Sennheiser HD650 Appreciation Thread!! - Page 732

 

In that case Cardas is not an option 

No wonder it sounded good, just like the Leben, it uses the whole amp circuitry instead of just opamp.

Never heard hd650 sounded better than leben cs300xs.
It's like it sounded better than my lcd2 with leben itself, more dynamic, more upfront and more detail, weight on vocal, better spatial and insrrument separation. Never thought hd650 can beat lcd2, amazing!!!!

Hey guys, in consideration:

 

Anyone want my good condition 650s? They're good condition, just a couple paint scratches and on the right side I messed up the grille trying to take it off (almost took out the piece of metal by myself, not the whole plastic piece; oops!) but I doubt it affects anything, only a bit of bending in around the edge. It's had its fair share of drops and yanks and being played loud but everything works just fine. Bought them refurb so I'd have to check for warranty information, I never asked about it during purchase (Sonic Sense Pro Audio on ebay), but it doesn't seem like much of an issue with 650s anyway ;)

I have the original packaging and everything included with purchase: the manuals and stuff whatever it would have come with, the silver slip cover over the foam box container thing, original stock cable, etc.

I'm not sure what a good price is. ~$350 used on Amazon. $325 shipped CONUS? OBO. Pics upon request.

 

You said that already.

I don't know how good of any idea it is to put up your 650s for sale in a HD650 Appreciation Thread where almost everyone owns one already.

 

Yes, just as do most amps up to the present time. It's a myth that manufacturers mostly use cheap op amps, and it keeps getting perpetuated here. We had a long thread about it years ago and someone even contacted some of the major manufacturers to ask how they configured their headphone circuits. Virtually all replied that they took a line through resistors from the main output. I currently have a NAD C326BEE and a Marantz SR4200 HT amp, and both headphone jacks are powered from the speaker outlets. I've looked at many other amps from the 90s and 00s and they're all configured the same. And why would they not be? It's cheaper and simpler, and further, ensures that headphone users get the same sound as speaker users, which is only fair.

 

I know someone is going to reply that their amp uses a cheap op amp, but sorry, that would be the exception to the rule. The only exceptions I'm currently aware of, besides esoteric brands, are the higher end NADs and Cambridges, which do use separate circuits. But generally there's just no point manufacturers going that route.

Eh true but it's a place where people who like them come, so I thought maybe someone might be interested. I don't even know though...

To follow up on my earlier impressions on HD650...

 

What I find somewhat amusing is that there is a lot of debate on this forum about the relative qualities of hi-end speakers, headphones, amplifiers, and even cables. What gets neglected is the subject of the original quality of the recording. And I am not talking about 24 vs 16 bit or compressed/uncompressed file. I am talking about the recording itself, how it was done: the acoustics, the positioning of micropones (and which microphones were used), the ambient noise etc.

 

If the recording is not top-notch, it doesn't matter whether you have an amplifier worth $300 or $3000. Much of the music I listen to has sub-par recordings (good but not top-notch). It is difficult to record an instrumental composition properly and the incentives are not there - most of the audience will listen to the IPhone. That's not to mention that many of the old songs are poorly recorded (all of Queen, for instance).

 

Which brings me to HD650. Of all the headphones, HD650 does the best job with imperfect recordings. It brings the musical part forward and buries the rest. HD800 and many other "more neutral/precise" headphones just reveal shortcomings of the source and do not emphasize the music as much.

 

Just thought it was an important subject rarely mentioned here.

^^ It's been mentioned before but you do make a good point. I don't often hear great differences in sound stage between hp's. But I do hear better positioning and separation of instruments when the material is recorded properly and masterly well. Take an album like the Carolina Chocolate Drops: Leaving Eden. The music seems to come from everywhere.

 

In this hobby and the enjoyment of music, it's easy to get caught up in chasing only the best recordings. There is simply too much good music out there that is not perfectly recorded to miss out on. 

 

The 650 does do a pretty good job at reproducing music that is not well recorded to enjoyable levels. 

The unfortunate thing is that the issue is more noticable on headphones and less on speakers. I can take increasingly awful recordings through my speakers and enjoy them, but through the headphones, the problems are immediately noticable.

For what it's worth, I feel the 650 and 600 do an equal job at dealing with that (although I am not saying it's a purpose of a headphone to be able to deal with bad recordings).

 

I totally agree that the HD-650 is very good with poor recordings and especially those tracks where it feels like they cranked the treble and mids to near MAX in the studio. It seems to take a slight edge off them so that they don't fatigue my ears so much.

 

With the Magni and ODAC the HD-650 is much more detailed and quite revealing of track and recording quality, but still makes them listenable with garbage tracks.

 

I think for me it's impossible to get fatigued with the HD-650.

 

I don't think it "buries" anything because the variation between each recording is still very noticeable on my setup. Actually the variation in recording quality is much greater on my other headphones, but I think everyone knows this.

 

The largest variation in recording quality in my collection i've heard was when I had my DT-880. It was so huge that it was almost annoying! With some headphones nearly everything sounds good. I don't think my HD-650 falls into this category, but close. It's easy to pick out which track is bad, but they still are quite listenable.

 

I think the ODAC is playing a role here too somewhat..

 

For me it seems when you add more warmth to a headphone they're even more forgiving. Not sure if this is true with the HD-650 or not..

I totally agree that the HD650's bring the music forward and leave the rest behind. I use a pair at work with an Apogee Duet 2 and a Locus Design Axis USB cable, and even AAC files sound perfect. I save my HD800's for the home system.

Yup. Gotta ditto the "HD-650 makes bad recordings sound not so bad" statement. But (and I wanted to mention this here before this topic came up, too), is that the HD-650 is also, astonishingly good with:

 

1) Low-volume listening

2) Live recordings

 

I don't know what it is. But listening to music at low-volume levels with the HD-650 is at times, the best times I've had listening to music on any headphone/speaker. Everything is just still so musical even when the volume is low, which is pretty difficult for any headphone/speaker, in my experience, to do. 

 

It's like what my high-school band teacher taught me. It's easier and takes less effort to play musical instruments loudly, while it's harder, and takes more effort to play instruments softly well, with good intonation and all that. Which was true, in my experiences with playing musical instruments. And it seems to me it's the same with headphones/speakers here. Which, the HD-650's ability to play music really well at low levels, I think is a testament to how good the HD-650 really is. 

 

At this point, I'm fully convinced the Sennheiser folks tweaked, and adjusted the, not necessarily sound signature, but sound presentation of the HD-650, to make it very good to listen to at low volume levels. Because it is a headphone, where tiny speakers are placed so close to the head, so it seems they made that adjustment on purpose, to prevent fatigue and allow it to be enjoyable at low volume levels. 

 

And moving onto the point with live recordings, again... I don't know what it is. Despite all the distortion, and the cranked up treble and all, there is something to the HD-650 that makes live recordings sound really, really good. Everything sounds separated, and it really seems like you're there at the live event, rather than hearing a recording. 

 

I know the cliche with hi-fi headphones is that, when you listen to music on hi-fi headphones, that the instruments sound as if they're there in the living room, but this is usually with -studio- recordings, where the instruments sound as if they're in -your room-. But here, I'm talking about how, with the HD-650, sounds as if you're -in the live concert- in the live recording. 

Edited by fuzzybaffy - 2/23/13 at 12:23pm

I have been very happy with the HD650s I got them about a month ago. The only problem was that they clamped a bit too firmly on my out-sized noggin. I've read a number of posts about using the "kleenex" box method to widen the 650s. I decided to try a different route, using a DVD case. The advantage is that the cushions don't get compressed. Any standard DVD case should work; Blu-Ray cases are too short. Notice that the case is just above the ear pieces. It took about a week, leaving the case in overnight. Any way, fwiw.