Sennheiser HD650 Appreciation Thread!! - Page 599

how do you like them the t70's ??? I'm looking for a really good portable headphone ! 

Well, the T1's lay everything out on the table, has incredible reach and timbre; however, I find that some songs, particularly with laid back vocals, dont sound entirely authentic(example of what I mean). The HD650's have a fuller sounding midrange, and very clean, non-offending treble. To me, the T1's, while musical, aire on the side of analytics.

Truth be told, I'm having a very difficult time picking one of the three; but if I was forced to sell all but one in a pinch, I'd probably stick with the 650's, for its incredible value.

 

The T70 is a full-sized, non-folding headphone. It's not what I'd call portable.

 

There's only one portable I've heard and would recommend: The grey-market import, JVC HA-S500 at ~US$75 shipped. They're surprisingly good even ignoring the price. I listened to the (open) DT 990 full-time at work until we moved to a new, LOUD office. That was my excuse for buying the (closed) T70.

I enjoy the combo and prefer the E9 to the O2 for the 650s. My other cans like the O2 so the 650s have the E9 all to themselves. Glad I didn't sell it.
You are not alone. I've had the 650s for two months now, so the new toy syndrome has worn off, and they continue to receive the most headtime. When fed proper octane music the 800s are like hitting warp speed but they rip apart so many tunes. Exploring new music is much easier with the 650s. The 800s get swapped in for certain songs or albums, but the 650s are very set-and-forget. Perfect for getting through the workday.

You're spot on there Draygonn. The HD800 is a magnificent headphone and is far from sterile. It's incredibly engaging in full flight. Comments about the HD800 in the last few pages are clearly from those who are unfamiliar with it. Short impressions with no mention of ancillary gear are useless.

I had the HD-800 for 2 months. And I agree, I wouldn't call them sterile. I think they are actually quite amazing at how accurate the detail is on these headphones. At least for me, they were one of the few "wow' moments I've had with cans. I also never found them to be boring, the bass and the representation of the instruments, were so accurate and fast, I found them to be very lively cans. 

 

But sadly, my ears just could not handle them! Like I said a couple pages back (with my recent experiences of the HD-700) - something about the 800 and 700's sound signature, just does not sit well with my ears. I get a really intense burning/throbbing. Unlike other cans (with sound signatures I don't find pleasant), I never get this when I'm actually listening, and it happens hours after. And the pain can last a couple days! (800 wasn't as bad as the 700). 

 

So, I can personally understand why some might not like the HD-800. I have a deep appreciation for them as cans. But they just aren't a good mix for me - physically speaking. Something about the transparent signature and the frequencies, just wrecks my ears. I'm not sure if the 800 or 700 need the perfect set up to make them sound perfect (I was using Lyr> Bifrost), but regardless, I could could never connect with them. And for the record, I even tried listening to both cans at really low levels (so it wasn't the volume).

 

 

Quote:

Edited by satanigatan - 11/29/12 at 12:14am

What tubes did you have in place? I had the Lyr/Bifrost combo when I first acquired the HD800. The much hyped Lorenz Stuttgarts weren't much chop with the HD800 (although they were pretty good with the LCD-2). The Amperex Orange Globes (best tubes with the HD650) were too unrefined and incoherent. The Amperex Bugle Boys on the other hand were awesome with the HD800. Clean, smooth and transparent with great bottom end. I probably would have lived with this setup longer if my only pair of Bugles didn't start exhibiting noise soon after the HD800 entered the stable.

I used the stock GEs (edit, used the stock tubes they sent me). I haven't had much exploring when it comes to changing out the tubes tbh. 

 

But does it really make that big of a difference? I tried listening to both cans just amped by a Fiio E17 (obviously in these tests, they were underpowered. But wanted to test them against my Lyr/Bifrost) - and I still got the intense ear aches. I just assumed it was the general sound signature. Could the set up make THAT massive of a difference? I only ask, because obviously I would have loved to have been able to keep the 800's or 700s. 

Edited by satanigatan - 11/29/12 at 12:48am

It's clear you've not really heard what the HD800 is capable of. In terms of the Lyr, yes tubes make a huge difference. This difference is only magnified when using a headphone as capable and revealing as the HD800.

The frequency response over on changstar of the hd700 shows some pretty weird behaviour and not in a good way.

 

+0.5.  I'm inclined to agree.  Compared to what I'd been lead to believe I was amazed when I first got HD800 just how engaging and clean they can be.  However, I also can't disagree with above comments in the sense that it's the only headphone I own that I would simply not want to listen to in the absence of EQ.  I don't hold that against the headphone since if you're willing to buy a $1500 headphone, buying an EQ or knowing how to configure your software EQ should not be considered an inappropriate prerequisite, and the headphone is excellently designed in that it takes EQ wonderfully without weird peaks, and behaves as "pro audio gear" should be suited to.  However, given that requisite I can't disagree with impressions about their piercing treble since "out of the box" those impressions are accurate, all things being equal. 

 

Some people may like the overemphasized treble out of the box, and that's ok, but it is indeed overemphasized, and IMO one hasn't truly heard what HD800 can achieve unless it's been EQ'd to remove that dreadful, dreadful fake treble shelf, be it with EQ, tubes, cables, mods, or whatever.

 

 

 

+2!  Yes, yes, and absolutely yes, tubes make an enormous difference with Lyr.  You don't need HD800 to hear the difference.  HD650, K70x, etc reveal tube differences very well on their own.  Particularly some tubes naturally roll the treble off somewhat which is an excellent pairing for HD800 since the above mentioned treble shelf is much more pleasant if pushed down a bit.    The stock GE tubes in Lyr sound great for $10....they're really not bad tubes.  But things really change once you put something better than that in...even on HD650 I was startled at the changes I saw when popping some Mullards in even with HD650.  I only ran HD800 with some Tungsrams and some Matsus though.

 

*snicker*...

Oh boy....... Just woke up. Spent half the night literally dreaming about getting my HD650s and using them for the first time. Hoping they arrive today. Too bad the lyr won't be till next week.

^^Oh the pain of waiting.  And the joy of the delivery!! 

Nice, that´s what I wanted to know... I have rolled tubes with some russians from the 60's, telefunken and amperex (orange globes). And I can say that Amperex are the best. I ordered my Hd650 this black friday and I cann´t wait to start testing them with all my tubes on the valhalla!!!

 

I also ordered a pair of Siemens and Testla, but they will arrive in mid december, I´ll have to spend a lot of time rolling and blind testing.. That´s what I like from Valhalla!

Edited by Mike-mex - 11/29/12 at 11:09am

I'm pairing my HD600 with a Tungsol 12AX7 and I like the sound. Is there a particular tube that has synergy with the HD600? I'm using the Bellari HA540 amplifier, which is rather unknown, so I guess it would be hard for you guys to say...