[ButtUglyJeff]

  Haha... have you tried Audeze headphones? Leather pads tend to offer very satisfying bass. 
 
I would also recommend the ZMF Omni's for well articulated, satisfying bass:
http://www.zmfheadphones.com/omni/
 
The 650's have nothing on them, with respect to sub bass.

 
Have you tried the Omni.  I'm on Zach's tour, just haven't had my turn yet.  How do the mids compare to the HD650?  Women's vocals?

 

[mikoss]

   
Have you tried the Omni.  I'm on Zach's tour, just haven't had my turn yet.  How do the mids compare to the HD650?  Women's vocals?

In my limited listening experience in meet conditions, I really enjoyed them the Omni's.
 
I much preferred them to the NightHawk's, which to my ears/brain had some tuning issues. I found the NightHawk's didn't offer a sophisticated sound... they were tuned something like the 650's, only with less overall resolution. The NightHawks treble gave me the impression of pots and pans. Not quite a plastic, unnatural sound, just unable to resolve micro-details in a way that would help overall tone/timbre. The treble of the 650's may not be as precise or have the clarity of planars, however what is there sounds refined and resolving. The treble of the 650's has never been an issue for myself... the treble of the NightHawks was a deal breaker for me. 
 
Back to the Omni's, I heard a rich, substantial sound with nice tonality. Their tuning is more of a dark/warm signature that I can get behind. The bass could obviously be a deal breaker for people who are looking for a more dialed in, impactful sound (eg. HE-1000 impact/control). I didn't find the bass to be loose sounding, but it was obviously emphasized, just simply because of how the headphones are tuned. I would probably also prefer the Omni's to the TH-900's... unsure of the TH-X00's, however as I still haven't heard them. The TH-900's sound almost unnaturally clear, whereas the Omni's were a bit more fun and musical.
 
Midrange of the Omni's vs the HD-650's is hard to tell... I would need more time. For myself, the 650's are the kings of mids. I thought the LCD-3's mids were my preference for a short while, however there is just something about the overall presentation of the 650's, where the mids seems to be just dialed perfectly in. I wired up a balanced XLR-TRRS cable yesterday to try and breath some life into my LCD-3's with the Geek Out v2, feeding them balanced... the LCD's sounded better than I'm used to... I would say a more nuanced dynamic range - however - I still prefer the HD-650's sound. The LCD's have a much different soundstage, akin to sitting between two large speakers... the 650's is the classic V-shaped headphone soundstage, but there is magic there. I honestly couldn't even articulate how I felt about the Omni's soundstage... I think they are more of an immersive sound a la the LCD's. I want to hear them again... I remember at the time thinking "God... I really have been missing out on all of these silly Fostex modded headphones..."

 

[platinumbird]

For someone who loves their 650's but is trying very hard to upgrade to Audeze line this scares me..

 

[DavidA]

@mikoss after reading your above post I really want to hear an Omni, I think there is/was one poster here in Hawaii that has one, need to find him/her asap

 
 

  For someone who loves their 650's but is trying very hard to upgrade to Audeze line this scares me..

Why would this scare you?  I think there are many who have had this chain of thoughts, it comes down to what sound signature you like.

 

[platinumbird]

  @mikoss after reading your above post I really want to hear an Omni, I think there is/was one poster here in Hawaii that has one, need to find him/her asap

 
 
Why would this scare you?  I think there are many who have had this chain of thoughts, it comes down to what sound signature you like.

Every audiophile purchase I've made has come from impressions of entirely head-fi forums and ive spent thousands without being able to audition anything prior to buying it.. thats why it scares me.. what if i spend this money and i prefer my HD650 and crack w speedball better :O

I'm currently living in Darwin, Australia.  There is no BH audio visual or head-fi meets over here, only crocodiles.
 
I should've said it scares my wallet, lol.
 
I am however thinking of going back to Sydney soon to try out either Burson conductor virtuoso and or wa7 fireflies with the LCD2. I'll buy one of them, that will be my end-game...for now.
 
Kjas

 

[DavidA]

  Every audiophile purchase I've made has come from impressions of entirely head-fi forums and ive spent thousands without being able to audition anything prior to buying it.. thats why it scares me.. what if i spend this money and i prefer my HD650 and crack w speedball better :O

I'm currently living in Darwin, Australia.  There is no BH audio visual or head-fi meets over here, only crocodiles.
 
I should've said it scares my wallet, lol.
 
I am however thinking of going back to Sydney soon to try out either Burson conductor virtuoso and or wa7 fireflies with the LCD2. I'll buy one of them, that will be my end-game...for now.
 
Kjas

Understand your comments, I live in Hawaii and we also have no places to demo equipment, unless its beats and bose.  I had a WA7d and really didn't like it, for the price I was able to get a BH Crack + upgraded tubes and a Lyr2 + additional tubes.  I know now that the DAC section was probably holding it back but it made me stay away from DAC/amp combos.
 
I also have a LCD-2f, using either Lyr2 or Ember to drive it, its good but I like the HD-650/BH Crack combo a little better.

 

[platinumbird]

 
Understand your comments, I live in Hawaii and we also have no places to demo equipment, unless its beats and bose.  I had a WA7d and really didn't like it, for the price I was able to get a BH Crack + upgraded tubes and a Lyr2 + additional tubes.  I know now that the DAC section was probably holding it back but it made me stay away from DAC/amp combos.
 
I also have a LCD-2f, using either Lyr2 or Ember to drive it, its good but I like the HD-650/BH Crack combo a little better.

****... since LCD-2f + WA7 or Burson Virtuoso was my next purchase, would you recommend any combo for that price that sounds better? maybe i can ask the store in sydney to set that up for me to audiition? The plan was to get a dac/amp combo, use it with my HD650s for a while and then upgrade to LCD-2F or LCD -3 then upgrade DAC.

 

[chesebert]

Probably had my HD650 for 15 years and have used it on and off during that time. Not until recently I have never applied EQ to any of my cans. I was browsing one day and came across the Harmon target response curve. I now have my own custom EQ curve based initially on the Harmon target response curve and Tyll's raw FR measurement, and then tweaked to fit my sound preference (LCD-2 / Harbeth sound). It took me a few sessions to dial-in the desired EQ. I can honestly say the custom EQ has brought the HD650 to a whole new level of performance and sounds much more transparent and balanced than the non-EQed version. Source is ifi microDAC with iUSB3 and amp is M3 with Q11.

Given my success with EQ HD650, I will move onto my other headphones.

 

[DavidA]

  ****... since LCD-2f + WA7 or Burson Virtuoso was my next purchase, would you recommend any combo for that price that sounds better? maybe i can ask the store in sydney to set that up for me to audiition? The plan was to get a dac/amp combo, use it with my HD650s for a while and then upgrade to LCD-2F or LCD -3 then upgrade DAC.

I haven't heard the Virtuoso so I can't comment on it.  If it was me, I would get the 4490 Bifrost (currently have uber and MB, thinking of upgrading uber to 4490), either Lyr2, H-10 or even a liquid carbon if you can find one.  Since you already have the BH Crack for your HD-650 I'm thinking you wanted to go to a planar sound with the LCD-2/3, something different than what you currently have?  While I love the warm sound from the LCD-2f its fairly similar to the HD-650 and is more of a side grade to me, I would look at something with a different sound signature, like HE-560/400i, HD-800/700 or if you like a little bass then a TH-600/X00.

 

[CanadianMaestro]

I'm selling my 650. Cardas balanced cable included.
Ad is on CAM. Let's see how long it lasts there.
 
Just not using it enough these days.

 

[Sal1950]

  I'm selling my 650. Cardas balanced cable included.
Ad is on CAM. Let's see how long it lasts there.
 
Just not using it enough these days.

You'll be back  

 

[chesebert]

  You'll be back  

+1. I sold and bought HD600 and HD650 multiple times in the last 15 years. I will not make the same mistake over and over again

 

[CanadianMaestro]

Enjoying floor system 90% of the time these days.  Maybe I will return to 650. As MacArthur said....
Nah.

 

[Bitten by Bug]

Thanks for all the posts in this thread.  I did read hundreds of pages and as a consequence of this and other research; my brand new HD650s arrived today. Yay!
 
Since this is the impressions thread thought I would share first impressions:  
Straight out of the box and on to some Tchaikovsky, Waltz of the Flowers.  Oh my. How to describe what I am feeling/hearing....The music is believable! All the subtleties! It is as clear as being there. Woo Hoo!  Happy listener.  Some more Tchaikovsky and then on to something completely different, The Who.  Listened to the entire Who's Next album hearing a significant amount of new detail.  This will be a grand adventure in listening and when the WA6SE arrives, that may push it up another notch or two. Looking forward to these cans breaking in. 

 

[DavidA]

  Enjoying floor system 90% of the time these days.  Maybe I will return to 650. As MacArthur said....
Nah.

I'm with you, using my speakers much more these days, everyone can listen at once and I think my speakers sound better than most of my headphones.