Sennheiser HD650 Appreciation Thread!! - Page 710

I believe that the general consensus is that the black drivers are the older revision and the silver screened ones are the current. I think that this is the only differentiation. 

Yes that's what I've read as well and I'm glad to have the newer version but I always wondered if it really is the newer one because they're from 2008 and that's quite a while ago...
BTW Matt, a bit off-topic: seeing you have Chris in your avatar, I have to ask; what do you think about King Animal?

The new version looks silver when you look through the grills. The old version looks black through the grills.

 

I've only ever heard the newer silver version, though I have heard people here claim that they can hear the infamous "veil" on the black version, while it is not present in the silver version- fwiw.

 

King Animal I like a lot. The original Audioslave self titled is brilliant. But Songbook is my favorite. I just love the acoustic minimal arrangement. 

 

Just saw Soundgarden last night in Portland, great show!  I was not a fan of the King Animal record on first listen but admit i enjoyed the songs live.  Of course their old stuff is what everyone really loves.  The encore of Slaves and Bulldozers ripped the doors off the place  :)

 

http://youtu.be/AEM-1kKcg7g

 

You will find people happy with that combo, however there are also a lot of people who feel the HD650 really comes alive with a tube amp.  Not pushing you to upgrade or anything, but i am very happy with the Lyr/HD650 combo.  

 

As a lot of people have pointed out, the HD650 and the HE-400 are really different technologies and offer a different window to your music, you may simply prefer one over the other.  One of the reasons i love the HD650 so much is that it is the most comfortable and non fatiguing headphone i have found while also having excellent sound quality [ yes including mids  :) ].

 

One album that i personally think sounds absolutely fantastic on the HD650s is the HD tracks version of REM - Automatic for the people (the regular cd version is great as well of course).  

 

https://www.hdtracks.com/index.php?file=catalogdetail&valbum_code=HD093624950783

 

I feel it is one of the best recordings/pairings with the HD650 i have come across.  I don't have the Magni/Modi combo so I'm not sure if it shines as much as it does on the Lyr, but i suspect that album will still sound fantastic  :)

 

I am also considering buying a Magni/Modi stack for work, but haven't moved on that front yet.

A Musical Fidelity X-can v3, hybrid amp, out of production, if you can find one used is a perfect amp for hd650. I bought one today, almost unused, for 130 dollars. It beats Asgard and Valhalla in every aspect and is much cheaper.

 

I have a wall hook next to my desk that I use when they're not in the storage box. I bought used though, so I don't know how well the two previous owners took care of them. Ah well, they sound so good I don't really care.

Big thumbs up!

I like first two Audioslave albums, but not as much as any Soundgarden album, maybe except King Animal, which I like but I will have to listen to it some more to let it really grow on me... The Songbook looks interesting, I like acoustic stuff so I'll check that out.


Well when I look at the headphones from the side against the light, is is silver-ish but also a bit dark-silver. It is definitely not black and it glares a little, so I hope it's the new one, because I also have read that the new one sounds better...



Update:
I have googled a bit and found some more info on those revisions and on Headfonia they say that the change might have happened as soon as in 2007 and I also saw some side-by-side photos and now I'm sure I have the newer version. Which makes sense, because I never noticed any kind of veil or anything when listening to them. From the headphones I own, the HD 650 is the best IMO and has the optimal quantity and also quality of treble (and other parts of the frequency spectrum as well). They're just great.
Edited by TomKure - 2/8/13 at 5:17am

Just as a heads up. There are some great stores in Hong Kong right now in the Mong Kok area that are selling headphones for much cheaper than your average price. Partly because these people are official dealers and partly because its hard for these people to sell the higher end headphones. I was tempted to get an HD650 today at about $345 USD. Just in case you guys are in the area and have been following this thread like me, considering these cans.
Edited by bngbox - 2/8/13 at 8:47am

thats nearly the price i got it used for here in germany/europe!

 

Don't forget there is no VAT in US. Everything is cheaper there. You can comfortably say $1 = €1 = £1

I'd buy the HD650 in a heartbeat if I could find them at a $350 price point in the US.

 

Check Sennheiser's web site next Black Friday.