[kmanmx]

Okay, these just turned up at 8am in the morning, great. Now time for some burn in, on goes the bass heavy Pendulum Slam song on repeat mode.

I cudn't resist, just had to see how it sounded. And straight out the box after literally 2 minutes of play, not even time to warm up they sounded fantastic. The bass is already great, its punchy, the sound is so clear and detailed. This is just going through a rotel RA-1062 amplifier thats cold aswell.

So, how much of an improvement can i expect after about 3 days of burn in ? ... and then how much more through my Slee Solo amplifier when i get it.

Because i honestly can't see these headphones getting much better

 

[ManAtWork]

Glad to hear you like it sounds, it would be much better after 1-2 weeks. And you should consider recabling to replace the stock one comes with, then you can hear what the best it can sound.

 

[Tbln]

Grasshopper,

To optimise HD650, look at this upgrade path:

Source
Headphone Amp
Interconnect
Headphone cable

Congrats on your new cans!

It will bring you much enjoyment as it can really scale with equipment upgrades.

 

[wrecked_porsche]

Tbln is correct. The cable is the LAST thing you want to upgrade.

You want to follow what he said:

Source
Headphone Amp
Interconnect
Headphone cable

 

[kmanmx]

Thanks.

 

[Tbln]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wrecked_porsche /img/forum/go_quote.gif Tbln is correct. The cable is the LAST thing you want to upgrade.

It isn't that I do not believe in aftermarket cables, it is just that I have found that the HD650 really shines when fed a better source and amplification.

Once that has been settled, the aftermarket cables are really the icing on the cake and do make a difference to the sound signature.

Some of my impressions of various aftermarket Sennheiser cables:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/sin...3/index12.html

 

[jamess71]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tbln /img/forum/go_quote.gif It isn't that I do not believe in aftermarket cables, it is just that I have found that the HD650 really shines when fed a better source and amplification. Once that has been settled, the aftermarket cables are really the icing on the cake and do make a difference to the sound signature. Some of my impressions of various aftermarket Sennheiser cables: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/sin...3/index12.html

Wow nice collection of 650's I'm impressed.

 

[rederanged]

I'm not sure I heard much if any change in my HD650s with burn in. As you noted, they sound great out of the box. Amplification is definitely important, though, as the others have said. Unlike my 595s, the 650s sound 'blah' out of my integrated amp, but fantastic with my either my tubed or SS headamp.

 

[wrecked_porsche]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tbln /img/forum/go_quote.gif It isn't that I do not believe in aftermarket cables, it is just that I have found that the HD650 really shines when fed a better source and amplification.

Yeah, I totally understand what you mean, which is why I said you were correct and the OP should follow your advice. Its true with almost all(if not all) headphones. The steps you listed down is the way to go. Get a headphone that we like, then take care of the source and amp and then come the cables/interconnects to add icing to the cake. We have to set the main sound sig first, then tweak it with cables and interconnects. I also follow these steps.

I hope you didn't take what I said in my previous post as me being sarcastic? I actually do think the advice you're giving is sound advice.

 

[Dailow]

I recently upgraded from the HD-555 to HD-650. I wasn't much of a believer of burn-in before, but my initial reaction was just how incredibly dark these headphones were. The bass definitely extended deeper and was more impactful than the 555s, but the mids definitely sounded veiled and muddy. It was like night and day A/B'ing the two headphones to say the least. I had to enable the "Treble Booster" EQ preset in iTunes to get the mids sounding to my preference.


After burning in for about 40 hours on pink noise, the mids finally seemed to open up a little and sound "right". At this point, the same Treble Booster preset made everything sound sibilant, so I would definitely say that the burn-in helped a lot.

 

[Tbln]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wrecked_porsche /img/forum/go_quote.gif I hope you didn't take what I said in my previous post as me being sarcastic? I actually do think the advice you're giving is sound advice.

No offense taken, of course.

Just wanted to be sure I wasn't mistaken for a cable non-believer!

 

[speedy.steve]

I've had my 650's for a few months now and really like them.
As said good source and amp is essential. I've found a different interconnect from source to headamp brought out / opened up the mids/highs a bit - something I like.

 

[hd650]

I upgraded interconnects and headphone cable (cardas), and found out that the treble is much more clear than it was before.... I think its sound is changing in a good way.