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

The 600 has peak in the upper mid range the 650's are fairly flat through there. HD600 is bright in comparison also. Tone is different, HD650 has a wooden character, smoother, can handle busy cues without problem while the 600 blends them in comparison. 600 is leaner, grainier a bit more treble clarity due to its rise but it isn't as refined.

Both are great headphones and both are different.
 
rids57 said:
Really?

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As much as I take their graphs with a grain of salt this is exactly how I hear them both. I love how Sennheiser didn't feel the need to follow the trend with the 650 and boost the treble resulting in a natural, smooth effortless high in.
 
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Ryanr1987 said:
The 600 has peak in the upper mid range the 650's are fairly flat through there. HD600 is bright in comparison also. Tone is different, HD650 has a wooden character, smoother, can handle busy cues without problem while the 600 blends them in comparison. 600 is leaner, grainier a bit more treble clarity due to its rise but it isn't as refined.

Both are great headphones and both are different.
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I'd say my older 600s are exactly like that while the newer ones are very close to the 650s in the mid-range more like that graph if the upper mid spike was smoothed and the treble sounds a bit more one dimensional (relatively speaking) than the 650s I've heard - I do notice the new ones have quite thick foam inserts compared to the older ones but I don't want to mess about removing them to see what difference that makes :S (though looking around online a lot of people claim that removing the insert makes them sound more like the 650s not less).

EDIT: Found a bit of thin foam to pad out the original ones and it makes them sound a lot closer to the newer ones though still a bit grainer - so its probably what is making a lot of the difference - surprising how much affect it can have.
 
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That's how I read it, most people who know both headphones have a strong preference for one or the other, whereas people with only minor experience of them or who have maybe only heard one of them, tend to think of them as almost the same.
 
New genuine pads arrived. £40 is extortionate but nothing I can do about it.

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They're thicker with a different shape. More conical rather than just flat.

Sound might be a little better, possibly placebo. It's hard to compare them as the chinese ones are thinner so the driver is closer to my ear and a bit louder.

Tried them with the foam, better than chinese with the foam but still better without.
 
Disco_P said:
New genuine pads arrived. £40 is extortionate but nothing I can do about it.

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They're thicker with a different shape. More conical rather than just flat.

Sound might be a little better, possibly placebo. It's hard to compare them as the chinese ones are thinner so the driver is closer to my ear and a bit louder.

Tried them with the foam, better than chinese with the foam but still better without.
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They look a little used, You sure you got new ones ?
 
rids57 said:
That's how I read it, most people who know both headphones have a strong preference for one or the other, whereas people with only minor experience of them or who have maybe only heard one of them, tend to think of them as almost the same.
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not hear either but i will assume the darkness comes from the difference in treble roll off and bass being higher.

650's drivers i believe are also matched unlike 600's as shown in tylls readings the blue line.
 
easyrider said:
Are there any differences with silver box and black box 650?
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There's been massive debate on that over the years with completely opposite arguments from everyone.

For myself I actually couldn't hear a massive difference between my black box version vs my partner's silver version.
 
–]SleepieceHE400i // K7XX // K545 // IM50 1 point 22 minutes ago
+1 with /u/meringo. I've owned the 650 and found it to be slow and messy when it came to fast music like Post-Hardcore and Metal. It's the whole reason I just did away with the Senn line in the first place and sought planars. Never lacked any detail with the 400i either compared to 650.



This was from reddit....I use the 650 with fast music all the time because of how snappy it is. The only way I can make my 650 sound like this chap described is plug them into my laptop jack and listen to some terribly recorded music. The guy owns the HE-400i and K7XX which are a tier below the 650. The HE-400i while a good headphone isn't as resolving and quick as the HD650 but I don't know what he is running it off.

It still amazes me that people describe these headphones as slow, they are faster than most planars, I don't understand where all this planar speed myth comes from. Anyway regarding the 650 being dark, it has a gentle roll off and it's not really a dark headphone because when I run my reference recordings they still give me what was recorded. I'd say they are pretty accurate and just not boosted in the highs.

Someone coming from Grados, Hifimans, HD700 or AKG's would probably call them dark because they are used to the extreme rather than accurate or slightly rolled off treble.

I recently spoke to guy who already owned the HD650 and purchased and LCD-3. He wanted an upgrade and bought a top tier amp and DAC. He played the LCD-3 for months but for fun decided to give his old 650's a whirl on his new amps..his jaw dropped and couldn't believe his HD650 was the superior headphone.
 
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I found the HE-400i to be more suitable for very heavy/sludgy metal, stuff like Isis, Electric Wizard, etc. Not sure which headphone was faster, but the 400i definitely had this upper midrange emphasis that made everything sound more raw and aggressive.

Regarding the overpriced earpads, just wash the old ones, gently with a little detergent, then tumble dry. Mine come out as good as brand new every time, better in fact since they are still soft and not hard like brand new pads. Unless they are obscenely dirty or damaged, don't see any reason to buy new pads.
 
deFiniLoGy said:
There's been massive debate on that over the years with completely opposite arguments from everyone.

For myself I actually couldn't hear a massive difference between my black box version vs my partner's silver version.
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Well I just bought yours in MM so I'm now part of the club :p
 
I look forward to reading your comparisons vs other ones you've owned.
Almost bought them myself but I know a lot of people got them new for £165 a few years back so not willing to pay over £150 for a set especially when cex sell them for £125 when they get them which to be fair is rare.

From the masses I have read the 650 seem like they are a bit like the x1/x2 but with higher resolution in details and better midrange and bass decay / timbre but with the same relaxed easy listening rolled off treble.

Pretty sure there's loads of third party cheaper pads for 600/650's ?
 
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Still a lot cheaper than the AKG memory foam / gel pads - those are £70 a pair :eek:

The official pads are an integral part of the tuning so random foam Chinese pads will make them sound off.
 
C64 said:
I look forward to reading your comparisons vs other ones you've owned.
Almost bought them myself but I know a lot of people got them new for £165 a few years back so not willing to pay over £150 for a set especially when cex sell them for £125 when they get them which to be fair is rare.

From the masses I have read the 650 seem like they are a bit like the x1/x2 but with higher resolution in details and better midrange and bass decay / timbre but with the same relaxed easy listening rolled off treble.

Pretty sure there's loads of third party cheaper pads for 600/650's ?
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They were the cheapest when the HD800 was out since everyone just wants to get rid of the old big 4.

But now the market is settled again, the pricing won't move that much until another refresh of headphones...

Like the pricing of the current HD800 when HD800S is out ;)
 
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