In my experience so far? Hell nah, the HD650 has a gorgeous midrange that puts much more expensive cans to shame, and that's out of my relatively affordable home rig to say nothing of better upstream stuff.
Then again I stick around mid-fi with sporadic high-end demos. Maybe the Audio Zenith PMX for tonal balance, but it didn't have the grand lushness or solid upper mids I love on the Senns.
Add: @purr1n did mention the Focal Clears were a great pair of cans to "succeed" the Senns. No experience with them yet, but measurements do seem to hint at this too (just with more treble).
I did love the mids on the CA Andros, but you specified headphones.
@famish99 Definitely not the Elear or Utopia IME (more Elear since time with Utopia was limited), just going off anecdotes about the Clear until I get off my butt and finally get ears on a pair.
The aluminum dome Focals are definitely not close at all to the 650s in the mids, but I'd say if one is not sensitive to the Utopia's timbre, it could compete in the mids, even surpass 650s for dynamism. I know the one time I tried Focals side by side the Utopia was definitely less overtly metallic but somehow triggered a headache earlier than Clears, so I'm sorely in the allergic camp.
I think a lot of the issues people have with Focals come from people who listen relatively loud. Their sweet spot is in the 70s and low 80s dB. Anything more than that and it’s too much.
Easier to crank the HD650. Less easy to crank HD600.
Its also a problem of modern amps having too much power from the planar craze that ironically got all these companies and people interested in making audiophile headphones. I was surprised to see how many people are buying the Shortest Way for their Focals until I realized they're probably a better match than most amps for those hps efficiencies
(I personally wouldn't mind a trend of excellent-sounding lower-power amps for low-z and high efficiency headphones. Ahem).
But @zonto raised a great point I'd missed. What levels do you usually listen at, @Stuff Jones? That'll be useful stuff in determining headphones you may like.
SR1a? The mids on it is really hard to shake off the mind even after all this time. Sweet, nuanced and detailed with great timbre and no annoying peak to speak of. The price delta though...
Do the FD01s timbre seem fine to you? The usual conversation is comparing them to BAs which are pretty bad timbre wise but I'm wondering how they hold up to 650s
If you like the HD650's midrange timbre there's unfortunately nothing that sounds like it. Clear can get close with good amp synergy, and Auteur is close, but neither sound like the Senn.
@ChaChaRealSmooth - I would be curious on your short comparison of the mids on those three HPs. They were my three finalists, and the Senns cost and OG reputation won out. Still intrigued by the Auteurs. As I mentioned, the Clear's supposed wonky timbre eventually disqualified them for me.
All 3 have great layering and resolve in the mids. Difference is mainly in timbre. Auteur can be a bit rich, Clear a bit lean, and HD650 is very neutral (leans toward thick-sounding though). Personally I like the Auteur.
KISS mod will only make them overall better / more balanced across the range and you will love them even more. I've been tempted to spend thousands and tried quite a few headphones in the 2k - 3k range but nothing is really a clear upgrade.
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