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

james.miller said:
So now it's magic?



Now its real again?


Which is it?


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The process is real. The amount of change varies, the need to accelerate that process also varies. There's nothing magic about it. There's plenty of evidence that it's real. I didnt notice any change with my 650s, i doubt anybody else did, and since they are one of the few headphones with guaranteed matched drivers I must conclude that senn do all the running in these headphones will need from the factory.

Agree/disagree/whatever, but take ti to another thread if you want to continue arguing IMO.
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Same to you.....

oppo sum it up for me by humouring it but clearly stating it's not needed which is my feelings on it.

and by magic was sarcasm fyi.
Your brain adapts to a sound sig over time that's the single biggest change some people would rather quantify it into something it's not. And old manufacturing techniques may well have required some sort of break in but these days it's widely accepted by both enthusiasts and industry specialists that you don't need to abide that practice anymore.

the end of the day you won't hurt your headphones playing music for 10 or 300 hours through it but it's not a needed thing if they are faulty you won't know till you actually listen to them anyway. Even if it was needed you could just as easily listen to music for 300 hours rather than leave them playing through your favorite break in playlist in a cupboard.

Burn in if you want but personally id rather enjoy the sound of my new toys as soon as they arrive.
 
Ryanr1987 said:
I don't think pink noise would damage a well made driver. I think burn in is a mix of these.

- Driver loosening up
- Brain burn in
- Recordings used(Obviously can be ruled out if you use one or a few recordings to test)
- Gear used(Obviously again, ruled out if same gear is used)
- Drivers and materials


I think the majority is brain burn in. I believe the HD650 uses Myler with Neodymium, no rubber surround so I don't see where burn in would come in to play after a few hours? I also don't see how Planars could burn in. Take the Denon D2000 driver and yes, I can see the argument because it's built from materials that can be stiff with minimal use.
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indeed i struggle to see how planars could be burned in and a realy struggle to see how matched and properly qc'd drivers like the 650's or 800's would either.
 
Safetytrousers said:
The audible result of breaking/burning in can only be judged subjectively by experience. Even if you could measure a difference, if you can't hear the difference it wouldn't matter at all.
There is probably nobody in the country with the same sort of knowledge and breadth of audio experience as Hugh Robjohns. Expert 'opinion' is used in courts of law.
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What the brain does is very difficult to quantifying - its crossed my mind before in regards to changes to what I'm hearing in the bass that it could be perception from the way different headphones reproduce differently causing the brain to skip over something at first.

Largely I've not noticed much change from "burning in" but in but usually I'll listen to headphones for say 20 minutes out the box, then leave them playing music for a couple of days normally to one side then listen again so it reduces how much any change is from my brain adapting.

As I mentioned largely the only change I've seen is that with some headphones a slight - but noticeable now I know what to listen for - change in bass articulation.
 
TwsT said:
Same to you.....

oppo sum it up for me by humouring it but clearly stating it's not needed which is my feelings on it.

and by magic was sarcasm fyi.
Your brain adapts to a sound sig over time that's the single biggest change some people would rather quantify it into something it's not. And old manufacturing techniques may well have required some sort of break in but these days it's widely accepted by both enthusiasts and industry specialists that you don't need to abide that practice anymore.

the end of the day you won't hurt your headphones playing music for 10 or 300 hours through it but it's not a needed thing if they are faulty you won't know till you actually listen to them anyway. Even if it was needed you could just as easily listen to music for 300 hours rather than leave them playing through your favorite break in playlist in a cupboard.

Burn in if you want but personally id rather enjoy the sound of my new toys as soon as they arrive.
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Your whole premise is based on there being no evidence to support it (hence calling it magic) which is simply isn't true. It's how useful it is to do it yourself that's in question, and the answer here at least is that it isnt, because the mechanical testing at the factor probably takes care of all of that anyway.

I could go on but it off topic so I've deleted the rest of my reply. Please, if you want to continue debating please do create a thread for it.
 
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When I said that my 18 month old HD 650s just seem to keep getting better and better, I didn't mean that they were changing, I meant that my appreciation of them was still increasing.

Anyway, enough of this nonsense, lets talk about building a gaming computer for Ryan ;) :D :p
 
I have kind of started to buy some 650's, but I want some post November 2015 ones. I have emailed a couple of places to ask them to check their stock but nobody has responded. Anyone know who has them? I suppose I could just try the big place........
 
big place will most likely have the latest. As they are most likely to have flipped stock over.

plus they are cheaper than most places :/

we can't even sell HD650 at their price ex vat let alone match them :(
 
abdidas said:
I am not much of a Hi-Fi guy, is onboard sound adequate enough to drive these bad boys?
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Probably not.
Anything that would do a good pair of headphones justice is likely to have a 1/4 inch jack socket.
My first post in this thread was to suggest that you might actually prefer the sound and performance of a pair of headpones half the price of HD650s (Cloud II's), I know I do.
The bonus of Cloud II's is that you can plug them in via USB (and also directly into a headphone amp).
 
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TwsT said:
big place will most likely have the latest. As they are most likely to have flipped stock over.

plus they are cheaper than most places :/

we can't even sell HD650 at their price ex vat let alone match them :(
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Cheaper is good for consumers regardless of where it's from.
 
There are a couple of smaller retailers matching the price and it is them who I emailed as would always prefer to use a smaller retailer. Their loss I suppose.
 
I bought these today from the rainforest as OCUK don't stock them :(

Will be arriving on Thursday and will be powered by my Asus Essence STXII :)
 
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Dicehunter said:
I bought these today from the rainforest as OCUK don't stock them :(

Will be arriving on Thursday and will be powered by my Asus Essence STXII :)
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Let us know how they sound as I'm currently using the same setup. Would also be interested in knowing which opamp you prefer. I'm currently using the ones that come factory fitted to the STXII and haven't had the opportunity to swap them out for the other ones they come with (can't recall the exact names).

Compared to my previous Essence ST, the STXII sounds very similar, but a little 'cold', like it's too analytical and lacking the warmth across the entire frequency range. It's probably too close to say with any certainty if there is actually any difference or it's just my ears. It doesn't sound underpowered, just lacks a little in that laid back, lush sound the ST had. Unfortunately I didn't have a chance to do any direct comparisons with the ST, just going by my memory of the card. It sounds incredibly detailed and resolving though.
 
titaniumx3 said:
Let us know how they sound as I'm currently using the same setup. Would also be interested in knowing which opamp you prefer. I'm currently using the ones that come factory fitted to the STXII and haven't had the opportunity to swap them out for the other ones they come with (can't recall the exact names).

Compared to my previous Essence ST, the STXII sounds very similar, but a little 'cold', like it's too analytical and lacking the warmth across the entire frequency range. It's probably too close to say with any certainty if there is actually any difference or it's just my ears. It doesn't sound underpowered, just lacks a little in that laid back, lush sound the ST had. Unfortunately I didn't have a chance to do any direct comparisons with the ST, just going by my memory of the card. It sounds incredibly detailed and resolving though.
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Well I'm coming from using onboard audio on a Formula 7 mobo to an STXII with Beyer 990's, Tried the 650 out at a mates house who also uses an STXII and wanted them straight away :)
 
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