[ZoNtO]

Well it's a very different story over here (not sure why the compare tool is not working, but here are each separately):
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0362/2465/files/sennheiser_hd_650_frequency_response.png?4746
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0362/2465/files/sennheiser_hd_600_frequency_response.png?4746

maybe it's the 4kHz peak that is causing all of the HD600 issues and preventing near perfection.

I posted those Headroom graphs above. Point is that the HD650's bass hump looks to be from the driver, not the enclosure, etc.

 

[Brooko]

 
Well it's a very different story over here (not sure why the compare tool is not working, but here are each separately):
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0362/2465/files/sennheiser_hd_650_frequency_response.png?4746
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0362/2465/files/sennheiser_hd_600_frequency_response.png?4746
 
maybe it's the 4kHz peak that is causing all of the HD600 issues and preventing near perfection.

 
If you go back to the post and recheck - he took two different measurements - one with the HD600 in capsule, the other with the HD650 driver in the same capsule.  It was just to show the actual drivers are different.  We already know the capsules are also (according to Sennheiser anyway).

 

[yangian]

 
Hmm they sound way too different to me for it to be the same driver.
I can easily tell them apart, instantly, on any music.

I can only say different people have different listening experience.
On the other and, I also read someone said the present 650 are very different from the early 650 and they are quite different before. So maybe you have an early version.

 

[Bob A (SD)]

If you thought the HD600 vs HD650 capsule graph above is interesting, have a peak at this one (from BillP) which throws in the HD580 head to head with the HD600 and HD650:
 

 

[Me x3]

I had both in the past, but I've only measured the HD650 at that time.
I've found the HD650 to be more resolving with a bit smoother upper midrange.
Both were definitely mid-bassy to me.
 
HD650 appeared more open and cleaner overall, but not as focused as HD600.
HD600 rendered vocals very well, that's its strongest point in my book.
 
Both are similarly good in the big scheme of things.
Slightly different flavours of the same sound: mid-bassy kind of warmth, linear midrange and softened treble.

 

[yangian]

What do you guys think about this:
http://www.headfonia.com/sennheiser-hd650-600-and-580-updated-drivers/

 

[Argyris]

   

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

OTOH the HD600 seems to have a small artificial hump in the treble right where it messes up violins a bit and tends to make most music sound not quite truly live like you are there in the room with it since the hump seems to mask stuff just about it, in a sense.
 
Anyway I did a lot of listening to both yesterday after I had made all of my recent comments.
 
I guess the HD650 sound stage really isn't any wider. I think I had gotten that impression because I had been using the HD600 for a lot of TV stuff where the audio is not always all that great and the HD650 only for music but also equally because the HD650 gives that feeling that you are literally in the room with the instruments which the HD600 never seems to quite do so I guess I was interpreting that as a wider sound stage, maybe I should have said there is something more somehow live about the sense of the HD650, maybe it's not actually left right wider but sort of more in some other direction or something.
 
As for the balance, I think ideal might be sort of like a mix between the two.

The HD600 has something weird in the treble that makes violins sound a bit fake and music in general to not quite have that live feel since the hump sort of veils some of the separation and detail in the rest of the treble in a way. Getting to violins again it can almost make they sound a trace electronic in a way and you don't hear the bow vibrating the string sort of in as natural a way as with the HD650. That peak seems to sort of mask the real treble a little and to my ears and the way I describe things makes the HD600 seem more veiled and less in the true treble and darker in the treble since the low part of that is peaked.
 
Again and again the HD650 just makes things sound more like you are truly there in the room.
 
That said, for certain things the HD650 might have a slightly odd hump in one part of the upper bass, mostly it doesn't matter too much, and for a decent number it maybe seems even a touch more realistic, but for a few things it can be a bit droning like with the 24bit, 192Hz(?) remaster for Jurassic Park soundtrack. In other ways the bass can be even cleaner and tighter and deeper than the HD600 which can also occasionally be just a trace unnaturally weak in some bass (although not nearly to the extent of the AKG 701, which also has the natural you are there presence and separate treble of the HD650 but is also thinner than both and too thin to be natural, something is just missing lower down that is not realistic).
 
The initial overall sonic impression is in many ways almost ideally natural from the HD600 and the HD650 can have a touch of that missing. OTOH the HD650 makes it sound more like you are truly listening to the instruments in the room with you and it doesn't have that fake treble bump that makes things sound less live and a bit off. If they could just chop that little treble bump the HD600 might be almost perfect. But that bump just is not natural and for most stuff it makes enough difference that the HD650 sounds better to me overall and more live. Violins for one, since they are something that makes it very clear, are not well separate enough in their timbre and they sound a bit fake and sort of smoothed and not rough and detailed and raw enough and a bit too boosted in a certain particular way, everything actually does, but it's easier to describe it with them. And it can be the same for female voices too. That fake mid-treble thingy, whatever it is in the HD600 just takes away natural rough detail in the treble and makes things sound less live and more veiled in a certain sense and too sort of tinkly and electronically smoothed or something.

Ideally I'd have the HD600 with a touch more of the tight perfection and reaction of the HD650 and with a good bit closer to the HD650 main treble to give a more sense of being there live and to not make violins and other stuff get that treble issue as well as a bit more of the HD650 bass extension and the bass overall (although without the touch of a hump), just sort of merge them, maybe 1 part HD600 to 2 parts HD650 or something along those lines.

 

 
I expect what you're hearing is the slight upper midrange lift in the HD 600 around 3.5 kHz. I can hear it as well, though it doesn't really bother me, and I don't personally feel like it throws off the timbre too much. That said, it's something I noticed right away when I first tried my HD 600 (using my traditional, infallible test track, Traffic's rendition of "John Barleycorn"), though this is perhaps more because my other headphones have less energy in this region. I quickly adjusted to it, and I'm only faintly aware of it now. Individual taste of course is going to be a factor--yet another feather in the cap of the argument for the existence of both the HD 600 and the HD 650.

 

[DavidA]

 

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

 

 
I expect what you're hearing is the slight upper midrange lift in the HD 600 around 3.5 kHz. I can hear it as well, though it doesn't really bother me, and I don't personally feel like it throws off the timbre too much. That said, it's something I noticed right away when I first tried my HD 600 (using my traditional, infallible test track, Traffic's rendition of "John Barleycorn"), though this is perhaps more because my other headphones have less energy in this region. I quickly adjusted to it, and I'm only faintly aware of it now. Individual taste of course is going to be a factor--yet another feather in the cap of the argument for the existence of both the HD 600 and the HD 650.

I'm one of those that the small spike at 3.5-4 KHz is sometime bothersome, couldn't figure out why for the longest time until someone said just try EQ correction at that frequency, problem when away, it was strange since the HD700/800 and other brighter headphones never bothered me, its because their spikes are at different (higher) frequencies.

 

[Arttt]

just got a pair of hd600 at the same time as i got hifiman he560, and i end up listen to hd600 all zzzzzzz time )))  if i start to think about the sound, he560 is a superior  headphone and does stuff better, i won't go into details ...
 
but there is something that makes me wanna listen to hd600 more and more  ö.Ö
 
 
hmmm anyone tried hd600 with sennheiser amp?

 

[yangian]

  just got a pair of hd600 at the same time as i got hifiman he560, and i end up listen to hd600 all zzzzzzz time )))  if i start to think about the sound, he560 is a superior  headphone and does stuff better, i won't go into details ...
 
but there is something that makes me wanna listen to hd600 more and more  ö.Ö
 
 
hmmm anyone tried hd600 with sennheiser amp?

Agree! 600s are not perfect, but very enjoyable!

 

[UtopiaB]

  If you thought the HD600 vs HD650 capsule graph above is interesting, have a peak at this one (from BillP) which throws in the HD580 head to head with the HD600 and HD650:
 

 
Thanks for posting this, very interesting. This is the first test of seen of these two headphones together. However, I must say, it looks rather different than the other graphs posted in this thread recently, and as such, sort of has me scratching my head, because the bass looks nigh on identical between the 600 and 650, and we know that's not the case in real life. Now just speculating, but if that spectrum analyzer happens to be a very recent test, and is accurate, then there might be a chance that Senny was aware of users' mild displeasure about the slight deficiency in the bass from the 600, and decided to rectify it, but i'm just guessing.

 

[koven]

hi guys, anyone go from magni 2 uber to a WA6/WA7? thinking about making this jump w/ the hd600, would assume its a noticeable upgrade but maybe someone can comment if they've took this path

 

[Midgetguy]

  just got a pair of hd600 at the same time as i got hifiman he560, and i end up listen to hd600 all zzzzzzz time )))  if i start to think about the sound, he560 is a superior  headphone and does stuff better, i won't go into details ...
 
but there is something that makes me wanna listen to hd600 more and more  ö.Ö
 
 
hmmm anyone tried hd600 with sennheiser amp?

I've got an HE560 in my stable too.....and I also listen to the HD600 more

. Technically, yes the HE560 is superior, but it doesn't quite have the same ring to it. The tonality of the HD600 is just so sweet for me.
 

  hi guys, anyone go from magni 2 uber to a WA6/WA7? thinking about making this jump w/ the hd600, would assume its a noticeable upgrade but maybe someone can comment if they've took this path

I wouldn't be able to say outright if it's an upgrade or not, really depends on preference. It's also hard to say because we're at the apples/oranges comparison level here: Magni 2 is a SS amp and WA6/7 is a tube amp. Inherently, they have different properties. It'll get a bit smoother and be little bit warmer going from Magni to WA6/7 based on what I've read/know about tube amps.

 

[TheEldestBoy]

I'm posting this here because it relates directly to the HD600, and I'm hoping that some of you who know this headphone so well can provide some guidance:

I listen to my music at relatively low volumes (I have a bit of sound sensitivity and my ears get fatigued quicker than the average listener).

From what I've read, the HiFiMan 400s has a more present & less laid-back bottom-end (with the hifiman focus pads or the brainwavz pads) than the HD600/650. It also seems like the 400s will have more presence/sparkle in the high-end as well.

So... I'm wondering if the 400s might be better at lower volumes?

In other words, do the HD600/650s need to be listened to at louder volumes in order for the bass and treble to really make themselves audible/present. Can I get the same audibility/presence from the 400s at a lower volume?

I appreciate that some of you cannot offer a comparison to the 400S, but I'd still love to here your thoughts on just the HD600 as it relates to this question.

 

[PinkyPowers]

To me the HD600 sounds full at any volume, assuming you've got a good amp.