[donlin]

 
Don't expect fireworks. The HD 650 is better than your current choice in every way but they won't shout it at you. Sit back and relax. Your DAC & amp are well up to the job, don't worry about it. Is there a specific genre of music you like?
 
edit - I meant to say, it's now time to start looking at building a FLAC collection. Your brain will thank you.

 

I had an experience today that made me question any expectation I secretly harbored about fireworks. Apparently, I fail at discerning between a high quality MP3 and full CD quality; so I am certain I will love my HD-650's because I probably won't be able to tell if they suck. I enjoy a wide variety of music including rock, metal, synth pop, jazz, blues, and classical. Historically, I have been a guitar rock kind of guy, but as my audio equipment grows more capable, my preferences seem to be shifting to the synth pop genre more. Stuff like Depeche Mode. But classic guitar rock jams as much as ever, too. Most of the blues I like (John Lee Hooker, Lightnin' Hopkins) is such bad source recordings that good headphones aren't really going to help much, I think.

There is actually quite a bit of good sounding classic blues. I especially like stereo tracks on Chess from the late 50's -early 60's such as Muddy Waters Folk Singer, Sings Big Bill Broonzy, etc. Also Lightnin Hopkins on Prestige.

 

[intlsubband]

That is true. I bought my first pair about the first day they hit the street in 2003 and that pair was much less clear than my current pair.

 
I don't know. I have the old version (with the darker-coloured driver) and a few months ago I had a chance to compare it to a newer one with the silver-coloured driver, and I couldn't tell the difference out of my main amp.

 

[raybone0566]

For how much did you get them?

313.00 total

 

[TeddyShot]

313.00 total

Im assuming Amazon didn't charge you tax? For me they did to a total of $340, which is why I ordered mine from B&H for $313. Is this a good deal though?

 

[raybone0566]

Im assuming Amazon didn't charge you tax? For me they did to a total of $340, which is why I ordered mine from B&H for $313. Is this a good deal though?

313.00 grand total no tax, best buy will match amazons price but they'll include tax also. That was a deal-breaker for me.

 

[XERO1]

Im assuming Amazon didn't charge you tax? For me they did to a total of $340, which is why I ordered mine from B&H for $313. Is this a good deal though?

 
$313 is the lowest price I've ever seen a new set of HD650 go for so far.  That's why I grabbed a pair before the price went up again, which it already has.

 

[TeddyShot]

Well i'm glad I got them for $313 then. I would have preferred from Amazon but the sales tax killed the value. Now as I look up more information on these headphones, I'm starting to feel more confident that I'll like their sound. I just hope what I've read about the newer version with the metal dampening material is true, that it has little to no veil compared to the older version. And about the soundstage, how is it compared to the 598?

 

[XERO1]

While newer and more expensive headphones may exceed the HD650's in one area or another, I still consider the HD650's the 'gold standard' of high-end headphones and a fantastic (and relatively affordable) starting point for someone who wants to hear what a true reference quality headphone can do (when used with an appropriate amp).

 

[seatown7]

OK...I'm a noob who's been out of the audio world for a bit.  After reading these forums I bought some HD-650s from B&H this week. I usually listen to Apple Lossless files from my MacBook Pro. I have a Fiio E10k and have just ordered a Cayin C5. If you were to properly drive a set of SD-650s from my laptop, what would you use?
 
Thanks!

 

[Byronb]

 

   
Don't expect fireworks. The HD 650 is better than your current choice in every way but they won't shout it at you. Sit back and relax. Your DAC & amp are well up to the job, don't worry about it. Is there a specific genre of music you like?
 
edit - I meant to say, it's now time to start looking at building a FLAC collection. Your brain will thank you.

 

I had an experience today that made me question any expectation I secretly harbored about fireworks. Apparently, I fail at discerning between a high quality MP3 and full CD quality; so I am certain I will love my HD-650's because I probably won't be able to tell if they suck. I enjoy a wide variety of music including rock, metal, synth pop, jazz, blues, and classical. Historically, I have been a guitar rock kind of guy, but as my audio equipment grows more capable, my preferences seem to be shifting to the synth pop genre more. Stuff like Depeche Mode. But classic guitar rock jams as much as ever, too. Most of the blues I like (John Lee Hooker, Lightnin' Hopkins) is such bad source recordings that good headphones aren't really going to help much, I think.

Listen to this song , your life will be changed!

 

[XERO1]

Because the HD650's are a high-impedance headphone (300-500 Ohms), they need an amp that can output a decent amount of power into higher impedances for them to really shine.
 
The new $100 Schiit Magni2 or $150 Magni2Uber would be a great affordable amp to start with.  Either one has plenty of power to drive the HD650 properly.

 

[TeddyShot]

OK...I'm a noob who's been out of the audio world for a bit.  After reading these forums I bought some HD-650s from B&H this week. I usually listen to Apple Lossless files from my MacBook Pro. I have a Fiio E10k and have just ordered a Cayin C5. If you were to properly drive a set of SD-650s from my laptop, what would you use?

Thanks!

Wow what a coincidence, I also ordered mine from B&H and got a Cayin C5 to go with it.

 

[seatown7]

Wow what a coincidence, I also ordered mine from B&H and got a Cayin C5 to go with it.

Hard to sit on your wallet at that price with free shipping and no tax...and I already bought HD-598s and Momentums last week.

 

[jamesfonda]

My HD650s arrived this week and I thought I'd post a few impressions. Firstly, I'd just like to say how incredibly helpful head-fi has been in guiding me in all my headphone purchases. Finding good bang-for-buck kit makes me very happy and so far, my RE-ZEROs, GR07 Mk2, M50s and Maverick Audio D1+ (with all upgrades) have been excellent acquisitions for their specific purpose.
 
I bought the HD650s for them to be my 'lounge' phones where I can sit and relax with some decent scotch and enjoy the music once my kids and possibly wife have gone to bed. What attracted me to the HD650 specifically was that people have described them as being very forgiving yet resolving at the same time, with a slightly warm Senn house sound (I loved my px100s before my son snapped them) as well as being phones that scale well with decent kit. I can't confirm the decent kit part yet (the D1 seems to be a good fit for now), but I definitely can confirm the forgiving part. Whether I'm listening to Rdio or Spotifiy streaming at 320kps, badly ripped mp3s from yesteryear or decent .flac files, the 650s seems to deliver the best possible music experience with what's available.
 
If anyone owns the other phones that I've mentioned, I could put the HD650s performance in context to theirs using ratings out of 10 (obviously in my own very subjective viewpoint). This may or may not be helpful to some.
 
RE-ZEROs - Low 6.5/10, mid 8.5/10, high 6.5/10, sstage 6.5/10
GR07 - Low 8, mid 8, high 8, sstage 7.5 (seriously good workhorse )
M50s - Low 8.5, mid 5.5, high 7, sstage 6
 
HD650s - Low 8.5/10, mid 9.5/10, high 8/10, sstage 8.5/10
 
I can't wait (or can rather ) to see how these phones develop over time with a bit of burn in, and well, if there are no changes, well that's also gravy.
 
I cannot for the life of me imagine anyone regretting buying these phones (unless they don't amp them - I plugged them into a J3 and a Samsung S4 and they sounded slow and very average) and I personally can only heartily recommend them.

 

[FangJoker]

Well i'm glad I got them for $313 then. I would have preferred from Amazon but the sales tax killed the value. Now as I look up more information on these headphones, I'm starting to feel more confident that I'll like their sound. I just hope what I've read about the newer version with the metal dampening material is true, that it has little to no veil compared to the older version. And about the soundstage, how is it compared to the 598?

 
 
Newer version?  When was this released?