[Bengt77]

Yeah, or HD 655.

 

[Nachkebia]

Pfff what a relief, mine is new version

 

[the search never ends]

Not much sennheiser has done lately inspires confidence in the direction they are going.
In the full size can market, all attention seems focused on the HD800, the hd650 while good, reminds me of the shure se530, still good, but the sharks are circling.
Both have been eclipsed recently at the price points (especially retail)

 

[feifan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by the search never ends /img/forum/go_quote.gif Not much sennheiser has done lately inspires confidence in the direction they are going. In the full size can market, all attention seems focused on the HD800, the hd650 while good, reminds me of the shure se530, still good, but the sharks are circling. Both have been eclipsed recently at the price points (especially retail)

True, but I don't see the HD650 (or HD600, which I haven't tried) losing many fans now, soon, or later. They're simply too good, too sound. They're workhorses that continue to impress even after years of use. They're a reference standard that has stood the test of time in an extremely tough market.

 

[pp312]

Quote:

Originally Posted by the search never ends /img/forum/go_quote.gif Not much sennheiser has done lately inspires confidence in the direction they are going. In the full size can market, all attention seems focused on the HD800, the hd650 while good, reminds me of the shure se530, still good, but the sharks are circling. Both have been eclipsed recently at the price points (especially retail)

Since sound quality is so subjective, and everyone listens to different music on different equipment at different volume levels, often with different expectations, I wonder how you assert so confidently that those Senn models have been eclipsed at their particular price points.

Think carefully before answering.

 

[the search never ends]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pp312 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Since sound quality is so subjective, and everyone listens to different music on different equipment at different volume levels, often with different expectations, I wonder how you assert so confidently that those Senn models have been eclipsed at their particular price points. Think carefully before answering.

I don't care to offer any more, my opinion is subjective. Where you get my "so confidently" from is subjective. Other than that I have nothing to add.

 

[donunus]

To give a different viewpoint... There is nothing really out there under $1000 that are more musical sounding the the senn 300 ohm trio 580/600/650

 

[tim3320070]

Interesting how some find the black silk version "darker" than the white silk version, hmmmm. I have been told by Sennheiser USA that the drivers are identical and that the silk is the same, just different colors.
Enjoy!

 

[Palpatine]

... and the debate goes on...

: )

 

[PrTv]

Quote:

Originally Posted by donunus /img/forum/go_quote.gif To give a different viewpoint... There is nothing really out there under $1000 that are more musical sounding the the senn 300 ohm trio 580/600/650

How about the HiFiMAN HE-5 & EF-5 combo, mate? Some said it's as good as HD800+Auditor combination; some even put it in the same league as Stax Omega II MkII (well, actually a notch lower, as HE5 still has some flaws). This combo (I said combo as at this price you get both headphones and amp) is well under 1K$ and sonic quality surpasses that of HD650 with any amp.

I have this combo and compared it with all phones+amps I have. I can't confirm if the above statement about "HE5+EF5 is better than HD650 with any amp" is true, but at least it sounds better than 650+Equinox, 702+Blue Dragon with any combination of amps I have (including the EF5).

Sorry to mention other phones in HD650 thread though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tim3320070 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Interesting how some find the black silk version "darker" than the white silk version, hmmmm. I have been told by Sennheiser USA that the drivers are identical and that the silk is the same, just different colors. Enjoy!

My impression was like that too prior to the acquisition of the 2nd (newer) pair. Carefully inspecting the damping myself and I can say the difference is not just color, the black one is "silk" and the silver one is something metallic (or maybe other material painted silver, but it's more rigid than the black one).

 

[donunus]

Yah, You might be right about that. I havent heard the he-5. My statement should have been that the senns are my favorite sub $1000 headphone among the ones Ive had or heard. You can check my profile to see which cans those are. Cheers

 

[John Willett]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tim3320070 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Interesting how some find the black silk version "darker" than the white silk version, hmmmm. I have been told by Sennheiser USA that the drivers are identical and that the silk is the same, just different colors. Enjoy!

Please note - there is no "white silk" version.

The original HD650 had acoustic silk damping, however this was difficult to fix reliably and identically every time. Therefore Sennheiser (several years ago) changed over to a perforated metal acoustic damping material. This was done so that every HD 650 would be more consistent with less variations than the flexible acoustic silk.

This was done so they would all sound the same and not to change the sound in any way.

Yes - the drivers *are* identical, the change was only from silk to metal for the damping material.

 

[owenhan]

I've spent a long time listening to both versions, the older version in the store and the newer version I personally own. It's difficult to directly compare them since the store one is years old and mine is brand new so I don't know how (if) mine will change with burn in.

Taking this into account, the old 650's are significantly bassier, the new ones have much tighter bass. This is the only significant difference I can confirm since I haven't directly compared them side by side. I do think the new 650's seem to sound.. clearer? I'm not really sure how to describe it properly. The old ones are definitely much warmer. Now that I think about it they probably should have some sort of difference in the model number to indicate what is actually quite a large difference.

 

[Beagle]

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Willett /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yes - the drivers *are* identical, the change was only from silk to metal for the damping material.

Metal for a damping material?

 

[donunus]

So consistency was the reason for the change in design? hmm okay. I would think that the metal would be the reason for the brighter sound.