[zeplin]

last night i saw a beautiful performance by the San Francisco Symphony. it was Michael Tilson Thomas conducting,
Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade. man O man was it beautiful! i hadn't been to a symphony in over 2 years, and i forgot how blissfull/euphoric of an experience it was!!! just the Davies Syphony Hall in SF alone was a sight to see! the music, what can i say about the music. the Scheherazade score was written, i believe, along with a story/play (?) about an arabian princess and a sultan who are both in love, and go on some type of an adventure with magic carpets and sword fighting. listening to the music, i pictured in my mind, the plot of the story based on certain moods presented in the music (which is exactly what Korsakov wanted his audience to go through when listening to his movement). it was truely a one of a kind experience!

anyways, i thought i'd do a little comparing and contrasting between my HD650's and the real thing. so i barrowed my neighbors copy of Scheherazade on CD, played by the NY Philharmonic Orchestra, and listened away until i once again became familiar with the recording.

the orchestra fired up and in the first few minutes (of playing Scheherazade) i noticed how similar the live performance and my recording at home sounded. i was sitting about 13 rows back almost center. the delicate highs presented by the violins and 2nd violins were earily similar to the ones i heard on the recording through the 650's. the high notes of the violins went so high up in pitch, but never sounded harsh or bright or too "up in my face," which is exactly how i've, on many occasions, described the high end to be on the 650's. granted the HD650's aren't as visceral as the live experience (no headphone is), but dang, everything was pretty much spot on. even with the lack of the visceral aspects, the HD650's still proved to show me all the lower bass notes on all the appropiate instruments in a very clear and deeeeeep manner...as it sounded during the live performance.

i then came home at 12am and fired up my system while the live performance was still freshly imprinted on my brain. as i thought, the performance on my setup mimicked that of the live performance in almost every way. i knew it was going to show me similarities, but not THIS much!!! the soundstage was also something that caught my interest. i can literally put on some Scheherazade, close my eyes, and take myself back to last night. i did the same during the performance many times (closed my eyes), and tried to imagine myself in my room with my Senns on. i'm sure i looked pretty weird doing this

long story short...
given all the headphones i've owned and have had exstensive experience with, the HD650's present the most life-like sound by a wide margin. i use to think the HD600's were good at showing me what the real thing was like (and they still are), but the changes made by Sennheiser to the 650 (however small or large depending on who you are) have brought me closer to the real thing than i've ever imagined. of course, all this applies to Orchestra music on the 650's. other genres of music are obviously going to be presented a bit differently.

in one sentence...
the similarities between a live Orchestra performance, and a good recording on the HD650's are so scary, it's scary

 

[JaZZ]

Thanks, zeplin, nice review!

I agree with your findings: of all the headphones I've heard the HD 650 brings me closest to the sound of a classical orchestra. The low bass also plays an important part, as in reality, in the concert hall, it is quite prominent, and the HD 650 does a quite good job reproducing it. And of course the smoothness of mids and highs, the violin tone...

The soundstage is another story... I don't think any headphone comes close to a real-life experience, although I still haven't heard the K 1000. But I can live very well with the HD 650's presentation, and soundstage hasn't first priority.

With harder rock stuff to my ears the HD 650's deficits are a bit more obvious, despite its very good dynamics; I think slightly more treble energy would cure the issue there. Nevertheless it's still the headphone I prefer and closest to what I would call the truth even with rock. But it seems that the limited transient speed with sound transducers implies the fixing on a sonic balance matching either a more continuous sonic course of action or one with dominating transients. I for one clearly prefer the former concept.

 

[kwkarth]

Nice review Zep.

This is the first written review that I've read that makes me want to run out and buy a pair of 650's (haven't heard them yet) ...and based on that, I might just have to do it!
Thanks!

 

[wallijonn]

but I usually sit in the first 5 rows, centre. <no appropriate Stan Laurel smiley>

or the very last row.

for some reason I always get sleepy when I sit in the very last row with my back to the wall. when I'm in the front I become engaged with the player's performance. why do I chose the last row? That wall reinforces the sound. Very little absorption.

 

[Harry]

What source do you use? cable? amp? please fill in the blanks...

by the way, I think the HD650 is brilliant in the classical music department. The soundstage on Frank Martin's Golgotha (CD; beautiful piece of live music) for example is quite large and in a particular movement a solo voice seems to stand some distance away from your right and makes you want to look to be sure it's just you in the room. Also the applause in the end is very realistic as if you were there.

cheers.



HD650/Sony DVP-s7700qued interlinks/MF X-can v3/Cardas replacement cable

 

[tom hankins]

zeplin,
Very good review. I don't listen to classical very often but I think I might start after reading this. However, I find the same thing true with recordings of blues(acoustic and electric).
My mainstay is still trance though and the HD650/Zu is BY FAR the best phone I've used for electronic music so far.

 

[zeplin]

thank you guys for your kind words.

Quote:

The soundstage is another story... I don't think any headphone comes close to a real-life experience, although I still haven't heard the K 1000. But I can live very well with the HD 650's presentation, and soundstage hasn't first priority.

JaZZ,
i do agree with you. i don't think the soundstaging was exactly like the real live performance. it was however very close in terms of being able to place certain instruments in front of others. of course though, you're right, not even the 650's soundstaging can compare to a speakers peformance. but for a headphone, which is the context i meant to describe them in, they do a really nice job. i have heard the K1000's and i have to say that they are 3 times better in being able to present an extremely accurate soundstage. how they do it, i have no idea...though i think it has something to do with the drivers more closely resembling actual speakers sitting on the sides of your head.

tom hankins,
you and me both. btw, thank you again for those brilliant cd's...i love them all

techno, trance, dance, chill-out, acid jazz, are all genres in which the HD650's shine very brightly in. it pays to have a phone that so perfectly (near perfect anyways) separates all the sounds with incredible decay for techno music. it is like listening to techno through a whole different perspective or with ears that have super power listening capabilities.

 

[JaZZ]

zeplin...

...in case my comments about the soundstage have come accross as a criticism on the HD 650: I really like the soundstage it offers. Like with no other headphone I am able to perceive instruments as placed sort of in front of me with a lot of recordings, and there's indeed a huge space in which the music seems to emerge.

And I agree about electronic music: the HD 650 is like made for it.

 

[xaipemw]

Quote:

Originally posted by Harry What source do you use? cable? amp? please fill in the blanks...

Harry... those things are in zeplin's signature. And you could always click on his profile to see the answers.

 

[bangraman]

Count me in with the Soporific Squad, wallijonn!

If I sit really far back in a concert, I have a tendency to nod off. Terrible I know.


I spent so much of my life when I was younger playing in concerts, yet now when I don't really play I've started to avoid classical concerts. I will usually tend to go and see people I know so that we can go for a booze-up or dinner afterwards, or go to prestige events (and end up nodding off).