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

She sounds fine to me on Rumours and Tusk, both the originals and remasters. But I do see where you're coming from. I just like that characteristic of her voice.
 
I listened to some Stevie Nicks with my iPhone 6 and Beats. A lot of the recordings are quite harsh like most older recordings. To mask that out you'd need a huge mid bass boost and a smooth sail from the upper mids to the treble. High end headphones like the 650 won't eliminate that but they won't add to it either like an AKG.
 
Playing "Gold Dust Woman" from the HD Tracks remaster of Rumours through my HD650s and Schiits and it sounds sublime :)

Sounds like Christine McVie is sat on Stevie Nicks' shoulder :D

The wailing and howling at the end does come close to shrill but doesn't quite get there.
 
I listen to mainly Japanese stuff and if headphones have any peaks Japanese vocals can really punish your ears. 650 does wonderful with them. If You want to test a harsh track, listen to She Wolf by Sia! That song is brutally shouty with the wrong headphones.
 
I think the 650s shine with older music. They forgive some of the flaws in the recordings, but highlight the positives such as better dynamic range and sometimes, just flat out better recording/mastering quality compared to modern music.

A lot of modern music is mastered to sound good on screechy sounding stock mobile phone earbuds, but sounds like dog **** on anything decent. I find older music just sounds way more open, like there's more space between all the instruments. Yes it sounds quieter, but that's what a decent amp is for.

In all honesty, I'm probably cherry picking here, as all the crap music back then has been forgotten over time, making it seem all music was great back then, but you get my point!

Listen to the Guardians of the Galaxy Soundtrack. Sounds magical on my 650s.
 
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Yep, that's a classic collection of classic rockers :D

I agree Ryan, Sia is a very good test, her voice can push the capabilities of any headphones to the limit (and beyond sometimes)
 
Anyone tried these against the X2? The X2's price has nosedived in the past couple of weeks and has become tempting.

I'm asking here even though I'd be looking to replace my HP200's as I seem to recall reading the bass on the HD650 is about that same of the HP200 and I'm looking for a touch more bass, without needing an EQ as I use various devices.
 
might be the dg card, the yamaha amp tamed it a bit when i used it with the old hd515 i had.
jeez ryan i couldn't listen to japanese vocals, they are harsh. just listening to her on battle royale is enough
 
If you want more bass then open dynamic headphones are not going to give you more. Maybe something like the DT990 will make you happy? Sadly I find it a mess but your options are limited unless you spend a bit more and grab yourself a good planar.

The 650 has elevated bass but it's still in that bracket where i'd consider it balanced. There's information on the X2 in my headphone guide in the sticky but thats before I bought them them and only from reviewing but I don't think my thoughts have changed much since then.

My LCD-2 is a beast, it pushes large amounts of air and the driver is gigantic with rich deep bass, gorgeous mids and an articulate treble. When I game is sounds like I'm in the cinema, when I listen to music it sounds so alive. The X2 next to it sounds like a grainy mess, the 650 actually takes it on, that's all I need to say about the X2 vs 650 ;)
 
Ryanr1987 said:
If you want more bass then open dynamic headphones are not going to give you more. Maybe something like the DT990 will make you happy? Sadly I find it a mess but your options are limited unless you spend a bit more and grab yourself a good planar.

The 650 has elevated bass but it's still in that bracket where i'd consider it balanced. There's information on the X2 in my headphone guide in the sticky but thats before I bought them them and only from reviewing but I don't think my thoughts have changed much since then.

My LCD-2 is a beast, it pushes large amounts of air and the driver is gigantic with rich deep bass, gorgeous mids and an articulate treble. When I game is sounds like I'm in the cinema, when I listen to music it sounds so alive. The X2 next to it sounds like a grainy mess, the 650 actually takes it on, that's all I need to say about the X2 vs 650 ;)
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I had the DT990's but I sent them back to Amazon (got them on warehouse deal) as I couldn't warrant keeping 2 sets of "decent" open headphones and decided to keep the HP200's as I preferred the sound overall, especially on music, even though I found the bass on DT990's a little better.

I'm not looking for mega bass, just a touch more. DT990's bass with a little more balance would be fine; reviews of the X2 suggest they may be close(r)?

Maybe I'm chasing a Unicorn riding a Golden Dragon here?
 
Spec-Chum said:
Anyone tried these against the X2? The X2's price has nosedived in the past couple of weeks and has become tempting.

I'm asking here even though I'd be looking to replace my HP200's as I seem to recall reading the bass on the HD650 is about that same of the HP200 and I'm looking for a touch more bass, without needing an EQ as I use various devices.
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If you can try before you buy give the Sennheiser Momentum 2.0 a whirl for bass - definitely not for everyone but the bass is certainly something :D

EDIT: If megabass isn't your thing maybe not.
 
I love Japanese vocals. My wife absolutely hates them! There's a sense of emotion I get from them that I don't with any other. Even though sometimes I have not got a clue what they are saying, chances are I've played the game or watched the Anime so I can relate through that.

Some can be unbearable though, but a good Japanese singer is gripping.

This is an example

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tm7Xf9818FM

Emotional Anime and emotional song. I love listening to Sia on the LCD-2's that thump you get is amazing.
 
Spec-Chum said:
I had the DT990's but I sent them back to Amazon (got them on warehouse deal) as I couldn't warrant keeping 2 sets of "decent" open headphones and decided to keep the HP200's as I preferred the sound overall, especially on music, even though I found the bass on DT990's a little better.

I'm not looking for mega bass, just a touch more. DT990's bass with a little more balance would be fine; reviews of the X2 suggest they may be close(r)?

Maybe I'm chasing a Unicorn riding a Golden Dragon here?
Click to expand...

The best bass I heard on a dynamic Open/Semi Open headphone without the rest of the sound sucking was probably the Nighthawk. It has a very rich, deep bass fairly decent everywhere else..they are £499 though.

I think the 650 in terms of it's bass is probably probably below the X2 in level but I find the impact similar. They are quite close in level. The main difference is the way the bass meets the mids, the 650's meet with a slight haze giving slightly thicker lower mids which gives vocals a bit of weight, emotion. Again it does if by still staying in that natural bracket.

The X2 is a bit more U shaped bit more loose, bit more grainy. Less resolution. The X2 is £177, I think paying the extra £30 or so for the 650's gives you a big jump in SQ.
 
That song is nice, she has a very good voice.

It's when you get to traditional far eastern music it all goes pear shaped, they use scales that just don't exist in the west and it all sounds weird to our ears and the horrible screechy voices of some of the female singers are like fingernails on a blackboard. :D
 
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