[12Bass]

Being in Vancouver on vacation, I thought it might be worthwhile to listen to some of the high-end headphones which are not normally available for audition in my part of the world. So, a friend and I stopped by Commercial Electronics on Burrard with my K702s to compare a few headphones.

Here are some thoughts after a brief session:

HD650 - from what I've read here, I expected somewhat deeper lows, while retaining clarity in the highs along with a reasonably flat response.... however, these sounded somewhat muffled to me, with a strong lower midrange/midbass emphasis and not much audible detail... was expecting to be wowed with a "monitor type" accuracy, but overall not that impressed for the price

K601 - noticeable family resemblance to K702, maybe a bit more efficient, and perhaps a little more neutral sounding/flatter? K702 seems to have a bit more prominent bump in the upper midrange/lower treble, and might resolve a little more detail, along with slightly deeper lows

RS1 - surprisingly clear and revealing... possibly my favorite so far.... decent bass extention and more "up-front" harmonic response than the others.... made the K702 sound distant and thin in comparison

D5000 - big midbass, lacking in detail, pretty loud compared to others.... maybe good for those who like a warm sound with big boomy bass?

Again, I didn't have the time for an extended audition, nor did I have proper reference material to listen to, so please bear in mind that these are just some quick impressions based upon a short listening session.

 

[Happy Camper]

What did you use as a source and amp?

 

[mbd2884]

HD650 takes time which you did not have. What do I mean by this?

If I listen to my AD900s then switch to HD650s. It takes time for my ears and brain to readjust to the change. HD650 will not sound as clear or detailed until some time has passed.

This is the reason why I usually won't listen to both headphones within a short time frame. I choose which one I want to hear and stick to it. The HD650 has more detail than my AD900s I believe in fact, but it takes time before my ears adjust and begin to hear it all.

I'm sure this is the same for the rest of the headphones you compared to, unfair comparisons to all of them.

So while I like your idea for your post, just not very helpful or objective observations.

 

[Crestfallen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbd2884 /img/forum/go_quote.gif It takes time for my ears and brain to readjust to the change.

I agree with this, and I think this is true when going from any headphone to another with somewhat different presentation. For example, when I go from Beyer 990 to Grado RS-1 or vice versa.

Having head most of the headphones mentioned above, I must say that I largely agree with 12Bass, though. RS-1 is my favorite of those, and pretty much for the same reasons.

 

[12Bass]

Source was a Sony high-end DVD player through a Creek headphone amp. Also forgot to mention that the HD650 had a Cardas recable.

 

[12Bass]

Above are my subjective observations under a limited time constraint..... not intended as a scientific analysis.

 

[12Bass]

Amp looked like a Creek OBH21(SE?).

 

[TheMarchingMule]

A Sony DVD player as the source??

 

[atothex]

I heard my recabled HD650 through an iPod, and it sounded worse than my PX100. Truth.

 

[Miths]

Quote:

Originally Posted by atothex /img/forum/go_quote.gif I heard my recabled HD650 through an iPod, and it sounded worse than my PX100. Truth.

I think there might be something seriously wrong with your iPod then. Well, either that or this was another case of exaggeration running perhaps a tad too rampant here at Head-Fi

.

I tried my (non-recabled) HD650 out of my two iPods (2G Touch and 5G Classic) last week and they still sounded better than any other headphones I've ever owned (except for my K601 which I tend to think of more as just very different rather than inferior), and not particularly different from how they sound with DAC and amp in the loop, aside from the iPod not having enough power to push them quite to my preferred listening volume and a minor (and minor is the keyword) but noticable hit on things like dynamics, sound stage and fine details.

 

[ciphercomplete]

With the right amp the HD650 is just as detailed if not more so than the K701/ K501 or the Audio Technica ATH-AD2000.

 

[tintin47]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ciphercomplete /img/forum/go_quote.gif With the right amp the HD650 is just as detailed if not more so than the K701/ K501 or the Audio Technica ATH-AD2000.

Agreed, but I have never heard that kind of performance with the 650 out of an amp costing less than $1000. That said, I am not a senn fan, so it took a whole lot to impress me with the 650.

 

[Happy Camper]

I have the same initial impressions as your quick audition. Of course, you do need to live with a hp a while to understand its language.

 

[Acix]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ciphercomplete /img/forum/go_quote.gif With the right amp the HD650 is just as detailed if not more so than the K701/ K501 or the Audio Technica ATH-AD2000.

With this right amp, try to compare the 650 to K701 and to see if they have the same detailed, or maybe more.

 

[hertz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 12Bass /img/forum/go_quote.gif Source was a Sony high-end DVD player through a Creek headphone amp. Also forgot to mention that the HD650 had a Cardas recable.

I've heard that to drive HD650 well you need a very decent amp, something cost at least twice as much as the headphone.