[477621]

Hello.

I made a FLAC file with examples of noticeable moments from different tracks, listening to which I am hearing very unpleasant sibilants with my pair of HD565. All tracks sourced from original CDs. My audio interface is E-MU 0404 USB with HD565 plugged directly to it.

Please, take a listen (probably better to avoid the preview and download the FLAC file to a computer). https://www.dropbox.com/s/fg2jil199zcfakn/Sennheiser HD565 Sibilants Audio Test.flac?dl=0
And tell, if you hear disturbing sibilants.

List of tracks used in chronological order:

Depeche Mode - Home: "...for SHowing me home..."

Moby - Porcelain: "...kaleidoScopic mind... to hurT you..."

Nine Inch Nails - God Break Down the Door: "...and puSH it back in..."

a-ha - Summer Moved On: "...Summer moved..."

Монеточка - Ночной ларёк: "...ya vySHel iz doma..."

Serge Gainsbourg - Lemon Incest: "...ma CHair et mon Sang..."

Beck - Sing It Again: "...Some accident..."

Thanks.

What a cool idea for testing. I have just downloaded it.

Those all sound quite sibilant, but think that is is down to the recording and or effects used (Moby).

I have never thought of the 565 as sibilant. But listening to that FLAC file via my Mojo on my 565 then my 250 and t51i (Picked those two as both very different), those frequencies are more pronounced. Still sibilant on the 250 though. Also tried on my t51i, that is as sibilant for those tracks as my 565. But again I wouldn't call the t51i sibilant.

So, I have a feeling you are just hearing the recording more than you could previously. Warts and all.

Hope this helps, P.S. my best friend is also from your home town.

 

[Dabrowski]

What a cool idea for testing. I have just downloaded it.

Those all sound quite sibilant, but think that is is down to the recording and or effects used (Moby).

I have never thought of the 565 as sibilant. But listening to that FLAC file via my Mojo on my 565 then my 250 and t51i (Picked those two as both very different), those frequencies are more pronounced. Still sibilant on the 250 though. Also tried on my t51i, that is as sibilant for those tracks as my 565. But again I wouldn't call the t51i sibilant.

Oh you tested it with your other headphones too, that's clever! So those are record production flaws then? You also have HD580, correct? Maybe you could listen to the file with them on as well and compare with HD565, in the future, that will be cool.

So, I have a feeling you are just hearing the recording more than you could previously. Warts and all.

You mean it's a psychological stuff as well and I pay unnecessary attention to the parts I know the sibilants will be? And I need to just relax and listen to the music? Haha could be, yes Well, I just didn't expect lots of my favorite vocal performances will sound(were recorded) so distracting. Can you name a track or an album that you think sound absolutely perfect on HD565, like it was made for it?

Hope this helps, P.S. my best friend is also from your home town.

That helps a lot, thank you! P.S. Funny! I purchased HD565 on eBay, and Leeds were the city where the mail-forwarding company is located, company that redirected the package to Poland

 

[477621]

Oh you tested it with your other headphones too, that's clever! So those are record production flaws then? You also have HD580, correct? Maybe you could listen to the file with them on as well and compare with HD565, in the future, that will be cool.

You mean it's a psychological stuff as well and I pay unnecessary attention to the parts I know the sibilants will be? And I need to just relax and listen to the music? Haha could be, yes Well, I just didn't expect lots of my favorite vocal performances will sound(were recorded) so distracting. Can you name a track or an album that you think sound absolutely perfect on HD565, like it was made for it?

That helps a lot, thank you! P.S. Funny! I purchased HD565 on eBay, and Leeds were the city where the mail-forwarding company is located, company that redirected the package to Poland

For me the 565 does everything that the 580 and 58X can do (I have both) but with a little more soundstage. But I do find the 580/X very comfortable and fast which is why I have them.

Some singers have gaps in their teeth or crapty technique combined with high producers which can cause that sibilance like on the beck track. All the headphones are doing are replaying that recording.

If you cannot tell, I love my Ovations. So much that I have an extra pair in a box just in case my current ones fail.

As to what sounds great. Do you have a streaming service? Listen to the awesome seperation and tight bass on the Sylvan Esso self titled album. If you don't want to listen to the whole thing just play Hey Mami and Could I Be. Chris Stapleton's Tennessee Whisky shows off the qualities of the Ovations too. I have been listening to the new A Perfect Circle album daily since released and that also sounds phenomenal on my Ovies.

My experience could just be ideal synergy with my Chord Mojo but before that I had an LG V20 which also drove them brilliantly. Try those recordings. If they sound sibilant, check your eq settings. If flat then I'm not sure what to suggest.

 

[yianni1066]

Hello.

I made a FLAC file with examples of noticeable moments from different tracks, listening to which I am hearing very unpleasant sibilants with my pair of HD565. All tracks sourced from original CDs. My audio interface is E-MU 0404 USB with HD565 plugged directly to it.

Please, take a listen (probably better to avoid the preview and download the FLAC file to a computer). https://www.dropbox.com/s/fg2jil199zcfakn/Sennheiser HD565 Sibilants Audio Test.flac?dl=0
And tell, if you hear disturbing sibilants.

List of tracks used in chronological order:

Depeche Mode - Home: "...for SHowing me home..."

Moby - Porcelain: "...kaleidoScopic mind... to hurT you..."

Nine Inch Nails - God Break Down the Door: "...and puSH it back in..."

a-ha - Summer Moved On: "...Summer moved..."

Монеточка - Ночной ларёк: "...ya vySHel iz doma..."

Serge Gainsbourg - Lemon Incest: "...ma CHair et mon Sang..."

Beck - Sing It Again: "...Some accident..."

Thanks.

Just tested your file on my 565's and my PM3's, I know the PM3 isn't comparable but wanted to hear the file just to see if it is the cans or the recording. I also played my flac rips of some of the tracks on your file.

Conclusion: it's the recording.

All sounds great to me btw. I hear what you're saying but it's no where near unpleasant ear piercing fatigeuing sibilance, it's natural to the artist or the recording. If you think it's more than that then maybe there is a problem. For me though sounds great.

 

[yianni1066]

For me the 565 does everything that the 580 and 58X can do (I have both) but with a little more soundstage. But I do find the 580/X very comfortable and fast which is why I have them.

Some singers have gaps in their teeth or crapty technique combined with high producers which can cause that sibilance like on the beck track. All the headphones are doing are replaying that recording.

If you cannot tell, I love my Ovations. So much that I have an extra pair in a box just in case my current ones fail.

As to what sounds great. Do you have a streaming service? Listen to the awesome seperation and tight bass on the Sylvan Esso self titled album. If you don't want to listen to the whole thing just play Hey Mami and Could I Be. Chris Stapleton's Tennessee Whisky shows off the qualities of the Ovations too. I have been listening to the new A Perfect Circle album daily since released and that also sounds phenomenal on my Ovies.

My experience could just be ideal synergy with my Chord Mojo but before that I had an LG V20 which also drove them brilliantly. Try those recordings. If they sound sibilant, check your eq settings. If flat then I'm not sure what to suggest.

Great choice for sibilance test the Sylvan Esso's Hey Mami, actually enjoyed it too. The sibilance was on the verge of being a little annoying for me but only just.

 

[477621]

Great choice for sibilance test the Sylvan Esso's Hey Mami, actually enjoyed it too. The sibilance was on the verge of being a little annoying for me but only just.

I do really like that album. The fact that every other line starts with 'She' makes it a good one to use for sure. The slight gain on the vocal tracks definitely accent those frequencies but I think that is an intentional production artefact.

 

[pa79]

The HD565 driver has a different connection than the HD580/600/650. The voice coil is soldered directly to the springs, so the springs can't be replaced. And I have yet to hear from someone who managed to solder the enamelled, extremely thin voice coil wire. Extra care is needed when stretching the springs for better connection when you have a problem with a channel falling out.

Only just joined the forum, but I have a pair of 545's which I did exactly that with in 2013 - I assume the 545's have the same connection as the 565's. I seem to recall the procedure being *extremely* fiddly for a soldering novice, and probably not that pretty, but they're still working now. I've been listening happily to them for years, but I've just been tempted by the Massdrop HD58X's, which should be arriving in a couple of days time. Looking forward to seeing how they compare!

 

[AndyBrechin]

I recently resurrected my HD565s with some new pads and headband and replacement cables. The cables cost approx. £10 shipped from China, cheap enough to take the chance and the old cables were glitchy anyway. So, the new cables sound great and playing good quality files just through an Audioquest Red these old headphones are sounding just incredible, 20+ years old and I've never heard them sound so good.
You see lots of 3rd. Party replacement cables on Amazon/Ebay for £50+. Anyone tried any of those, I'd probably spend that kind of money if I thought I could push these even further but quite honestly those £10 cables I got are mighty impressive.
What portable DACs are folk using with their HD565s?
I can't say I was too impressed with my Audioquest Red before but it now seems a good match with my 565s.

 

[Nimerino]

I post on these forums (extremely) rarely, but having had a pair of practically new 565s in their original packaging, purchased from eBay a few years ago, I never got around to listening to them properly or rectifying the one thing that prevented me from doing so: the lack of a cable. I’ve thrown an HD600 cable on them now and had a listen. I’m genuinely flabbergasted. They are so very very good, and so much more comfortable to wear than the Hd580/600/650 sets that I simply kept them on for a few hours, listening to all types of music from a Sony WM1Z. Connecting them to a Hugo and a ZH1ES yielded the same improvements in fidelity and dynamics that I associate with the HD650. A new headband (due to the inevitable withering) and a new set of ear pads are on the way, though the latter are probably not needed.

I’m now planning to test a set of balanced cables and try the Sony sources, which have more output power through the balanced connection. All in all, for sheer enjoyment, one of my favourite current sets, and I’m glad I finally got around to giving them a proper chance. Only took 6 years...

 

[Chuck Dee]

I post on these forums (extremely) rarely, but having had a pair of practically new 565s in their original packaging, purchased from eBay a few years ago, I never got around to listening to them properly or rectifying the one thing that prevented me from doing so: the lack of a cable. I’ve thrown an HD600 cable on them now and had a listen. I’m genuinely flabbergasted. They are so very very good, and so much more comfortable to wear than the Hd580/600/650 sets that I simply kept them on for a few hours, listening to all types of music from a Sony WM1Z. Connecting them to a Hugo and a ZH1ES yielded the same improvements in fidelity and dynamics that I associate with the HD650. A new headband (due to the inevitable withering) and a new set of ear pads are on the way, though the latter are probably not needed.

I’m now planning to test a set of balanced cables and try the Sony sources, which have more output power through the balanced connection. All in all, for sheer enjoyment, one of my favourite current sets, and I’m glad I finally got around to giving them a proper chance. Only took 6 years...

Good find!
I discovered that the HD565/600/650 drivers were interchangeable. So I went ahead and ordered a set of 650 drivers for my old HD565 chassis as well as some foams and a new SE cable.

The result was so good that I decided to get hold of another old HD565 chassis and order some HD600 drivers and foams as well as a balanced cable for that too!

Couldn't be happier. I now effectively have a 'more comfortable' pair of HD600's and HD650's for the price of the replacement parts.
Result!

 

[MDR30]

Good find!
I discovered that the HD565/600/650 drivers were interchangeable. So I went ahead and ordered a set of 650 drivers for my old HD565 chassis as well as some foams and a new SE cable.

The result was so good that I decided to get hold of another old HD565 chassis and order some HD600 drivers and foams as well as a balanced cable for that too!

Couldn't be happier. I now effectively have a 'more comfortable' pair of HD600's and HD650's for the price of the replacement parts.
Result!

The 565 has more bite than 600 and 650. In my 60 years old ears it's also a very "correct" headphone. Fresh pads make a positive improvement. I've returned to it the last months and have used it more than others. It sounds very good with my favourite balanced amps, the Dynalo and Gilmore Squarewave.

 

[Chuck Dee]

Not sure what you define as 'more bite' MDR30 (?).
However, I just got my 3rd set of 565's and as the drivers seem to be in good condition I decided to only replace the foams.
So I now have a nice little trifecta; 565, 600, 650 drivers all housed in 565 chassis.
I've been re-acquainting myself with the sig of the 565 drivers and they are a very decent sounding headphone. Not as neutral or refined as the 600 and not as authoritative or resolving as the 650 but very decent nontheless!

 

[Mellowship]

Just bumping this thread to share this review from zeos

 

[footplate]

How time flies.. apparently its been 4 years since my last post on Head-Fi, although I've been an occasional lurker during that time.


Before the HD58X there was another, mostly forgotten, 150 ohm Sennheiser with 600 family genes. The HD565 Ovation.

Inspired in part by this thread I have recently 'restored' my old (I purchased them in 1997) HD565s. I have replaced the collapsed headband pad (with a new HD650 version, closest to original look), new OFC HD650 balanced cable ($70AU ebay "cheapy") which has fixed the intermittent connection issues of the original cable, and new pads (YAXI HD650 pads). I purchased a Fiio BTR5 so I could make them wireless. In that configuration the HD565s have now jumped ahead of my HD600's to be my current goto listeners. They are a bit more 'fun'.

My thoughts when I watched Zeos's reactions to his lender 'antique' HD565's...

1. yep, they're good. that's why they are my favourites. warm glow of affirmation. (my ranking: HD565>HD600>HD58X> a whole heap of others I own thanks to too much lurking on this site).
2. but whats this? whats with the hand waving? sure they look a bit 'blughh'. but the wide dated looking head band is in part why they are so,so comfortable. and their modernistic cups look.. ok, I agree, they look a bit 80's. but who sits in front of a mirror while listening?
3. Zeos implored Sennheiser to bring these back (but to fix the 'blughh'). I actually purchased the HD58Xs because I thought maybe that's what they had done. Sorry Sennheiser, close, but no cigar.

I love my HD565 Ovations.

 

[Mellowship]

How time flies.. apparently its been 4 years since my last post on Head-Fi, although I've been an occasional lurker during that time.


Before the HD58X there was another, mostly forgotten, 150 ohm Sennheiser with 600 family genes. The HD565 Ovation.

Inspired in part by this thread I have recently 'restored' my old (I purchased them in 1997) HD565s. I have replaced the collapsed headband pad (with a new HD650 version, closest to original look), new OFC HD650 balanced cable ($70AU ebay "cheapy") which has fixed the intermittent connection issues of the original cable, and new pads (YAXI HD650 pads). I purchased a Fiio BTR5 so I could make them wireless. In that configuration the HD565s have now jumped ahead of my HD600's to be my current goto listeners. They are a bit more 'fun'.

My thoughts when I watched Zeos's reactions to his lender 'antique' HD565's...

1. yep, they're good. that's why they are my favourites. warm glow of affirmation. (my ranking: HD565>HD600>HD58X> a whole heap of others I own thanks to too much lurking on this site).
2. but whats this? whats with the hand waving? sure they look a bit 'blughh'. but the wide dated looking head band is in part why they are so,so comfortable. and their modernistic cups look.. ok, I agree, they look a bit 80's. but who sits in front of a mirror while listening?
3. Zeos implored Sennheiser to bring these back (but to fix the 'blughh'). I actually purchased the HD58Xs because I thought maybe that's what they had done. Sorry Sennheiser, close, but no cigar.

I love my HD565 Ovations.

I bought them second hand a couple of months ago, after seeing them for a long time listed on a used sales app advertising from a seller near me. Except for the pads, the headband foam and the tuning foams, they were mint. They don't even have the intermittent contacts problem all other owners report.
I got them all new pads and foams, a hd600 headband strip with the nuggets (they are shorter than the originals, so I used 2 plastic strips on each end to hold it in place) and now I'm waiting for materials to make them balanced cables.
They are, by a long run, the most comfortable headphones I ever used.
As for the sound, I've been using them more than all the other stuff. Voices sound so natural on these, it's amazing.
It is also interesting that Zeos turned out to be one of the few sources of information about the Ovations, along with you guys here. I can even find more online about my 1979 pair of AKG K340 than about these Senns.