I was wondering if there's anyone else out there that loves the HD-650 and the DJ100?
For a year or so i've been looking for an open headphone that was a clone of the DJ100 or came close. Nothing i've found yet. The HD-580 and the Sextett have some similarities, but just not the same. Both of them have much worse lower bass extension and less treble. The DJ100 also has those magical mids that don't exist on much else for me. To my ears the HD-598 is just a side-grade or downgrade. The only thing it does better is only due to it being open.
I got the HD-650 about 3-4 days ago and have been addicted to it's sound. My last pair had severely bloated bass and was way too dark. Vocals did sound great, but the bass ruined it. I was thinking that possibly my old DAC or source was screwing up the sound.
This new pair has no bloated mid-bass and better low bass extension than my HD-580/598 and 600 by far. The bass on this 650 is actually even better controlled than that of the 600. In fact it sounds like the bass is kind of hidden and only shows up when required. OK, it does make some songs a tad warmer than they should be, but otherwise it's fairly well balanced.
The lower mids were a tad too forward out of the box but now they're perfectly smooth. This HD-650 doesn't sound dark at all. Nothing really laid back about this to me. Smooth sounding and quite balanced.
Despite sounding balanced it does make some music better than it should be. You can switch to the Q701, KRKs, DJ100 and Sextett and really notice this. It very slightly takes the rough edges off some of my harsh and fatiguing tracks. They're still bad on the HD-650, but not so much as on the KRKs and Q701. My DJ100 does make some of these same tracks a bit easier on the ears, but not as much as the HD-650.
Ok, so what's my point of all this? Well this goofy HD-650 sounds quite a lot like my DJ100. What the heck?!
Here's some differences i've found:
The HD-650 has slightly fuller mids. The DJ100 still has very full mids, but not quite like the HD-650. The 650 mids just feel so much "thicker", but not by much. Some male vocals actually sounded a bit fuller on the DJ100. Strange.
The DJ100 mids are slightly more forward, but I don't find the DJ100's mids with my new DAC all that forward.
Male and Female vocals on the HD-650 are perfect. They don't ever sound recessed, but accurate to the recording. If they're distant in the recording, they're that way on the 650 and DJ100. The DJ100 does push them forward a tad.
This one is a real shocker for me. The DJ100 has similar amounts of bass as MY HD-650. Maybe I have the bass neutral HD-650! It seems like some of the lower bass is more forward on the DJ100, but not by much. The 650 clearly has better bass than the 600 to my ears.
No open headphone I have had up until now had the bass of the DJ100. The HD-650 is as close as it gets.
The HD-650 has better instrument separation, a larger soundstage and it's a little more airy. All the tiny details in the soundstage that are ultra-subtle are strangely a little more present on the 650. I think the ODAC has a lot to do with this. Imaging on the HD-650 is pretty impressive. It's up there with the K601. Better than the Q701 I think.
The DJ100 has a tad more treble, but just barely. This HD-650 certainly doesn't sound like it's dark at all. Not sure why this is..
There's this bizarre thing I've found. With some music the DJ100 will sound not so clear on some tracks. You can't detect this on the Q701 and HD-650 so much or many open headphones. I had this occur a TON with poor quality video game soundtracks. This isn't an issue of the headphones being cheaper, but they're actually more revealing of what's there, but mostly due to being closed. I can give example of tracks that sound muffled, but sound great on the 650 and Q701, but much less clear on the KRK, Sextett and DJ100. I guess my ODAC turned the DJ100 into a detail monster
The HD-650 just makes everything sound so good and very musical. The DJ100 actually seems to do this not as much. I had this same experience when comparing the DT-880 to the HD-600. I think some people who say the DT-880 is grainy or not clear should check into their recordings instead
This is all with the Headroom Micro Amp from ODAC and using Pro700MKII pads on the DJ100.
Up until the upper mids, the DJ100 and MY HD-650 sound so close. Using the same setup. The upper mids of the HD-650 don't sound recessed at all and often sound neutral or slightly forward(!).
Today I spent about 5 hours listening to just the 650 and DJ100. When I switched to the DJ100 my impression was that it didn't sound any worse. Sometimes even better. Sometimes even clearer or more detailed. My bad tracks were a tad worse on the ears than with the HD-650. Not by much. These are just the ones that have the mids/treble cranked up at the studio or something. All the harsh tracks.
I think at one point I switched to the DJ100 for a few hours. The HD-650 I have is quite balanced (not quite neutral), but is obviously a bit colored to be more musical. I like this. To my ears the DJ100 isn't any more colored and actually LESS colored to my ears. Both are very musical to my ears. People have said the 650 is a snore fest or boring, but mine is actually very fun to listen to. It's mids are not so forward to ruin any tracks.
I'm loving this HD-650. Pretty much wowed by it, but it's hard to believe it's $500 retail. That's nuts. The DJ100 isn't really any worse. To my ears (with the same setup) they're pretty much even in my book. DJ100 doesn't have a fair match because it's closed. Well, duh. It's easy to just say the 650 is way better due to being open. There's only a few things it does better. It has comfort going for it.
BTW I still feel the ODAC must have rolled off treble or something. Sometimes it's almost too smooth on ANY headphone. Even on my Q701 the worst treble happy music doesn't bother me. It's not the amp.
Oh yeah..don't ask me why or how, but this HD-650 has the most well controlled bass i've ever heard. The DJ100 is just as controlled. I need to compare the bass some more. I bet the DJ100 extends further down.
If you compare the Tony Bennet/DJ100/HD-650 graphs, they're very similar up to a certain point. There's some weird dip that could be due to poor seal or something else. Not sure, but I can't hear it.
Right now with this non-bloated bass HD-650, it might surpass my Q701 sometime, but who knows. I prefer the 650 to the 598/600 and 580.
Another bizarre thing I noticed is that my DJ100 and HD-650 seem to benefit more from my ODAC than the HD-600 and Q701. What the heck?!
I actually realized a few weeks ago that my surge protector was bloating the bass of my headphones and the DJ100 was the only headphone able to detect this. Yeah it was that subtle, but not placebo. It has some awful noise filtering that was messing with my amp. Impossible right? Nope.
Ok, so right now the two most "musical" headphones i've ever heard have been the DJ100, SR-225i and...what the heck..HD-650
I think the ODAC is playing a role here..I think my amp is very neutral and that helps a bit too.
will i be dissapointed again ?
