Sennheiser HD 650 Headphones

A good headphone with an affordable price. With the right AMP, LOD and headphone cables. It can be godly. Strongly recommend to those who are new to audiophile headphone. 
 
The default HD650 may sounds warm, thick or even muddy but still it voice down if this is the type of style you would prefer...
 
I have rewrote this article as today I'm delighted that my new setup on HD650 has reached another level, a level which I really like it so much.... 
The sound is a lot more brighter. Soundstage became wider, and best of all not at the expense of losing the mellow and warm of HD650.
 
It sounded especially good when listening to LIVE recording Jazz and with your eyes close, I bet you will feel that you are in the concert. Everything sounded so REAL...

As much as I cannot understand the overwhalming positive reviews of these headplones I admit that I actually can understand that people can get in love with their pleasant and forgiving sound. If you wish to get close to the soul of a recording however, you should go somewhere else because HD650 are neither natural or neutral sounding headphones. Compared to some other cans (AKG k70x or Beyerdynamic DT880 namely) these Senns are muddy to say the least and lack sparkle, transparency and sheer excitement. The bass is more prominent than with k701's but the definition of the same is not as good. Listening to the HD650 I really miss the sparkle and the excitement that should be there. When listening to accoustic music and classical there is no air at all. A huge amount of information, upper harmonics are simply absent.  It is important to say that I have had some issues with my pair. One of the drivers broke after three years of use. The paint on the headband started chipping after 2 years.
 
However I can understand that many people get in love with their sound. They sound "relaxing" in their own way and are very forgiving on the quality of the recording. The problem is that you can get all that and more at half their price.
 
Amplifiers used: Lehmann Black Cube Linear, Musical Fidelity X-Can v3, Matrix M-Stage

These are simply the de facto best headphones at this price. They have a dark, slow sound that's suited to strings, guitar and vocals, and their matched drivers mean that centre-stage vocals will actually come from between your ears.
 
These don't so much break in, rather you get used to their reproduction. I can't recommend these enough, and everybody should spend some time with these, whether they take to them immediately or not.

Setup for review
1. Dacport lx
2. Scsag m2m
3. JD's O2

Review

When i put them on for the first time i could really tell that this HP has some nice comfort on it, even though the earpad kinda hard at first..

I start to feel fatigue after 2 hour of listening session, this fatigue feeling is very hard on my left ear, but after 1 weeks of use, this feeling is gradually reduce

As for the sound itself
I don't feel any veiled things like many people said, the vocal is really clear and quiet laidback, allowing each instrument to produce their sound independently.
The next great thing that i feel is the bass that have a nice "grand" feeling, it's feel very differently from my previous HP which is dt880, on dt880 the bass is punch deeply, but doenst have those grand feeling like this HP, the smoothness of it's high frequency also give a nice long session listening with no sibilance (or maybe a little)

As for the sound stage, the dt's allow you hear more deeply, like it was more isolated, but the hd650 is also gave enough staging as you can still feel each location for every instrument

I am no audiophile but I can say that these headphones are the best I have heard while I spent a grueling couple of weeks looking for a good pair of headphones.  I started off with Dre Beats but felt like I squandered my money so I returned them and started looking for a real pair of headphones.

Review coming. 

Bought these second hand from a fellow Head-Fi'er (thanks, Gavin!!)
 
These are easily some of the best value headphones on the market. Their sound quality and scalability (i.e. improvements gained through better cables, amps, etc.) is brilliant for the price.
 
I've tried them with all different genres of music and it doesn't matter what I throw at it - everything is effortless, smooth and creamy, but with incredible detail and imaging. The only negative might be a lack of thump with Hip-Hop/RnB. They have the bass, but not the boom. I find them to be just right, but bass-heads might be disappointed.
 
At 300ohms, they're not easy to drive so a high powered player (e.g. iBasso DX100) or amplifier is a must, but well worth the investment.
 
Full review: http://passionforsound.wordpress.com/2012/09/08/sennheiser-hd650/

Superb headphone, that has excellent detail, amazing soundstage, very nice highs, mids, and a very tight and detailed bass....but to get quality like this, I'm using a blue dragon v3 headphone cable, little dot mk3 tube amp, and playing CDs though them....but even with a modest setup, you will still greatly appreciate the sound that these headphones can put out! Give the hd650's about 100 hours of break-in time, and you will truly hear what they can offer....all in all, STILL one of the best headphones out there....buy a pair, and enjoy! today I started using my hd650 headphones with a full sized CD player, with built I'm dac, and other very high end parts...NOW I'M REALLY IN AUDIO NIRVANA!! DOESN'T GET BETTER THAN THIS!

Enough said. So much sound for 350 USD it's crazy.

Superb

I bought these headphones on December 2011 and have since been thoroughly using them. I am absolutely happy with my purchase and here is why:

Pros:
- Fantastic sound, albeit a bit on the darker side (amazingly natural mids, and poignant lows with controlled highs)
- Amazing bargain at $300, as the sound quality is truly unbelievable
- Extremely comfortable to wear for long hours
- Fares excellent in general use

Cons:
- Requires a powerful amp to reach its full potential
- Build quality and design are average

Great headphones. Really enjoy mine.

These cans are exquisite. I can literally fall asleep with these on. This fact is cheifly assoiated with their velour ear pads. And in regards to sound, their sound quality is immearsive. No singular element of their sound is deprived. I can state that they're immaculately endowed with mid-range presence.
Bottom line is. if you can afford the admittance fee these will grant you auditory bliss.

I had several of those (balanced and unbalanced) and I liked them alot.
I can't remember if they had the newer "silver" drivers.
I compared them with the HD600 and they sounded better.

+++++

The Sennheiser HD650 is a great pair of headphones. Makes a great complement to airier headphones.

I've listenend to all the top offerings from Denon, Beyer, Audeze, AKG, Hifiman, Ultrasone & Sennheiser and this is one of my personal favourites. It is a true reference headphone that is very natural sounding, albeit leaning ever so slightly towards a darker tone. The sound is detailed, smooth and richly textured, especially drums and vocals come alive amazingly well. It has no problem spanning all the way from the deepest bass to the highest highs with supreme control and plenty of muscles to spare.
 
For the money I think this is a real audiophile bargain; the HD650 exists on that plane of ultimate performance where musical enjoyment no longer becomes a factor of sound quality, but rather personal taste. It really doesn't get much better than this no matter what you pay. The HD800 has better resolution, speed and spacial presentation - but can be a bit cold, analytical and unforgiving. The LCD-3 is arguably a higher-performing heaphone, with amazing resolution, extension and control, but in my humble opinion it can sound a little dry and laid-back compared to something like a HD650, Grado, Hifiman or D7000 which are more "fun" and energetic and with a more "forward" sound.
 
So in short - the HD650 I think is truly great, not unbeatable in specific genres but an amazing allrounder. It should however be said that it only truly begins to show what it can do with top notch source and amplification - I wouldn't recommend driving this beauty with anything like a phone or Mp3 player due to its rather high impedance and revealing nature.
 
Although "revaling" is also a relative term since they are infinitely more forgiving towards bad recodings than a HD800 or LCD-2/LCD-3. It should also be said that I do think they exhibit a slight veil (this eternal debate) but ONLY at low listening levels - so that those who find themselves always listening at very low volumes might want to also consider something along the lines of a grado reference headphone which are known for their "intimacy".
 
All in all the HD650 is a superb headphone that comfortably matches, or beats, competitors at more than three times its price (not joking). A superb allrounder with a fun and energetic play-style, detailed but not too unforgiving - not to be overlooked! Seriously.
 
Edit Sep 2016: I've increased these back to 5 stars again. After changing DAC and some other system tweaks I managed to elevate my HD650's to a yet another plane of performance. They just scale like crazy and completely unlike any other headphone in this price range with the exception of the HD600. Sorry for the confusion.

If you are looking for a great audio experience and are willing to pay a little bit more than typical price. These headphones are open back, so if you are listening in noisy areas they loose alot of their ability, but in the same light the sound quality is excellent in quite areas. If you plan to buy these headphones then consider using them for home use where you can get to a quite area that you are willing to listen to pretty much just listen to music. Also these headphones are not for everyone, I say this for one simple reason : YOU HEAR EVERYTHING! Literally I was entranced when I first these headphones for a simple guitar riff. Since I play guitar I heard every little imperfection in the note played. But overall these are one of the best headphones that money can buy.

I love them, perfect sound.

Great headphones , not too far behing the best cans out there for much less. Sound better when balanced and with aftermarket cable.