[Wuzupmyhomiz]

You should be able to tell if you put them in the light and look through the grill. The new ones have a brighter, silver driver, hence the name.

What's are the differences? I think I posses one, I'm sure the thread answers in its almost 1000 pages, I'm just looking for a basic answer

 

[Austin Morrow]

What's are the differences? I think I posses one, I'm sure the thread answers in its almost 1000 pages, I'm just looking for a basic answer

 
The black driver was a much darker, less refined version. Lower detail retrieval, looser bass, and slightly smaller soundstage. The silver driver basically fixes this "veil."

 

[balancebox]

so if I enjoy my hd598 I should get hd600 or hd650?
 
I will probably end up owning both but dont know which one to get first.... enjoying my beyerdynamic dt880/dt990 for a few months now
 
I always listen to my sennheiser hd25-1 on the road, kind of miss sennheiser at home T_T

 

[Austin Morrow]

  so if I enjoy my hd598 I should get hd600 or hd650?
 
I will probably end up owning both but dont know which one to get first.... enjoying my beyerdynamic dt880/dt990 for a few months now
 
I always listen to my sennheiser hd25-1 on the road, kind of miss sennheiser at home T_T

 
Depends, what's your setup? Amp, source? The HD650 needs to have good synergy down the whole line to sound good (and the same thing can be said for the HD600).

 

[balancebox]

I have been only using my asus essence stx to drive my headphones. I do have muses01 opamp on the way but not sure how they will change the sound. I recently purchase a fiio x3 for on the go

I did look at schiit bit frost but kind of out of my budget.

I listen to like pop classic mostly

 

[gabsonuro]

I have been only using my asus essence stx to drive my headphones. I do have muses01 opamp on the way but not sure how they will change the sound. I recently purchase a fiio x3 for on the go

I did look at schiit bit frost but kind of out of my budget.

I listen to like pop classic mostly

I'm using a 650 with an stx and it sounds great

 

[jamesino]

Foobar2000 Flac > Modi/Magni > HD 650. I've been sort of disappointed with the vocal and treble of this set up for a while. This is coming from an Fiio E10 and HD 595. But today, I boosted up (by 1 notch) the four frequency bars about 7KHz on the Foorbar Equalizer, the headphones came alive. The vocal is much much better now and they're now amazing. 

 

[TheGame]

Hey everyone! Really enjoying the HD 650's! I've had them for about 2 weeks and they are still performing extremely well! I need a few pieces of advice from the experts here to try to help me out, and I would be grateful for any suggestions anyone could provide.
 
I am still very much a beginner into the world of headphones and equipment, and as of right now with my budget it seems I will be sticking with the HD 650's for a very long time.
 
The first question I have is - since my setup is very beginner and I do not have outstanding components like some of you on here, I would like to ask which single upgrade could I get to make the most noticeable improvement/benefit in sound. Below I will post my beginner setup and hope the experts here could give me some advice on one component that I would notice the most dramatic difference with the HD650's. Of course I would like to upgrade to all good components, but I just don't have the money to do it all in one shot, thus I was hoping I could get advice from the experts here as to what single upgrade from what I currently have would make the most noticeable difference/impact on improving the HD 650's potential, then build slowly from there.
 
Current Setup:
 
Source - Creative Titanium HD Sound Card. (from what I have read with other posters here is that the Creative Titanium HD Sound Card has a pretty good DAC and can produce 24-bit 192000 Hz (which I currently have it set at)
 
Quick Specs on the Creative Titanium HD Sound Card:
•RCA Line Out for audio playback up to 122dB, 24-bit/96kHz Digital-to-Analog Converters (DAC)
•RCA Line Input for recording up to 118dB, 24-bit 96kHZ Analog-to-Digital Converters (ADC)
•0.001% Total Harmonic Distortion + Noise (THD+N)
•Headphone output for audio listening up to 115dB 33 Ohms, and 117dB, 330 Ohms, at 24bit/96kHz
•Replaceable Op-amps
•Hardware-accelerated 3D positional audio and EAX 5.0 effects that provide a truly immersive experience with headphones and speakers
•Dolby Digital and DTS encoding enables one-step single-cable connection to home entertainment systems
•TOS-link optical-in/out
•1/8" microphone-in
•1/8" headphone jack
•Creative ALchemy to restore EAX and surround sound that is otherwise lost in DirectSound game titles running under Windows Vista and Windows 7
•ASIO recording support with latency as low as one millisecond with minimal CPU load
 
Amp
 
FiiO E09k Amp connected with high quality gold RCA cables from the left and right audio outs of the Creative Titanium HD Sound Card (not the headphone Jack out) to the RCA inputs of the FiiO E09K
 
Cans
Sennheiser HD 650
 
So perhaps maybe an upgrade to a better amp such as a Tube Amp, or better cables as I have read here that a lot of HD650 owners do, or perhaps a better source (although I really like using my PC to play files, most of which are lossless directly ripped from CD's that I own.
 
My second question is - In the Creative Console Launcher, should I use the headphone input setting, or Speaker Settings for the HD 650's? There is a difference in sound to the HD 650's when selecting Headphone and speaker configurations, but I have not listened to the speaker configuration very much, I primarily use the headphone setting (see attached pics below)
 

 
 
 

 
Also, does bass crossover frequency impact the sound in a negative way? I was told by a member here that it shouldn't affect headphones, but it does effect headphones. I can definitely hear the difference if I adjust/change bass crossover frequencies in headphone mode. (see screenshot below)
 

 
 (sorry for going on and on, I am still a beginner and trying to learn and this is the best place for that!)
 
I've noticed the last few days that with the same setup I have been using since I purchased the HD 650's about 2-3 weeks ago and after about 65 hours of listening that the sound signature of the HD 650's has changed a little bit. They do not seem to be as good as when I first took them out of the box and for about the first week. Any ideas what would be causing this?
 
And one final question on this post (I am sorry, but I really need to learn this stuff)
 
I really like the nice box/case the HD 650's come with. I would like to store the HD 650's in that box/case but it can be difficult and a pain to wrap the cord up and put it in the slot where the cable should go and repeat the process every day since I use these daily. Is it safe for the cable to put the headphones in their slot in the box and have the cable in the box as well, just not wrapped up the way it was when first out of the box? I have the HD 650's in their correct spot in the box, but have the cable kind drooped over the top of them to just fit in the box. Will this harm the cable in any way? Or is the a better way to care for the cable? Currently I do not have any headphone stands so I am wondering if anyone else has any suggestions on caring for the cable if keeping the headphones and cable in the box drooped over the headphones is not a good idea.
 
Thank you again for the great expertise and advice of the members here and from Head-fi. I really appreciate you all!

 

[MattTCG]

The real question I think is what your music is ripped/encoded to. That is a good place to start. FLAC rips are popular here for good reason. This will make one of the biggest differences if you have lower quality encoding like 128. So let's start there.
 
Be careful with storing the 650. It is know to chip across the headband. Using the box should be just fine. 

 

[TheGame]

Thank you for your prompt reply. Most of my files are ripped to lossless format (some over 1000 kbps)  since iTunes does not support FLAC.  However I read you can convert FLAC files to lossless format, in doing that is there any difference between lossless and FLAC? . I have not used FLAC though. Taking your advice I will look into that. Are there any good conversion programs that convert to FLAC or Flac to Lossless or should I be using a different player altogether? I like Itunes because the way I have it set up, it is easy to access what I am looking for (using 10.1, I do not like the newer versions of iTunes.
 
Also any ideas why perhaps when I purchased the HD 650's about 2-3 weeks ago and after about 65 hours of listening that the sound signature of the HD 650's has changed a little bit. They do not seem to be as good as when I first took them out of the box and for about the first week of listening to them. Any ideas what would be causing this?
 
Thank again for your reply!

 

[MattTCG]

The earpads will settle some, the headband will relax and the drivers will also go through a settling period. This will all lead to small changes in the signature. I would say that they'll continue to change over the next several months before settling in to their final signature.

 

[pwwaring]

  Thank you for your prompt reply. Most of my files are ripped to lossless format (some over 1000 kbps)  since iTunes does not support FLAC.  However I read you can convert FLAC files to lossless format, in doing that is there any difference between lossless and FLAC? . I have not used FLAC though. Taking your advice I will look into that. Are there any good conversion programs that convert to FLAC or Flac to Lossless or should I be using a different player altogether? I like Itunes because the way I have it set up, it is easy to access what I am looking for (using 10.1, I do not like the newer versions of iTunes.
...

 
Apple lossless (ALAC) and FLAC are both compressed lossless formats, so there is no need to convert to FLAC unless you change to a player that doesn't support ALAC.  

 

[Androb]

I am joining the hd650 family Just ordered some after listening to em in a store... Great phones Cant wait now for it to come!

 

[Austin Morrow]

  I am joining the hd650 family Just ordered some after listening to em in a store... Great phones Cant wait now for it to come!

 
You'll like them a lot! They have the ability to sound like $1000 headphones with the proper setup.

 

[JoeDoe]

Hello head-fiers! I've finally come into a pair of HD650s after several months of trading and buying/selling. I've had the upper level Senns on my radar for a while, but I've been biding my time, looking to trade instead of purchase. After a sweet overseas trade, I've been listening to the silver-driver 650s for several days now and the detail and soundstage are incredible. I prefer a slightly warm signature and these certainly fit the bill.
 
I've been running them out of a Dragonfly/MBP and my next search is probably going to be for an entry-level tube amp. I've been looking at the LD MK 1+ or some of the Elekit amps. Anyone have a suggestion for something similar in the sub $300 range?
 
And just for the sake of thoroughness, I've got a DIY all silver HD650 cable that should arrive today! Looking forward to that!