Sennheiser HD650 Love (Appreciation Thread)

That's definitely a dented driver. No problem, Hands has had that happen to his HD650s and popped it back to normal by blowing from the rear side of the driver. That came out wrong

 

I was never under the impression that the cable actually changes the sound. That seems rather silly. I will definitely check out the DIY Thread. Is what @iDesign said true? I do enjoy the aesthetics of the braided cable but if it will add annoying/disturbing sounds when it moves then that is a no go for me. It's not worth it if it sacrifices the sound quality.

 

I've found that, unless the cable is poorly made, it will not change the sound. However, if the cable being replaced is poorly made, you might hear sonic improvements. Get something that's reasonably made by a competent builder and enjoy your headphones.

 

All depends on the materials used. If soft materials are used and the weave is not too tight, you shouldn't get too much cable noise.

 

Seems like it should be much cheaper to build one my self and borrow some of the tools. I'll be posting a lot of questions in the DIY thread so keep an eye out there.

 

I needed pretty much the same thing when I got my HD650s. I live in Asia and don't have easy access to the SBAF cable guru. I've tried a bit of DIY work with cables but found it rather tedious, so I ended up going with this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Black-Repla...430-HD650-HD600-HD580-headphone-/281645092022

It had the 3.5mm with screw on 1/4" adapter I wanted, and the braided sheath was only a bit stiffer and made of slightly harder "nylon"? than I was hoping for. Cable noise isn't too bad and it only feels rough when rubbing against bare skin (gets hot here in summer so I'm often listening shirtless). It was cheap enough for a gamble and I'm pretty happier with it overall. Oh, and I can't hear any difference between it and the stock cable. Resistance measures a bit less as well, being shorter.

 

It's so cheap to buy premade cables from Chinese ebay sellers now, DIY isn't worth it if you're trying to save money unless you do a lot of it. Heck, half of the DIY stuff I see posted in galleries I know they were purchased pre-braided and simply had some connectors soldered on and heatshrink slapped on top.

 

Yeah I noticed it on day 1. Was like that before the mod. Popped it back out by sucking the membrane gently from inside

All good since. But did not notice any irregularities before/after

 

I think I will order this first and see how it is. I really like the look of it and it's much cheaper than ordering all the material myself.

 

I must say that initially I wasn't a huge fan of the HD650 (out of my O2/ODAC), but since I got my Lyr/Uberfrost I have been spending some more time with them and they have really grown on me and I have really been enjoying them lately! They have a fresh set of pads on now as they pads they came with were two different sizes , next step is to try modding them.

The more time I spend with them though the more I understand what everybody talks about when they talk about them and why they love them so much! I can really start to see me hanging on to these for quite a while.

 

@Hands Well I have heard it off @Mikoss setup (Gungnir Multibit/ ZD) and I am trying not to remember it because it sounded too good and I am not looking to invest that much into my setup! Haha

 

I am really hoping that I can find my setup happiness for less than that, might not be possible, but I am thinking that upgrading my Bifrost from uber to 4490, maybe giving a Valhalla 2 a try with my orange globes (currently in my Lyr but from my understanding the Val 2 has better synergy with the HD6X0), will get me most of the way there.

 

Yeah it might be worth a shot. I am hoping to find something that I can just stick with for a little while. The DAC upgrade will probably be coming next as I need to order the USB board anyways so I can use it with USB from a laptop for longer term travels (currently optical from my PC), may as well order the 4490 board at the same time to save on shipping unless I can find someone that went MB and still has their old 4490 board and is willing to part with it.

 

Yesterday was my first time listening to a brand new HD650 which belongs to my friend. I have very high expectation due to its high popularity in the headphone community. We do not have a proper amp to drive it, Chord Mojo is the only thing we have and I am not impressed at all with the HD650 pairing with it. It sounds so warm that I feel la little bit muffled? I felt something wrong with it and quickly grabbed my Q701 from my home to compare. The result is quite apparent that Q701 is much easier /fun to listen with. Understanding that Q701 is a bright phone but its soundstage, cymbals, clarity is much better than HD650.

Of course I know that HD650 is quite a demanding headphone which needs proper amp to sound properly. But me and my friend (totally newbie) got no idea what can HD650 become if pair with a proper amp, says Vahalla 2. I used to have LCD3, Ether and they are sounds quite decent straight out from my Mojo. Still I cant understand people recommending HD650 over Ether..need someone to enlighten me..Right now I am enjoying with my L700 which is the best among what I have owned.

My friend now is quite anxious paid $400 for the HD650 which sounds not better than my $199 Q701. I feel guilty now because I am the one who told him to get HD650..my bad. Therefore I would like to seek advice here regarding amp to be used with HD650.

Maximum Budget : $700, the lower the better. My friend is totally new in headphone and he is reluctant to spend more now. I will cover some for him.
Desired improvement : Better soundstage that match with Q701 level, more clarity, less warmer, more dynamics, very dark background. (Something like LCD2?)
Potential amp : Valhalla 2, T3 Torpedo, and someone offering me a used WA6SE with Sophia rectifier tube at $900 but I couldnt find much review pariing with HD650.

Anymore kind advice? Thanks!

 

Now way the Q701s sound better then the HD650s. I had the 701s paired with the Chord Hugo.
The AKGs are just to bright and aggressive. If that's what you want …


I'd blame that lame-ass Mojo Chord rubbish.