Sennheiser HD650 Appreciation Thread!! - Page 685

Quote:

Originally Posted by muzic4life 

Hello guys..i need suggestion...i just bought this hd650. I also tempted to get alo silver cable to go with it. Eventhough i still can afford for the cable... i dont deny my self i think the price on the cable is a bit too much compared to the hd650 price it self. Now what really matters to me...is it true that if i used alo silver cable will definitely improved the sound quality? I have read many in forums some say yes and some say useless. I know...the sound may not be improved by much...but will the changes in sound quality be noticeable? If so i might want to get one as i also like the looks on this cable and the length is shorter than the stock cable. Btw...i am going to use hd650 with my graham slee srgii. Has anyone using this alo silver cable with hd650?

I have used a couple of different silver cables with the HD650's...Reviews are in the sig line...

Quote:

Originally Posted by muzic4life 

Hello guys..i need suggestion...i just bought this hd650. I also tempted to get alo silver cable to go with it. Eventhough i still can afford for the cable... i dont deny my self i think the price on the cable is a bit too much compared to the hd650 price it self. Now what really matters to me...is it true that if i used alo silver cable will definitely improved the sound quality? I have read many in forums some say yes and some say useless. I know...the sound may not be improved by much...but will the changes in sound quality be noticeable? If so i might want to get one as i also like the looks on this cable and the length is shorter than the stock cable. Btw...i am going to use hd650 with my graham slee srgii. Has anyone using this alo silver cable with hd650?

Save your money. Even the Orpheus comes with a OFC copper cable with gold plated contacts, the same as HD650.

Quote:

Originally Posted by muzic4life 

Hello guys..i need suggestion...i just bought this hd650. I also tempted to get alo silver cable to go with it. Eventhough i still can afford for the cable... i dont deny my self i think the price on the cable is a bit too much compared to the hd650 price it self. Now what really matters to me...is it true that if i used alo silver cable will definitely improved the sound quality? I have read many in forums some say yes and some say useless. I know...the sound may not be improved by much...but will the changes in sound quality be noticeable? If so i might want to get one as i also like the looks on this cable and the length is shorter than the stock cable. Btw...i am going to use hd650 with my graham slee srgii. Has anyone using this alo silver cable with hd650?

get to know the stock sound first. then buy an upgraded cable and see if you like the difference.  

Quote:

Originally Posted by muzic4life 

Hi guys. Thank you for the feedbacks. Just spoke to the seller..Lucky me i am allowed to have it try and refund it if not satisfied with the cable. So i guess i will find out my self if there will be any improvement with the silver cable. But i still think the improvement will not be as high as its price tag

@longbowbbs
Just read your review about the cable. Very good detail review btw. According to your review it looks like the replacement cable is definitely improving the sound. And according to friend of mine silver cable is able to improve the clarity and detail of sound. So i might agree to this point. Let see after i recieved mine. Oh..btw...i prefer the looks of your cable than alo silver cable

I will say that caracara08's advice about getting to know the stock cable is good. It is useful to know what you are improving and how the sound differs...

They are nice looking cables. Frank does excellent work.

^^ You might also looks through the used accessories forum here. There are often custom cables for this hp there at half their original cost. Certainly worth a look. 

Decided to post my own impressions about HD650. There is a lot of stuff said about these cans, the words that appear most frequently are "warm, mellow, smooth, laid-back".

While I certainly agree with these characterizations, I would like to add some description that, I think, is even more accurate.

First and foremost, the sound from HD650 is SOFT. During a drumbeat, it sounds like the drum has a thin cushion layer on it. In contrast, the sound from any Grado is shrill: when it hits my ear, it feels like a dentist drilling through my brain :)

This artificial softness of HD650 (yes, it is artificial, the original music in the studio will not sound like that) makes many people describe HD650 as veiled.

Second, the sound from HD650 is COLORFUL. Imagine two TV pictures: one has more brightness and the other has richer color. HD600/800, AKG, Grado all have a brighter picture; HD650 has a more coloful picture. My ears get sore from all the bright high frequencies in the other headphones, such music presentation does not deliver more detail, nor does it make listening experience particularly pleasant. I often have the impression that high frequencies carry significantly more variation and information in HD650 while in other headphones, they sound flat and harsh. I actually think it's an artefact of digital recording which HD650 magnificently correct.

But the most apt description of the HD650 sound came from my father. When he listened to them, he said that their sound is DAMP. Just like when a person coughs, his cough can be dry or with some moisture (called "productive cough", I think). HD650 adds this dampness to the sound making it very pleasant to my ear. In contrast, Grados deliver very dry sound and HD600 are not as dry but much drier that HD650. If you like your crackers with milk or tea, you should enjoy HD650 sound signature. My father did not like the dampness.

To sum up, HD650 are very unusual headphones. They make alterations to the music that are too obvious to call them "high-fidelity". But I realized that fidelity or accuracy does not equal enjoyment. This is especially true with low quality recordings. HD650 makes them sing and puts soul into them, something that no other equipment - phones or speakers - does. To me, HD650 are a masterpiece of engineering.

P.S. Actually, may be someone here can recommend a speaker system with similar sound qualities as HD650? I've been looking for smth like that for ages. Thank you!

Interesting analogies and first post.  Welcome to headfi and "sorry about your wallet." Now go out and buy a real amp for that 650 so that you can really hear what they sound like. 

Welcome to the club...

Matt

Quote:

Originally Posted by musicismagic 
 

P.S. Actually, may be someone here can recommend a speaker system with similar sound qualities as HD650? I've been looking for smth like that for ages. Thank you!

High budget -

     - Leben CS-300 / CS-300XS / CS-600 integrated amp.

     - Harbeth Super HL5 speakers.

Low budget -

     - Peachtree iDecco integrated amp.

     - Advent Loudspeakers

Those are just a couple of suggestions.  There are plenty of mid-centric musical speakers out there and plenty of complimentary components.

Very interesting.  I was just making some preliminary observations about the HD650 vs. Mad Dogs vs. HE400 (finally I can start comparing them!), and one of the first phrases that came to my mind to describe HD650 was 'very dry'.  Not analytically dry or harshly dry like the sands of the sahara, but more dry like a turkish bath towel fresh out of the dryer.  Invitingly fuzzy-fresh.
 

Though it may not be a fair comparison when the two other contenders are both orthos.  I know the ortho sound has often been said to have a certain 'liquid' aspect to it as compared to dynamics.

  Dear musicismagic:

    I too own Senn. HD650's, and very much appreciate the mid-hall, (orchestral type concert hall), timbre and presentation they generate.  In fact, I like it so much that I subsequently purchased a pair of Lipinski Sound 707 monitor speakers, which, driven by an Aragon 4004 amp, fed by an Audio Research LS3 pre-amp, generate a remarkably similar sound signature to my beloved 650's...( of course though the electronics behind the speakers will have some effect, I don't think that they make or break these speakers inherent qualities), and I am sure that the Harbeths are also wonderful speakers, and might just fit the bill perfectly.  The 707's are VERY flat, ( 27Hz to 20kHz +-2dB), however, I do cross them over to dedicated subs at 60Hz, but they still sound very robust down deep on their own, though the HD650's certainly go deeper/fuller in the very low bass region...

    In any event, enjoy your search...

Peace,

T.A.K.        

I've been enjoying my 650s with my Denon AVR-1712 and right out of the Macbook (running iTunes/Bitperfect). But after only a month, I'm hot to upgrade. Using the AVR ties up the home theater (our main TV), and moving about the house expands my listening time, so portability is useful, and it's pretty clear that better performance can be had be had at a reasonable investment. I've read all the reviews and searched the threads about six times over and came up with the following plan:

1) Audioquest Dragonfly ($250)

2) Schiit Magni ($100), 

3) iFi iUSBPower ($200)

The idea is to get a complete package with step 1, enjoy each step, and appreciate upgrades to subsequent steps, while maintaining expenditures in bite-size increments that won't unreasonably disrupt the family budget. The result should be a respectable desktop rig with a completely portable module for less than $500. From there I can rinse and repeat with step 1, upgrading to the next hot DAC, perhaps a more hefty (non-portable) one, reasoning that the DAC price/performance is advancing faster than amplification and power conditioning, and I could use it with the home theater speakers. I could also skip step 3 and put that money toward the new DAC. And I could bump step 2) up to an Asgard for another $150. 

I actually suspect a Modi/Magni stack would be a better value than the Dragonfly. The Modi/Magni design budget is far less constrained by size than the Dragonfly's, leaving more room for performance at the price. And the stack is cheaper. But you need to plug it into a wall, and moving the stack around the house is undesirably fiddly. Although most serious listening will be convenient to a wall outlet, I don't really have a fixed listening position at home. At the same time, having a dedicated amp on hand should offer a worthwhile boost to the Dragonfly when the primary listening station is available. 

The iFi iDAC is an intriguing portable DAC/amp combo that's USB powered, and brings 192 kHz capability to the party. But since the Dragonfly and Modi explicitly don't offer 192 kHz because of an unfavorable trade-off in price/performance, it makes you wonder what sacrifice iFi had to make to get there. And the iUSBPower suggests that the iDAC is lacking without it, so you're really looking at $500, plus wall power. And, ifi appears to have availability problems with the iDAC. And it's $50 more than the Dragonfly ($100 more than the Shiit stack). But it shares a size "advantage" over the Dragonfly. 

I could also use some time and budget to build up my lossless music file collection. I still rely on a lot of 320 kbps material. So no need to get a four-figure rig right out of the gate. I also need to get a proper network attached storage server at some point to expand the library. Which is another $300. Sorry about your wallet, indeed. And I should probably boost my listening/research ratio a bit.

Anyway, thought I'd bounce these thoughts off the 650 club to solicit thoughts and maybe shorten the research cycle for others. 

^^ You might consider the lyr for pairing with the hd650. It's my end game amp and I think that the pair is tremendous. You can get a mint used on here for about $350.

Also if you are a DIY'er, check out the kit for the bottlehead crack. I personally haven't built one but lot's of guys here love it.

Oh, and welcome to headfi...sorry about your wallet. 

The Magni & Modi are a very solid match for the HD650--I like the synergy a lot.  The HD650 improves as you feed it with better components, but M&M are a very satisfying and solid start.  As Matt mentioned, the Lyr is a great choice, but probably exceeds your budget and although compact, is a bit large to easily move around constantly.  The M&M are small enough to easily move around--I do on a regular basis and it's not a hassle.  If you have a couple main listening spots, I might see about getting a second wall wart--I'm going to check on this myself.

I haven't heard your other two choices, but the Dragonfly has a pretty good reputation.  If size and space are your primary concerns, it would be worth considering.  No idea about the iFi, but I think the 24/192 sampling is a red herring.  Schiit likely chose the 24/96 limit to avoid the installation of a separate driver--and a lot of tech support that would make the $99 Modi a non-viable product.  A well-encoded 320 kbps file is a very high quality source--I can't even imagine that 24/96 would be limiting unless you have hypersensitive hearing and the best equipment in the world.