[Lolito]

Killer budget setup...

Schiit Modi 3+ / Schiit Magni 3+ / Schiit Vali 2+ / Sennheiser HD 6XX

That's a killer setup. Even got valves on it. If you can make the dac multibit

 

[Nativo]

Love my 6xx's. Such a great budget/entry level headphone. It's just so buttery smooth and close.

 

[dakanao]

I’ve found out that aftermarket pads that are as deep or thinner than the stock pads, all work out in keeping the smooth timbre, like the Philips L2 pads and Shure 1540 Alcantara

 

[MrGoat]

Love my 6xx's. Such a great budget/entry level headphone. It's just so buttery smooth and close.

It bugs me when people keep calling the HD650 entry level / budget... Its not. It was (and still is to many) top of the line for a long time. Excellent headphones at any price. I paid almost $500 for my HD650 a decade ago and they still work great! One of my best investments.

 

[BobSmith8901]

It bugs me when people keep calling the HD650 entry level / budget... Its not. It was (and still is to many) top of the line for a long time. Excellent headphones at any price. I paid almost $500 for my HD650 a decade ago and they still work great! One of my best investments.

My opinion is that it's partly its association these days with the Drop HD-6XX ($220.00) that takes away a bit of the original's luster. I have a 6XX and I like it for what it is but I've never heard or owned the 650, so I can't say how they compare. They're supposed to be essentially identical but some disagree.

 

[tumpux]

I believe everything is looked at within its context.
Compared to a decade ago 650 is considered budget now..

 

[Deolum]

It bugs me when people keep calling the HD650 entry level / budget... Its not. It was (and still is to many) top of the line for a long time. Excellent headphones at any price. I paid almost $500 for my HD650 a decade ago and they still work great! One of my best investments.

The 650 is the only sub 2k headphone that i put just at the bottom of endgame/totl headphones in one category with Utopia and Susvara.

 

[MayaTlab]

The 650 is the only sub 2k headphone that i put just at the bottom of endgame/totl headphones in one category with Utopia and Susvara.

As it should be given that the low amount of high-Q peaks / nulls / resonances and vanishingly low THD above 200Hz, combined with Sennheiser’s decent channel marching for their audiophile products, and the fairly solid default FR curve above 200Hz, still remain better than most other headphones at any price point, so... .

 

[mvule]

Used to be a flagship, so if anything it's not a fair fight if comparing to (some) other newer cans that retail for the same price now.

Purely from a sound perspective, calling it budget doesn't seem right.

 

[descloud]

It bugs me when people keep calling the HD650 entry level / budget... Its not.

The post you responded to did mention the HD6XX, which costs around $200 USD, which many in this hobby would consider within the "budget category". By price comparison, the HD650 is €459,00 on Senheiser's website, which would usually place it "above" the budget category. Despite them essentially being the same headphone from an acoustic standpoint, it's technically not inaccurate to label the HD6XX with the "entry-level / budget" descriptors if the MSRP is to be used as the basis. The market has shifted the perspective where before, the HD600/HD650/DT880/K701 were top of the line in the market, but are now within the budget category or middle of the pack options given their pricing.

On a personal note, the HD650 are good sounding, especially if you get them at their used market prices of under $300USD. Priced at their MSRP, I'm hard pressed to say they're among the best in that price bracket as personal preference comes into play, especially with the amount of great options at that price bracket.

It was (and still is to many) top of the line for a long time. Excellent headphones at any price

I wouldn't really agree with the HD650 being excellent at "any price". If Sennheiser starts pricing the HD650 at the $1k price bracket, it would be competing in the same arena to the likes of say the Focal Clear and HD800/S - which I believe majority of those who've heard them would consider either of those "better" in many audiophile acoustic categories against the HD650 (me included). Take that statement as you will.

 

[Deolum]

The post you responded to did mention the HD6XX, which costs around $200 USD, which many in this hobby would consider within the "budget category". By price comparison, the HD650 is €459,00 on Senheiser's website, which would usually place it "above" the budget category. Despite them essentially being the same headphone from an acoustic standpoint, it's technically not inaccurate to label the HD6XX with the "entry-level / budget" descriptors if the MSRP is to be used as the basis. The market has shifted the perspective where before, the HD600/HD650/DT880/K701 were top of the line in the market, but are now within the budget category or middle of the pack options given their pricing.

On a personal note, the HD650 are good sounding, especially if you get them at their used market prices of under $300USD. Priced at their MSRP, I'm hard pressed to say they're among the best in that price bracket as personal preference comes into play, especially with the amount of great options at that price bracket.


I wouldn't really agree with the HD650 being excellent at "any price". If Sennheiser starts pricing the HD650 at the $1k price bracket, it would be competing in the same arena to the likes of say the Focal Clear and HD800/S - which I believe majority of those who've heard them would consider either of those "better" in many audiophile acoustic categories against the HD650 (me included). Take that statement as you will.

Personally i think the 650 is superior to the HD800(S) and the Clear.

Maybe the problem is indeed HD650 vs HD6XX.

I own a very early version of the HD650. This headphone is technically noticeable superiour to my late version of the HD600. Especially in soundstage and imaging.

I did compare my version of the HD650 to a HD6XX recently. However it was on a system i was not familiar with. Both me and the system's owner came to the conclusion that both sounded different. I found the differnce again to be most noticeable in terms of soundstage and imaging. The 6XX also had some kind of mid bass bloat.

The 6XX was also good but i wouldn't consider it endgame/totl performance. More like a solid A. The 650 on the other hand was S- for me.

One thing you may want to consider is that the 6XX was three month old and the 650 around 20 years. So burn in times are different but i doubt thats the only explanation.

 

[schmalgausen]

One thing you may want to consider is that the 6XX was three month old and the 650 around 20 years.

Also old version 650 vs new version 650 (=6XX?).

 

[jasswolf]

Personally i think the 650 is superior to the HD800(S) and the Clear.

Maybe the problem is indeed HD650 vs HD6XX.

I own a very early version of the HD650. This headphone is technically noticeable superiour to my late version of the HD600. Especially in soundstage and imaging.

I did compare my version of the HD650 to a HD6XX recently. However it was on a system i was not familiar with. Both me and the system's owner came to the conclusion that both sounded different. I found the differnce again to be most noticeable in terms of soundstage and imaging. The 6XX also had some kind of mid bass bloat.

The 6XX was also good but i wouldn't consider it endgame/totl performance. More like a solid A. The 650 on the other hand was S- for me.

One thing you may want to consider is that the 6XX was three month old and the 650 around 20 years. So burn in times are different but i doubt thats the only explanation.

Was soundstage improved because treble peaks were smoothed on worn pads and mids were more recessed, or did you account for this with a pad swap?

Worn pads would also account for decreased bass.

 

[descloud]

One thing you may want to consider is that the 6XX was three month old and the 650 around 20 years. So burn in times are different but i doubt thats the only explanation.

As much as I don't like to state things that don't have any evidence, differences observed is likely due to any or all of the following: ear pad age (worn vs new vs slightly used), seal on one's head, and unit variation than what others believe to be "burn-in".

 

[Strat1117]

I don’t know. There must be some reason why the 650s have been around as a top contender for 20 years (which is, in itself, an important point - they aren’t just 20 years old, they’ve been a top recommendation for thousands of happy music lovers during all of that time). I’m sending back a pair of Anandas I’ve had for about a week because, compared to the 650s the Anandas are overly polite, have no bass and are downright boring. And my 650s have like new dekoni hybrid pads on them, virtually identical to the Ananda stock pads, so don’t start making baseless assumptions about worn pads contributing some imagined comfort factor. The 650s are simply more engaging cans, at a little more than half the new, reduced price of the Anandas. I had the same experience with a pair of Focal Elears several months ago. It depends why your in it - if it’s a competition of some kind, or oi you're trying to create the ultimate home headphone experience, the 650s are probably too pedestrian. But as I get older (I’m 61), I realize all of that is total bull. I just want to put on my headphones and have fun. Period. I’d like to get something new, but if I’m going to shell out $700+ for a pair of headphones, then right out of the box they should make me happier than my trusty 650s do. I should not have to work at it. I work at being a lawyer. This is for fun. So far, I haven’t found the right pair, but I’ll keep looking, because that’s also fun. Maybe I’ll try some older HiFiMans - I hear they may have the soul that the Anandas so manifestly lack.