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

Just how good are these? I realise that is a very open question as it'll come down to personal opinion and the official thread on these might be pretty biased :p. Would these be an upgrade over my K7XX's? Whilst I enjoy listening to them I find them uncomfortable after awhile and if I was to sell them on to fund the HD650's then I've had my money's worth out of them. Then comes the decision what to power them with as I'm still rocking the Vali 1.
 
maj said:
Just how good are these? I realise that is a very open question as it'll come down to personal opinion and the official thread on these might be pretty biased :p. Would these be an upgrade over my K7XX's? Whilst I enjoy listening to them I find them uncomfortable after awhile and if I was to sell them on to fund the HD650's then I've had my money's worth out of them. Then comes the decision what to power them with as I'm still rocking the Vali 1.
Click to expand...

As you can see in my above posts, I'm not an audiophile but anyone can talk about comfort. These are great. I have a massive head and it's not an exaggeration. I have trouble with a lot of headphones and on-ear headphones are made by satan but these are fantastically comfortable. People do say the clamping force when new is quite large but I didn't find this the case.
 
maj said:
Just how good are these? I realise that is a very open question as it'll come down to personal opinion and the official thread on these might be pretty biased :p. Would these be an upgrade over my K7XX's? Whilst I enjoy listening to them I find them uncomfortable after awhile and if I was to sell them on to fund the HD650's then I've had my money's worth out of them. Then comes the decision what to power them with as I'm still rocking the Vali 1.
Click to expand...

Many pairs of headphones and passed through my hands as I like trying out new things. AKG K712, Grado SR225e and Philips Fidelio X2's were my last 3. I liked all of them and if I could justify keeping multiple headphones I would. My journey still goes on and am wanting to try the NAD Viso HP50, Shure SRH 1540 and am also mulling over the Beyerdynamic Amiron.

One pair of headphones always survives and I will never sell them and they are the HD650's. Sound. fit and comfort are spot on. Music and gaming.
 
maj said:
Just how good are these? I realise that is a very open question as it'll come down to personal opinion and the official thread on these might be pretty biased :p. Would these be an upgrade over my K7XX's? Whilst I enjoy listening to them I find them uncomfortable after awhile and if I was to sell them on to fund the HD650's then I've had my money's worth out of them. Then comes the decision what to power them with as I'm still rocking the Vali 1.
Click to expand...


They are fantastic. I've tried probably every high end headphone there is and the HD650 is the only headphone that just has this presence and emotion that surprises me every time.

They do require a good system but a Modi Multibit + Vali 2 can give you a taste of what they are capable of. I use this setup for my HD800 as it's tonally laid back with good impact.

Yes they are superior to the K7XX, the HD650 is in the same league as headphones like the HE-6, and somewhere in between the Ether Flows and HD800. They don't have the most textured and cleanest bass though but they have pretty much the most cohesive and tonally correct sound there is IMO
 
Hi all I have a question and I think you guys can help me out with it. My HD600 been with me for last 8 years and I have more than 8k hours of use till date. I have replace my ear pads and headband forth times and now is time to do it again. I will stick to original headband but for ear pads I was thinking to go leather as is a lot more to my liking. I have read a lot about DIY mods for them and one that is common is to used plastic bits from my old ear pads. Glue new cushions to that so I can click them in. Ear pads I have been looking at are Brainwavz HM5 Sheep Leather. Size wise they do look a perfect fit buy dont want to spend 40£ and bin them after. Any ideas?
 
Replacing the ear pads can have quite an impact on the sound BTW - no idea what leather ones would do - the cheap replacements can massively decrease the impact of bass compared to the official ones.
 
Allo chaps, giving serious consideration to becoming a member of this esteemed group. I've a Little Dot MK2 with Mullard tubes (forget which) and a Mojo, any impressions on how these compare to, say, the Marantz Dac 1? See that some of you have one or the other, but has anyone had experience with a combination of them?

I bought the LD to pair with a Meridian Explorer 2 prior to getting the Mojo, but since then the Ex 2 has become my work dac/amp and the LD has been relegated to.. a shelf. It sounded nice on my 1540s but they're low impedance so it was never going to be a perfect pairing.
 
Wondering if anyone owns the Valhalla 2 and Bifrost multibit? Just received a bifrost and the quality of the unit (talking aesthetics) is shocking compared to the Valhalla 2? Is this the norm as the Valhalla 2 is a newer product?
 
I like the Mojo + HD650 paring. Might be a bit too warm and cosy for some it reminds me a bit of the Lyr2 in that regard. It's still not as good as a TOTL tube amplifier which will give you more slam, dynamics, better staging and detail.

A good HD650 upgrade tree would be



Modi Multibit> Vali
Modi Multibit> Vali 2/Valhalla2
Modi Multibit >Elise/Moj2/Icon HP8
Modi Multibit/Gumby/Yggy> Zana Deux

Gives an example of how high you can go but most won't get past number two which is absolutely fine as it provides more than enough. Those who want to really see what they can get out these drivers might proceed further and possibility grab a HD800 to tag team.

The Modi Multibit is worth getting even of you have to save up as it will play fine with higher end amps and does great the 600 series. The Vali 2 is good for those who like a laid back sound with a bit of punch and the Valhalla 2 is great for those who want to see what the HD650's famous micro detail Is all about and experience a nice airy, stage with lots of inner detail throughout.

Going that little bit higher isn't really a massive jump but it's a next step in resolution with amps like the Elise. I would still say overall you are playing a game of flavours as the Valhalla 2 arguably could out point it in some areas.

The Zana Deux which isn't cheap is pretty much end game on terms of the HD650's performance. I really only listed it for those crazy folk with deep pockets who literally want to upgrade their HD650's to god tier. At about 1.7k it's better than going for a Ether Flow/LCD-3 as the HD650 is a better headphone on that system.

Hope this helps some of you don't take it literally because on the end your ears may be content on something like a Modi + Vali which is still a damn good system for the price.
 
To really get them to shine you need atleast +/-9V rails, ideally +/-12V rails and good slew rates/voltage swing - which is why I think they respond well to some amps that have balanced type output with individual ground returns for each driver and isolated rails per channel.
 
Just casually browsing for a new replacement cable for mine on Amazon (need a shorter one for desktop use) and noticed how much the price for the 650 has gone up!

I bought them for £225 in December 2015, they are now sitting at a cool £319 :eek:

Looking on CamelCamelCamel, it appears the lowest price for them was in November 2015 at £220, so I don't think I did badly at all, as the price has only gone up. In 2013 they were £400!

I haven't even thought about upgrading them all this time, they seem to be everything I ever wanted from a headphone. Except for memory foam ear pads, but that's a nitpick :p
 
Its nuts - I paid £206 for the 600s - now they are £308-£370 from anywhere reputable. I got someone some 650s for just under £200 at one point in 2015 as well but I think that was when Amazon did one of their £10 voucher things for prime customers.
 
You never really know with those cables - I bought one of these to make myself a DIY balanced cable https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0028PGXRE/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and couldn't tell any difference between it and the original cables that came with my 600s and 650s. It is a 6.35mm plug without an adaptor though.

EDIT: Oh and its 3m missed you were looking for shorter - I just cut it down to about 2m when I modified it.
 
My 650s were £187 back in 2009. They've gone over £500 before. I dont think i've seen anything else fluctuate in price quite so much as the 600/650s do and weirdly when the prices do shoot up its usually the 600s that are the more expensive of the two.
 
600s get hyped to **** in 1-2 places which seems to have some impact on the price from time to time :s maybe just coincidence dunno.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom