[Joelc87]

I just started burning in my new HD650's and while I realize they're nowhere near their full potential they already have me very impressed.  After reading many reviews I wasn't expecting some big revelatory moment when I tried them for the first time.  I will say, wow they're comfy, but aesthetics aside, the sound is kinda like a really beautiful woman's face.  There's nothing that really stands out, and then you realize that since nothing stands out there's no major imperfections, and that's what makes these cans so perfect.  The sound is just so in the middle ideal (not average) that you don't notice anything except seamless music flowing into your ears.  I'm no expert reviewer or anything like that so I won't attempt to write a modest review on cans that I'm sure have been reviewed over and over again by much more expert listeners than myself.  
 
I will say that I'll still keep my Grado SR225i's just cause they have that super punchy fun sound for certain genre's but these 650's are definitely a keeper.  I don't have any money for extra amps, but for the time being my HR MicroStack seems to drive them quite nicely.  The P-51 is a great portable amp for my Grado's and UE's but it doesn't do these Senn's justice.

 

[pp312]

 
Quote:

The sound is just so in the middle ideal (not average) that you don't notice anything except seamless music flowing into your ears.

 
That's actually the great strength of the 650, its seamlessness. It doesn't dissect the music and pull it apart. It may not be as detailed or provide the space between instruments that the top phones can, but it gives you all the fundaments of the music as an organic wholeness. You don't feel there are any gaps or peaks or that you're missing anything important. Above all it has low listener fatigue, a quality much underrated around here.  

 

[Heidegger]

Quote:

I don't have any money for extra amps, but for the time being my HR MicroStack seems to drive them quite nicely.  

I used the HR micro for years with my 650. Worked nicely, but then I got a powerful amp and realized what I'd been missing. When you can afford it, get a nice amp for your 650, as they do improve beyond what you hear with the micro.

 
 

 

[tdockweiler]

Think I've finally decided I prefer my Asgard with these by far. Since I won't use them for gaming, the extra bass the Asgard gives them over my E9 doesn't matter so much now. They're just not as fun to listen to on the E9 and they're far more engaging on the Asgard. I think it actually make the mids on the HD-650 so much better and maybe slightly more forward. What's weird is that my E9 did that for the K702, but  not the HD-650..at all.
 
I also found something interesting out today. All the cable haters, feel free to ignore this! I took an old HD-650 cable and attached it to my Koss Pro DJ100. I was shocked to find out it was actually worse than the stock cable! It actually made the sound less clear. How is that possible?! All that plastic and the actual wire inside is super thin.
 
I then stole the Canare cable from my sextett and attached it to my DJ100. I was really shocked at how much better it sounded. It made the sound signature of the DJ100 a lot smoother and seemed to help the detail a bit. The sound was a lot more clear. DJ100 isn't a fun headphone to recable, but I'm glad I did it. It kind of reminds me of the Sextett and a little of the HD-650. The canare cable is slightly thicker so that may explain the differences. It's a pain to work with.
 
So I think I'm going to just buy some dirt cheap Canare cable and make myself a new cable. I imagine it won't cost me more than $40, if that. I already have some spare Sennheiser connectors that might work.
 
So...I think the default HD-650 cable is pretty terrible! Sorry, I said it!
 
I like my HD-650, but I think it's been said before, that it sure doesn't try to impress me. That's not a bad thing. For that I have my HD-598 and DJ100.

 

[crewman]

I own a 650 and HE90  so I am feeling guilty and want to spread the joy.

 

[skeptic]

Quote:

I also found something interesting out today. All the cable haters, feel free to ignore this! I took an old HD-650 cable and attached it to my Koss Pro DJ100. I was shocked to find out it was actually worse than the stock cable! It actually made the sound less clear. How is that possible?! All that plastic and the actual wire inside is super thin.

 
So you're saying you somehow installed Sennheiser connectors on your Koss phones and plugged in a HD650 cable?  Or are you saying you chopped off the connectors on your old 650 cable and soldered it directly to the Koss driver terminals?  It strikes me that a bad connection might be a more reasonable explanation for what you heard than the 650 cable being inherently inferior to the cable on your Koss Pro DJ100's.       
 
Also, don't the Koss Pro's have a single cable entry point?  Did you drill the other cup or just hook up the replacement cable on one side?  It seems like the guage of the cable wouldn't count for much if one of the two drivers is still receiving its signal from the thin wire inside the phones that connects the left and right sides. 

 

[tdockweiler]

 
Quote:

 
So you're saying you somehow installed Sennheiser connectors on your Koss phones and plugged in a HD650 cable?  Or are you saying you chopped off the connectors on your old 650 cable and soldered it directly to the Koss driver terminals?  It strikes me that a bad connection might be a more reasonable explanation for what you heard than the 650 cable being inherently inferior to the cable on your Koss Pro DJ100's.       
 
Also, don't the Koss Pro's have a single cable entry point?  Did you drill the other cup or just hook up the replacement cable on one side?  It seems like the guage of the cable wouldn't count for much if one of the two drivers is still receiving its signal from the thin wire inside the phones that connects the left and right sides. 

 
No, I chopped off the connectors and soldered the cables onto the DJ100. The connection is very secure and not a cause of any problems.
The DJ100 has a single sided connection, but I was able to remove the volume switch and turn it into a double sided connection. It actually worked out quite well!
 
I guess my whole point was that this alone gave me a reason to now want to make myself a fancy new $40 HD-650 cable! I'll just use some good, but cheap cable. I believe the Canare cable I used is only $4 a foot or something like that. Probably even cheaper. Now my Sextett has no cable. Hahah, yes, I love my DJ100 so much that I actually did that with no regrets! Guess i'll buy more cable for that too.
 
Maybe a cable will make me love the HD-650 instead of just liking it. That happened with my K702 when I switched amps, so it's worth a try. Since silver cable is so expensive I might skip the silver for now.
 

 

[Fastlane]

Quote:

 ...  I guess my whole point was that this alone gave me a reason to now want to make myself a fancy new $40 HD-650 cable! I'll just use some good, but cheap cable. I believe the Canare cable I used is only $4 a foot or something like that. Probably even cheaper. ...

I have an aftermarket cable for the HD650 that uses Mogami Neglex 2534, which is a quad 24 awg copper wire, shielded, mic cable.  It is flexible and seems like it will be more durable than the stock cable.  I originally got it for the HD600 and haven't done any comparison for sound with the stock cable on the 650. 

 

[svenski]

Recently received the HD650 after having used the HD595s for some years. I really love them and the appear to open up more and more by the hour (less than 30h listened so far) . I am  still looking for a decent amp but current budget is tight. I was thinking of the fiio E9 as I currently got the fiio E7 and it would be a logical upgrade. I must say tough that the fiio E7 alone the HD650 appears to have a narrower sound stage in comparison with two other non dedicated DACs (Native instruments Audio 2 DJ and my old but trusted Terratec Dmx 6Fire). I assume it is due to being underpowered in comparison to the two others (cant find any info but the volume dials need to be lower for identical levels)? Hence I wondered whether in the experience of E9 or E7/E9 combo owners the sound stage is likely to open up a bit more with the E9?
 

 

[mackat]

Best sounding 'phones I've ever encountered!

 

[olor1n]

Congrats. Please don't paint them purple.

 

[sridhar3]

Got my 650s about a month and a half ago, and have put about 100 hrs on them so far.  Great sound quality for the price I paid.  Definitely a bit on the warm side, especially through a tube amp, but the sound is not the least bit fatiguing.  I've had at least one ten-hour listening session, and I never experienced any discomfort.
 
My only complaint about these headphones is that sometimes the sound can deteriorate and artifact in highly-detailed sections.  I was recently listening to The Dark Knight OST (FLAC), and in some parts everything started to "fall apart", with less detail and instrument separation.  The bass started to get muddy and less discrete, and it sounded like the elements were bleeding into eachother.  Not sure how else to describe it, but it started to sound "messy".  I've heard this sort of thing can happen if the 650s aren't properly amped, but I have a Schiit Lyr feeding them, so I don't think power is an issue.  I've only had this happen a few times though.
 
That aside, money well spent.

 

[LugBug1]

Quote:

Got my 650s about a month and a half ago, and have put about 100 hrs on them so far.  Great sound quality for the price I paid.  Definitely a bit on the warm side, especially through a tube amp, but the sound is not the least bit fatiguing.  I've had at least one ten-hour listening session, and I never experienced any discomfort.
 
My only complaint about these headphones is that sometimes the sound can deteriorate and artifact in highly-detailed sections.  I was recently listening to The Dark Knight OST (FLAC), and in some parts everything started to "fall apart", with less detail and instrument separation.  The bass started to get muddy and less discrete, and it sounded like the elements were bleeding into eachother.  Not sure how else to describe it, but it started to sound "messy".  I've heard this sort of thing can happen if the 650s aren't properly amped, but I have a Schiit Lyr feeding them, so I don't think power is an issue.  I've only had this happen a few times though.
 
That aside, money well spent.

It may be because you are using a Schiit amp. (sorry old joke) Seriously though, I find the 650's are more picky with amps then most people on here suggest. Yes they sound good out of most dedicated amps but only a few really bring the best out of them. Tubes give them a massive soundstage but also can make the bass muddy etc (I'm talking about sub £500). For me Hybrid amps are the way forward with the 650's. Tube soundstage with S/S timing and speed keeps them in check.
 

 

[sridhar3]

Quote:

It may be because you are using a Schiit amp. (sorry old joke) Seriously though, I find the 650's are more picky with amps then most people on here suggest. Yes they sound good out of most dedicated amps but only a few really bring the best out of them. Tubes give them a massive soundstage but also can make the bass muddy etc (I'm talking about sub £500). For me Hybrid amps are the way forward with the 650's. Tube soundstage with S/S timing and speed keeps them in check.
 

That's an interesting appraisal of the problem.  Is a problem with tube synergy typically manifested as difficulty in resolution specifically within complex passages?  Because I would've thought that if the headphones and the tubes were not working together as well as they should be, the problem would be across the board, with all music.  I'm not using the stock tubes for the Lyr either, as I upgraded to NOS Amperex 6922s.
 
Maybe I'll take my question to one of the Lyr threads.  Thanks for the input.
 
Also, if there's a problem with the synergy between the headphones and the amp, I would imagine I would only need to change/upgrade one or the other in order to solve said problem.  Is that a sensible assumption to make?

 

[LugBug1]

Quote:

That's an interesting appraisal of the problem.  Is a problem with tube synergy typically manifested as difficulty in resolution specifically within complex passages?  Because I would've thought that if the headphones and the tubes were not working together as well as they should be, the problem would be across the board, with all music.  I'm not using the stock tubes for the Lyr either, as I upgraded to NOS Amperex 6922s.
 
Maybe I'll take my question to one of the Lyr threads.  Thanks for the input.
 
Also, if there's a problem with the synergy between the headphones and the amp, I would imagine I would only need to change/upgrade one or the other in order to solve said problem.  Is that a sensible assumption to make?

I use the Xcan v3 and I love the synergy. I also have my 650's recabled and this can add more resolution. I listen to a lot of contemporary classical such as Elliot Carter and Birtwistle etc and the detail with this combo is fantastic with the complex orchestration. However, I believe that it may be impossible get a tight and contolled lower end with the 650's (in my experience)... they are always going to be warm at the bottom which can spill into the upper mids depending on how bassy the source is.
 
I would first try a quality solid silver interconnect first before you purchace a new component. Don't pay any more than £50-$60! and this can be great upgrade especially regarding resolution and detail.