Sennheiser HD650 & Massdrop HD6XX Impressions Thread

Dec 12, 2024 at 11:46 AM Post #46,696 of 46,765
I recommended to anyone who runs Roon to try some of the new headphone EQ presets for HD650. Never eq’ed my headphones in the past but the inner fidelity eq for HD650 in Roon is quite surprising. What was once occasionally muffled especially with vocals is now crystal clear without losing any of the 650 character.
Just bought a new 650 and i can honestly say it is a big improvement over my 6xx with relatively new pads. The 650 is more alive with tighter bass better dynamics with more detail and surprisingly missing that slightly exaggerated mid bass of the 6xx. Also no Sennheiser veil. Seems to sound more like the hd600 but smoother and more balanced.
Sounds fantastic on my Rebel Amp.
 
Dec 12, 2024 at 11:57 AM Post #46,697 of 46,765
Just bought a new 650 and i can honestly say it is a big improvement over my 6xx with relatively new pads. The 650 is more alive with tighter bass better dynamics with more detail and surprisingly missing that slightly exaggerated mid bass of the 6xx. Also no Sennheiser veil. Seems to sound more like the hd600 but smoother and more balanced.
Sounds fantastic on my Rebel Amp.
The HD650 and HD6XX are literally the same headphones. Same drivers, dampening, baffle and pads. Granted you could have a pair of older styled pads on the 6XX that are ever so slightly different sounding - or similarly have used the 6XX enough to have slightly deflated the pads, which makes a difference to the sound.

This is also why we time and again see this pop up in this thread. Pads with different wear and tear will alter the presentation. People who have used the same pair for a long time for then to put on some new pads also experience what sometimes feels like a big change in sound. Things certainly get a tad more bright/detailed:)
But yeah in short: they are the exact same headphones in different colour schemes.
 
Dec 12, 2024 at 12:04 PM Post #46,698 of 46,765
The HD650 and HD6XX are literally the same headphones. Same drivers, dampening, baffle and pads. Granted you could have a pair of older styled pads on the 6XX that are ever so slightly different sounding - or similarly have used the 6XX enough to have slightly deflated the pads, which makes a difference to the sound.

This is also why we time and again see this pop up in this thread. Pads with different wear and tear will alter the presentation. People who have used the same pair for a long time for then to put on some new pads also experience what sometimes feels like a big change in sound. Things certainly get a tad more bright/detailed:)
But yeah in short: they are the exact same headphones in different colour schemes.
Then why did the HD 650 and HD 6XX sound very different from each other to my ears even when I swapped pads and even the headband (to factor in for clamp wear)? Both are newer pairs with the revised pads.

Damping isn’t actually exactly the same. Rear foam is slightly different it seems.
 
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Dec 12, 2024 at 12:06 PM Post #46,699 of 46,765
Then why did the HD 650 and HD 6XX sound very different from each other to my ears even when I swapped pads and even the headband (to factor in for clamp wear)?

Damping isn’t actually exactly the same. Rear foam is slightly different it seems.
Most likely because they look different:)
The brain is a mesmerising thing.
 
Dec 12, 2024 at 12:08 PM Post #46,700 of 46,765
Most likely because they look different:)
The brain is a mesmerising thing.

Even though I didn’t know which was placed on my head? I had someone else swap the pads and headband around and put them on my head. It was easy to tell which was which by sound alone. Either major unit variation or the units were tuned differently.
 
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Dec 12, 2024 at 12:11 PM Post #46,701 of 46,765
The HD650 and HD6XX are literally the same headphones. Same drivers, dampening, baffle and pads. Granted you could have a pair of older styled pads on the 6XX that are ever so slightly different sounding - or similarly have used the 6XX enough to have slightly deflated the pads, which makes a difference to the sound.

This is also why we time and again see this pop up in this thread. Pads with different wear and tear will alter the presentation. People who have used the same pair for a long time for then to put on some new pads also experience what sometimes feels like a big change in sound. Things certainly get a tad more bright/detailed:)
But yeah in short: they are the exact same headphones in different colour schemes.
Sorry but no way. Sound is too different to convince me of that. My 6xx is 5 yrs old with basically new pads. Granted pads are the old style but new at any rate and yes the new pads did make the 6xx more lively. But the changes that i experienced cannot be the result of the pads alone. Sennheiser does from time to time make small mods as they did with 660s. If we are talking about pads of different material ie leather perforated then yes sound will be drastically changed. But what i am hearing is way too different.
 
Dec 12, 2024 at 12:17 PM Post #46,702 of 46,765
Sorry but no way. Sound is too different to convince me of that. My 6xx is 5 yrs old with basically new pads. Granted pads are the old style but new at any rate and yes the new pads did make the 6xx more lively. But the changes that i experienced cannot be the result of the pads alone. Sennheiser does from time to time make small mods as they did with 660s. If we are talking about pads of different material ie leather perforated then yes sound will be drastically changed. But what i am hearing is way too different.
There has been multiple revisions to the HD 6xx line overtime. Some confirmed by Sennheiser such as with the HD 660S having a driver revision and some more silent. When the HD 6XX first came out they were likely the same as the HD 650 as they did basically sound the same when I compared older pairs in the past, but it’s possible they are different headphones now as the two recent pairs I tried sounded very different.
 
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Dec 12, 2024 at 12:42 PM Post #46,703 of 46,765
There has been multiple revisions to the HD 6xx line overtime. Some confirmed by Sennheiser such as with the HD 660S having a driver revision and some more silent. When the HD 6XX first came out they were likely the same as the HD 650 as they did basically sound the same when I compared older pairs in the past, but it’s possible they are different headphones now as the two recent pairs I tried sounded very different.
Btw my 650 with my Rebel amp is now my favorite pairing so far. Even better than my 660 S2 which i liked very much.
Very satisfied with puchase. Also dead silent in that there is no " creaking" with the frame as im experiencing with the S2.
 
Dec 12, 2024 at 12:44 PM Post #46,704 of 46,765
Massdrop HD 6XX versus newest HD600 versus the new HD490 Pro?
 
Dec 12, 2024 at 12:49 PM Post #46,705 of 46,765
Then why did the HD 650 and HD 6XX sound very different from each other to my ears even when I swapped pads and even the headband (to factor in for clamp wear)? Both are newer pairs with the revised pads.

Damping isn’t actually exactly the same. Rear foam is slightly different it seems.
There is no guaranty that 2 pairs of the same headphone sound exactly the same(they rarely do in practice). The effort in production is usually significant when it comes to matching the drivers by pair to make one headphone. But the tolerances around the overall target frequency response of the headphones from one pair to another, is not that tight. Imagine all the components you'd have to throw away if the rule was to only accept headphones that all sound the same.

Perhaps there have been some changes over the years(well we know there has been, what we're not sure about is how much and how consistently they affected the sound). But just as well, it could be random difference between pairs. I don't really know how we could be sure of anything using the sample size we usually have, which tends to be 1+1? Even properly done measurements don't answer that question. Maybe if we did that with a more relevant number of pairs, and we saw a clear pattern in the FR, but until then, I'll stick to my usual strongly opinionated answer, IDK.
 
Dec 12, 2024 at 12:51 PM Post #46,706 of 46,765
Btw my 650 with my Rebel amp is now my favorite pairing so far. Even better than my 660 S2 which i liked very much.
Very satisfied with puchase. Also dead silent in that there is no " creaking" with the frame as im experiencing with the S2.
My HD 650 had some frame tightness issues whereas it was perfect on my S2. Sadly that seems luck of the draw with that. Sonically the S2 I had issues with it. The HD 650 was nice, it was very liquid/smooth sounding, but my particular pair had a tad too much upper mid range energy. The HD 6XX I had was quite dry and a bit scratchy sounding. Of all the Hd 6xx line currently, I personally like the sound of the newest HD 600 with the revised pads the most.

Massdrop HD 6XX versus newest HD600 versus the new HD490 Pro?
Newest HD 600 without question imho when compared to the current HD 6XX. Haven’t heard the HD 490.
 
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Dec 12, 2024 at 1:12 PM Post #46,707 of 46,765
Newest HD 600 without question imho when compared to the current HD 6XX. Haven’t heard the HD 490.

You should listen to the hd490 pro, great headphones for the price! Comes from Sennheiser Pro.
 
Dec 12, 2024 at 3:25 PM Post #46,708 of 46,765
My HD 650 had some frame tightness issues whereas it was perfect on my S2. Sadly that seems luck of the draw with that. Sonically the S2 I had issues with it. The HD 650 was nice, it was very liquid/smooth sounding, but my particular pair had a tad too much upper mid range energy. The HD 6XX I had was quite dry and a bit scratchy sounding. Of all the Hd 6xx line currently, I personally like the sound of the newest HD 600 with the revised pads the most.


Newest HD 600 without question imho when compared to the current HD 6XX. Haven’t heard the HD 490.
Funny my hd600 on certain recordings is unbeatable. But in general i find it a bit too dry with upper mids being overemphasized and a bit etched. Of course the amp headphone pairing can make all the difference. The 600 definitely has superior projection. That is, it's ability for the sound to jump out of the headphone. Eclipse from Dune part 2 made me jump out of my seat. Not so with my other phones. Including the ultra dynamic Elex.
 
Dec 12, 2024 at 7:41 PM Post #46,709 of 46,765
Btw my 650 with my Rebel amp is now my favorite pairing so far. Even better than my 660 S2 which i liked very much.
Very satisfied with puchase. Also dead silent in that there is no " creaking" with the frame as im experiencing with the S2.
Sorry but no way. Sound is too different to convince me of that. My 6xx is 5 yrs old with basically new pads. Granted pads are the old style but new at any rate and yes the new pads did make the 6xx more lively. But the changes that i experienced cannot be the result of the pads alone. Sennheiser does from time to time make small mods as they did with 660s. If we are talking about pads of different material ie leather perforated then yes sound will be drastically changed. But what i am hearing is way too different.
Same for me. The 650 and 6xx sound different for me as well.
 
Dec 12, 2024 at 8:59 PM Post #46,710 of 46,765
I've compared HD650 and HD6xx before. HD6xx was a bit darker. But I think it mostly related to pads condition.

I just replaced OEM pads to ZMF perf and the difference was huge: bigger soundstage, more bass, higher resolution. It was a wow effect.
The OEM pads goes bad so fast, to me it’s less than a year. I hope ZMF will last longer.

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