[turbomustang84]

Today I was listening on YouTube to a couple of new Tool songs and I went through every single Headphone I own and due to the recording being not so good the vocals were so hidden in the recording it was hard to make out the words.

Then I Got my HD-6XX out and boom the vocals were clear and front and center .
It was almost like a magic trick.

I knew that the HD-650 and the HD-6XX did well on vocals but this was very surprising just how well it worked on a poorly made Live cell phone recording .

 

[compddd]

I am experiencing a weird issue with my HD650s. When playing games on my computer or watching movies/shows randomly what I can only describe as the sound you hear when your ears pop happens in the left side of my 650s and the sound seems to fade out for a few seconds and then returns to normal. Any idea what it could be?

 

[castleofargh]

I am experiencing a weird issue with my HD650s. When playing games on my computer or watching movies/shows randomly what I can only describe as the sound you hear when your ears pop happens in the left side of my 650s and the sound seems to fade out for a few seconds and then returns to normal. Any idea what it could be?

you can start by opening it(easy to do on this headphone with several videos of it) and look at the membrane for a suspicious shape or marking compared to the other side.
I assume the feeling you get is maybe from a loud noise(caused by????) that makes you temporarily get the impression that sound has gone quieter and progressively comes back to normal level. if not, I'd start to worry about the rest of the rig instead of the headphone.

 

[erchuky]

Hello everybody. I have just bought an used hd650 (the first version with silver box) at 130€. When I received it, I have seen that it is in good condition, but the cable is not original, it is a 15ft Stefan equinox.

Something strange for me, is that when I plug it to a music source, they sound lower than the fidelio x2. I expected more difficulties for moving the hd650 well because of the impedance.

Also, the headband pad is inexistent completely flat. Do anyone know where can I bought it? I only found the hd600 one (2$) which is different, and the complete headband that is more expensive and unnecessary.

Do you think that is a good purchase? I have 15 days for returning it to the shop

 

[L0rdGwyn]

Hello everybody. I have just bought an used hd650 (the first version with silver box) at 130€. When I received it, I have seen that it is in good condition, but the cable is not original, it is a 15ft Stefan equinox.

Something strange for me, is that when I plug it to a music source, they sound lower than the fidelio x2. I expected more difficulties for moving the hd650 well because of the impedance.

Also, the headband pad is inexistent completely flat. Do anyone know where can I bought it? I only found the hd600 one (2$) which is different, and the complete headband that is more expensive and unnecessary.

Do you think that is a good purchase? I have 15 days for returning it to the shop

You can buy a replacement pad from here:

https://spares.sennheiser.co.uk/pro-audio-headphones/sennheiser-hd650-spare-parts

If the headphones are in good condition and are well-functioning, seems like a good deal considering you received a custom cable as well. Enjoy!

 

[L0rdGwyn]

I am experiencing a weird issue with my HD650s. When playing games on my computer or watching movies/shows randomly what I can only describe as the sound you hear when your ears pop happens in the left side of my 650s and the sound seems to fade out for a few seconds and then returns to normal. Any idea what it could be?

You should probably also rule out your source as a cause of the issue. Does this happen with any other device?

 

[megabigeye]

I am experiencing a weird issue with my HD650s. When playing games on my computer or watching movies/shows randomly what I can only describe as the sound you hear when your ears pop happens in the left side of my 650s and the sound seems to fade out for a few seconds and then returns to normal. Any idea what it could be?

Interesting! I used to experience this exact phenomenon with my HD 650. I'd be listening when all of a sudden the left ear would drop out and become very distant sounding, almost as though it was suddenly out of phase (but only in the left ear), and then slowly, slowly it would come back. It happened so irregularly that it was hard to replicate-- sometimes it'd happen at least once per album, other times it'd be days or weeks before it'd happen again-- so I wasn't ever able to say for certain that it was the headphone and not some other piece of equipment and I never bothered mentioning it here. I don't listen to the HD 650 as often as I used to, but I don't think I've experienced this in a couple of years. My wife actually uses the HD 650 (for TV) a lot more than I do and she claims she's never noticed this phenomenon.
If I recall, I'd heard this problem on a couple of amps (NuForce HDP (RIP) and... FiiO E12A?), which led me to believe it was the headphones; but those amps have been more or less retired and I've never (that I remember) heard it on their replacement (PeachTree nova65SE)... Which kind of leads me to believe that it does have something to do with the amp. ?? Or maybe it just rectifies itself? Or maybe it's just been a long time before it decides to happen again?

@castleofargh, I don't think I ever noticed a loud noise (don't want to speak for compddd, of course), but that is precisely the sensation.

Anyway, this probably isn't terribly helpful, but I just wanted to you know that you're not alone in your experience! As @L0rdGwyn pointed out, see if you can use the process of elimination to make sure it's not some other piece of gear misbehaving. Try using the headphones with any other source (your phone, old iPod, whatever), or see if the problem persists using your PC and other heapdhones. The problem I found is that it can be so infrequent that you could listen for a month and it wouldn't happen. Whenever it happens write it down, making note of which source, amp, cables, headphones; maybe even note which track and how loudly you're listening. Being able to recognize a pattern will make it much easier to diagnose the problem. I'm a little annoyed with myself for never having done this.

Anyway, best of luck figuring it out!

 

[erchuky]

You can buy a replacement pad from here:

https://spares.sennheiser.co.uk/pro-audio-headphones/sennheiser-hd650-spare-parts

If the headphones are in good condition and are well-functioning, seems like a good deal considering you received a custom cable as well. Enjoy!

Thank you very much, I had searched in the Sennheiser official website, but the headband padding didn't appeared. In that spares web there are more parts.

The headphones works perfectly. I am also thinking about buying the original 10€ cable and compare with the Stefan cable, or maybe buy the original parts and sell the Stefan cable because I am very sceptical with the expensive cable improvements, and this one is too long for me (15ft-4,5m). I don't know how much I could sell the cable, but is an option.

I am going to search about the possibility of cutting the 10€ original cable (https://en-uk.sennheiser.com/accessories--hd-650--cable) for obtaining one 1m cable with a 3.5mm jack, and a 2m extension with the 6.35mm plug (for example). I have read somewhere that the original cable has something sticky inside that make it difficult to solder again, but also that burning a little that sticky material may be enough for soldering correctly.

 

[L0rdGwyn]

Thank you very much, I had searched in the Sennheiser official website, but the headband padding didn't appeared. In that spares web there are more parts.

The headphones works perfectly. I am also thinking about buying the original 10€ cable and compare with the Stefan cable, or maybe buy the original parts and sell the Stefan cable because I am very sceptical with the expensive cable improvements, and this one is too long for me (15ft-4,5m). I don't know how much I could sell the cable, but is an option.

I am going to search about the possibility of cutting the 10€ original cable (https://en-uk.sennheiser.com/accessories--hd-650--cable) for obtaining one 1m cable with a 3.5mm jack, and a 2m extension with the 6.35mm plug (for example). I have read somewhere that the original cable has something sticky inside that make it difficult to solder again, but also that burning a little that sticky material may be enough for soldering correctly.

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but I believe the stock cable is litz copper, meaning each individual strand of wire is coated in plastic. Very difficult to solder unless you have a soldering pot, a regular soldering iron won't do the trick.

If you are handy with a soldering iron, and the Stefan cable is not litz copper, you could probably shorten it pretty easily.

 

[boblauer]

Is it the balanced or se version of the Equinox? That's actually quite a nice cable.

 

[tafens]

I am experiencing a weird issue with my HD650s. When playing games on my computer or watching movies/shows randomly what I can only describe as the sound you hear when your ears pop happens in the left side of my 650s and the sound seems to fade out for a few seconds and then returns to normal. Any idea what it could be?

Have you tried the HD650 in another amp or your home stereo? If that works ok, there is something in the amp/sound card causing it, perhaps a bad capacitor or some other component failing.

 

[erchuky]

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but I believe the stock cable is litz copper, meaning each individual strand of wire is coated in plastic. Very difficult to solder unless you have a soldering pot, a regular soldering iron won't do the trick.

If you are handy with a soldering iron, and the Stefan cable is not litz copper, you could probably shorten it pretty easily.

I have only seen the cable in photos, and it looks like a normal cable, not litz, but it is very possible that I am wrong

It looks like 2 cable with 2 cable inside each one, two for each ear. I have to read more about this. I think on it because the complete cable costs the same or less than only the two Sennheiser connectors, and I suppose they are good quality, although I read somewhere a cable's review where a cable made with cat6 net cable sound better than the sennheiser original cable

Is it the balanced or se version of the Equinox? That's actually quite a nice cable.

It isn't a balanced, cable so I suppose that is the SE version. One like this (but 15ft):

I hasn't tried it a lot because the headphones arrived yesterday, and I don't have the original cable for making a comparation. I only check that the manufacturing quality looks very high, but is 15ft long and I usually use a LG v30 for listening music that I guess and hope it could move the hd650 well enough.

Anyway, I have to buy or make another cable shorter (or the original and try to cut it) and maybe check if there is some improvement with the equinox cable. If I can't find enough improvement, I will try to shell the equinox.

 

[L0rdGwyn]

I have only seen the cable in photos, and it looks like a normal cable, not litz, but it is very possible that I am wrong

It looks like 2 cable with 2 cable inside each one, two for each ear. I have to read more about this. I think on it because the complete cable costs the same or less than only the two Sennheiser connectors, and I suppose they are good quality, although I read somewhere a cable's review where a cable made with cat6 net cable sound better than the sennheiser original cable



It isn't a balanced, cable so I suppose that is the SE version. One like this (but 15ft):

I hasn't tried it a lot because the headphones arrived yesterday, and I don't have the original cable for making a comparation. I only check that the manufacturing quality looks very high, but is 15ft long and I usually use a LG v30 for listening music that I guess and hope it could move the hd650 well enough.

Anyway, I have to buy or make another cable shorter (or the original and try to cut it) and maybe check if there is some improvement with the equinox cable. If I can't find enough improvement, I will try to shell the equinox.

You wouldn't be able to tell that the stock cable is litz just from looking at the exterior. The copper conductors themselves have an epoxy coating.

Here it is discussed on ASR forum: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/diy-sennheiser-600-650-cable.3335/

If you want to shorten the stock cable, it will be a huge pain. See the link above. IMO, you should either shorten the 15ft cable you already have OR the cable shipped with the Massdrop version of the HD650 (the HD6XX) is a 4ft cable, if I am not mistaken. If you contact Sennheiser and/or Massdrop (now called Drop), they might be able to sell you the 4ft version of the stock HD650 cable.

 

[boblauer]

I have only seen the cable in photos, and it looks like a normal cable, not litz, but it is very possible that I am wrong

It looks like 2 cable with 2 cable inside each one, two for each ear. I have to read more about this. I think on it because the complete cable costs the same or less than only the two Sennheiser connectors, and I suppose they are good quality, although I read somewhere a cable's review where a cable made with cat6 net cable sound better than the sennheiser original cable



It isn't a balanced, cable so I suppose that is the SE version. One like this (but 15ft):

I hasn't tried it a lot because the headphones arrived yesterday, and I don't have the original cable for making a comparation. I only check that the manufacturing quality looks very high, but is 15ft long and I usually use a LG v30 for listening music that I guess and hope it could move the hd650 well enough.

Anyway, I have to buy or make another cable shorter (or the original and try to cut it) and maybe check if there is some improvement with the equinox cable. If I can't find enough improvement, I will try to shell the equinox.

I have the optional 3.5 mm 10 foot Senn cable I don't even use since mine is strictly a desktop phone. I have the same vintage 650 and I'm the original owner and the stock cable that came with it was A 6.3 mm SE termination. Make sure you get the correct termination since you want to use your phone(3.5 mm).
I'm going to second @L0rdGwyn in Litz cables are not the easiest to solder because of the wire coating, you may just want to source a different one to your liking as per his suggestion than cable surgery. FYI the Stock 6.3 sounds the same as the balanced 4 pole XLR, I use daily on mine. The only advantage IMO was being able to use balanced amp circuitry on a lower gain setting thusly a blacker or more silent background in quiet passages. The stock Senn cables are decent so don't expect big sonic changes again IMO. Oh and I do have lots of cables for IEM's so I am not a cable disbeliever when the original was not up to snuff.

 

[erchuky]

You wouldn't be able to tell that the stock cable is litz just from looking at the exterior. The copper conductors themselves have an epoxy coating.

Here it is discussed on ASR forum: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/diy-sennheiser-600-650-cable.3335/

If you want to shorten the stock cable, it will be a huge pain. See the link above. IMO, you should either shorten the 15ft cable you already have OR the cable shipped with the Massdrop version of the HD650 (the HD6XX) is a 4ft cable, if I am not mistaken. If you contact Sennheiser and/or Massdrop (now called Drop), they might be able to sell you the 4ft version of the stock HD650 cable.

Thank you very much. With that precise information, now I am sure that I am going to buy the Sennheiser's connectors and make my own cable. I misunderstood the litz cable, and when I searched better on Google, I remembered that i fought with that kind of cable some years ago repairing some friend's IEMs, and I know that it usually is very difficult to solder.
By the time, I'd prefer not to cut the equinox cable because it scares me to cut a such expensive cable .
I saw the 1.4 and 3.5mm cable in the link you wrote before for about 20€, and I think that I am going to try doing mine, because I only need the Sennheiser connectors to have the cable complete. Maybe I will finish buying that cable, but first I want to try doing my own cable.

I have the optional 3.5 mm 10 foot Senn cable I don't even use since mine is strictly a desktop phone. I have the same vintage 650 and I'm the original owner and the stock cable that came with it was A 6.3 mm SE termination. Make sure you get the correct termination since you want to use your phone(3.5 mm).
I'm going to second @L0rdGwyn in Litz cables are not the easiest to solder because of the wire coating, you may just want to source a different one to your liking as per his suggestion than cable surgery. FYI the Stock 6.3 sounds the same as the balanced 4 pole XLR, I use daily on mine. The only advantage IMO was being able to use balanced amp circuitry on a lower gain setting thusly a blacker or more silent background in quiet passages. The stock Senn cables are decent so don't expect big sonic changes again IMO. Oh and I do have lots of cables for IEM's so I am not a cable disbeliever when the original was not up to snuff.

Thank you for your experience, is very usefull. The previous plan was cut the original cable and use a male and a female 3.5mm connector. This way I would have obtained a 1m cable with 3.5mm and an extension/adapter with the 6.35mm male and a 3.5mm female. Anyway, I am agree with you about the litz cable, so I will make my own cable.
Here a link with a Sennheiser cable comparison:
https://www.headfonia.com/sennheiser-hd-cables-comparison/
I have read other comparisons with graphics and measurement analysis, and similar results.

Thank you to both for your help with this subject. I am still a bit new in this hi-fi things