I made the switch... K702 to HD650.

A fair and reasonable assessment, but more importantly you found the sound signature that works for you.  Which is what this audiophile journey is really all about.

I don't say this in K702 threads, and I'm sure it must be something peculiar to me, but I found the 702 unlistenable.

I don't mean I just didn't like the balance, though I didn't as it was too thin and bright. I mean they were unlistenable, with a kind of ringing sound to them, as if there was a really bad resonance  somewhere. Since no one else has ever complained of this (some merely describe a "plasticky" sound) I can only assume it's some kind of incompatability with my ears; nevertheless I'm sure the cans are underdamped.

That's all.

have to agree with the OP's assessment of the 70X...and agree somewhat with pp312...with certain material they can be really bad. I listen to a lot of old jazz orchestrations and.if you listen to some muted trumpet parts with the 702 they sound like buzzing bees! It can be pretty awful. However with strings sections they can really shine. Very odd phone. It's got something weird going on in the upper mids/treble somewhere for sure.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pp312 

I don't say this in K702 threads, and I'm sure it must be something peculiar to me, but I found the 702 unlistenable.

 

Ditto for me with the K701's.  After I got mine, I actually thought there was something wrong with them: their "treble emphasis" balance just sounded so wrong to me.  Nope, nothing wrong with them, just their inherent sound signature.  (And yes, I had a more than capable amp.)

I just got the HD650's, and I really need to give them more listening time.  And I have HD600's on the way just to compare between them.

Can an Ibasso D6 even drive a K702 to 100%? I never heard of any portable amp being able to do that if that's what was used. Of course they should still sound good. One could probably get an idea if they'd like the K702 when using just an E5..ok maybe not! Years ago I attempted to drive the K701 with portable amps and that's just a huge mistake.

It all comes down to preferences. Both headphones have things I love and hate about them. It seems like it'd be impossible for someone to like both of those headphones!

The K702's soundstage felt so abnormal and it was so huge that it felt as if background details got lost in it and felt somehow too distant. At times the mids actually felt recessed, but were not. Everything else I loved. They were kind of bright, but it didn't bother me. I actually am one of those weird people who prefer a thinner sounding headphone. If I had to pick between the two I'd go with the HD-650, but I do prefer the K701 overall in most areas, but it's soundstage and distant mids ruined it. At least the K601 got most things right, but it isn't as clear or detailed.

HD-650 I never loved, but it's female vocals are what made it great to me. I hate nearly everything else except for it's detail. Sound was fairly clear too, even more so than the HD-600. I returned the HD-650 today since I hate it's bass and not because it's bass heavy. During some songs it felt totally congested and muddy at times. Acoustic Guitar music sounded bad on the HD-650 compared to my DT-880 and old ATH-AD2000.

I think there's no perfect headphone! I was going to exchange my HD-650 for an HD-600 but JR.com said they were discontinued! I won't go there. It was hard to return the HD-650 since I got it for so cheap. Crazy me actually prefers the DT-880. It's not that comfortable for me, but the K702 is. Strange.

What I need is a combination of a DT-880 and HD-600

Quote:

Originally Posted by tdockweiler 

It all comes down to preferences. Both headphones have things I love and hate about them. It seems like it'd be impossible for someone to like both of those headphones!

Oh well, one of my friend does..
For me it'll be the hd650 if I've to choose one from these two but actually I don't seems to have much impressions about hd650 either on pros or cons side, weird==

Quote:

Originally Posted by tdockweiler 

What I need is a combination of a DT-880 and HD-600

Why would that be? I found the DT880 to only add to the strengths of the HD600 (580 in my case).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Graphicism 

Why would that be? I found the DT880 to only add to the strengths of the HD600 (580 in my case).

Where are my mids?  Where did my mids go?  I can't find them!
 

:puts on HD 600:

Oh, there they are!

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlackbeardBen 

Where are my mids?  Where did my mids go?  I can't find them!
 

:puts on HD 600:

 

Oh, there they are!

 

If anything I'd consider myself a mids-head, the HD580 in comparison to the DT880 was recessed. That said I listen to the DT880s for it's mids...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Graphicism 

If anything I'd consider myself a mids-head, the HD580 in comparison to the DT880 was recessed. That said I listen to the DT880s for it's mids...

Same here. I'll never understand how people can say DT-880 has recessed mids. That's just crazy and I imagine they're using it from a Sansa Fuze and no amp.

People say the HD-650 is more fun and the DT-880 is boring, yet for me it's the other way around. I even find the HD-650 more fatiguing. Had the newer version if that makes a difference.

Of course I like the HD-650 and it's stupid to argue about which is best and I'm not. Both are good.

Well, the upper mids are about 7 dB lower than the treble peak in the DT 880...

The 880 sounds absolutely hollow to me.  I do like the bass extension and the slightly better resolution and soundstage, but I can't stand the treble at all.

HD-600 does have good upper mids. It's weird, I just compared the graphs of the DT-880 600 ohm vs the HD-650 and they look fairly similar until you get to the treble. Yet they don't sound similar at all to me. I'm going to get another HD-600 soon and compare it to my HD-650. Somehow my HD-650's upper mids felt more forward sounding, which doesn't seem to make sense. Maybe it could be due to the smaller soundstage if that's possible. I'm not sure if the HD-650 really has a smaller soundstage than the HD-600, but that's what I've heard. I always thought that my HD-600 would offer better female vocals than the HD-650, but I prefer them on the HD-650.

I'm actually so glad I don't feel as if my DT-880 (32 ohm) has recessed mids. If it did, it'd be sold immediately. I've been through so many different DT-880 models and it seems like they all sounded different. My first DT-880 32 ohm version had so much sibilance in all my music. So bad that I think I had a defect. My DT-880 600 ohm version seemed to have the most treble and the 250 ohm felt like it had the least amount of treble. I'm surprised I'm not bothered by my DT-880 at all. It's interesting you found the DT-880 hollow sounding. I actually had that experience with a DT-990. I believe it was the 32 ohm version, but I can't remember. Now THAT actually felt like it had some cave-like mids. At least my pair did to my ears.

One thing I noticed today is that when I used a portable amp on my DT-880 instead of a desktop amp it seemed a lot more treble happy. When I use my Asgard thankfully it feels quite neutral and not fatiguing even remotely unless the music is horribly mastered and too bright to begin with.

Can't wait to get an HD-600. Just need to wait awhile and try to find a good deal. It's weird how much my sound signature preferences have changed. First I preferred forward mids, then a laid back Sennheiser sound, then something brighter and more energetic. I think about a year ago I hated all Beyer stuff. I think something like the ATH-AD2000 with less forward mids would be my perfect headphone.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlackbeardBen 

Well, the upper mids are about 7 dB lower than the treble peak in the DT 880...

 

The 880 sounds absolutely hollow to me.  I do like the bass extension and the slightly better resolution and soundstage, but I can't stand the treble at all.

I like my hd 650 but I always feel like something is missing in the top end . I was going to try the K701 but after reading all these mixed opinions I am having my doubts . I heard the LCD-2 is an improved hd-650 so maybe I will go that route .

Quote:

Originally Posted by tdockweiler 

Can an Ibasso D6 even drive a K702 to 100%? I never heard of any portable amp being able to do that if that's what was used. Of course they should still sound good. One could probably get an idea if they'd like the K702 when using just an E5..ok maybe not! Years ago I attempted to drive the K701 with portable amps and that's just a huge mistake.

 

It all comes down to preferences. Both headphones have things I love and hate about them. It seems like it'd be impossible for someone to like both of those headphones!

 

The K702's soundstage felt so abnormal and it was so huge that it felt as if background details got lost in it and felt somehow too distant. At times the mids actually felt recessed, but were not. Everything else I loved. They were kind of bright, but it didn't bother me. I actually am one of those weird people who prefer a thinner sounding headphone. If I had to pick between the two I'd go with the HD-650, but I do prefer the K701 overall in most areas, but it's soundstage and distant mids ruined it. At least the K601 got most things right, but it isn't as clear or detailed.

 

HD-650 I never loved, but it's female vocals are what made it great to me. I hate nearly everything else except for it's detail. Sound was fairly clear too, even more so than the HD-600. I returned the HD-650 today since I hate it's bass and not because it's bass heavy. During some songs it felt totally congested and muddy at times. Acoustic Guitar music sounded bad on the HD-650 compared to my DT-880 and old ATH-AD2000.

 

I think there's no perfect headphone! I was going to exchange my HD-650 for an HD-600 but JR.com said they were discontinued! I won't go there. It was hard to return the HD-650 since I got it for so cheap. Crazy me actually prefers the DT-880. It's not that comfortable for me, but the K702 is. Strange.

 

What I need is a combination of a DT-880 and HD-600

You bought the HD 650 at J&R and they took it back? I bought mine from a highly rated retailer on ebay. I can't stand them and tried to return them after only five days. I was told, in a form-letter type response, "In order to continue to keep our prices low for all, we do not accept returns unless the product is defective." I now have over 150 hours of constant burn-in, both music and pink noise, and to me they still sound muffled and dark. When I switch back to my k701 (you know, the HP that gets so much "hate" here), I hear the detail and clarity I'm missing. Go figure.