[equalspeace]

Can u confirm that new ones are thicker ? Please

Oh they're def thicker. They're nice and fat. I like them

 

[Tripokaridos]

Great now i have to find this new type.

 

[Flashbolt]

Personally, and just to open a can of worms, I REALLY like the Dekoni Elite hybrid pads on the HD650. I may be in the minority, but I find the Dekonis take these venerable, already wonderful headphones up a notch or two in transparency and balance, without sacrificing the pleasure factor that makes them so great in the first place. Plus, IMHO, they look boss and they keep my big fat ears a little further from the drivers.

Of course, I also use a custom made 15ft. mogami wire with furutech connectors that I think sounds, among other things, bigger and less constricted than stock, so what do I know…?

I found the elite pads a little too muddy sounding and ended up with the fenestrated sheepskin and that sounded better to me, but I definitely miss/prefer the feel of the elite's velor surface.

 

[Ovide]

Just buy the original pads, they are best

 

[tafens]

I guess that 1 db would be in all Frequency response ? And not in some range only.

As I understand it, it may differ over the frequency response curve, but at most +/- 1 dB at any one point.

 

[Tripokaridos]

Hi,

I received a custom cable (6.35mm) for my HD6XX which I ordered on ebay.com yesterday. I hated the cable as the material used below the splitter is PVC which makes the cable stiffer and immediately posted in the classified for sale. But I wanted to test if there is any improvement in sound quality.

Boy I am pleasantly surprised, it improved the sound a lot. I never thought a cable can make such a difference. Now I am seriously thinking of keeping it.

The highs are more pronounced, whole sound became crisper, there is no more grain which I used to hear with the earlier cable and the bass became tighter. Wow wasn't expecting anything at all, just wanted a 6.35mm cable as I was using a OCC cable terminated 2.5mm to avoid using adapters.

The OCC cable I was using already improved sound quality over the stock cable but this one takes it to the next level. It's very well within budget and you don't need to spend a lot money to get the better cable IMO. It's available on ebay.com for $48, if anyone wants to buy.

I have been using this cable for almost two years.


The new cable which is worth every penny IMO.

The only issue I have with this cable is that it is stiffer.

Stock Sennheiser Cable , is not microphonic , doesn't tangle , uses poor copper , has silicone around this copper, its light , does not keep memory like braided do, the rubber around the copper is tested and last many many years , the rubber around the copper wire doesnt have gap between ( for example Sundara cable if u press it , it has gap) ,
Sennheiser pin connectors are also different ( many aftermarket destroy the inner connections if u read many posts on amazon ) The Jack 3.5 or 6.3 has rubber around it and doesnt make sound when u put it on the Desk or touching any equipment ( most aftermarket cables use metal for jack that is heavy for no reason , some lose the paint over time and like i said when this jack touch the desk or the dac amp it makes noise and some times scratches ) .

Other than that until now i have not seen any measurements prove that there is change in sound , also testing different cables personally and people that i know in this hoby with XP also didnt hear any difference unless if the cable is destroyed.

Ps. I love some premium quality cables like FOW for example and i use them , but saying that a cable IMPROVES the sound on HD6 line A LOT giving more highs etch etch i get it i understand it this is what we want to believe spending some extra money , but u gone see after years that this is not true at all . Unless if u go balance using a different ( better circuit on the dac ) but even there some none premium dac amps are worst in balance mode with more noise ...

 

[Ovide]

Just use stock cable and spend your money in your chain where it counts.

 

[Quadfather]

Loving the Sennheiser HD650s from my Lotoo Paw Gold. Rush is playing.

 

[Dawgfish]

Loving the Sennheiser HD650s from my Lotoo Paw Gold. Rush is playing.

Nice on the headphone and music choice!

 

[KindofBluer]

I've owned a pair of HD650s for five years, they were my first foray into decent cans. I bought them based on the love reviewers and headphone forum users gave them. But in all that time I've never been knocked out by them. My chain, in chronological order, has been (using stock and standard cables):

- iphone/iPad -> various audio interfaces (iConnectivity4+/Apogee Solo/RME Babyface Pro -> Presonus HP4 headphone amp
- iphone/iPad -> Hugo 2
- Hiby R6 New -. Little Labs Monotor headphone amp

The Monotor has made a difference in terms of driveability, but even so, I find the 650s bass heavy, light on the treble and congested (almost muffled). A year ago I bought a pair of Focal Clears. Granted, they are more than twice the price of the 650s, but their sound signature is a pleasure (clear but not overpowering bass, solid mids and treble and great instrument separation.

What am I missing?

 

[Dawgfish]

I've owned a pair of HD650s for five years, they were my first foray into decent cans. I bought them based on the love reviewers and headphone forum users gave them. But in all that time I've never been knocked out by them. My chain, in chronological order, has been (using stock and standard cables):

- iphone/iPad -> various audio interfaces (iConnectivity4+/Apogee Solo/RME Babyface Pro -> Presonus HP4 headphone amp
- iphone/iPad -> Hugo 2
- Hiby R6 New -. Little Labs Monotor headphone amp

The Monotor has made a difference in terms of driveability, but even so, I find the 650s bass heavy, light on the treble and congested (almost muffled). A year ago I bought a pair of Focal Clears. Granted, they are more than twice the price of the 650s, but their sound signature is a pleasure (clear but not overpowering bass, solid mids and treble and great instrument separation.

What am I missing?

Pair them with a decent OTL tube amp and they transform into a totally different headphone imho.

 

[KindofBluer]

Pair them with a decent OTL tube amp and they transform into a totally different headphone imho.

Probably not in my near future, but thank you for the suggestion.

 

[Kammerat Rebekka]

Anyhoo enough of the cable talk. Let’s get back to the 650/6XX
I have always slightly prefered the HD600 out of the two..but after owning both plus the new kids on the block (58X and 660) for a good while - doing the old switcheroo and other times merely leaving on a coconut on my head for the duration of the day…and well..there is no real ‘king’..no real ‘the best’ or any of that sort. I pretty much adore all of them just about equally. They tend to master different genres and moods. The 650 is the ‘hot cocoa’ headphone. Like snuggling up to a smoldering bonfire with a glass of whiskey and a large pipe (preferably the sea-captain variant)…yet having said that doesn’t really do the ol Sennie justice either..mostly because some folks will enterpret the above as ‘muffled and overly warm sounding’…which is incorrect…unless you are used to and coming from bright/aggressive headphones such as Beyers and Grados.
The 650 is a slightly warm headphone. It warms up the sound via a couple of dBs worth of added mid-upper bass whilst keeping the treble wonderfully smooth and linear. No monkey business!…and what that does compared to say the HD600 is that it appears slightly more ‘romantic’ and ‘warm’ - ultimately making it easier on the ears if one encounters albums with poor production.
It also happens to be my fave Sennie for late night listening. The sea-captain’s pipe adds a synergy worthy of a thousand golden cables

 

[WilcoRoger]

First I bought the 16 core mix copper/silver cable. Next I bought the 8 core solid gold cable, and finally I bought the 16 core silver plated cable. All in 1.6m.


The 16 core mix is the most expensive here running about $52 bucks, the 8 core was about $31 and the silver I got on sale for $23. All three are the standard Lunashop build, Really top notch. If you're on a budget you'd be okay with any of these really.

1 once of gold is $1800 these days so I'd like to know where I can buy solid gold cables for jsut $31. It's better then printing your own money!

 

[fragzone]

The following is a spiel about my thoughts concerning my 'upgrade' from the 6XX to the Sundara. Not relevant to any conversation currently happening ITT, just thought I'd share.

I got the Sundaras. Loved the Sundaras for their glorious imaging, dynamics and what I thought was a pretty realistic timbre. Once the honeymoon period wore off I began to realize that the 6XX is just superior in vocal timbre and presence. For all their deficiencies in regards to soundstage and imaging, they really impart the 'soul' of the song which is expected when vocals tend to serve as the focal point when they exist in music. It isn't subtle to me either, I listen to songs back to back and upon putting back on the 6XX I instantly notice that texture, warmth and tenderness of the midrange. It is like everything else is just there to complement the vocals, as opposed to diminishing the vocals to a precise pinpoint surrounded by domineering sounds which the Sundara tends to do. And yeah with time, you do notice the 'plasticy' nature of the Sundara vocals.

With that said, the Sundaras are amazing for instrumental, classical or jazzy type music. I had a moment with the LOTR soundtrack where I was thinking to myself "yep, this is the absolute pinnacle of pure sound quality I have heard to date". Positively visceral in everyway the mids/vocals are not. To conclude, to anyone who might find themselves on this post after dredging the google search results, if you listen to vocal-heavy music the Sundara probably isn't what you are looking for. If you are looking for a complement to the 6XX, then yes absolutely, it will make you start listening to other genres. However, even with insanely well produced vocal-heavy music, the benefits you get with the technicalities do not outweigh the benefits you get from the 6XX's ability to bring vocals to the fore in my opinion.

dac: ol dac
amp: atom