- Joined
- Jun 20, 2001
- Posts
- 11,025
- Likes
- 6,633
[size=medium]Sennheiser HD-650 Headphones:[/size]
[size=small]One week with Sennheiser's newest flagship dynamic headphone.[/size]
When something’s new, and when it sounds different, it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of the newness and sounds-differentness (yeah, I made that one up), and then mistake different for better. This is part of the reason I didn’t want to say too much after only a day or two with the new Sennheiser HD-650. First first impressions led me to give the HD-650 my blessings over the HD-600. Well it's about a week later, and, yes, it’s even clearer to me that the HD-650 is a convincing improvement over the HD-600, while not betraying the familial sound established by the HD-580, HD-580 Jubilee and then the venerable HD-600. As far as I’m concerned, though, the brief review that follows is still a first impression. I’ll say even more down the road, when the production model is available stateside.
I should make one thing known from the get-go: I did not once listen to the HD-650 with its stock cable. The reason for this is because I only listen to both of my HD-600’s with Cardas Headphone Cables, and I knew that for the limited time I had the 650, listening to it with the same cables I’m used to would be the best shot at a fair comparison with the 600 (the owners of which will probably make for the biggest group of initial buyers of the 650).
One of the most noticeable differences between the 650 and the 600 is a mild evening-out of the overall tonal balance, centered in the upper-bass. The 600’s upper-bass can come off as peaky sometimes (which varies depending on what’s ahead of the 600 in the system chain). I’m not sure if it’s different tuning of the driver element (or a different driver altogether), improved control of non-driver resonance in this range, or all of the above; but compared to the 600, it seems as though the 650 has less upper-bass ringing, and so more detail in this region. On “Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered,” track three on Brad Mehldau’s The Art Of The Trio, Volume Three: Songs, the sonic striations emanating from string and wood, that together make up each note from Larry Grenadier’s bass, are more perceptible. The HD-600 does a fine job of this, the HD-650 does it better.
There are collateral benefits from this, too. This improved control also extends down to the mid-bass, which I was mistakenly led to initially believe was where most of the leaning up was centered during my first day with the 650, listening to drum-rich material like the soundtrack from The Patriot. And the ancillary benefits of the bass smoothing-out also extend up into the midrange, peeling away a sheer, gauzy layer of trailed-off bass over-ring, and so nudging the mids up a little closer to the fore, with a little more life than the 600 manages--I think this will be of interest to those who wished for this from the 600. Am I saying the HD-650 has a forward midrange, relative to other headphones like the current Grado line? Uh, no. But if I want to listen to Grados , I’ll listen to Grados (which I do indulge in from time to time). Again, the 650 does not betray the family sound, but does, to my ears, nudge up the midrange just a touch enough to make a nice adjustment to the 600’s sound, but not even close to too much to be considered impolitic to diehard fans of the 600 (this one included).
Scooting on up to examine the 650’s treble reveals what I would consider the other significant change from the 600 (again, not so significant as to turn off diehard 600 fans). After listening to the 650 for a while, a switch back to the 600 reveals what sounds to me like treble glare from the 600 (in comparison)--something I’d never noticed with the 600 until listening to the glare-free 650. Though the overall treble energy seems similar to my ears, some refashioning of the 600’s treble presentation was obviously done for the 650--exactly what, though, is hard to put into words. (And those who know me know I’m rarely at a shortage for words.) Whatever it was, it has the effect of subjectively evening out treble presentation as a whole, relative to the HD-600. To me, the effect is a more natural high-frequency performance than the 600, and it’s one of the key things that will have me missing the HD-650 until I can get it again (which will be about the time we can get them stateside). I suspect it’s this more natural kilohertzian (yeah, I made that one up, too) ability that leads me to another important improvement in the 650 as I hear it: timbral accuracy.
As you probably know, many musical instruments have harmonic content that extends far beyond the fundamental frequencies, often right up to, and sometimes well beyond, what humans can hear. It’s what gives every instrument its unique tonal character, its timbre, its color. The HD-650 paints a more natural, more real sonic picture of every instrument I’ve heard through it than the HD-600, and I have to imagine it may have something to do with the subjectively evened-out treble of the 650. The softly fading shimmer of a cymbal, the fragile decay of a softly struck high piano note--delicate reality is represented by the HD-650 better. The authoritative strike of a bass drum, the full-bodied wood-colored pluck of a double-bass--the HD-650 does big, visceral, corporeal reality better, too. Timbral accuracy is of paramount importance to me--maybe the most key component of what gets me closer to reality as my reference--and the HD-600, properly driven, has it; the HD-650 has more of it.
Soundstage with the HD-650 is really no better overall than the HD-600, which I consider already-excellent in this regard. Breadth and depth are pretty much equal, but the HD-650’s ability to push the mids up a wee bit creates a little more layering depth with some recordings. Again, comparing the 600 and 650 in terms of soundstaging overall results in a virtual draw.
That sums up my first week with the HD-650, and the only week I’ll have with it for a little while. Is the HD-650 a worthwhile improvement over the HD-600? To me, there’s no doubt about it. Will it imitate another headphone, like a Grado RS-1 or Beyer DT-931? No, but what diehard HD-600 fan would want it to anyway? Does it have a more balanced bass presentation (and overall tonal presentation) than the 600? Yes. Does it have a slightly more forward midrange? Yes. Does it have more total treble? No, treble energy overall seems about the same. Does it have more timbral accuracy? Yes. My one week with the Sennheiser HD-650 showed me a headphone that stays true to everything I love about my HD-600’s (so much that I have two of ‘em), but with key improvements that make it the better headphone. The HD-650 has all the magic and musicality of the legendary HD-600, but one-ups it in virtually all respects. I miss it already.
[size=xx-small]Equipment used for most of the review: Antique Sound Lab Twin Head Mark II (with Sophia Electric 2A3 tubes) ▪ Sennheiser HD-600 ▪ Cardas Headphone Cable ▪ Sony SCD-C333ES ▪ Bel Canto DAC2 ▪ Cardas Neutral Reference ▪ Cardas Golden Reference ▪ Acoustic Zen "MC^2=Zen" ▪ PS Audio Power Port (dedicated line) ▪ Brick Wall PW8R15AUD surge filter/conditioner ▪ BPT BP-3 balanced power ▪ Cardas Golden Reference Power ▪ TARA Labs RSC Air AC[/size]
[size=small]One week with Sennheiser's newest flagship dynamic headphone.[/size]
When something’s new, and when it sounds different, it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of the newness and sounds-differentness (yeah, I made that one up), and then mistake different for better. This is part of the reason I didn’t want to say too much after only a day or two with the new Sennheiser HD-650. First first impressions led me to give the HD-650 my blessings over the HD-600. Well it's about a week later, and, yes, it’s even clearer to me that the HD-650 is a convincing improvement over the HD-600, while not betraying the familial sound established by the HD-580, HD-580 Jubilee and then the venerable HD-600. As far as I’m concerned, though, the brief review that follows is still a first impression. I’ll say even more down the road, when the production model is available stateside.
I should make one thing known from the get-go: I did not once listen to the HD-650 with its stock cable. The reason for this is because I only listen to both of my HD-600’s with Cardas Headphone Cables, and I knew that for the limited time I had the 650, listening to it with the same cables I’m used to would be the best shot at a fair comparison with the 600 (the owners of which will probably make for the biggest group of initial buyers of the 650).
One of the most noticeable differences between the 650 and the 600 is a mild evening-out of the overall tonal balance, centered in the upper-bass. The 600’s upper-bass can come off as peaky sometimes (which varies depending on what’s ahead of the 600 in the system chain). I’m not sure if it’s different tuning of the driver element (or a different driver altogether), improved control of non-driver resonance in this range, or all of the above; but compared to the 600, it seems as though the 650 has less upper-bass ringing, and so more detail in this region. On “Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered,” track three on Brad Mehldau’s The Art Of The Trio, Volume Three: Songs, the sonic striations emanating from string and wood, that together make up each note from Larry Grenadier’s bass, are more perceptible. The HD-600 does a fine job of this, the HD-650 does it better.
There are collateral benefits from this, too. This improved control also extends down to the mid-bass, which I was mistakenly led to initially believe was where most of the leaning up was centered during my first day with the 650, listening to drum-rich material like the soundtrack from The Patriot. And the ancillary benefits of the bass smoothing-out also extend up into the midrange, peeling away a sheer, gauzy layer of trailed-off bass over-ring, and so nudging the mids up a little closer to the fore, with a little more life than the 600 manages--I think this will be of interest to those who wished for this from the 600. Am I saying the HD-650 has a forward midrange, relative to other headphones like the current Grado line? Uh, no. But if I want to listen to Grados , I’ll listen to Grados (which I do indulge in from time to time). Again, the 650 does not betray the family sound, but does, to my ears, nudge up the midrange just a touch enough to make a nice adjustment to the 600’s sound, but not even close to too much to be considered impolitic to diehard fans of the 600 (this one included).
Scooting on up to examine the 650’s treble reveals what I would consider the other significant change from the 600 (again, not so significant as to turn off diehard 600 fans). After listening to the 650 for a while, a switch back to the 600 reveals what sounds to me like treble glare from the 600 (in comparison)--something I’d never noticed with the 600 until listening to the glare-free 650. Though the overall treble energy seems similar to my ears, some refashioning of the 600’s treble presentation was obviously done for the 650--exactly what, though, is hard to put into words. (And those who know me know I’m rarely at a shortage for words.) Whatever it was, it has the effect of subjectively evening out treble presentation as a whole, relative to the HD-600. To me, the effect is a more natural high-frequency performance than the 600, and it’s one of the key things that will have me missing the HD-650 until I can get it again (which will be about the time we can get them stateside). I suspect it’s this more natural kilohertzian (yeah, I made that one up, too) ability that leads me to another important improvement in the 650 as I hear it: timbral accuracy.
As you probably know, many musical instruments have harmonic content that extends far beyond the fundamental frequencies, often right up to, and sometimes well beyond, what humans can hear. It’s what gives every instrument its unique tonal character, its timbre, its color. The HD-650 paints a more natural, more real sonic picture of every instrument I’ve heard through it than the HD-600, and I have to imagine it may have something to do with the subjectively evened-out treble of the 650. The softly fading shimmer of a cymbal, the fragile decay of a softly struck high piano note--delicate reality is represented by the HD-650 better. The authoritative strike of a bass drum, the full-bodied wood-colored pluck of a double-bass--the HD-650 does big, visceral, corporeal reality better, too. Timbral accuracy is of paramount importance to me--maybe the most key component of what gets me closer to reality as my reference--and the HD-600, properly driven, has it; the HD-650 has more of it.
Soundstage with the HD-650 is really no better overall than the HD-600, which I consider already-excellent in this regard. Breadth and depth are pretty much equal, but the HD-650’s ability to push the mids up a wee bit creates a little more layering depth with some recordings. Again, comparing the 600 and 650 in terms of soundstaging overall results in a virtual draw.
That sums up my first week with the HD-650, and the only week I’ll have with it for a little while. Is the HD-650 a worthwhile improvement over the HD-600? To me, there’s no doubt about it. Will it imitate another headphone, like a Grado RS-1 or Beyer DT-931? No, but what diehard HD-600 fan would want it to anyway? Does it have a more balanced bass presentation (and overall tonal presentation) than the 600? Yes. Does it have a slightly more forward midrange? Yes. Does it have more total treble? No, treble energy overall seems about the same. Does it have more timbral accuracy? Yes. My one week with the Sennheiser HD-650 showed me a headphone that stays true to everything I love about my HD-600’s (so much that I have two of ‘em), but with key improvements that make it the better headphone. The HD-650 has all the magic and musicality of the legendary HD-600, but one-ups it in virtually all respects. I miss it already.
[size=xx-small]Equipment used for most of the review: Antique Sound Lab Twin Head Mark II (with Sophia Electric 2A3 tubes) ▪ Sennheiser HD-600 ▪ Cardas Headphone Cable ▪ Sony SCD-C333ES ▪ Bel Canto DAC2 ▪ Cardas Neutral Reference ▪ Cardas Golden Reference ▪ Acoustic Zen "MC^2=Zen" ▪ PS Audio Power Port (dedicated line) ▪ Brick Wall PW8R15AUD surge filter/conditioner ▪ BPT BP-3 balanced power ▪ Cardas Golden Reference Power ▪ TARA Labs RSC Air AC[/size]
