[Jimmy24]

One thing I noticed was that I thought they sounded like crap till I ripped all my cd's in WAV. To my astonishment this made all the difference. Before I was listening to 128 bit rate and thought it needed some burn in but damn I was wrong. There's no need to burn them in. I've used them for less than 30 hours and I've come to appreciate them fully. These are awesome!!

 

[tdockweiler]

Quote:

One thing I noticed was that I thought they sounded like crap till I ripped all my cd's in WAV. To my astonishment this made all the difference. Before I was listening to 128 bit rate and thought it needed some burn in but damn I was wrong. There's no need to burn them in. I've used them for less than 30 hours and I've come to appreciate them fully. These are awesome!!

 
I thought the HD-650 sounded just fine with all my 320kbps recordings (i've since converted to FLAC and CD). I think I may have even had a few that were as low as 192. The HD-650 is still fairly forgiving of low bit-rate files. I think it depends more on how good the recording itself is. I've heard a lot of garbage that's in WAV format.
 
I don't think the HD-650 is revealing enough to force anyone to rip their entire collection again if it's all in 320kbps mp3.
 
Lately i've been interested in the HD-650 again. I wasn't a fan of it's mid-bass and even the HD-600 has too much for me. I really did prefer the mids of the HD-650 though. Maybe it was due to it's slightly smaller soundstage and less airy sound. The HD-650 seemed to do very well with female vocals like in Cantopop/Jpop. Definitely sounded less grainy, but I could only tell in specific songs. Mostly acoustic music with a larger soundstage.
 
Some graphs appear to make it look like the HD-650 is flatter than the HD-600. Does anyone have a pair that actually has less mid-bass than the HD-600? Probably not!
 
I bet i'll love the HD-650 even more now that I've upgraded my DAC. Too bad it'll be hard to find them for under $350 now outside Ebay.
 
Every Sennheiser headphone I ever had sounded perfectly fine out of the box. I do believe in burn-in too.

 

[longbowbbs]

Quote:

 
I thought the HD-650 sounded just fine with all my 320kbps recordings (i've since converted to FLAC and CD). I think I may have even had a few that were as low as 192. The HD-650 is still fairly forgiving of low bit-rate files. I think it depends more on how good the recording itself is. I've heard a lot of garbage that's in WAV format.
 
I don't think the HD-650 is revealing enough to force anyone to rip their entire collection again if it's all in 320kbps mp3.
 
Lately i've been interested in the HD-650 again. I wasn't a fan of it's mid-bass and even the HD-600 has too much for me. I really did prefer the mids of the HD-650 though. Maybe it was due to it's slightly smaller soundstage and less airy sound. The HD-650 seemed to do very well with female vocals like in Cantopop/Jpop. Definitely sounded less grainy, but I could only tell in specific songs. Mostly acoustic music with a larger soundstage.
 
Some graphs appear to make it look like the HD-650 is flatter than the HD-600. Does anyone have a pair that actually has less mid-bass than the HD-600? Probably not!
 
I bet i'll love the HD-650 even more now that I've upgraded my DAC. Too bad it'll be hard to find them for under $350 now outside Ebay.
 
Every Sennheiser headphone I ever had sounded perfectly fine out of the box. I do believe in burn-in too.

Put some custom cables on them and see how they do. The better the signal you give the HD650's (Lossless, Upgraded Cables, Better DAC and some bur in time) the better they become. Stock 650's with less than 320k is nothing special because you not feeding them what they need to shine...

 

[IEMCrazy]

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This was my exact thoughts, the D7000's really smoothed out that bright treble and turned out to be much more hidef

 
Dx000 has a bigger burn in time than most since they have the same sort of flexible surround that loudspeakers have that has to be broken in.  I believe Fostex/Denon are the only headphones that use a setup like that.  I believe the new non-Foster Denons will still do so.
 
Quote:

One thing I noticed was that I thought they sounded like crap till I ripped all my cd's in WAV. To my astonishment this made all the difference. Before I was listening to 128 bit rate and thought it needed some burn in but damn I was wrong. There's no need to burn them in. I've used them for less than 30 hours and I've come to appreciate them fully. These are awesome!!

128??  128?? I haven't been able to listen to 128kb MP3 in 15 years

   I keep some 320 around....even some 256 from Amazon on albums that are out of print or way too expensive for a single album to import unless it's vinyl.  But 128 should remain buried in the days when everyone didn't fully understand that downloading MP3s from anonymous FTP was in any way questionable

 
Quote:

 
I thought the HD-650 sounded just fine with all my 320kbps recordings (i've since converted to FLAC and CD). I think I may have even had a few that were as low as 192. The HD-650 is still fairly forgiving of low bit-rate files. I think it depends more on how good the recording itself is. I've heard a lot of garbage that's in WAV format.
 
I don't think the HD-650 is revealing enough to force anyone to rip their entire collection again if it's all in 320kbps mp3.
 
Lately i've been interested in the HD-650 again. I wasn't a fan of it's mid-bass and even the HD-600 has too much for me. I really did prefer the mids of the HD-650 though. Maybe it was due to it's slightly smaller soundstage and less airy sound. The HD-650 seemed to do very well with female vocals like in Cantopop/Jpop. Definitely sounded less grainy, but I could only tell in specific songs. Mostly acoustic music with a larger soundstage.
 
Some graphs appear to make it look like the HD-650 is flatter than the HD-600. Does anyone have a pair that actually has less mid-bass than the HD-600? Probably not!
 
I bet i'll love the HD-650 even more now that I've upgraded my DAC. Too bad it'll be hard to find them for under $350 now outside Ebay.
 
Every Sennheiser headphone I ever had sounded perfectly fine out of the box. I do believe in burn-in too.

 
HD650 is "forgiving" because it plays down the worst of the harshness of bad music.  It's not forgiving because it's in any way low resolution.  You're a big AKG 70x fan, as am I, but I still firmly am convinced that both are equally resolving.  The HD650 just shoves the detail in your face less by presenting it differently.   128kbps MP3 still sucks on them....it just presents it in a way that doesn't endlessly remind you how badly it sucks so you can still forget the detail and enjoy the music

 
I think you'll appreciate the differences amp/dac can bring to HD650, definitely.  But if you can find them, new, for $350 from an authorized dealer, grab them! That's what I payed 5.5 years ago when they were at their lowest part of the price curve.  Not many authorized dealers ever had them for under $350.  The trouble is they've been forced to $500 for the past few months.  There's some indication that's waning now that HD700 is actually available (and doubtfully meeting expectations) though

 
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SO. BRAVE.

 
LOL.  As brave as skydiving from orbit carrying only an umbrella.

 

[RudeWolf]

 

[IEMCrazy]

Quote:

 


"Ear cup cushions not replaceable"

Oh there's some doozies in there.  That may be one of the winners.  My other favorite was: "To keep it short, I don't recommend the HD650 for professional tracking, mixing or mastering."
 
Which is very much on the contrary to a 2010 Sound on Sound (a well respected studio trade mag who's credibility is excellent) article, who rated the HD800 as their "1st place for Ultimate Quality -- At a Price" and proceeded to discuss how it was better than HD650 but that the diminishing returns are severe featuring quotes such as:
 
"only the seriously fanatical will feel comfortable justifying the considerable additional cost. The HD800 is undoubtedly more accurate and better built than the HD650, but not three times better than something that is probably already 95 percent of the way to perfection anyway."
 
and
 
"...but any sonic improvement over the HD650s is relatively small, as the latter already approach what’s possible, and the HD800s cost considerably more"
 
Finally from the K702 comparison:
"I didn’t detect quite the same detail in busier mixes as with the Sennheiser HD650s, but I’d happily mix with them"
 
That was from a professional trade mag reviewing quite a number of headphones specifically for the goal of tracking and mixing.  
 
Kind of a big miss here, which is a shame.  It was a golden opportunity to revisit serious discussion on serious high end headphones that have become lost in the trendier publications due to the awe over $1k+ elitism. 

 

[Rawrbington]

that review is interesting.
 
i disagree with it but still find it interesting.
 
some of the pro's and con's are strange.
 
"rugged"  - What?
"heavy"  - NO?
"music sounds dead"  - Not to me.
"Non-replaceable ear-cup cushions" - umm?
 
but i do understand how one could think there is a big lack of highs.  especially if thye are used to something like a Beyerdynamic or whatever.
 
so yeah, initially there is a lack of highs.  when i went from my 990/600 and got my 650s my first thought was oh man they are nice and smooth.  and the mids are awesome.
i see how someone who loves the details in the highs could be turned off a little by the HD650,  especially if they aren't using decent equipment or just an ipod

 

[IEMCrazy]

Quote:

 
so yeah, initially there is a lack of highs.  when i went from my 990/600 and got my 650s my first thought was oh man they are nice and smooth.  and the mids are awesome.
i see how someone who loves the details in the highs could be turned off a little by the HD650,  especially if they aren't using decent equipment or just an ipod

 
In fairness, when the HD650 was released the idea of taking a large 350ohm full sized headphone and plugging them into something like an iPod was unheard of, unimaginable, and nobody would be nuts enough to consider it.  It has a 1/4" plug by default for a reason.  The idea that someone buying a $500 set of headphones implied by nature someone plugging it into at least a device plugged into the wall.  A CDP, SACDP, pre/pro, whatever.  
 
Only recently do audiophiles take full size gear and plug them into portable equipment and rate it as though that's an essential part of the performance.  And only recently to some manufacturers like Denon & Fostex actually make something that handles those situations well.
 
Sure HD650 and friend will handle an iPod ok, but that's a lousy way to rate their abilities.  And K70x is worse in that regard.  Beyer worked around it back in those days by essentially offering three different headphones with three different drivers and called them all DT880.

 

[Jimmy24]

Quote:

 
128??  128?? I haven't been able to listen to 128kb MP3 in 15 years

   I keep some 320 around....even some 256 from Amazon on albums that are out of print or way too expensive for a single album to import unless it's vinyl.  But 128 should remain buried in the days when everyone didn't fully understand that downloading MP3s from anonymous FTP was in any way questionable

 

 
I can't listen to 128kb mp3 either. I just realized I was listening to them with my HD650s! That's why I decided to get all my CD's and rip them as wave to hear the HD650's true potential. Now I'm really hearing the difference between these headphones and a cheap pair. This is my first (edit: quality pair) of headphones so it just sounds so great and I've been enjoying them for the last 2 weeks.
 
Edit: I'd also like to ask if the Maverick Tube Magic sounds any better than the O2+ODAC combo. I have the O2+ODAC and want to know if I wasted my money getting these two instead of the Tube Magic.

 

[lagittaja]

Hey guys, I hope it's okay to ask this here.
I was originally planning to get 600's but then I noticed that the 650's are only ~55€ more so I'll get them instead since after reading the short comparison in the 2012 summer guide I find that they would suit me better..
So with that out of the way I'll get to the point.

How well does HD 650 pair with Audinst HUD-MX1?
I love the price (~150€), I love the looks and I love the fact that it has RCA out so I can use it as a DAC for Lepai Tripath based amplifier.
But, is there any USB DAC/HP AMP (_with_ similar RCA out) in ~200€/$245 (absolute max, I'm already straining it) range that would be vastly superior for the HD650 than the Audinst?

TL;DR
For HD 650's:
Audinst HUD-MX1 or similar DAC/AMP with rca out
Max 245$

Sent from my Galaxy Note

 

[muad]

I don't think you can "waste money" on the o2/odac. It's designed to give you whats in the music nothing more nothing less. Now it may be possible that the tubemagic may give you some distortion or change the tone of the music to make it more enjoyable to your ears. I personally didn't like that sound when i had the tubemagic, i found it worked better for brighter sounding headphones... 
Quote:

 
I can't listen to 128kb mp3 either. I just realized I was listening to them with my HD650s! That's why I decided to get all my CD's and rip them as wave to hear the HD650's true potential. Now I'm really hearing the difference between these headphones and a cheap pair. This is my first (edit: quality pair) of headphones so it just sounds so great and I've been enjoying them for the last 2 weeks.
 
Edit: I'd also like to ask if the Maverick Tube Magic sounds any better than the O2+ODAC combo. I have the O2+ODAC and want to know if I wasted my money getting these two instead of the Tube Magic.

 

[Max F]

Quote:

 
I can't listen to 128kb mp3 either. I just realized I was listening to them with my HD650s! That's why I decided to get all my CD's and rip them as wave to hear the HD650's true potential. Now I'm really hearing the difference between these headphones and a cheap pair. This is my first (edit: quality pair) of headphones so it just sounds so great and I've been enjoying them for the last 2 weeks.
 
Edit: I'd also like to ask if the Maverick Tube Magic sounds any better than the O2+ODAC combo. I have the O2+ODAC and want to know if I wasted my money getting these two instead of the Tube Magic.

Please, do yourself a favor and rip to FLAC.  It's lossless too.  That way you'll save yourself a little disc space and be able to use tags.

 

[Jimmy24]

Quote:

Please, do yourself a favor and rip to FLAC.  It's lossless too.  That way you'll save yourself a little disc space and be able to use tags.

 
Edit: I guess you're right. I'm still a little skeptical. I've seen many people say it sounds the same but I'm too stubborn to not try and see if I hear any differences myself plus I'm not too concernced about disc space.

 

[Meoow]

I just got Bifrost + Asgard combo, it matches the HD650 very nicely but in term of "synergy", there is none. What the Asgard does is making the HD650 sounds better across the board while retains the sound signature. My RSA Mustang is better at synergise with the HD650.
 
For those who love the signature on the HD650, then you must also consider Audio Techinca W series. The Asgard matches real well with them

 

[XxDobermanxX]

[size=1.8333em] Sennheiser HD650 Rap Music Sound Quality Test[/size]