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

The pads were fresh out of a sealed packet with all the sennheiser gibberish on it. Seller was the rainforest.

The "dust" is just the camera adjusting for the dark coloured target. For reference, the picture was taken on the OCUK deskmat which is definitely black. There is a little bit of dust on them as I wore them for an hour before my shower and took the picture afterwards.
 
Just bought some M8100 tubes for the 650's. Trying to find a matched pair of M8161's which are the best tubes I've ever heard with the 650 but no one has them :(
 
HD650 are very good but I recommend the Shure SRH 1540, the SRH1540 are the only headphones that I feel are an all round upgrade to the HD650. Other headphones like the Denon D2000 or HIFIMAN are also good but have problems like harsh treble etc. SRH 1540 is like HD650 but with better bass and a bit more treble, if you like the HD650 but find the bass lacking then try the SRH 1540.

prod_img_srh1540_l-jpg.15981
 
Get out of my HD650 thread with that rubbish!

Just kidding! I owned them twice and really liked them but not anywhere near as good as the 650 the resolution difference is really apparent and the bass is quite distorted with a grainy upper end and a few harsh peaks but I still really like them! I thin they have one of the best responses out of the current closed backs I just wished Shure used better quality drivers given the price.

I used to use them on my commutes and everything because of how comfy the ear pads were.
 
My local RS have a demo set of the 1540's.

I was going to buy them as the manager keeps going on about them but glad I got the 650's, but may pop down there for a listen on the weekend just because. They have quite a lot on demo to be honest including some T90's and SR325e's and the manager has said to me many times just take them all into the demo room and chill out for a bit. Wonder if they will let me take in a V&T so I can kick back properly. :D
 
Dicehunter said:
How much better would the HD800 be than the 650 ?
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They're not in the same class so you couldn't really compare them.

HD800 is a reference headphone and so it'll depends on your driving end and of course the source of the music.

Whereas the HD650 has a lot more taste and will sound very enjoyable in multiple setup.
 
deFiniLoGy said:
They're not in the same class so you couldn't really compare them.

HD800 is a reference headphone and so it'll depends on your driving end and of course the source of the music.

Whereas the HD650 has a lot more taste and will sound very enjoyable in multiple setup.
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Thanks for the reply, I've heard from multiple people who have many thousands of pounds worth of audio equipment that once you get over the £400 price range you're really only paying for that last few percent.

Doesn't really seem worth it to me TBH.
 
Ryanr1987 said:
not anywhere near as good as the 650 the resolution difference is really apparent and the bass is quite distorted with a grainy upper end and a few harsh peaks but I still really like them! I thin they have one of the best responses out of the current closed backs I just wished Shure used better quality drivers given the price.
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You make the 1540 sound really bad there compared to the HD650. HD650 can sound slow and have no sub bass, the HD650 are really good for slow music etc, but anything fast or with deep bass they are not as good, they also have the "3 blob soundstage" which can be annoying. But yes overall the HD650 are very good, the 1540 are faster and have sub bass while not losing much in other areas, ideally you would want more than 1 pair of headphones, for example HD650 + 1540 or D2000/D5000 etc. I also found the 1540 a bit grainy when using Xonar STX as headphone amp, but using NAD D1050 they sound good.
 
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disagree. they long been regarded as some of the best headphones in the world. they are not slow.They would not be so highly regarded if they were so flawed.
 
Yeh ok well I cannot be bothered to argue about it, I agree they are some of the best headphones in the world, but faults with the HD650 are that they can sound slow, "3 blob soundstage" (I did not make that up, a lot of people say that) and they do not have any sub bass. But yes overall they would be in my top 3 or 5 headphones and I think they are very good, Just saying if you have the HD650 and find the bass lacking and sound a bit slow, then the SRH 1540 are good, also depends what you use them for.
 
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Dicehunter said:
Thanks for the reply, I've heard from multiple people who have many thousands of pounds worth of audio equipment that once you get over the £400 price range you're really only paying for that last few percent.

Doesn't really seem worth it to me TBH.
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That's why it's always a good idea that your ears should be the one who decide whether an equipment makes a significant change to your own entertainment as audio quality is so subjective.

It also depends on where you spend that money on. Spending the cash on equipments developed by some well-known local artist is also certainly much better than the equipment from brands like Furutech at the same price range.

But ultimately yeah, the current gen big four are so heard to drive that it really depends on how your backbone is. If you put an HD800 on a random soundcard it'll sound more horrendous than a HD650 lol
 
Overall I would say the 1540 are a better all rounder than the HD650, especially if you like electronic music and bass, as well as being good for gaming etc. Also being closed is good for isolation and not leaking sound, and also the soundstage and imaging is extremely good for closed headphones. You can use the foobar 31 band EQ to lower 10khz and 12khz by 1-2Db if you want.

My recommendation would be the NAD D1050 DAC / AMP with the Shure SRH 1540 headphones, really good combo IMO.

They got on the innerfidelity wall of fame : http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/innerfidelitys-wall-fame-full-size-sealed That guy has heard every headphone in existance.

http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/cool-comfy-and-competent-shure-srh1540-page-2
 
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