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HD650s sound bright -- am I nuts? - Page 3

post #31 of 42
10/30/09 at 7:54am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sebhelyesfarku View Post
I was in the same situation, coming from a warm IEM (Future Sonics ātrio) and having sensitive ears (little tinnitus) the HD 650's treble was way too much with the my first DAC/amp combo especially with crap recordings. I was surprised like you, having read the reviews about this mellow, forgiving phones. Now I switched to the Heed DAC/CanAmp combo that used to be recommended to "warm up" the AKG 701, and it's much better for me, smoother highs, super mids.

What's strange that last week I was able to compare the HD 650 and the HD 800 on a high-end show from a similar DAC/amp combo like my first "harsh" one was. The 650 is dark, I mean DARK compared to the HD 800...
will all do the respect to the mighty HD800 and their rather big price tag,I think that this cans would make my ears bleed or something.
any less bass than the HD650 is bass anemic for me
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post #32 of 42
10/30/09 at 9:36am
Quote:
Originally Posted by carledwards View Post
If the term synergy offends you, use another word. The fact is: the favorable combination of the right amp with the right cans is what results in a pleasurable listening experience. And everyone has to find that combination to suit their own individual taste. What some call "uncolored SS," other call "harsh and unmusical."
As long as "right amp" refers to simply SS vs. tube, then we're TOTALLY in agreement! But, you're definitely right about one man's trash being another's treasure in reference to SS. I, personally, love it, but wouldn't mind trying out a cheap tube amp.

Quote:
Originally Posted by carledwards View Post
Music listening is an aesthetic endeavor, not an engineering project. Obviously, the engineering contributes to the results but an unnatural focus on that element alone detracts from the whole point of listening to music in the first place. This is the fallacy of audiophillia which fetishes sound quality above all and ends up obsessing over mostly mediocre music while rejecting great art because of recorded fidelity. There are, fortunately, examples of the best of both worlds and that's what keeps some of us interested!
We need more people like you on the Hoffman boards!
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post #33 of 42
10/30/09 at 9:57am
Your ears become accustomed to what you use. Clearly for the few that found HD650 bright used headphones for a long time that are known to be very dark, bass heavy. The HD650 is very mellow and pleasant with rolled off treble in comparison to almost every headphone I've ever used, with exception to the DT770, which were just muddy bass to me.

If HD650 are bright, avoid Grados, Denon's and Audio Technica, cause they are much much much brighter than the HD650.
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post #34 of 42
10/30/09 at 10:12am
Quote:
Originally Posted by plonter View Post
will all do the respect to the mighty HD800 and their rather big price tag,I think that this cans would make my ears bleed or something.
any less bass than the HD650 is bass anemic for me
But "unfortunately" the HD 800 sounded right for me, the HD 650 was unnaturally dark (and closed) compared to it. The HD 800 had smooth and airy highs and big stage. That price tag is not coincidence I'm afraid...
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post #35 of 42
10/30/09 at 12:05pm
The HD650s have very strong bass, easily on a par with some of the more bass-heavy closed cans. How can anyone possibly consider them "bass shy"?
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post #36 of 42
10/30/09 at 12:10pm
depends on the amp mostly IMO, out of an 0404USB it is bright, with the Solo it is music
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post #37 of 42
10/30/09 at 12:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jsplice View Post
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/sen...ctures-230845/

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/old...hd650s-318945/

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/new...-hd650-374469/

Suppose it's my fault for not doing more research. Unfortunately all the reviews I was reading of the 650s before buying must have mostly been based on the old version. I specifically like dark/warm sounding gear, so the reviews that I read are what led me to get the 650s. The fact that Sennheiser would make these types of changes and not inform the community really upsets me.
jsplice thanks for the links, I'm not completely through reading all of them but it seems not everyone thinks there's a big differance in sq. I'll have to open mine up and take a look, but I can still say regardless of which model I have my hd650s & WA6 do not lack any bass at all and provide me with the warm sound I love ^_^
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post #38 of 42
10/30/09 at 12:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dogbane View Post
The HD650s have very strong bass, easily on a par with some of the more bass-heavy closed cans. How can anyone possibly consider them "bass shy"?
Eh, I didn't feel much bass out of them initially, either. With a couple hundred hours, I feel much more involved in the music, and an increased bass presence. The mids certainly drown out the bass at times.
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post #39 of 42
10/30/09 at 1:00pm

Pretty good price...

I don't mean to thread-jack, but I just got a pair of HD650's off of Amazon for $329. It seems like these had gone back up to the $499 price point at several places so this seemed like a good deal to me.

The pair I got does appear to have the "silver film" backing...I'll have to look at my other pair at home to see if it's the older style.

For the record, I find the HD650 to be fantastically musical when driven properly.
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post #40 of 42
10/30/09 at 2:07pm
The HD650 is certainly not a bright headphone. It is well known that they have a comparably darker sound than a lot of other high end headphones. On the graphs, there is also a clearly visible dip in the frequencey respone around 4 kHz which is the opposite of what is expected by a bright headphone. Rather they are an essentially balanced headphone that on the whole are slightly tilted towards being warmer and laid back.

I guess the problem is that you are used to a headphone that has significantly increased bass. Hence you increase the volume to compensate for this difference, which means that you might end up with the treble at a higher volume than with your previous headphone. If you look at a graph, you will see that the bass of the HD650 is quite flat and only slightly increased compared to the midrange. The HD650 has a stronger bass and smoother sound than most high end headphones, but it's stilll the wrong headphone to get if you want a bass that really stands out from the rest of the sound. It is too flat for that.

The sound of the HD650 can best be described as being flat but with a tendency to have more weight in the bass and having less prominent highs. Because this transition is smooth though, it is in the overall impression that this is heard. Hence you don't hear a bass boost like in the DT770.
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post #41 of 42
10/30/09 at 7:56pm
Totally agree with JohanK.

Another point: I have both HD600 and HD650 (the "newest" versions) and both sounded (disappointingly) dry and bright when I bought them. HD600 stayed mostly that way but HD650 definitively mellowed over time. Mine are everything but bright now.

If I were you I'd give them some more time before giving up. They're worth the persistence.
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post #42 of 42
10/30/09 at 8:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by JohanK View Post
The HD650 is certainly not a bright headphone. It is well known that they have a comparably darker sound than a lot of other high end headphones. On the graphs, there is also a clearly visible dip in the frequencey respone around 4 kHz which is the opposite of what is expected by a bright headphone. Rather they are an essentially balanced headphone that on the whole are slightly tilted towards being warmer and laid back.

I guess the problem is that you are used to a headphone that has significantly increased bass. Hence you increase the volume to compensate for this difference, which means that you might end up with the treble at a higher volume than with your previous headphone. If you look at a graph, you will see that the bass of the HD650 is quite flat and only slightly increased compared to the midrange. The HD650 has a stronger bass and smoother sound than most high end headphones, but it's stilll the wrong headphone to get if you want a bass that really stands out from the rest of the sound. It is too flat for that.

The sound of the HD650 can best be described as being flat but with a tendency to have more weight in the bass and having less prominent highs. Because this transition is smooth though, it is in the overall impression that this is heard. Hence you don't hear a bass boost like in the DT770.
Wow. that sounds very reasonable. Sort of goes along with my own limited experiences as well.
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