[Music freak]

I am still waiting for someone to suggest me a lusher and smoother sounding headphone. I am losing hope that I would find one.
I think I would go for the HE 400i. I know it is not smoother , but it is time that I get myself some planars I can't wait any longer. Does anyone own the HE 400i here or tried them? I want some comparison between them and the 650s.

 

[cskippy]

Couple suggestions:
 
Get a Vali 2 or Valhalla 2 with a warm tube to smooth them out.
 
Try the Monoprice M1060, ideally with Audeze pads.

 

[DavidA]

Quote:

  I am still waiting for someone to suggest me a lusher and smoother sounding headphone. I am losing hope that I would find one.
I think I would go for the HE 400i. I know it is not smoother , but it is time that I get myself some planars I can't wait any longer. Does anyone own the HE 400i here or tried them? I want some comparison between them and the 650s.

Very different sounding and for me they are better at some genres of music that the HD650 does not do as well.  To keep you interested here is a picture of a few different planar headphones next to the HD650:

on the table from left to right: EL8 open, LCD-2, HE400i, HD650 hanging on stand in front of BH Crack, on the outside edges: Left-custom Nhoord V2, Right-HD700 and DT-990 premium.

 

[LazyListener]

  Thanks for receiving me in this comunity !
 
Well , it was the feeling i got from it. I think it might depend on the person, at some point i found myself having to take them off because they started to get anoying , though i never used them with an external dac or amp and maybe that might influenciated it.  

It may be the person.  It may be synergy with equipment.  It may be the specific headphone you got.  I had a 598 SE that I returned because it had weak bass and fatiguing highs.  Sounded nothing like my ivory 598.  Generally speaking, the 598 is loved by most for its non-fatiguing, laid back sound, as is the 650.  The 598 has a slightly V-shaped sound, with a bloomy mid/high bass, slight dip in the mids, and a slightly boosted treble before rolling off.  The 650, IMO, has a more neutral sound signature: less mid/high bass, more even mids and treble.

 

[LazyListener]

  I finally got my HD650s yesterday after some debate with my wallet and finding out that Amazon had free same day shipping available. I think my HD650s still have some burning in to do. Out of the box I felt kind of "meh" about the sound compared to my well used HD598s. After using them for a few hours yesterday and letting the burn in overnight, I definitely noticed a good improvement. I'm sure most of that is just my ears getting used to the new sound signature. Curious to see how they sound after few more days of use and burning in overnight. 

Similar here.  I was kind of underwhelmed with the 650 at first listen, but that was out of an iphone 6.  The E10K really did a good job with them.  I started to appreciate the smoothness and accuracy of the vocals and mids, the increased resolution, and better sense of depth, over the 598s.  The improvements weren't huge, but noticeable and appreciated.  With the Magni 2, they transformed once again.  Everything came out of the background into the fore and smoothness improved even more, but sadly soundstage width and depth suffered.  Ultimately, I decided to return them, as I wasn't prepared to buy a proper amp for it at the time, and the difference in sound over the 598 with my current equipment didn't justify the price of the 650.
 
I'd keep listening.  You'll probably grow to appreciate them more and more.  I have a feeling I'll be getting them again in the future.

 

[LazyListener]

   
many would both agree and also disagree with you, and that is ok.
i personally like skeptical thinkers....wish there were
more double blind testing done in the accessories markets.
while i have no problem paying for better sound (like many of us on here)
I just wish there were more validation tests done to ensure 
we're truly getting what we pay for....you know take the 'subjectivity'
out of it.

I'm of the opinion that if I can't hear a difference subjectively, without resorting to blind testing, then the difference isn't significant enough to warrant the purchase.

 

[LazyListener]

  The HD 598 has a rather grainy sound to it, when listening to it compared to the HD 650 on a good system, the difference is quite dramatic. The E10K also doesn't drive the HD 650 well, I have found most headphones can be fatiguing when under-driven especially when listening at louder volumes.
 
I personally find the HD 598 a bit fatiguing. Wouldn't call the HD 650 fatiguing, but even the HD 650 sounds a little fatiguing to me compared to certain headphones(even if those headphones have somewhat bitey treble). FR response won't always tell me how fatiguing or non-fatiguing a headphone is. 

Agree.  The 598 is a bit grainy compared to 650, which is very smooth.  Surprisingly, the E10K did a pretty good job with the 650.  More soundstage than with the Magni 2, but the M2 was smoother.

 

[LazyListener]

  I own both. Well, I don't find the 650s more fatiguing than the 598. You sure it was the brightness and not just the better resolution? HD 650s are high resolution and they are not going to hide anything in the recording, but wont shove it in your face like bright and sibilant sounding headphones. . 
When I first got my 650s, I was disappointed because they sounded a bit more dry than the 598, I realized later that it was just high resolution. The dry details in the recording is going to sound more dry and present on the 650s than the 598s. Eventually I got used to the sound and now I just can't go back to the 598s. Also, underpowering them is a bad idea. They sound absolutely schiit with my schiit fulla that is more powerful than my FiiO E10k. I did not even bother to try the 650s with my E10k after trying them with my fulla.

I don't know if it was a difference in resolution or frequency response.  The 650 do sound more revealing to me, so maybe they're just revealing inherent brightness in the amp or the recordings.  The 598 do have more of a veil to them.  I think it was actually the mids that were bothering me a bit on the 650 at times, not the highs.  Again, nothing major.  650s still sound great, and I do believe what others have said - they need a better amp to truly shine.
 
Haven't tried the fulla but did try 650 with the E10K line out to a Magni 2, and the mids and highs sounded smoother, but the soundstage width and depth got smaller.

 

[LazyListener]

  I am still waiting for someone to suggest me a lusher and smoother sounding headphone. I am losing hope that I would find one.
I think I would go for the HE 400i. I know it is not smoother , but it is time that I get myself some planars I can't wait any longer. Does anyone own the HE 400i here or tried them? I want some comparison between them and the 650s.

Have you tried the HE-400S?  They are not lusher and smoother overall, but the mids are better than 650 IMO.  400S are brighter overall, they get a little sloppy in the treble, and don't have good bass extension (at least with stock pads, didn't try other pads).  650 is the better can overall, but the mids on the 400S are pretty sweet.  Most say they don't sound like planars.

 

[Solrighal]

Something strange has happened to my listening experience over the last few days. I have been using JRMC as my player of choice for a few years now and, because it's an old version (and a Windows port to boot) it 'breaks' occasionally. It broke again last week and I just can't be bothered fixing it. I downloaded Vox to use until I finally do the big re-install (big because I have custom views set up that aren't simple to set up).
 
Vox sounds better, by quite some margin. There's more detail, it's smoother & less fatigueing. I have no idea why this should be the case. I've tried Vox in the past and, although I was a big fan of the interface, it didn't seem to have the resolution of JRMC. That seems to have changed. My wife also agrees, even although she dislikes headphones generally.
 
Iknow this possibly isn't the thread for this but perhaps it might provide food for thought for those who believe the HD 650 has (for them) characteristics which seem to fly in the face of popular opinion. Check your software.

 

[Youth]

While I generally find HD650 to be smooth I don't think they are as much as some people make them out to be. The upper mids and grain is a limiting factor - at least for me.     

 

[rikk009]

  I've switched from my hd598 to the hd650 and i'mm pretty satisfied with the change and it seems that it feels every gap on the HD598 , the highs on the hd650 are kindof rolled off but they make them not fatiguing , as on the 598 for me was an issue.
I'm running them with an Sabre 9018 Async DAC and a Fiio E12 AMP. Feeling pretty solid, where do you guys think that is the weakest point on my link? 
 
It sounds really great, i'm just looking for some dac/amp that can sinergyze with them
 
 
btw : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOlGNeVZrRU
 
Listen to that and just watch your 650 jumping off your head , with a fu**ng high detail.
 
 
Warm hug for everyone!

The reason for harshness was that Sabre 9018 glare. If you still have Hd598 which to another source. Highs are the only thing I liked on Hd598.

 

[rikk009]

  Something strange has happened to my listening experience over the last few days. I have been using JRMC as my player of choice for a few years now and, because it's an old version (and a Windows port to boot) it 'breaks' occasionally. It broke again last week and I just can't be bothered fixing it. I downloaded Vox to use until I finally do the big re-install (big because I have custom views set up that aren't simple to set up).
 
Vox sounds better, by quite some margin. There's more detail, it's smoother & less fatigueing. I have no idea why this should be the case. I've tried Vox in the past and, although I was a big fan of the interface, it didn't seem to have the resolution of JRMC. That seems to have changed. My wife also agrees, even although she dislikes headphones generally.
 
Iknow this possibly isn't the thread for this but perhaps it might provide food for thought for those who believe the HD 650 has (for them) characteristics which seem to fly in the face of popular opinion. Check your software.

Haven't heard VOX but when I went from Foobar to JRMC I felt darker signature. It was noticeable immediately. I used JRMC for a long time then a couple of months back I switched to Foobar again and immediately noticed 'better' open sound. It was actually the neutral signature.

 

[rikk009]

  I am still waiting for someone to suggest me a lusher and smoother sounding headphone. I am losing hope that I would find one.
I think I would go for the HE 400i. I know it is not smoother , but it is time that I get myself some planars I can't wait any longer. Does anyone own the HE 400i here or tried them? I want some comparison between them and the 650s.

If you are planning on 400i I would suggest to better look at Monolith M1060. 

 

[Bernardo Costa]

  I own both. Well, I don't find the 650s more fatiguing than the 598. You sure it was the brightness and not just the better resolution? HD 650s are high resolution and they are not going to hide anything in the recording, but wont shove it in your face like bright and sibilant sounding headphones. . 
When I first got my 650s, I was disappointed because they sounded a bit more dry than the 598, I realized later that it was just high resolution. The dry details in the recording is going to sound more dry and present on the 650s than the 598s. Eventually I got used to the sound and now I just can't go back to the 598s. Also, underpowering them is a bad idea. They sound absolutely schiit with my schiit fulla that is more powerful than my FiiO E10k. I did not even bother to try the 650s with my E10k after trying them with my fulla.

What would you recomend for driving the 650s? I'm using them with a fiio e12, and they sound great, though i never experienced any other amp.