Worth upgrading to Sennheiser HD 650 Headphones?
Mar 20, 2015 at 1:02 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 6
Brocotel

Brocotel

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Hello everyone,
 
Awhile ago I was interested in possibly upgrading my headphones and I eventually was directed towards this site from multiple sources. I have owned the Sony MDR-XB500 for around 4 years now with no real problems except for the leather. But in the grand scheme of things they are probably only the second pair of real headphones I ever owned so I don't know home much of a reference I have. I did some looking around and the Sennheiser HD 650 Headphones were considered by many to be one of the best headphones out there. Now that they are only $290 on Amazon is it really worth upgrading, will the sound quality be that much better? It seems people say it's a good set of headphones but some say the sound is underwhelming and flat. Is that because they are used to heavy base headphones? Any help would be appreciated.
 
Mar 20, 2015 at 1:10 PM Post #2 of 6
The XB500 have very heavy bass. The HD650 will have much less bass, but it will be more accurate. Are you sure that's what you want? The HD650 also need an amp.

Petsonally, I'd recommend a Hifiman HE-400 instead. It will be a huge upgrade to the XB. It will still have less bass, but it responds to EQ or bass boost very well so you can increase the bass if you want. The HE-400 will give you some of the deepest, hardest hitting bass you can get in a quality headphone.
 
Mar 20, 2015 at 1:21 PM Post #3 of 6
manbear said:
The XB500 have very heavy bass. The HD650 will have much less bass, but it will be more accurate. Are you sure that's what you want? The HD650 also need an amp.

Petsonally, I'd recommend a Hifiman HE-400 instead. It will be a huge upgrade to the XB. It will still have less bass, but it responds to EQ or bass boost very well so you can increase the bass if you want. The HE-400 will give you some of the deepest, hardest hitting bass you can get in a quality headphone.
Click to expand...

Now that I'm older I'm more interested in sound accuracy rather than amplified range. If the HD650 is one of the most accurate headphones I think I would sacrifice the base. Is an amp really necessary? I'm mostly going to be using them to listen to music, watch video, and play games. Thanks for the response.
 
Mar 20, 2015 at 1:31 PM Post #4 of 6
You will get sound without an amp but the volume will be limited and you'll sacrifice some clarity as well.

Some popular headphones that work great without an amp include:

Phillips Fidelio X2
Audio Technica AD-900x
Focal Spirit Pro
NAD HP-50
Sennheiser HD558, 598

Any of those with no amp will be more satisfying overall than the HD-650 with no amp. Honestly though, you will probably still find the HD-650 with no amp to be an upgrade if you are ok with limited volume. You could always get an amp later. But there are plenty of inexpensive amps out there like Fiio or a CMOY.
 
Mar 20, 2015 at 1:39 PM Post #5 of 6
brocotel said:
  Hello everyone,
 
Awhile ago I was interested in possibly upgrading my headphones and I eventually was directed towards this site from multiple sources. I have owned the Sony MDR-XB500 for around 4 years now with no real problems except for the leather. But in the grand scheme of things they are probably only the second pair of real headphones I ever owned so I don't know home much of a reference I have. I did some looking around and the Sennheiser HD 650 Headphones were considered by many to be one of the best headphones out there. Now that they are only $290 on Amazon is it really worth upgrading, will the sound quality be that much better? It seems people say it's a good set of headphones but some say the sound is underwhelming and flat. Is that because they are used to heavy base headphones? Any help would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

 
The HD650 and virtually any headphone like it will have better imaging (the ones with angled driver mounts or angled earpads do better than the HD650), however note that this is the last thing people tend to notice about sound, and worse, it's not like it will totally make the sound seem like all of it is coming from outside your head. If you can't understand what I'm talking about here, you might as well be a speaker snob who prefer hearing hte bass drum come from three feet behind where the vocals are...you will very likely not appreciate the imaging improvement.
 
When people describe the HD650 as "underwhelming" you have to take into account that they are probably using AKGs and Grados which generally have a louder response in the lower treble; all of these have a slight dip at the top end of the midrange but the HD650 has a deeper slightly deeper dip in that area, so on top of the louder treble on the others, the sound is "underwhelming" to some. In general though its response is relatively smoother than the K7xx and SR325 for example, save for the louder bass response.
 
Also it's not only being used to bass heavy headphones that can be the problem, they might be used to Grados. They have even less bass but they have louder upper bass response, so a bass drum has more "kick" to it (although it won't necessarily sound deeper) along with the rest of the drums, so that comes out as "(generally) underwhelming" and "weak bass" to some people. Also if one is used to speakers and then they go into headphones, the lack of a "kick to the chest" sensation on hard pedal kicks will make it seem like there is less bass at the ears.
 
Mar 20, 2015 at 2:16 PM Post #6 of 6
JMHO, but I think it's more likely people with a "meh" impression of the HD650 are listening to it without an amp.  Listening to other headphones is usually not the issue.  There is nothing underwhelming about a 650 with a proper amp.
 
I agree that's probably not what the OP really wants, though.
 
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