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

I have sacked off fun and dancey in favour of accuracy and how faithful the sound is presented to my ears. And of all the headphones I’ve owned or heard so far, the 650 does it best through my NAD :D

It's just great for movies, games and music.
 
I have sacked off fun and dancey in favour of accuracy and how faithful the sound is presented to my ears. And of all the headphones I’ve owned or heard so far, the 650 does it best through my NAD :D

It's just great for movies, games and music.

The D2000 is no slouch either
 
Ryan can you please say why so many people say the Hd600 are better than the HD650 and why you rate the 650 over the 600 ?

Who is right the 600 camp or the 650 camp what's going on

I don't think either is "better" (I use the 600s mostly) - the 650s for quite a few music genres have a more pleasing sound from an entertainment perspective the 600s can sound a little more raw and a little more neutral kind of flatter sound - personally I prefer it for the kind of music I listen to which can vary widely in style (mostly trance and soundtrack type stuff).
 
True,

Sound signature is subjective

I hated the 598...Harsh and trebly...some people love em...

I have Denon D2000 love these phones and some don't :p

Also have HD 650....The HD 650 is the better phone but doesn't make my Denon D2000 redundant...

The 650 is a phone with control at the party

The D2000 is a phone with a fun "dancey" atmosphere :p

D2000 + HD650 is a good combo, I had that at one point and wish I kept them now, HD650 for smooth sound and good mids, D2000 for sub bass and "U" shape frequency response. The 1540 is like a cross of the D2000 and HD650, but the HD650 wins on the midrange and smooth treble and the D2000 wins on the sub bass. But then the 1540 has smoother treble than the D2000 (less sibilance), better mids than the D2000 and more sub bass and speed than the HD650. The D2000 and HD650 do their individual things better than the 1540, but the 1540 is a compromise between them in one headphone, not as good in some areas, but overall sound good.
 
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I have to ask Nirk? do you work for Shure? :D

No I just like to promote items that I like, if I try various things eg. headphones, where I have tried at least 20 over the years + demo's in shops etc... then find a product that I think is good, then I like to put those findings on the internet, I also have Shure in ears and I like them as well.

I am sure there are better headphones but around this bracket I think the shures have a good balance, they would be better if they were nearer the HD650 without all the spares though, although spare ear pads are good to have, I don't really need the case or really a spare cable unless this one breaks.

I like sennheiser as well, the HD650 and momentums are good, but for example the momentums have nice bass and smooth treble, but miniscule soundstage, which makes them good for portable but not for normal use, HD650 are very good but lack sub bass. The IE8 in ears are good as well but a bit OP, might get some IE80 at some point.
 
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The D2000 doesn't get enough credit for how balanced they are. If I was going to choose a headphone for mixing it would be the D2000, D5000, D7000 or Audioquest Nighthawk.

The D2000 has potent sub bass, just shoots down like a rocket and meets the mids and stays flat. That upper mid notch is absolutely necessary as that's a difficult thing to get correct and especially on a flat headphone if that area was more elevated it would be pretty nasty on the ears. This is the reason that all headphones that measure like that will have that notch.

A lot of people call them bright but it's just the roughness in upper ranges that a lot of Biocellulose headphones have, the treble is quite flat. The 1540 measures ideal and the bass sounds exactly like the graphs IMO, soft, isn't potent and jaw rattling like the D2000, Nighthawk, LCD-2 etc it's closer to the HD650's bass without the impact. By the way, that peak just under 10k on the Shures gives them a grainy character and the only way around that is to pair them with an amp that elevates the mid bass.

No one does bass like a Biocell driver. The Fostex TH900 has ****in incredible bass and I joked about it in my review but it's an example of elevated bass with amazing control. If that headphone was more balanced it would be a D7000 killer.

The 650 still in a different league to all of them ;) and sounds like music, more surreal like you are lost in the music. The Little Dot MKIII I own is prob on par with the likes of the Vali 2, Bottle Head Crack without Speedball but with the right tubes just gives vocals this insane focus, I can taste the voices.
 
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Yeh D2000 bass is great, I wish I still had them purely for the bass, the midrange is recessed and the treble is not that bright but it is sibilant (SSSS sounds) and a bit harsh. Overall though they are amazing for electronic music but not so good for other stuff. I had some about a year ago (3rd pair) but I sold them due to the sibilance, they might be better with my NAD D1050 dac / amp though as that has very smooth treble. 1540 is like a less sibilant D2000 with better mids, but the bass on the Denon / fostex is the best I have heard, the HE400 also have very good bass but bad treble. You must have VERY different hearing to me if you think the HD650 has more impact than the 1540, especially with EQ the 1540 have a lot more than HD650.
 
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No I just like to promote items that I like

Yes but why do all this promoting in an HD650 appreciation thread? If this was in the graphics card forum you'd be done for trolling. :eek::D

Personally my HD650s have been sat on my mug tree for the last two weeks as I can't get my Sony MDR-100AAPs off my head - does that mean they are "better" than my HD650s? Of course not, they are just different and it's nice to hear music from different perspectives. Likewise I don't think you can say that the Shure 1540s are better than the HD650s, they just suit YOUR tastes more closely.
 
The HE-400's a beauty from the lower mids and down, lord knows what they were thinking with the upper mids and treble..they seriously could have made the LCD-2 redundant.
 
Yes but why do all this promoting in an HD650 appreciation thread? If this was in the graphics card forum you'd be done for trolling. :eek::D

Personally my HD650s have been sat on my mug tree for the last two weeks as I can't get my Sony MDR-100AAPs off my head - does that mean they are "better" than my HD650s? Of course not, they are just different and it's nice to hear music from different perspectives. Likewise I don't think you can say that the Shure 1540s are better than the HD650s, they just suit YOUR tastes more closely.

I do not see why discussing other headphones or recommending them is a problem, I will not say another word about the 1540, sorry if I offended you.

If you read my posts you can clearly see that I have said that the 1540 are not necessarily better but I prefer them due to "my tastes".

Everyone already knows the HD650 are good so what is the problem with comparing them to other headphones? The thread is pretty boring with 30 pages of "HD650 are so good", we already know they are good.
 
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Pretty sure he was joking. This isn't headfi I've not known anyone to get angry in here, unless we talk about Gaming PC's in sound city, that really gets people angry LOL
 
I do not see why discussing other headphones or recommending them is a problem, I will not say another word about the 1540, sorry if I offended you.

Oh for God's sake, did you not see the smileys? Of course I wasn't offended, I was just having a bit of fun.

Pretty sure he was joking. This isn't headfi I've not known anyone to get angry in here, unless we talk about Gaming PC's in sound city, that really gets people angry LOL

Haha, yes, now that's how to upset people :D
 
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There is nothing wrong with comparing to other headphones, I do it all the time - as I said above, I was just having a little fun. :D
 
No problem but some people do get upset when you say anything bad about whatever product they have at the time lol.

I don't know if there are any perfect headphones, maybe the LCD4 or HE1000 I have not heard any of the Audeze headphones or the HE1000.

The HD650 with the bass of the Fostex TH900 would be good but unfortunately impossible as you cannot get that bass on open headphones.
 
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No I just like to promote items that I like, if I try various things eg. headphones, where I have tried at least 20 over the years + demo's in shops etc... then find a product that I think is good, then I like to put those findings on the internet, I also have Shure in ears and I like them as well.

I am sure there are better headphones but around this bracket I think the shures have a good balance, they would be better if they were nearer the HD650 without all the spares though, although spare ear pads are good to have, I don't really need the case or really a spare cable unless this one breaks.

I like sennheiser as well, the HD650 and momentums are good, but for example the momentums have nice bass and smooth treble, but miniscule soundstage, which makes them good for portable but not for normal use, HD650 are very good but lack sub bass. The IE8 in ears are good as well but a bit OP, might get some IE80 at some point.

It's fine man it's just every post you've made has been promoting it :)
nothing wrong with supporting what you like at all.
 
Well I've had these for about 2 weeks now *with the updated drivers in the black box* and they are fantastic.

First time I've ever spent this amount of money on headphones, Most expensive prior to this was the DT 990 Pro 250 Ohm's which I got for £85 on sale.
 
Can i raise the elephant in the room ? the replacement earpads are £40 and you can never ever get them cheaper and they are cheap pads that cost them 40p to make probably.

I was going to buy a second hand pair of hd600 for £160 but theres no point because the new price is £200 so better off buying new when you factor in the pad cost.
 
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Can i raise the elephant in the room ? the replacement earpads are £40 and you can never ever get them cheaper.

I was going to buy a second hand pair of hd600 for £160 but theres no point because the new price is £200 so better off buying new when you factor in the pad cost.

£40 for earpads ? They are a bit of cheap foam covered in cloth, Why are they so expensive ?
 
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