, you said 2 grand.
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I'm well aware of what I said and if you see towards the end of my comment I used it as an example of scaling. Not once did I say you need to spend 2K to get better performance..
 
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mrk said:
Depends on your budget. A small Schit stack would be perfect and very good value for money. I use a NAD D 7050 and it's got more than enough quality for these, although I got it to be able to drive my speakers more efficiently mostly.

Also totally depends on the sound you're happy with. I can't get away from the smooth and detailed NAD sound, so I'm stuck with NAD amps forever :p
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I'm like that with the Chord Mojo. There's much better products than the Mojo but there's something about the sound that makes it more enjoyable over an increase in technically performance.
 
Had one of them nights last nights. Lights off, nice hot tea and some HD650's with some female vocals. The Liquidity of the 650 is amazing, the way the voices are free from grain and flow naturally with no recession. The 650 has the most natural decay I've heard I think.
 
When it comes to impressions I find mainstream places like Headfi used to lean towards the HD600 because of that typical Audiophile tuning while more serious communities prefer the more natural tone of the 650 with the extra resolution and detail. I actually find these days more people tend to prefer the 650.

The 650 drivers are superior, it's a cleaner driver, faster, better controlled albeit it's newer driver. It's just preference really at the end of the day. The 600 has an upper mid peak and a bit more sparkle so in comparisons it can come off as a more fun listen because the 650 doesn't boost any of the response minus some warmth.

I stopped doing comparisons like that because I always used to lean towards the more exciting headphone. Now I go by what makes me more engaged to the music and if the 600 does that for you maybe that one is for you.
 
Yeah I think when the 650 is amped well they have an exciting musical sound but I get peoples comments about being boring.

While I do find the 650 a faster more refined driver, I find the 600 to actually appear snappier especally due to it's extra energy up top.

The HD600 definitely has that Audiophile sound (Boosted up top, lower in level bass) compared to the 650 but compared to other headphones in it's day like the AKG K501, is more lush and smooth as headphones rarely had a warm tilt back then.

I think there's always going to be a side with Audiophile sound compared to hifi? Or musical listening and the HD600 is almost a hybrid in that area but does slightly lean more towards Audiophile sound for me.

I used to prefer the HD600 myself and also preferred the Annie over the 650 in the beginning but really started to appreciate the sound of the 650 more over time.
 
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