Sennheiser HD595 or 650

[tnili]

I read the other threads but they did not cover my specific question.

I listen to the 595 through the headphone jack of a Harman Kardon 254. I mostly use them for movies, TV and gaming. Do you think I will notice an improvement if I upgrade to a 650? I am not planning to buy a headphone amp.

 

[dave650]

I think the HD650s really need a headphone amp, don't they?
Once I bought a Grado headphone amp to listen to my HD650s and even all the way up it was too quiet, had to swap for the high gain model.
I plugged the 650s straight into the green hole on my soundblaster card and it just wouldnt go louder than a whisper. Seriously super quiet.
I don't know if its the same for the HD595, I've only ever had the 555s, they didnt need a headphone amp when I was using them with a digital multitracker.
Hope this helps.

 

[lucky]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tnili /img/forum/go_quote.gif I read the other threads but they did not cover my specific question. I listen to the 595 through the headphone jack of a Harman Kardon 254. I mostly use them for movies, TV and gaming. Do you think I will notice an improvement if I upgrade to a 650? I am not planning to buy a headphone amp.

You'd be better off with an HD555. Save your money.

 

[John Willett]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tnili /img/forum/go_quote.gif I read the other threads but they did not cover my specific question. I listen to the 595 through the headphone jack of a Harman Kardon 254. I mostly use them for movies, TV and gaming. Do you think I will notice an improvement if I upgrade to a 650? I am not planning to buy a headphone amp.

Yes, you will notice the difference.

Yes, a headphone amp. brings out the best in them, but you will still notice the difference.

I sometimes listen to my HD 650 on the mini-jack on a TV.

Whether you want to pay the extra is up to you.

 

[pat1006]

I went from 555s to 650s. I used a Harmon Kardon AVR 135 for awhile to drive them. I did notice a difference. I would say this difference was more noticable then upgrading my amp to a gilmore lite.

 

[1Time]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tnili /img/forum/go_quote.gif I read the other threads but they did not cover my specific question. I listen to the 595 through the headphone jack of a Harman Kardon 254. I mostly use them for movies, TV and gaming. Do you think I will notice an improvement if I upgrade to a 650? I am not planning to buy a headphone amp.

One concern is whether the H/K will drive the HD650 to a sufficient volume for you; it may. Another is if you would prefer its sound to the HD595; you may but I doubt it because of your stated uses for these headphones.

I've owned the HD595 and HD650 and an H/K receiver. The H/K receiver and HD595 were a good match. I enjoyed it mostly with jazz and movies. I never used the HD650 with the H/K and never found a use for it. The HD650 needs a powerful amp to wake up and get going. That is not to say you could not prefer its sound to your HD595. However, in my opinion the H/K has a warm, slow type of sound and so does the HD650. Combine those two with probably what's not enough power from the H/K to adequately drive the HD650 and you'll end up with a slow, dark, and potentially lifeless sound. My HD650 was very smooth sounding with underwhelming source and amps that I used, and it was put me to sleep boring.

For gaming, movies, TV, or music to tap your toe to, no way would I choose an under driven HD650 over the HD595. You very likely would not find the HD650 serving you better than your HD595.