Sennheiser HD650 Appreciation Thread!! - Page 673

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mad Lust Envy 

He should look into the K702 Anniversary. The very fix for those who want an HD650 that isn't as laid back, and is more open. Trust me on this.
Matt, I'm tempted on sending it to you at some point, because I KNOW you would love it.

lol...already sent you a pm with request to audition before I saw this. 

Well... spending some time with my HD650s and I just can't get into them! My brain is tuned to the DT880s right now. I kind of want to force myself to listen to them, to get used to their signature again, but they're just not exciting! Thinking of putting my DT880s back on..........

damn I don't know what my new headphone should be :O i'm thinking of saving for something really nice. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by yokken 

Well... spending some time with my HD650s and I just can't get into them! My brain is tuned to the DT880s right now. I kind of want to force myself to listen to them, to get used to their signature again, but they're just not exciting! Thinking of putting my DT880s back on..........

I guess that dark/bright bass heavy/bass light are all relative terms depending on the user.I found the dt880 was not for me, but the 650 is near perfect. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by skeptic 

 

They already are.  According to measurements taken by Tyll, among others, your headphones are unlikely to meaningfully change, if at all, over time.  There is, however, a high likelihood that you will enjoy, appreciate, and become more and more familiar with them over time, such that their sound signature becomes your "new normal".  

You know, this explanation is posted a lot, but no one has come up with a reason why there seems to be perceptible change when headphones are burnt in without actually listening to them. I never listen to my headphones while burning them in to avoid the phenomenon you're referring to.

Quote:

Originally Posted by yokken 

Well... spending some time with my HD650s and I just can't get into them! My brain is tuned to the DT880s right now. I kind of want to force myself to listen to them, to get used to their signature again, but they're just not exciting! Thinking of putting my DT880s back on..........

I've had that exact same reaction with the DT880. I thought it would have been a great 'phone to complement the HD650 but it turned out to be neither a complement nor a replacement in my case.

I used to always wonder how there could be so many headphone companies until I had a good listen to them and realised that all cater for their own crowd

Quote:

Originally Posted by yokken 

Well... spending some time with my HD650s and I just can't get into them! My brain is tuned to the DT880s right now. I kind of want to force myself to listen to them, to get used to their signature again, but they're just not exciting! Thinking of putting my DT880s back on..........

+1, but with different headphones. There's just no sparkle, they're putting me to sleep!

Quote:

Originally Posted by yokken 

Compared to DT880s, the HD650s are much more relaxing. I could fall asleep with them on if not for the clamp. Their sound is just very warm and soothing. It doesn't excite me, but it's a very pleasing sound. If I want to jam out or trip out to some music, I'll definitely put on my DT880s. They make the music much more lively. That's why it's so nice to have 2 pairs of headphones. They both do different things better than the other. The HD650s have mids hands down, the DT880s have treble and bass extension. I listen to a lot of electronic music so I've been listening to the DT880s nonstop. The HD650s aren't bad at electronic, it's just that the DT880s are so much better.

Comparing your old Hifiman HE-400 and DT880, based on sound quality alone, which one do you think is better for electronic music? Which has better bass, soundstage, and instrument separation?

Quote:

Originally Posted by cheuh 

 

Comparing your old Hifiman HE-400 and DT880, based on sound quality alone, which one do you think is better for electronic music? Which has better bass, soundstage, and instrument separation?

The instrument separation on the HE-400 is the tiniest bit better, with an almost holographic/spherical soundstage, and the bass goes very low. But the stiff velour pads and the weight of them just killed it for me. Honestly I prefer the sound of the DT880. The treble isn't fatiguing, unlike the HE-400, which can definitely be a bit tizzy/hot/piercing at times. The DT880s also have much more punch to their bass. I find the mids much better on them as well, with vocal trance being hypnotic. And let's not forget the comfort... I can forget the DT880s are even on at all. The HE-400s always reminded me I was wearing a clamp on my head. A brick clamp. A CLAMPY BRICK. I just couldn't stand it, despite their good sound.

But I could talk all day about what I don't like about the HE-400. They do sound good, but the comfort factor, on a scale of 1-10, was about a 2 for me. I'd almost rather wear my HD280s.

I love it how everyone who's tried my HE-400, who aren't accustomed to headphones at all, always talked about how comfortable and spacious they were.

Quote:

Originally Posted by yokken 

 

The instrument separation on the HE-400 is the tiniest bit better, with an almost holographic/spherical soundstage, and the bass goes very low. But the stiff velour pads and the weight of them just killed it for me. Honestly I prefer the sound of the DT880. The treble isn't fatiguing, unlike the HE-400, which can definitely be a bit tizzy/hot/piercing at times. The DT880s also have much more punch to their bass. I find the mids much better on them as well, with vocal trance being hypnotic. And let's not forget the comfort... I can forget the DT880s are even on at all. The HE-400s always reminded me I was wearing a clamp on my head. A brick clamp. A CLAMPY BRICK. I just couldn't stand it, despite their good sound.

 

But I could talk all day about what I don't like about the HE-400. They do sound good, but the comfort factor, on a scale of 1-10, was about a 2 for me. I'd almost rather wear my HD280s.

What revision of the HE-400 did you have?  My HE-400 (rev2) just smokes my DT880 in the bass department in punch and attack. Also the DT880s treble is much more fatiguing to my ears. I love the 880s balanced sound and would never part with them, but the HE-400 just blows there doors off with energetic music (EDM or hip-hop).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blisse 

Priming.
You go in expecting a change because you've burned them in, and voila, you hear a change, but there's no way to prove that you didn't hear the same thing and just convinced yourself you heard something different. It doesn't matter what you do. This is all subconscious and out of your control.
It is however true that your ears will adapt to the noise eventually, either by losing hearing of those frequencies or your brain accepting that type of sound as normal. Only when you have that sound as normal can you listen to another pair of headphones and say, there is definitely something different about this sound. Humans work best using relatives.

Exactly.  Who doesn't like to think they got something for nothing?  It's much like the post-purchase justification phenomena.  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-purchase_rationalization)  People like to perceive improvements and so they often do.

Note also that longbow has quoted Tyll's article out of context.  Let's not forget paragraph 1 of the conclusion: 

His reference to movement isn't about some minute change in excursion in the drivers.  He's acknowledging that he can't be confident the mic was placed in an identical position relative to the headphones for all of the samples.  So I stand by my post above.  Contrary to pervasive misrepresentations on these boards, no one has ever proved that burn-in exists, much less that it will better your headphones.