[Jellygoose]

Quote:

I think the best thing to do is to just wear them and deal with the clamp for the first week or so.  They definitely loosen up to fit your head perfectly.  And by avoiding bending the headband you don't risk chipping the paint or cracking the headband.
 
 

no, that will make the pads squish together instead of actually loosening the headband. If you bend correctly (as described in some other thread here) there is no possibility of chipping paint or cracking the headband since you are bending the metal on the sides and not the plastic on top.

 

[syphen606]

My head (although a size Large hat and helmet) seems to work with these HD650's and my new ones don't crush over over squish my head. Must be lucky.

 

[olddtfan]

I just bought the 650s a few weeks ago and they are fantastic I use my 55 watt Onkyo reciver to drive them.

 

[Tilpo]

I just bought the 650s a few weeks ago and they are fantastic I use my 55 watt Onkyo reciver to drive them.

Welcome to the forum!
Vintage receivers are indeed an excellent way to drive headphones. I have a vintage Pioneer, and it sounds great, except for a high pitched hum on the background.

 

[olddtfan]

I guess I am lucky no noise from my rig.

 

[Leo888]

Hi guys, first post in this thread and need some opinions. I've been using my HD650 driven by the Fiio E7/E9 combo and currently looking forward to upgrade the E7 with the E17. Any thoughts on this or is there a better alternative I should consider keeping in mind that I would be upgrading the E9 in the near future. Would really appreciate any suggestions or ideas that you guys might have in mind. Thanks in advance.

 

[Uchiya]

Round and Round I go:  K702 -> HD650 -> LCD-2 R1 -> Ultrasone Edition 8 -> LCD-2 R2 -> Hifiman HE-500 -> Hifiman HE-6 -> Beyerdynamic T1 -> Hifiman HE-500 -> HD-650 - I am finally happy.

 

[auee]

Quote:

Round and Round I go:  K702 -> HD650 -> LCD-2 R1 -> Ultrasone Edition 8 -> LCD-2 R2 -> Hifiman HE-500 -> Hifiman HE-6 -> Beyerdynamic T1 -> Hifiman HE-500 -> HD-650 - I am finally happy.

I am planning on purchasing the Hifiman HE-500 to use in addition to my 650s. Don't they add anything to the listening experience?
 

 

[Uchiya]

Lyr w/ Siemens E88cc A-Frame and Bifrost, very very close.  The HE-500's were way too hot for me (treble), tube rolling could have changed that but I liked what the tubes and lyr could do, the HD650's matched the best.  Not dark at all.  The HD650's do have a slightly wider soundstage but the depth, the Siemen's really helped with that.  The HE-500's are not as transparent and remain fairly the same in that area from NFB-10SE to Lyr.  Imo, a minor upgrade, if not a sidegrade.  This is with my setup. 

 

[skeptic]

Quote:

What surprises me the most is the claim that you can hear that 3dB difference at 10-20kHz.
I don't think it's at all possible to discern a volume change of 3dB's at that frequency.

 
You're dead on.  People spew a lot of rubbish on this site.
 
Fact of the matter is that there are no natural instruments (or voices) playing "notes" (i.e. fundamental frequencies) anywhere near that high.  Violins cap out around 3.5khz, and some pipe organs might break 5khz.  The only impact of the FR curve above and beyond that should be the magnitude of overtones - the audible effect of which is changes in timbre (i.e. does the violin's tone sound natural or perhaps like a bad digital emulation of a violin.)  In a worst case scenario, badly botched FR that destroys any semblance of timbre would leave you asking What instrument that was that you were listening to.  No one is perceiving increased loudness in notes that high unless their listening material of choice is test tones.  
 
 

 

[ac500]

If you think no instrument reaches up beyond 10khz, you're quite wrong. What's the massive difficulty in understanding that harmonics are extremely important? Not necessarily harmonics either, but just high frequency details which will be smoothed over if the higher frequencies aren't relatively loud enough. It's easy to prove -- just take out a large amount of 10-20hz with an equalizer, and suddenly everything sounds less detailed and realistic. Is the treble still there? Yeah, but now that it's quieter everything sounds much much less detailed. Can you explain that with your theory of "nothing that high matters"? I can... because I can prove that tones that high DO matter.
 
As for the volume difference at 10-20hz, I can absolutely hear a big difference between my NFB12 and MacBook Air, the MBA sounding notably brighter and less veiled. Maybe the MBA is just bright, but facts are facts. Trust me, I really did NOT want to be hearing that my NFB12 sounded more veiled than my MBA, but that's what I heard. Placebo does not usually work in reverse like that, you know.
 
I could easily pass an ABX test with different treble magnitudes even without solid tones (especially without solid tones).

 

[Satellite_6]

Frequencies up to ~16k matter. .  . but not much on the high end of the spectrum. There's no reason upper treble should be loud at all based on the way human hearing works and the fact that higher frequencies are a lot weaker than lower frequencies. Any detail you gain by boosting the HD 650's treble you would probably not hear in real life. 

 

[scoopbb]

out of curiosity what is the upgrade path after the hd650s. i really like their sound, especially with the lower treble. also is there a closed can that has sound close to the hd650s? I tried to wear them at work and someone yelled at me saying i have speakers on my head, not headphones lol

 

[ac500]

If you can hear 17khz just as clearly as you could 1khz, you'd want it to be neutral too. All these silly excuses that treble doesn't have to be neutral is like saying "OH well I don't care if 1khz has -20 decibels, I mean it's not like you hear it that much anyway." I do hear it, and it matters.
 
> Any detail you gain by boosting the HD 650's treble you would probably not hear in real life. 

 ​

My right ear can hear up to about 20khz. My left ear due to damage can only hear up to 16khz, just barely. Both hear with equal sensitivity below those frequencies. My right ear is extremely sensitive to details, whereas my left ear simply misses them.​

 ​

As I've said before I can hear things that make high frequency noises very sensitively with my right ear and not my left. If you slowly rub dry palms or fingers together, it makes a quiet high pitched "shhchhch" sound much much quieter than a whisper. I can hear this at least 20 feet easily with my right ear. I can hear whispers much much further of course. My left ear does not apply, because much of this sensitivity exists above 16khz.​

 ​

The point is, I don't think people understand how important treble is to the rest of the spectrum.​

 ​

Obviously the HD650 HAS treble up to 20khz, but it's recessed to the point of sounding very dark and unnatural. I suspect that so many people can't hear that high (due to natural adult hearing degradation) that it doesn't so much matter that it's recessed because their hearing is already mostly deaf to those frequencies anyway. I'm sure this will happen to me soon, but until then...​

 

[Satellite_6]

I think you missed the point though, there is nothing unnatural about recessed treble, it's rather the opposite. 17k will never sound as loud as 1k to human ears. Also it's unlikely that a 17k frequency will be as loud as a 1k frequency in the first place. You can see this in a visualization of the frequency response where the upper treble is rarely ever nearly as loud as lower frequencies.