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Sennheiser HD650 Vs Denon D7000 - Which Is Best?

post #1 of 32
10/28/09 at 8:25am
Thread Starter 
Hi All,

Is the Denon D7000 a superior upgrade over the HD650's? As I currently have a HD650, I am looking for an even better sound experience.

Would I be surprised by the quality of the sound of the D7000 over the HD650?

Can owners comment on the difference between the two, e.g. Sound quality? Soundstage etc.
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post #2 of 32
10/28/09 at 9:46am
FWIR, the Denons are VERY warmly colored while the HD650s (I DO own these) are a more neutral phone.
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post #3 of 32
10/28/09 at 10:25am

Your kidding right?

Quote:
Originally Posted by TStewart422 View Post
FWIR, the Denons are VERY warmly colored while the HD650s (I DO own these) are a more neutral phone.
Your kidding right? The Senn HD650s are neutral? IMO the Denon's are far more neutral than the dark HD650s. There is nothing neutral about the HD650s. I do love their dark sound and appreciate what they bring to the table, but neutral they are not.

In terms of how they sound, to be honest (I own both headphones and enjoy them both) the Denon AH-D7000s mop the floor with the HD650s. The bass is something that has to be heard to actually believe. The HD800s (I've heard these for about a 15 minute trial) don't come close in this area. The depth of the bass and timbre is something to truly behold. Just pop in Dark Side of the Moon and listen to the heartbeats at the very beginning, or listen Thunderstruck by AC/DC through both (HD650 vs. D7000) and it's a pretty vast improvement.

The HD800s were amazing cans in their own right, but to me I preferred the slightly warmer and fuller and lush sounding D7000s. For a closed headphone, their soundstage was impressive (not as good as the HD800s or the leading K701s, but better than any Grado and close to the HD650s).

I would say that the Denon's are a vast improvement over the HD650s, but you're comparing super hi fi to hi fi so it's not completely fair ($1000 vs $300 cans). For most music (except for Led Zeppelin/KISS/Black Sabbath), I actually prefer the Denon's to my RS1s ( and that's saying a whole lot for me).
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post #4 of 32
10/28/09 at 10:30am
The HD650 sounds more natural compared to the D7000 but the latter is more exciting.
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post #5 of 32
10/28/09 at 10:34am
Macedonian Hero: Can you take a look at your HD650 and tell me if the outer screen of your driver is black or silver? The HD650 has two different driver versions, and apparently they sound very different.
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post #6 of 32
10/28/09 at 10:49am

The newest version...

Quote:
Originally Posted by ting.mike View Post
Macedonian Hero: Can you take a look at your HD650 and tell me if the outer screen of your driver is black or silver? The HD650 has two different driver versions, and apparently they sound very different.
They are the newer version as I just got them from JR.com this summer. I would be surprised that they sound very different.
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post #7 of 32
10/28/09 at 10:49am
MacedonianHero: believe me they sound VERY different.

Now tell me which color you have.
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post #8 of 32
10/28/09 at 10:52am

Little demanding aren't you....

Quote:
Originally Posted by ting.mike View Post
MacedonianHero: believe me they sound VERY different.

Now tell me which color you have.
Excuse me? Now Tell ME? Manners, manners....didn't your parents teach you say please?

They are silver.
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post #9 of 32
10/28/09 at 10:55am
No offense dude.
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post #10 of 32
10/28/09 at 12:33pm
I certainly feel the Denons are superior to the Senns. But, like posted by another, they're quite a bit more expensive. The Senns bring a more relaxed sound to the table, whereas the Denons are more exciting, articulate, and bring out more of the micro-details within a recording.
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post #11 of 32
10/28/09 at 3:56pm
I had the 650 for quite some time and am currently using the D5000 and got a chance to hear the D7000 recently. I personally feel the 650's will trounce the D5000 or D7000 when it comes to classical music, and maybe some laid back jazz.

But for everything else, except maybe some soft rock, the Denons have a much more interesting presentation and are more enjoyable. The 650's end up sounding too laid back and relaxed and smooth for metal, rock, progressive, and other such music. I would expect the same for Dance, electronica and hip hop as well, but can't vouch for it since I dont listen to those genres.

Also worth noting is the requirements for amplification for 650 are much higher and important compared to the Denons. The Denon's can sound pretty good even off lower end amps while the 650's can sound truly terrible on some lower end amps and really scale up very well to the higher end amps. Listening to 650's on some of the higher end tube amps is really quite something if you listen to vocal jazz, classical, and similar stuff.

So I would pick one based on the requirements in music, and the other equipment you have or plan to have.
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post #12 of 32
10/28/09 at 4:11pm
there is no clear answer here. it all depends on whether or not you like the denon sound. i personally do not, so I would prefer a lot of other phones to them. I just find them over the top, like someone spilled too much spice into a dish of food.
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post #13 of 32
10/28/09 at 4:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jilgiljongiljing View Post
I personally feel the 650's will trounce the D5000 or D7000 when it comes to classical music, and maybe some laid back jazz.

But for everything else, except maybe some soft rock, the Denons have a much more interesting presentation and are more enjoyable.
I concur with that statement. I was hoping the D7000 would be good enough to be "the one" headphone for all musical genres so I could sell my HD650 and DT990, but that turned out not to be the case. The openness of the HD650 is an advantage for classical music, as is its more forward/present midrange compared to the D7000.

And although the HD650 demands quality amplification, the D7000 certainly benefits from it as well. I was pretty much ready to return the D7000 (and settle for the D2000), but driven by my Headroom Desktop amp that was just upgraded to the Max electronics module, I noticed (while listening as the new module is breaking-in) that the bass has tightened up and I'm realizing that the whole presentation is subtly more smooth across the whole frequency range. Ultimately keepers, though not a replacement (in my case) for the HD650.
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post #14 of 32
10/28/09 at 4:50pm
I would say the D7000, but rpual, you're right. They both excel in their own areas.
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post #15 of 32
10/28/09 at 5:19pm
Funny, I am probably the only person who finds the Denons to be very well suited for classical music.
I like classical music with lots of presence and not veiled.
I find the Denons (in my case the D5000's) to be excellent with it, just enough sense of a 3d soundstage, not too distant.
And I especially adore strings with the D5000's, very authentic, imo.
The Sennheisers sound too polite and distant to me.
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