[maverickronin]

I love my SE530s.  I can listen to them for hours on end with no discomfort or fatigue, whether classical or death metal.  The problem is that they just aren't convenient to use at home.  To remedy this , I am looking for a full size pair of cans that I can use for music, movies, and a little bit of gaming at home.
 
After some misadventures with some DT990/600s and some D2000s, I think I've discovered what I need in a headphone.  The 990s sounded great with some tracks, but were painfully bright for others, and I couldn't listen to them for more than hour or so, even after giving them more than 100 hours of burn in.  From that I learned that I seem to be very sensitive to treble.  The D2000s sounded great at first, but I can't just lay down and relax while listening to them, the way I can with my SE530s.  The problem seems to be the 'roughness' of the low and mid treble.  Not nearly as smooth as my SE530s.  I think it's that smoothness that lets me relax to music.
 
I've heard before that the HD650 are supposed to sound quite similar the SE530s.  I remember them being similar at canjam, but my perception and memory (not to mention knowing what I'm actually looking for) obviously aren't good enough, or I wouldn't have made 2 mistakes already.  I know they have very similar =843&graphID[1]=853&graphID[2]=&graphID[3]=&graphType=0&buttonSelection=Compare+Headphones]frequency response, but that's not the whole story.  I want to know if the HD650s have the same smoothness that the SE530s have. 
 
Am I right about the 650s?  Would they be the way to go, or is there another contender I've missed?
 
Thank you in advance!

 

[Chimera-se]

I'm wondering this same question...anyone? I'm leaning toward the ATH-W5000 at the moment, but want some more input.

 

[maverickronin]

I checked every full size on headroom, and the HD650 is the closest FR wise.  =843&graphID[1]=123&buttonSelection=Compare+Headphones]The W5000 ain't =123&graphID[1]=843&graphID[2]=&graphID[3]=&graphType=0&buttonSelection=Compare+Headphones]very close in that department.  I remember it being very, very smooth though.  I thought it was excellent except for the rolled off bass.
 
EDIT:
 
Scratch that. I was thinking of the W1000X not the W5000.

 

[Chimera-se]

Ok, my needs require a closed can right now, though. Maybe someone will chime in? There's a meet coming up in my area soon, so I'll hopefully be able to audition some new stuff.

 

[Varma]

 
I have both Sennheiser HD650 and Shure SE530. I don't think they sound very similar.

Shure SE530 have forward mids, where as HD650 mids sound distant. Bass is much more tighter on SE530.

 

[SP Wild]

 
Quote:

 
I have both Sennheiser HD650 and Shure SE530. I don't think they sound very similar.

Shure SE530 have forward mids, where as HD650 mids sound distant. Bass is much more tighter on SE530.

Yes the bass is tighter on 530 than 650 - advantage closed design.  Only my D7000 can out do the bass of the se530 but the signatures are fundamentally different.  Of all the cans I own and have heard, the HD650 has the most similar tonal balance to the my se530.  all other phones are brighter in the treble by far.  The HD650 has far better midrange imaging than the 530 - with tubes, the 650 obliterates the midrange smoothness of the se530 and in no way are the mids more distant - I think it's the reverse.
 
P.S. The se530's inherently have a tube like midrange quality.

 

[maverickronin]

Quote:

with tubes, the 650 obliterates the midrange smoothness of the se530
P.S. The se530's inherently have a tube like midrange quality.

Obliterates!?  Wow, I didn't get to try an HD650 on tubes.  I was thinking about a tube amp anyway though.  I'll have to look into it further.

 

[SP Wild]

Obliterates!   ...in other words noticeable and real improvements.

 

[K_19]

Of all the cans that I've had, only the ESW10JPN has been able to replicate (and IMO, better) the SE530 type forward intimate mids.  It also has more high frequency extension and tighter, more controlled bass.  Unfortunately it's not a fullsize can really, is expensive, and no longer in production (but can still be found).  But I do guarantee that if you like forward, smooth type mids of SE530, that you will be satisfied with ESW10JPN.
 
Edit: Just to avoid any confusion, I'm not saying that ESW10JPN and SE530 are similar in sound signature.  Besides their mids, which is very close, they couldn't be more different.  But since the mids are the main attraction of SE530 I thought I'd throw it out as suggestion.

 

[maverickronin]

Those ATs look pretty sexy.  Too bad they're out of production though.

 

[Landis]

Quote:

Those ATs look pretty sexy.  Too bad they're out of production though.

The Head-Fi FS forum, my friend!
 
The place your wallet doesn't want you to know about.

 

[niranhopper]

Hi
 
I felt the HD600 had similar sound signature to the SE530.

 

[Ypoknons]

There is like, one left in a computer mall here (yes, they're legit blah blah blah). Maybe Japan has a few more. ESW10JPN is genius at disambiguating jpop in particular, lovely mids + punchier bass than SE530. Some do find the upper midrange and treble to be a tiny bit dark though, but I haven't heard enough real instruments lately to tell what's real. 

 

[Burma Jones]

Try the Shure SRH-840. The sound signature is very similar to the SE-530.

 

[Pianist]

I think HD650 does sound quite similar to SE530. I don't agree that SE530 has more forward mids - both are pretty similar IMO.