[Amictus]

The HD 650s arrived today. I'm still waiting for the Russ Andrews cable.
 
First impressions out of the box with Audiolab M-DAC and Lovely Cube from source Samsung Series 7 laptop and MediaMonkey. Warm and fuzzy with a bass bulge. Already though, there is a welcome relief from the tizz that the Q701s have. Also, there is an uncanny focus on the musical line - the sound has many faults at the moment, but it makes me want to listen to it.
 
After three to four hours burn-in with music and pink noise:
 
Wagner Götterdämmerung 1951 Knappertsbusch CD Testament SBT 4175. Poor recording. The HD 650 find the music. The Q701s are more revealing of detail in a sense, but the sound is bright, but a little starved in depth. The Sennheisers find bass frequencies which completely elude the Q701s. Both cans have merits.
 
And now for something completely different.
 
Tom Waits - 'Hold on' from '"Mule Variations" streamed from a FLAC file on NAS storage. I always loved the sound of it through the AKGs. Starting again with the HD 650s. I think that I'm getting an impoverishment of detail and a slightly imprecision in stereo detail. Warm, fuzzy and musical again. Q701s - lots, lots more instrumental detail, great clarity, more soundstage side-to-side but rather two-dimensional. The HD 650s have more warmth, passion and depth. I think that I can hear the sound improving as I listen (or is it me getting used to it?). This is on 3-4 hours burn-in.
 
I'll leave it at that for now. I don't want to outstay my welcome! Thanks to all of you for sharing your love of music, sound and beauty.

 

[MattTCG]

The 650 continues to improve with time and age IMO. I would continue to listen. Your description sounds accurate. Warm with passion. They are very different from your 701's. Maybe they'll make a nice complementary set.
 
congrats...

 

[Copperears]

Listen at different volume levels. I find the HD650s start to sound more precise if you set the right volume for the specific recording. They don't suffer from a lot of ear-generated distortion at higher volumes, but they also, I find at least, are crisper and more detailed at lower volume levels. Sometimes if you have a very warm recording, as Waits tends to have, it actually sounds better a little louder. More midrange presence. Hard to describe, just encouraging you to experiment.

 

[Rem0o]

Just give it some time, it worked wonder for me.

 

[pdrm360]

They really need 200+ hours burn-in and a good amplifier, IMO.

 

[Amictus]

Thank you so much for your advice. I'll report more in due course - soon, actually. One thing though - these cans fit my head perfectly. They are so comfortable. It's now official. I don't have a big head.

 

[Saren]

Personally for me more importantly than any kind of burn in is giving the headphone enough time exclusively to get used to its sound signature and become accustomed. It is rare to be able to fully understand a headphones full capability from the first number of hours personally.
 
When I switch from the TH900 to say the T1 after exclusively listening to the Fostex for 20-30 hours then the T1 to my ears sounds "wrong" or at least odd to compared to what I was used to in sound signature. Likewise if I were to do the same for the T1 and switch back I may find that I'd be very attentive/conscious at first with the changes in some of the frequency range. Pretty simple of course.
 
 
YMMV as we all have our different processes.

 

[Amictus]

5.00 a.m. After five hours of pink noise - so we must be approaching the  ten hours mark on burn-in - there are definite changes. The bass 'bulge' has gone and the bass has tightened. So has the imaging, which is now much more precise. Some hints of the famous 'veil'  on mids and treble on some recordings. The soundstage is suddenly wider - it felt very restricted laterally just out of the box. Looking forward to the cable upgrade...

 

[dclaz]

what exactly is pink noise?
 
How do the HD650's physically feel? Do they feel well built and of high quality?

 

[TheGame]

  what exactly is pink noise?
 
How do the HD650's physically feel? Do they feel well built and of high quality?

Pink noise is random noise having equal energy per octave, and so having more low-frequency components than white noise. Some people use them to "break-in" their new cans. I am sure other have more/better info on Pink Noise.
 
As far as the HD650's feel and quality, I think they feel very comfortable. When brand-new out of the box they may clamp a bit, but it soon goes away after some use. The build quality is pretty good too, although I have heard of minor paint chipping on the headband, but I haven't had that issue.

 

[pdrm360]

  what exactly is pink noise?

 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_noise

 

[Amictus]

Dclaz - you have had an answer to your questions already! Comapared to the AKG 701s the build of the Sennheisers feels and looks a little 'cheaper' - the plastic is gloss rather than matt on the speaker housing which accounts for some of that effect. Also I like the way the metal headband on the 701s looks. This is superficial, however. The comfort of the HD 650s on my head is just great. They fit me perfectly. My hat size is 7 1/4 btw, if that helps. I also like the way that the cans hug the ear, whereas the 701s loll about a bit, the weight all being borne (painfully) by the top of the head.    

 

[Amictus]

Jamescodway - yes the detail is tightening up. Timbre is musical - accurate? I'll think about that one, listening, listening.
MattTCG - I hope so!
Copperears - thanks for that!
Rem0o and pdrm360 - the changes are very rapid at the moment. It's fascinating.
Saren - thank you for your thoughtful post. The listener burns in too, maybe?

 

[dclaz]

   
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_noise

 
 

 
Pink noise is random noise having equal energy per octave, and so having more low-frequency components than white noise. Some people use them to "break-in" their new cans. I am sure other have more/better info on Pink Noise.
 
As far as the HD650's feel and quality, I think they feel very comfortable. When brand-new out of the box they may clamp a bit, but it soon goes away after some use. The build quality is pretty good too, although I have heard of minor paint chipping on the headband, but I haven't had that issue.

 
Cheers guys. 

 

[dclaz]

  Dclaz - you have had an answer to your questions already! Comapared to the AKG 701s the build of the Sennheisers feels and looks a little 'cheaper' - the plastic is gloss rather than matt on the speaker housing which accounts for some of that effect. Also I like the way the metal headband on the 701s looks. This is superficial, however. The comfort of the HD 650s on my head is just great. They fit me perfectly. My hat size is 7 1/4 btw, if that helps. I also like the way that the cans hug the ear, whereas the 701s loll about a bit, the weight all being borne (painfully) by the top of the head.    

Thanks, hat size is probably a good indicator. I should try and found out mine