[Marc Lian]

Why don't you try out some headphones that do what the HD650 doesn't and decide for yourself?

HD650 like most dynamic open backs suffer from a steep low end roll off usually beginning at 60Hz - 80Hz. There is a ton of subby goodness in that region with EDM that you may be missing. You could try some closed backs or if you really need open backs with bass then something planar or the Fidelio X2.

 

[FredrikT92]

HD650 lacks the low-end and speed for EDM, but other then that they are solid.
But you would have to spend a big number to get an obvious upgrade (if one could consider it that).
Atleast if you want more speed. Hifiman HEX & HEK aint that bad with EDM, tho I find them to have a slight distant sound.
HD800S arent too bad either tbh.

 

[Pedro Oliveira]

Ultrasone for EDM. Beyerdynamic can do it, but depending on model can have harsh highs.

On the cheap a Creative Aurvana live has a great low end.

I wasn't a big fan of the HD650 for EDM. It is not exciting enough. Highs lack attack and lows aren't as tight and punchy as I like. Mids are too forward for it. It just is not ideal for electro. For me, I want highs that are crunchy, tight bass that can punch, good 3d imaging/soundstage, and energy.

However, I agree that all that matters is that you enjoy what you hear. If they satisfy you, it doesn't matter that they do not for others.

Do you think the hd600 is better for edm and metal than the hd650? Does it punch harder? I like the hd25 very much and would like to know which of thsi 2 senns hits harder and sounds crisper for metal and trance.

Thank you...

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Do you think the hd600 is better for edm and metal than the hd650? Does it punch harder? I like the hd25 very much and would like to know which of thsi 2 senns hits harder and sounds crisper for metal and trance.

HD650 has a taller and wider bass hump than the HD600, which also has a 3500hz peak. So while guitars, some vocals, etc on metal and all those high freq effects on trance might not be as loud on the HD650 where they can be masked by the bass, the HD600 has the tendency to do the opposite and have that 3500hz peak more likely to mask how much bass you perceive is being produced by the headphone, so bass drum hits and bass drops will be better on the HD650.

 

[TWerk]

Do you think the hd600 is better for edm and metal than the hd650? Does it punch harder? I like the hd25 very much and would like to know which of thsi 2 senns hits harder and sounds crisper for metal and trance.

Thank you...

I would pick hd600 over 650 for Edm. I don't think there is much difference in bass response. The 600 had a more crisp treble and the 650 imo was more rolled off. I like a little crunch and treble energy with EDM. They're similar though, and as I said before, I think there are better options than either sennheiser headphone for that genre. But the 600 are solid headphones all round nevertheless.

 

[Pedro Oliveira]

I would pick hd600 over 650 for Edm. I don't think there is much difference in bass response. The 600 had a more crisp treble and the 650 imo was more rolled off. I like a little crunch and treble energy with EDM. They're similar though, and as I said before, I think there are better options than either sennheiser headphone for that genre. But the 600 are solid headphones all round nevertheless.

What if we put both against the Fidélio x2?

But when a&b'ing with both, you do not perceive the hd650 as Being the bassiest and hardest hitting one?
Basically i am trying to figure out if it is worth buying the hd650 since i already own a hd600... I kind of like the the hd600 but sometimes i soul line the to sound a little Fuller sounding and more engaging.... Kind of like the hd25....

For example i AM a anjunabeats nut and therefore i crave for a type of bass that goes a bit deep but that still sounds full, envolving and hard hitting. At the same time i want those heavenly parts (before the drop) to still sound blissfull and euphonic as they should.

Can i be disapointed also because of my setup? I mostly use a fiio e12 and a ipad air 2
...

 

[fuzzybaffy]

i crave for a type of bass that goes a bit deep but that still sounds full, envolving and hard hitting. At the same time i want those heavenly parts (before the drop) to still sound blissfull and euphonic as they should.

I think it's going to be very hard finding a headphone that does both really deep bass and those "blissfull and euphonic heavenly parts" very well, but then again I haven't tried all the headphones out there. But as I said before, I once had the TH-900 which is known for having amazing sub-bass, yet it lacked in the mids department, and therefore couldn't play out those lush, melodic parts in electronic music.

Maybe there's a headphone out there that can do both, but I had to compromise and settle on one of the two. I mean, I had the sell the TH-900 for other reasons, but I still preferred the HD-650 for electronic music because I cared more for the electronic textures and details than the bass slam. Then again, I guess it all depends on what electronic music you listen to, too.

Another brand you should give a try is AKG. The K702 was simply superb for electronic music. I don't remember how well it did bass, but everything just sounded great on the K702. It's a cold-sounding headphone, so it just complemented electronic music really well. If you're looking for something a step above the K702 then there's of course the K712.

 

[TWerk]

Sounds like my dx1000... Hard hitting bass and euphonic lush mids. They're excellent for Edm music and are very engaging. Selling my pair but they're not price wise on the level of a fidelio or sennheiser.

 

[Desdinova12]

If youre really looking for bass, the Atticus does that pretty well. With the right amp, the lows, mids and highs all sound pretty separated. However, without the right pairing, the bass can be overbearing. Not sure what the budget is here, but when I got to hear the new ZMF cans, I was shocked at how much bass the Atticus actually had. Compared to the HD600/650 at least.

 

[gazzington]

I like using ultrasone signature dj for edm. Great bass and sparkly highs. To be honest though if you enjoy using hd650 then carry on with that. There is no right or wrong. Hd650s are great headphones

 

[Pedro Oliveira]

HD650 has a taller and wider bass hump than the HD600, which also has a 3500hz peak. So while guitars, some vocals, etc on metal and all those high freq effects on trance might not be as loud on the HD650 where they can be masked by the bass, the HD600 has the tendency to do the opposite and have that 3500hz peak more likely to mask how much bass you perceive is being produced by the headphone, so bass drum hits and bass drops will be better on the HD650.

And this diference is easilly noticeable? Do you think it is worth having both?

Cheers

 

[ProtegeManiac]

For example i AM a anjunabeats nut and therefore i crave for a type of bass that goes a bit deep but that still sounds full, envolving and hard hitting. At the same time i want those heavenly parts (before the drop) to still sound blissfull and euphonic as they should.

If the response just reaches really deep into the lowest bass region it will sound full...provided ambient noise isn't a problem. Hard hitting can be due to a different factor: a strong upper bass hump, but also needs enough reinforcement at the really low end. Grados have a strong upper bass response so AC/DC has that strong kick to the bass drum, but feed it trance and it does a strong initial hit but doesn't have that crawling sound much less sensation. HE400i by contrast is flat from 1000hz down to 10hz, it will have that crawling sound but it won't have an exaggerated "hit" to the bass save for if you play it at very loud volume (which will require a relatively more powerful amp given its slightly lower sensitivity).

And this diference is easilly noticeable? Do you think it is worth having both?

I'd prefer the HD650 all around (and more so beause it doesn't look like marble). I only have the HD600 because I got it cheap used, even after ordering new pads what I spent in total was still waaaay below getting it (much less the HD650) new. EQ correction profile I use mimics the HD650 - boosting everything below 60hz and flattening the 3500hz hump, except the bass hump isn't as tall as the HD650's (although effectively I have it wider since I equalize 20hz to 1000hz, and everything from above 20hz would be somewhat level to the 50hz to 150hz plateau).

 

[jd163]

Hi,

The only thing I do is EDM. Feel free to check out some of my gear collected over the years. The hd650 is a remarkable pair no doubt, but try as I might, its not the right tool for the job....at least for me.

 

[DJ The Rocket]

"Am I doing it wrong?"

Short answer: No.

Long answer: No, but it's complicated.

The HD650 is a weird headphone. I tried feeding it a signal¹ with a very wide dynamic range (i.e. not compressed with tubes or other methods) from an amplifier² with ample power to drive the sub-bass region that's 600+ ohms in the HD650, and there was no bass. I don't mean it was weak bass, I mean it appeared to roll off at an embarrassing ~150 hz. So I tried to EQ the low end to a higher relative level, which immediately made it so much WORSE that I couldn't listen for more than a few seconds. It didn't just fail, it failed spectacularly. It failed to sound good in precisely the way a $1 speaker from Radio Shack fails to sound good, it seemed overmatched and outclassed in every way.

However, the 650s reacted very differently from other sources. I plugged them directly into my Hifiman HM601 player, and with the same track playing the 650 sounded fantastic! The bass wasn't the boomiest, but it was boomy enough to be satisfying, and it extended well past 50 or 60 hz, it was easily low enough to present the whole track, not just the 2/3 of it I got on my good system. With the famous HD650 warmth, it sounded so good there that I strongly considered keeping the 650, just to pair with that player.³

So what is going on here? Why would I get such radically different results with the same pair of headphones? If you know, please do share! All I have is a guess.

My guess (which doesn't actually make sense, but it's the best way I can describe what I'm hearing) is that some DACs--the one in the Hifiman player and the Modi Multibit both exhibit this, for example--will not only compress dynamic range, they also compress the frequency range, at least at the bottom end of it. A 50hz wave appears to be brought up to 55hz. Those numbers are made up to illustrate my idea; maybe it's 50.0hz to 50.2hz, whatever. This doesn't seem realistic because it would then be off key without a software pitch correction, correct? And what would be the point of adding an expensive DSP chip to a product that wouldn't need it if it just did a straight up conversion?

That is what I'm hearing from those sources, though. Instead of clipping off the ends of the frequency range and tossing them out, they get squeezed up into a narrower one. It could make aural and economic sense in something like a cheap Bluetooth headset, where the driver's limitations are known and you already have the onboard processing power to effectively optimize around it. The result would be the ability to convey the sub-bass information present in a recording through headphones that can't reproduce anything below, say, 70hz.

My description of the result seems right, even if the only method I can imagine that would achieve it sounds crazy. But whatever actually is happening here, it isn't necessarily a bad thing subjectively, considering how much I enjoyed EDM on an HD650 in the one instance I did enjoy it.


-------------------
¹ & ² - I was running a hub-powered ODAC to a 45Wpc Kenwood integrated tuner, driving the headphones directly off the speaker taps. I've found this setup to be very good at driving power-hungry headphones, from planar magnetics (Alpha Prime, HE400/500, LCD2) to high ohm dynamics (250 ohm DT880 pro, HD800, even down to moderate impedances like the AKG Q701, though the last one has a bit of hiss). Not a single one of the above has even a hint of the problems the 650 demonstrated, nor did any other I've tried, including an ATH-M50, a Koss ProDJ100, and whatever else I've played around with. TL; DR the problems observed in the HD650 are unique to it.

Using a speaker amp in this application works because those 45 rated watts are with 8 ohm load. I [very roughly] estimate it's max into a 300 ohm load to be maybe a watt, but the important thing here is that the volume pot is comfortably up into it's nominal range.

³ - I didn't keep the HD650 the end, because the Q701 sounds just about as good from the HM601, and it doesn't also have the severe limitations that the 650 suffers from.