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What cable for 650's to tighten the bass?

post #1 of 24
8/10/06 at 5:06pm
Thread Starter 
I love my 650's but the bass seems unnatural somehow, this is the main flaw of this headphone in my setup. I am afraid silver might be too bright for the mids and highs but I'm not sure. I would like the bass to be leaner and more defined, although am leaning towards a copper cable right now. What should I do? Also, I would like a shorter length than average so custom length is important.
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post #2 of 24
8/10/06 at 7:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jbucla2005
I love my 650's but the bass seems unnatural somehow, this is the main flaw of this headphone in my setup. I am afraid silver might be too bright for the mids and highs but I'm not sure. I would like the bass to be leaner and more defined, although am leaning towards a copper cable right now. What should I do? Also, I would like a shorter length than average so custom length is important.
Get an HD600 or a K701.
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post #3 of 24
8/10/06 at 8:45pm
I agree with mrarroyo, the 650's signiture is an emphisised low end. I don't think you can tame it with a cable. I bet you could find somebody that would trade you a 600 for your 650.
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post #4 of 24
8/10/06 at 8:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jbucla2005
I love my 650's but the bass seems unnatural somehow, this is the main flaw of this headphone in my setup. I am afraid silver might be too bright for the mids and highs but I'm not sure. I would like the bass to be leaner and more defined, although am leaning towards a copper cable right now. What should I do? Also, I would like a shorter length than average so custom length is important.
If you try an equinox cable for hd650, probably you will feel the bass is well controlled with the cable.
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post #5 of 24
8/10/06 at 9:14pm
Difference in headphone cables is very small.
Change the headphones or work on other components of your rig.
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post #6 of 24
8/10/06 at 10:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Serge44
Difference in headphone cables is very small.
Change the headphones or work on other components of your rig.
But to me, the equinox cable has made one or two levels up with my system.
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post #7 of 24
8/10/06 at 11:00pm
Cardas
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post #8 of 24
8/10/06 at 11:06pm
In my experience, I agree that the Equinox really balances/tones the bass. However, it really took the "life" out of the sound, in my setup. I tried to like the cable, but it just didn't work out. There was additional body to the instruments and some feeling of "neutrality", but created a dull/flat sound. The vocals got the worst of it; all of the intimacy was lost. I didn't really experience much of any improvement in soundstage, either, except in a few select recordings.

Just reverting to the stock cable put a smile back on my face.

I would say if a cable could tighten the bass, while keeping all of the other characteristics the same, I would be quite happy. In recordings where the bass is overpowering (using the stock cable), it seems to take a bit away from the "airiness" of the highs.

I think this could just be another case of system synergy, or lack thereof...
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post #9 of 24
8/10/06 at 11:38pm
Thread Starter 
I really like a lot of things about these headphones, and I still prefer them over 580/600. I think however that my ears are getting tired from the bass. I am seriously considering getting my 1212M out from my other pc and trying it out in place of the 0404 I'm using now. I am sure that would help reduce the overall bass level to a more natural amount. As for cable, I am thinking Blue Dragon or possibly Headphile BlackSilver. I really love silver cables, speaker wires, etc. but for some reason I think with these 650's I would prefer the warmth of copper. I agree it makes sense that recabling alone won't tame the overall bass either way.

I will post my results with the more neutral 1212M vs. the bassier 0404.

EDIT: Well I don't want to mess with my 1212M setup right now nor move computers, amps, etc. but as an experiment I'm going to use the output of my X-fi Music which sounds similar to the 1212M to see if I get better results.
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post #10 of 24
8/11/06 at 12:00am
Thread Starter 
The bass still seems 'bloated' with the X-fi, and it's hard to compare the 0404 to it, the 0404 is a lot better. However, I do feel some of this bass emphasis can be reduced by getting another 1212M or perhaps a DAC? This should probably be a different thread now...
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post #11 of 24
8/11/06 at 2:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jbucla2005
I would like the bass to be leaner and more defined
If thats what your looking for then Cardas is your cable.
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post #12 of 24
8/11/06 at 2:42am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jbucla2005
The bass still seems 'bloated' with the X-fi, and it's hard to compare the 0404 to it, the 0404 is a lot better. However, I do feel some of this bass emphasis can be reduced by getting another 1212M or perhaps a DAC? This should probably be a different thread now...
It could also be the amplification. I absolutely can't stand the HD-650's thick bass on the Headfive. Switching back to the OBH-21 yields a leaner, more musical bass, on top of the lovely Sennheiser house sound.
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post #13 of 24
8/11/06 at 3:50am
I'd finger the tube amp that's in your sig. An OTL is faster on the low end than a push-pull or SET, but still, tubes are notoriously slow and heavy on the low end.

If you want to tighten things up, get a good, fast class A solid state. There's a large difference between the sound of my HD-650s on tubes as opposed to solid state.

The thing about those aftermarket cables is that they're expensive. For the price of one, you'd be most of the way to a Gilmore Lite. Those sound great with the HD-650. I like the Dynalo with the HD-650 a lot, and I'd recommend trying one if you'd like to tighten up the low end.
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post #14 of 24
8/11/06 at 4:13am
lol; greatest question of all time

my opinion: try some different phones
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post #15 of 24
8/11/06 at 6:46am
I dunno but cables seem a bit too subtle. I do like a good cable for it's nuances but so far I have not heard a miracle cable that makes a big enough difference. Maybe the Zu Mobius cable is good for the bass. I haven't heard it but I've read that it's good. But I really think that a good amp like the ones others here recommended will benefit the Sennheiser more. And since cables are expensive, I usually try to buy used. So far, all of my high end cables are used. I don't like the idea of paying full price for a brand new expensive cable unless if it's under $100 perhaps.
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