[Amictus]

How much was your repair and what did they fix?

The repair was free within warranty. I had been swapping cables and the right channel disappeared. I may have a new pair of phones, but as there is no serial number except on the box, I can't be sure. Differences? (And this is currently desktop with Creative SB X-fi Fatal1ty Titanium coaxial output > Audiolab M-DAC > Schiit Lyr with Telefunken E88CCs)... No veil (at all), wider and deeper soundstage, much more PRAT, and a bass which is very present with no subjective bump or boom. The imaging is a little diffuse, as before. I may get round to comparing them with the main system which is Oppo 103 > Schiit Gungnir > Lovely Cube  which have much better mains cables and interconnect. It will also be interesting to see if there is any discernible burn-in. PM me if you want more info.

 

[ridethespiral]

Anyone notice inconsistencies with the swivel point on their HD650's? I noticed yesterday that the left ear cup is a lot more stiff at the swivel point than the right cup. The right one feels normal, where as the left is very stiff. Not very important, but since I noticed it, it has been bugging me a little bit

 

[Transformatron]

Anyone notice inconsistencies with the swivel point on their HD650's? I noticed yesterday that the left ear cup is a lot more stiff at the swivel point than the right cup. The right one feels normal, where as the left is very stiff. Not very important, but since I noticed it, it has been bugging me a little bit

My HD 650s are in a HD 580 headband and my right swivel is very stiff. I was wondering how to fix it too.

 

[MattTCG]

  Anyone notice inconsistencies with the swivel point on their HD650's? I noticed yesterday that the left ear cup is a lot more stiff at the swivel point than the right cup. The right one feels normal, where as the left is very stiff. Not very important, but since I noticed it, it has been bugging me a little bit

 
In my experience, both swivels will loosen up over time and with use. Mine used to be creaky when putting them on but not anymore. 

 

[Eee Pee]

They'll loosen up for sure.  So much so you'll wish they were tight again.  It's just plastic.

 

[Kneel2Galvatron]

Does anyone think upgrading the headphone cables are worth it?? Looking at better copper cables. Charleston Cable Company or Toxic seem more attractive(price). I'm using the Questyle q192 as my amp and dac. This would be my last upgrade to my current set up.

 

[logwed]

For the longest time I didn't really think that they did much of anything (I bought my set used), but on our demo pair the hinges actually hold shape!
 
I prefer the useless hinges.

 

[ridethespiral]

Yup I can see the plastic where the fulcrum of the swivel is slowly wearing away. In fact there was plastic 'dust' already in the swivel when I took them out of the box.
 
 
Soo because I cannot afford a Bottlehead Crack, I picked up a PreSonus HP4. HOLY ****. I know this isn't audiophile approved, but it was cheap, and pushes 150mW per output, so I figured it was better than going directly out from my Steinberg CI2. THAT BASS. I don't notice any degradation in sound quality but the soundstage has certainly opened up and the veil is barely noticable now.
 
Now do I go out and party or listen to music at home all night? hahahah.

 

[mbusby]

The PreSonus HP4 is used to provide multiple monitor headphone amplification in a recording studio. It can't be all bad.

 

[alejandro7]

Kneel2Galvatron: Go with C3! I bought 6' Auric mid-line cable from C3 (Charleston Cable Company). EXcellent sound upgrade to Cardas. Great conductors, Furutech 1/4" is the way to go IMHO. Use them with either my 650s or older 420s...fit both well. The ARE a bit heavy but you're paying for quality copper cables. Check it out!  alejandro

 

[ButtUglyJeff]

I'm listening to some Guess Who with the HD650s.  Once again I'm blown away.  Another great artist pairing...

 

[MattTCG]

The new Beck for me and sounds great on the 650. I'm also really liking Sarah Jarosz, and Emmylou Harris with Rodney Crowell this morning. 

 

[HPiper]

  The new Beck for me and sounds great on the 650. I'm also really liking Sarah Jarosz, and Emmylou Harris with Rodney Crowell this morning. 

Never liked Beck very much, but I love the EmmyLou cd. I have most every cd she ever made but still, this is a good one.

 

[upstateguy]

  Does anyone think upgrading the headphone cables are worth it?? Looking at better copper cables. Charleston Cable Company or Toxic seem more attractive(price). I'm using the Questyle q192 as my amp and dac. This would be my last upgrade to my current set up.

 
There's a lot of information on this subject in our Sound Science forum, and on the hydrogenaudio forum. 
 
The short answer is that any well make cable is going to sound the same as any other well made cable.
 
On the other hand, there is nothing wrong with sprucing up the looks of your 650s with a nice looking cable, and some of the after market cables are quite something to look at.
 
Be aware that if Sennheiser discovered that changing the cable wire resulted in an audible improvement, all 650s would have this new wire, since it would be to Sennheiser's competitive advantage to have their 650 headphones sound as good as as they are capable of sounding.
 
In any event, be careful how you plug the cables in because one one of the two pins is slightly larger than the other and if plugged in backwards, it will stretch the small receptacle and result in a loose connection.
 

 

[awsanderson]

   
 
Be aware that if Sennheiser discovered that changing the cable wire resulted in an audible improvement, all 650s would have this new wire, since it would be to their competitive advantage to have their 650 headphones sound as good as as they are capable of sounding.
 
 
 
 

while mostly good info I disagree with this statement no offense intended but there is always a cost/gain balance if this were true why wouldn't they just make the 650's like the 800's.  because it wouldn't be cost effective.  when I upgraded cables to my 650's it made a pretty big difference now I believe that this difference can be greatly affected by what is upstream.  I went from the stock cable on the single ended output of an amp with balanced output to a balanced cable on the balanced out and the difference was noticeable