[dfkt]

I want to get some quality open headphones. At the moment I mainly use my DT770/80 with a Woo Audio 6 tube amp.

I had the chance to test the HD600, HD650, DT880/2005, DT990/2005, DT990/old, and K701 in stores. Unfortunately the store that has the Sennheisers doesn't have the Beyerdynamics, and vice versa. Both stores had the K701. So I don't have a direct comparison between the two brands - I just know that the K701 certainly aren't my style of phone. I like bass, and the K701 don't have enough.

The other bad thing with testing all these 250-300 Ohm phones is, that the stores are musician stores, not Hi-Fi stores, so they didn't provide good amps for testing. I used my Cowon D2 and a PA2V2 in the listening sessions, which certainly isn't the best for these kinds of phones.

I narrowed my choice down to the HD650 and the DT990/2005 (wonder why people here on Head-Fi like the DT880 more than the DT990, for me the 990 sounded a lot better - at least over the weak sources I had at hand). From memory, I'd say the HD650 sounds darker, smoother, while the DT990 is brighter with less bass extension. I really can't say which one has a better soundstage or precision/clarity.

Does anyone who heard/owns both phones have an opinion which one would be the right one to match with my tube amp? I like bass, big soundstage, "fun/relaxed/euphonic" sound, and clarity... I don't like sibilance, overly analytic phones, lack of warmth... my DT770/80 are fine, I really like them, but I want to up it all a notch.

(BTW, my favorite IEM is the Future Sonics Atrio M5 - which tends to be somehow similar to the HD650 sound, I assume?)

I am leaning more towards the HD650 at the moment, but it's really a dilemma... my wallet isn't bottomless - all opinions about these two phones are welcome. Which one would match my Woo Audio 6 best?

 

[Towert7]

That's a tough question. I myself have the HD650, but have not had an extensive listen with the new DT990 so I can't offer any comparisons.

Either way though, it will be a very nice upgrade over the DT770pro.
I'll be interested to hear what you end up getting. Good luck.

 

[mADmAN]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dfkt /img/forum/go_quote.gif Does anyone who heard/owns both phones have an opinion which one would be the right one to match with my tube amp? I like bass, big soundstage, "fun/relaxed/euphonic" sound, and clarity... I don't like sibilance, overly analytic phones, lack of warmth... my DT770/80 are fine, I really like them, but I want to up it all a notch.

theres ur answer right there...it just screams HD650.

although the DT990 are definitely more fun than the HD650. hence the reason i didnt bold the word fun

 

[tek]

I agree with madman's statement. If you listen to a wide range of genre, I think the 990's will be great where as the 650 sounds a little too warm in rock and trance for me. Other than that..everything that has been bolded by madman describes the 650 pretty well even though i still prefer the 580

 

[dfkt]

Interesting... thanks for your answers, Towert7, mADmAN, and tek.

mADmAN, I keep reading about the "veil" of the HD650, but you did bold the "clarity"... so I assume it's not a big issue? (Maybe only an issue for people with $500 power cables?

)

Damn, I wish I could take these phones home with me and listen to them on my setup, in peace and quiet... the treble of the DT990 certainly was pleasing, compared to the K701. But that was judging by my Cowon D2 MP3 player, in the store...

BTW - I listen to underground rock, death metal, grindcore, doom/drone, jazz, raregrooves, lounge, soundtracks, bossa nova, merengue, tuvan/mongolian throat singing, reggae, dub, dancehall, balkan music, drum'n'bass, etc... -- no hip hop, trance, house, classical, pop. (If that matters, deciding between both phones.)

 

[mADmAN]

i honestly couldnt detect any veil when i tried the HD650. or perhaps i didnt quite understand the meaning of the word when i was trying it (it was paired with a DarkVoice 336i)...i havent listened to the HD650 for quite some time so i cant really remember much of that veil.

i guess the best person to judge would be u seeing how uve heard them.

i do find the HD650s have good clarity and i can pick up certain sounds that i couldnt hear with my old philips at the time.

personally, i listen to metal and i dont like the HD650 with it as i find it kills the genre. they should be good with other, slower genres though.

 

[MaZa]

Quote:

personally, i listen to metal and i dont like the HD650 with it as i find it kills the genre. they should be good with other, slower genres though.

Side question: What did you find in the sound of HD650 that made you feel it kills the metal genre?

 

[mADmAN]

lemme guess....ur itching to try them out arent u??? hehehhehe

dont get me wrong...they sounded alright.

but they sounded too dark and too warm... and most especially too laid back for my liking. takes all the energy out. the music wasnt even fun anymore..its as if it made the music sort of calm. if u get what i mean. sort of...almost relaxing. and im not talking about testing it with the darkvoice, i tested it with my Cute Battery II n Fubar II. testing it with the darkvoice made things worse.

at the time i tested it with the likes of devildriver, otep and cradle of filth.

and just as a side note, i also tested the DT990 with a Darkvoice 336i. me thinks the amp just slowed everything down. again it took the energy out of the music.

 

[dfkt]

Hmmm... I wonder if the Darkvoice is overly warm - my Woo 6 is fairly neutral, as I see it... maybe the HD650 pairs better with it than with the DV.

mADmAN - just so I can categorize your sonic preferences: how do you like the X3's in your signature? (I hate them, it was a really bad decision to jump on that FOTM, even if they were cheap...)

 

[MaZa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mADmAN /img/forum/go_quote.gif lemme guess....ur itching to try them out arent u??? hehehhehe dont get me wrong...they sounded alright. but they sounded too dark and too warm... and most especially too laid back for my liking. takes all the energy out. the music wasnt even fun anymore..its as if it made the music sort of calm. if u get what i mean. sort of...almost relaxing. and im not talking about testing it with the darkvoice, i tested it with my Cute Battery II n Fubar II. testing it with the darkvoice made things worse. at the time i tested it with the likes of devildriver, otep and cradle of filth. and just as a side note, i also tested the DT990 with a Darkvoice 336i. me thinks the amp just slowed everything down. again it took the energy out of the music.

Actually im probaply getting HD600 or HD650 someday.

I refuse to give up with Sennheisers! Two failed attempts with HD595, but veil got me in the end.

 

[mADmAN]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dfkt /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hmmm... I wonder if the Darkvoice is overly warm - my Woo 6 is fairly neutral, as I see it... maybe the HD650 pairs better with it than with the DV. mADmAN - just so I can categorize your sonic preferences: how do you like the X3's in your signature? (I hate them, it was a really bad decision to jump on that FOTM, even if they were cheap...)

i do believe the darkvoice is very warm...i did the Franken PhilKoss mod (see sig) and they were quite bright. but with the dakvoice it did sound good. although it still slowed things down. heh

as for the X3...i only managed to get about 20-30 minutes with them at a recent meet here. and i absolutely loved them (tested unamped with w810i and amped (LDM+) with w810i). immediately bought one and gave it to my gf who will also be using it with the LDM+ and w810i. ive never even tried the brand new ones that i bought. even my gf loves them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaZa /img/forum/go_quote.gif Actually im probaply getting HD600 or HD650 someday. I refuse to give up with Sennheisers! Two failed attempts with HD595, but veil got me in the end.

LOL...such dedication to a brand that has failed u not once...but twice!! but if im not mistaken ur more into melodic death metal right? the HD650 should suit u i guess as ive never really listed to that kinda metal. ive tested the HD595 and the HD650 with a few different combos and theyve both utterly and miserably failed imho. me like the heavy and speed stuff so Sennheiser is a big no no for me.

 

[MaZa]

Quote:

LOL...such dedication to a brand that has failed u not once...but twice!! but if im not mistaken ur more into melodic death metal right? the HD650 should suit u i guess as ive never really listed to that kinda metal. ive tested the HD595 and the HD650 with a few different combos and theyve both utterly and miserably failed imho. me like the heavy and speed stuff so Sennheiser is a big no no for me.

More into black and standard death metal. But I never intented to use Senns for metal anyway, they suck there bigtime. Its the classical and ambient side of things where I want to listen the good sides of Sennheisers, but bad sides still got me atleast in this particular model. Perhaps the good sides are more prominent on HD600 and HD650 that bad side doesnt overpower it?

Perhaps im just a looney, but arent we all.

 

[mcmyers]

I don't listen to any metal, so I can't comment on that, but I just bought some 05 DT990s from a fellow head-fier and I definitely like them more than my Senn 595s. The only complaint I have is that sometimes there's just a little more treble than I want. But I'm coming to the conclusion that if you want excitement in your music, you occasionally have to live with a little harshness. I mean, some songs are just harsh, and a revealing phone is going to reveal that. The reason I wasn't satisfied with the 595s was that they just didn't grab me by the ears. They were never harsh, but I wanted something more fun and th 990s have definitely fit the bill.

That said, your description of what you want definitely sounds like descriptions I've read of the 650s.

 

[java]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaZa /img/forum/go_quote.gif More into black and standard death metal. But I never intended to use Senns for metal anyway, they suck there big time. Its the classical and ambient side of things where I want to listen the good sides of Sennheisers, but bad sides still got me at least in this particular model. Perhaps the good sides are more prominent on HD600 and HD650 that bad side doesn't overpower it? Perhaps im just a looney, but arent we all.

What you describe is what you get with Senn HD 580/600 and presumably with the 650's as well - not having heard the 650's yet ...

But as my sig. states, they demand very capable amplifiers, that are reasonably neutral.

If you hear the Senn veil, then your amp is not up to the job of driving Senns ...

 

[MaZa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by java /img/forum/go_quote.gif What you describe is what you get with Senn HD 580/600 and presumably with the 650's as well - not having heard the 650's yet ... But as my sig. states, they demand very capable amplifiers, that are reasonably neutral. If you hear the Senn veil, then your amp is not up to the job of driving Senns ...

My first experience with HD595 was through Leben tube amplifier. Forgot the model, but certainly capable to drive HD595. Power wasnt issue, it was how Sennheiser presented the upper mids and lowerhighs. Otherwise sound was pleasant, and I kinda hope to hear the same in much better form with HD600 or HD650.