[JamieMcC]

If you are Europe based Amazon UK have a 33% off promotion on the HD650
 
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sennheiser-HD650-Reference-Over-Ear-Headphone/dp/B00018MSNI/ref=sr_1_15?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1423081566&sr=1-15&keywords=hifiman

 

[Solrighal]

I don't listen to classical music very often these days but when I do I reach for my Q701's because of their humongous soundstage. It doesn't last long and I'm back to the 650's for every other genre. I've read a lot of people mention that the 650's have a three blob soundstage and that's kinda true I guess.

The kind of music I listen to most often actually benefits from this effect. I like to have the vocals of Beck, for an example, front & centre. It's way more believable than the same music on the Q's. Sometimes less is more.

 

[vc1187]

When I start a listening session with the HD800 and then switch to the HD650 after listening for a while I'm like "wow this sounds congested!"

When I start a listening session with the HD650 and then switch to the HD800 after listening for a while I'm like "wow the intimacy and bass slam has faded!"

For me, if I'm listening to a good setup, my ears are calibrated to like the first pair of headphones I hear in a listening session.

 

[Solrighal]

This track can easily sound edgy on other headphones but the 650's handle it superbly...
 

 

[jwusoccer]

What is quite surprising is the pads that are supplied now are different to the pads mine originally had. The effect is to slightly raise the Earpieces slightly more than the old ones used to. It lessens the bass lift and makes them a little lighter sounding than they used to be.

Sennheiser quietly altered the pads. (Sneaky Devils!!)

How old are your original pads? In my experience, the pads tend to get compressed over time, so brand new pads are generally a bit taller than worn in ones.

 

[iancraig10]

Quite a few years. The pads were slightly altered by Senn a year or two back. No announcements made but it was around the time silver/black drivers was being spoken about. Some mentioned that the silver ones were slightly brighter where perhaps it actually was the slight change in pads. I think they're a bit firmer as well so they compress less.

http://diyah.boards.net/thread/377/hd-650?page=10

 

[kman1211]

Quite a few years. The pads were slightly altered by Senn a year or two back. No announcements made but it was around the time silver/black drivers was being spoken about. Some mentioned that the silver ones were slightly brighter where perhaps it actually was the slight change in pads. I think they're a bit firmer as well so they compress less.

http://diyah.boards.net/thread/377/hd-650?page=10

That could help explain the fairly large differences between my HD 600 and HD 650. I found the HD 600 pads compressed really quickly(a matter of a couple weeks) while the HD 650 pads are taking much longer to compress. The headphones were bought a few months apart from each other, but the HD 600 came in the old packaging meaning it could of been made before a pad change, while the HD 650 came in the new packaging. 

 

[joebobbilly]

I don't listen to classical music very often these days but when I do I reach for my Q701's because of their humongous soundstage. It doesn't last long and I'm back to the 650's for every other genre. I've read a lot of people mention that the 650's have a three blob soundstage and that's kinda true I guess.

The kind of music I listen to most often actually benefits from this effect. I like to have the vocals of Beck, for an example, front & centre. It's way more believable than the same music on the Q's. Sometimes less is more.

I felt that way too about my K702 Annies back when I had them... But then I got my balanced stack and the HD650s easily beat the K702 Annies for providing that concert hall feel... albeit the K702s were amped from a Fiio E09k vs the HD 650 on Mjolnir.  But hey both amps measure fairly flat so I must be imagining things right?

haha just kidding... but seriously, running the HD650 on balanced amp+DACs does provide some good benefits, particularly in the soundstage department.

 

[donlin]

 
I felt that way too about my K702 Annies back when I had them... But then I got my balanced stack and the HD650s easily beat the K702 Annies for providing that concert hall feel... albeit the K702s were amped from a Fiio E09k vs the HD 650 on Mjolnir.  But hey both amps measure fairly flat so I must be imagining things right?

haha just kidding... but seriously, running the HD650 on balanced amp+DACs does provide some good benefits, particularly in the soundstage department.

I completely agree regarding the benefits of running balanced.  It opens up the soundstage and the treble a lot.

 

[aviduser2]

I'm interested in those headphones.
 
I'm not interested in buying an amp, BUT not sure if it would make any difference for my use.
I don't listen to high volumes at all.
 
Since i only listen at low volume, would there be any big difference between with amp/without?

 

[MattTCG]

^^ Yes. I don't listen at high volume but I still want dynamics and range at lower volume. Good amps will give you this. 

 

[Mr Rick]

  I'm interested in those headphones.
 
I'm not interested in buying an amp, BUT not sure if it would make any difference for my use.
I don't listen to high volumes at all.
 
Since i only listen at low volume, would there be any big difference between with amp/without?

Yes, you may hear a difference, but it may not be a big difference.

 

[Shaffer]

I'm interested in those headphones.

I'm not interested in buying an amp, BUT not sure if it would make any difference for my use.
I don't listen to high volumes at all.

Since i only listen at low volume, would there be any big difference between with amp/without?

Regardless of what you have, you're using an amp to drive the headphones; it can be a feature of a phone or a dedicated amplifier. The question now becomes, why buy high-performance headphone only to drive them with a POS? This includes the source and the source material, as well. To answer your question directly, if everything downstream is of high quality, there will be a difference with a good amplifier at low volume levels. These headphones scale extremely well.

 

[Solrighal]

 
I felt that way too about my K702 Annies back when I had them... But then I got my balanced stack and the HD650s easily beat the K702 Annies for providing that concert hall feel... albeit the K702s were amped from a Fiio E09k vs the HD 650 on Mjolnir.  But hey both amps measure fairly flat so I must be imagining things right?

haha just kidding... but seriously, running the HD650 on balanced amp+DACs does provide some good benefits, particularly in the soundstage department.

 
I actually experienced a large increase in perceived soundstage when I switch from the O2 to the Project Ember.
 

 
I completely agree regarding the benefits of running balanced.  It opens up the soundstage and the treble a lot.

 
In an ideal world I'd like to go balanced as well but they're all too expensive for me. I'd go for the Sennheiser amp too because it's surely got to work very well with the 650's.

 

[iancraig10]

That could help explain the fairly large differences between my HD 600 and HD 650. I found the HD 600 pads compressed really quickly(a matter of a couple weeks) while the HD 650 pads are taking much longer to compress. The headphones were bought a few months apart from each other, but the HD 600 came in the old packaging meaning it could of been made before a pad change, while the HD 650 came in the new packaging. 

Yea, the change went almost unnoticed. Only small in terms of of the height of the pads and the way that they compress, but enough to make the HD650 sound a little less thick. Many complained of it being 'veiled' and the pads see that off really nowadays.

The only reason I noticed so much was that my old pads were really tired and I was too tight to buy new Senn ones. So I bought some cheaper Chinese ones. They were fairly low and I noticed that the sound wasn't quite so good. I stayed with it for a while but decided in the end to get the real thing. It made a big difference to the sound and when I mentioned it on DIYAH, Solderdude had already measured the new pads and compression levels and he described what I was hearing.