Sennheiser HD650 Appreciation Thread!! - Page 703

Hey pp312. How's it hanging? Did you enjoy the display of ruffled feathers?

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Originally Posted by yokken 

Can we all just forget about measurements? Please? They mean absolutely nothing in real world situations. Two headphones could have extremely similar frequency responses and still sound nothing like each other.

 

Originally Posted by pp312 
 

Um..er..cough, cough...

 

Do you think perhaps we might be swinging a bit too far the other way now? 

Yeah I would say so. There's more to measurements than just FR graphs and I think someone like Tyll Hertsens would probably argue that the measurements do in fact show the technical superiority of the HD800.

I think I should be getting a BiFrost & Lyr this week, we shall see if MattTCG is correct in the Lyr.

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Originally Posted by olor1n 

Hey pp312. How's it hanging? Did you enjoy the display of ruffled feathers?

You wanna see ruffled feathers?  Watch this .......

Having owned both HD600 and HD650 at the same time, I found the HD650's mid-bass hump overexaggerated in some music relative to the HD600 ... and though the bass of the HD650 was more overpowering than the HD600, the HD600 was actually more extended, more natural.  I ended up selling the HD650 and keeping the HD600.

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Originally Posted by olor1n 

Hey pp312. How's it hanging? Did you enjoy the display of ruffled feathers?

I always enjoy displays of ruffled feathers. That's what feathers are for--ruffling.

The main thing is that you've all kissed and made up. After all, the only real difference between the 650 and 800 is 150.

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Originally Posted by BobJS 

You wanna see ruffled feathers?  Watch this .......

 

Having owned both HD600 and HD650 at the same time, I found the HD650's mid-bass hump overexaggerated in some music relative to the HD600 ... and though the bass of the HD650 was more overpowering than the HD600, the HD600 was actually more extended, more natural.  I ended up selling the HD650 and keeping the HD600.

Yeah BobJS,

I'm doing the same comparison right now over a few weeks of listening.  I more than likely won't be selling either when done. I just want to understand the differences.

As for the HD800.  I'm not much into tubes, but just for the HD800s I might give them a shot.  I've tried the HD800s on many of different SS amps and DACs.  Where I can find a really great sweet spot with both the 600s and the 650s I have not yet with the 800s.

Amps like:

BHA-1, Mjolnir, Burson 160D, GS-1 / X, Balanced B22 (4 channel), Balanced M^3, Balanced CK²III, A few different type of speaker amps.

(The Dyanhi is on the way)

DACs like:

Buffalo III, Anedlio D2, Lynx Hilo, NAD M51, PWD2, Emotiva XDA-1, Gungir.

All these different combinations I still find myself wanting more out of the HD800s - But with a number of these same different combinations I've found a few 600 / 650 setups that are just great.

I say this becasue I now have a friends Single Power Extream over for a few weeks rolling tubs and things.  I'm getting some good results.

I'm now looking into a EC amp of some sort just for the HD800s.  Kinda like the HE-6s.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BobJS 

You wanna see ruffled feathers?  Watch this .......

 

Having owned both HD600 and HD650 at the same time, I found the HD650's mid-bass hump overexaggerated in some music relative to the HD600 ... and though the bass of the HD650 was more overpowering than the HD600, the HD600 was actually more extended, more natural.  I ended up selling the HD650 and keeping the HD600.

I would have said the same thing with my last two pairs. Both had an annoying mid-bass hump. It made it unusable for gaming. Had some slight bass bleed too and a lack of treble.

I even made sure I had very neutral gear and it wasn't caused by something other than the headphones. Even bought two amps for it and the K701 I had.

I ended up getting the HD-600 and not liking it much, but just due to preferences. Always preferred the HD-598. This year I got the HD-580 and found it much better. Slight improvement over the HD-600 and graphs explain why I prefer it. Basically the same. A little more aggressive sounding, but still neutral. A little less bass than the HD-600.

I bought a new HD-650 recently and it sounds much different than the previous two with the same setup. It has slightly better extended bass than my HD-600/580. No mid-bass hump and no lack of treble. OK, it has less treble than my Q701, but doesn't sound darker than the HD-600 at all. I would say it sounds closer to the HD-580. The bass is actually better controlled than my 600 and the sound is much clearer, which makes no sense.

Right now my HD-650 is tied with my Q701 as a favorite open headphone. I doubt many have an HD-650 without that mid-bass hump though. Maybe it's more common with more recent models. Who knows...

For gaming I can barely tell the difference between my Q701 and HD-650. Obviously the soundstage is a bit larger than the HD-650.

BTW my HD-600 actually has more bass than this HD-650, except for low bass! The HD-650's bass on my pair is pretty neutral sounding.

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Originally Posted by tdockweiler 

I would have said the same thing with my last two pairs. Both had an annoying mid-bass hump. It made it unusable for gaming. Had some slight bass bleed too and a lack of treble.

I even made sure I had very neutral gear and it wasn't caused by something other than the headphones. Even bought two amps for it and the K701 I had.

 

I ended up getting the HD-600 and not liking it much, but just due to preferences. Always preferred the HD-598. This year I got the HD-580 and found it much better. Slight improvement over the HD-600 and graphs explain why I prefer it. Basically the same. A little more aggressive sounding, but still neutral. A little less bass than the HD-600.

 

I bought a new HD-650 recently and it sounds much different than the previous two with the same setup. It has slightly better extended bass than my HD-600/580. No mid-bass hump and no lack of treble. OK, it has less treble than my Q701, but doesn't sound darker than the HD-600 at all. I would say it sounds closer to the HD-580. The bass is actually better controlled than my 600 and the sound is much clearer, which makes no sense.

 

Right now my HD-650 is tied with my Q701 as a favorite open headphone. I doubt many have an HD-650 without that mid-bass hump though. Maybe it's more common with more recent models. Who knows...

 

For gaming I can barely tell the difference between my Q701 and HD-650. Obviously the soundstage is a bit larger than the HD-650.

 

BTW my HD-600 actually has more bass than this HD-650, except for low bass! The HD-650's bass on my pair is pretty neutral sounding.

You and I have both made same observations about the newer hd650. I don't hear lack of treble and the bass is exactly as you describe it. 

I still think the HD650 has more bass than the HD600. I distinctly remember wanting just a little more bass from my HD600s and that's what I got with the HD650s.

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Originally Posted by preproman 

 

Yeah BobJS,

 

I'm doing the same comparison right now over a few weeks of listening.  I more than likely won't be selling either when done. I just want to understand the differences.

 

As for the HD800.  I'm not much into tubes, but just for the HD800s I might give them a shot.  I've tried the HD800s on many of different SS amps and DACs.  Where I can find a really great sweet spot with both the 600s and the 650s I have not yet with the 800s.

 

Amps like:

BHA-1, Mjolnir, Burson 160D, GS-1 / X, Balanced B22 (4 channel), Balanced M^3, Balanced CK²III, A few different type of speaker amps.

(The Dyanhi is on the way)

 

DACs like:

Buffalo III, Anedlio D2, Lynx Hilo, NAD M51, PWD2, Emotiva XDA-1, Gungir.

 

All these different combinations I still find myself wanting more out of the HD800s - But with a number of these same different combinations I've found a few 600 / 650 setups that are just great.

 

I say this becasue I now have a friends Single Power Extream over for a few weeks rolling tubs and things.  I'm getting some good results.

 

I'm now looking into a EC amp of some sort just for the HD800s.  Kinda like the HE-6s.

Have you tried your HD800 with the Burson Soloist?  I'm loving mine with hd580.  I see that you have tried with the Burson 160D...which I think has sharper treble and overall leaner sound than the Soloist.  Just a thought and I'm interested in getting the HD800 in the future.  

Quote:

Originally Posted by devhen 

 

Yeah I would say so. There's more to measurements than just FR graphs and I think someone like Tyll Hertsens would probably argue that the measurements do in fact show the technical superiority of the HD800.

Some people rely too much on frequency response graphs and take them as gospel. Two measurements of the same exact headphone with the same exact gear will never turn out to be identical, and a lot of what you hear out of a headphone depends on pad material/thickness, interactions with our outer ear, where the headphones are placed on the head, etc etc there's a lot of different factors. Personally I don't find frequency response graphs to be useful at all beyond pointing out "this headphone has generally more bass than this one" or "this headphone seems to roll off towards the upper frequencies". Other measurements are a different story, of course, and some do a good job of describing things such as speed and decay.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BobJS 

You wanna see ruffled feathers?  Watch this .......

 

Having owned both HD600 and HD650 at the same time, I found the HD650's mid-bass hump overexaggerated in some music relative to the HD600 ... and though the bass of the HD650 was more overpowering than the HD600, the HD600 was actually more extended, more natural.  I ended up selling the HD650 and keeping the HD600.

And as someone who owned them both, I sold the HD600. I also sold the Beyerdynamic T1 and Hifiman HE-500 and kept the HD650. That's for the "technical superiority" ;)

What caused you to sell the HE-500?

Just pulled the trigger on a pair of 650s with the intention of retiring my trusty HD580s. We'll see which one I end up selling... 

i have recently added he500 to my headphone collection of hd650 and d2000s. I have got to say that the treble and bass are so much better in the he500 compared to the hd650. But i just cannot for once think that the he500 are superior in the mid range. The mids on the senns are so damn special to my ears. Not saying that he500 are any slouch as they are not even properly burned in yet ....but i am so loving my headphone collection for the different sound signatures and also that i won't be able to afford anything higher for a long time to come.