[Viscera]

You don't need to change the whole headband. You can just change the cushion. And yes, the cushions are interchangeable between all three models (580/600/650) 

Yeah! I should have said headpadding, not headband .

What do you guys think? HD600 + HD650 Cable + HD650 Headpadding for 340$ with shipping included?

 

[bracko]

Yeah! I should have said headpadding, not headband

.

What do you guys think? HD600 + HD650 Cable + HD650 Headpadding for 340$ with shipping included?

 
I think that is a terrific price 

 

[kman1211]

   
We should just agree upon that this is your personal and subjective point of view described with words that you find suitable. Not a definitive description of how these headphones actually sound. (It is still possible something is wrong with your pair)  

 
 
Many people on this board feel quite the opposite. If great tonality and timbre, naturalness, neutralness and flat frequency response are not high fidelity then I don't know what is. We could also conclude that the way HD650 colors the sound is quite opposite to high fidelity. 

  I have them both. Both are nice headphones but with HD600 you get beautiful and euphoric sound, great tonality and neutralness, nice imaging and airiness all in one package. HD650 just sounds bloated in the lower regions and colored and, imho, a step further from the true high fidelity compared to HD600.
 
HD650 are still very enjoyable headphones if you want to relax (and fall asleep

 to your music) Just my 2 cents 

 

I think it's just that my ears don't mesh well with the HD 600 and the HD 650 to a lesser degree. Neutrality is only part of sound quality, a neutral and natural headphone can lack refinement. FR response and timbre is only part of the equation. I never found the HD 650 bloated in the bass personally. Some reason both the HD 650 and the HD 600 causes me aural fatigue, making them my two most fatiguing headphones. That's why I'm thinking it's simply my ears that don't like the Senns, and nothing may actually be wrong with the HD 600. I think I may just need to let go of the HD 600 and invest in different headphones.

 

[bracko]

  I think it's just that my ears don't mesh well with the HD 600 and the HD 650 to a lesser degree. Neutrality is only part of sound quality, a neutral and natural headphone can lack refinement. FR response and timbre is only part of the equation. I never found the HD 650 bloated in the bass personally. Some reason both the HD 650 and the HD 600 causes me aural fatigue, making them my two most fatiguing headphones. That's why I'm thinking it's simply my ears that don't like the Senns, and nothing may actually be wrong with the HD 600. I think I may just need to let go of the HD 600 and invest in different headphones.

 
That's probably how it is 

 

[Music Path]

My 1 month old HD-650's don't sound bloated/colored at all. Have the newer manufactured HD-650's been purposely tweeked by Sennheiser?

Same here, all that veiled thing looks like a big myth.

And the "alot of power to drive" thing looks like too.

 

[bracko]

Same here, all that veiled thing looks like a big myth.

And the "alot of power to drive" thing looks like too.

I wouldn't say that HD650 is "veiled". 

 

[Phishin Phool]

Same here, all that veiled thing looks like a big myth.

And the "alot of power to drive" thing looks like too.

Veiled is different than colored. I wouldn't say hd650 are veiled but they aren't neutral.

 

[perhapss]

  My 1 month old HD-650's don't sound bloated/colored at all.

 
Compared to what?
Edit: Reality lol...

 

[jbarrentine]

And the "alot of power to drive" thing looks like too.

 
Based on my own experience I would say it's very true. Going from Vali to Project Polaris was a exceedingly different experience with the same headphone. I really thought it sounded good with the Vali, but was wrong. Again: A whole new experience with better amping. 

 

[perhapss]

  Veiled is different than colored.

 
There is more to the hd650`s district tone than "veil".
 
 "Veiled" is not exactly a technical sort of term(nor colored for that matter) but a cliche(perhaps fitting) that`s been adopted to describe the 650.
How any alteration of "neutrality" is different than coloration is beyond me though.
 
Any doubt can be remedied by one of two things IMO:
 
1. Look at the measurements.They are easily available if you search.In particular notice the mid-bass bump.
2. Record a string quartet (or other acoustic instrument,classical guitar also will easily demonstrate this) in a fairly dead acoustic setting.Then listen to the recording and compare with the acoustic source present.
 
Easy.

 

[SunshineReggae]

  I think it's just that my ears don't mesh well with the HD 600 and the HD 650 to a lesser degree. Neutrality is only part of sound quality, a neutral and natural headphone can lack refinement. FR response and timbre is only part of the equation. I never found the HD 650 bloated in the bass personally. Some reason both the HD 650 and the HD 600 causes me aural fatigue, making them my two most fatiguing headphones. That's why I'm thinking it's simply my ears that don't like the Senns, and nothing may actually be wrong with the HD 600. I think I may just need to let go of the HD 600 and invest in different headphones.

 
You are not alone. They do my head in as well. I have also tried the HD558 and HD598. I have owned all of them for at least a few months. However only the 598 works for me. The others just kill my ears. After an hour or so I just really can take no more. No idea what it is. I think it has something to do with the midbass. But not sure. I also have a Fidelio X1 which has quite a lot of midbass, but there are no issues with that one at all. Admittedly the X1 is a superior headphone, especially when it comes to bass, but still. It's not the type of music either. Even just listening to quiet music with vocals, I get some serious fatigue quite quickly.
 
It's too bad, I really enjoy their sound otherwise, especially the HD650.

 

[kman1211]

   
You are not alone. They do my head in as well. I have also tried the HD558 and HD598. I have owned all of them for at least a few months. However only the 598 works for me. The others just kill my ears. After an hour or so I just really can take no more. No idea what it is. I think it has something to do with the midbass. But not sure. I also have a Fidelio X1 which has quite a lot of midbass, but there are no issues with that one at all. Admittedly the X1 is a superior headphone, especially when it comes to bass, but still. It's not the type of music either. Even just listening to quiet music with vocals, I get some serious fatigue quite quickly.
 
It's too bad, I really enjoy their sound otherwise, especially the HD650.

Glad I'm not the only one. My other headphones don't cause me fatigue like this. I may need to try a different amp with the Senns as I'd rather not get rid of them and try to get them to work for me. To be honest if I can get the HD 600 to sound a bit clearer and it not to fatigue me anymore, I would truly love the headphone, currently it's a love/hate feeling. The comfort on the Senns is my favorite of any headphone I had so far. Same with the HD 650, if I can get rid of it's fatigue as well after I get them fixed.

 

[SunshineReggae]

To me the DT880 was the headphone that I wanted the HD600 to be, the only thing I will say is the timbre on the HD600 is unequalled and you can't really find it anywhere else. That does make it a special headphone and it has many other great qualities too. Oh well... But good luck with finding a solution for you! I'm sure you will figure it out somehow haha.

 

[kman1211]

  To me the DT880 was the headphone that I wanted the HD600 to be, the only thing I will say is the timbre on the HD600 is unequalled and you can't really find it anywhere else. That does make it a special headphone and it has many other great qualities too. Oh well... But good luck with finding a solution for you! I'm sure you will figure it out somehow haha.

I felt like that about the DT 880 when I borrowed a pair for a couple weeks, but it's timbre wasn't quite right despite being better in many ways. True, the HD 600 is hard to beat in terms of timbre, but interestingly I'm finding the DT 440 I recently picked up shockingly close timbre wise, it's brighter and a tad leaner though. Reminds me of the HD 545 I used to have which had basically the same timbre as the HD 600 but brighter and leaner but still warm sounding. Hopefully I will find a solution to my problem, could of possibly already found it with the DT 440, have to see how it turns out long term as the pads break in and if they bother me some way with extended use.

 

[jbarrentine]

I find the idea that the HD600 fatigues anyone to be mindblowing. It's an incredibly even, polite headphone.