Sennheiser HD650 Love (Appreciation Thread)

I first removed the back foam, listened for a few days, then went ahead with the coin mod in the front foam. I'd say the front mod boosts the higher frequencies just that little much that you're not left wishing for more anymore in stock form. Back then I also tried removing the entire front foam, and I didn't like it. Treble got out of control.

But yeah, the bulk of the improvement comes by removing the back foam and giving the driver the air it needs to work, with that much foam there it's starved for air. Overdamped is the word I should be using here, I think. The front coin mod just gives a little more higher treble that is most welcome in most recordings.


As for the front mod, if you're careful and don't destroy the coin shaped piece of foam you take out, you could fit it back into place and keep it there by a little drop of glue or two to the rest of the foam. It is practically reversible, but yeah, if you ever have to sell the headphone it'd be best to just order a new foam piece.

 

Whats the recommended best value for money amp/dac pairing for 650? Valhalla 2 + Bifrost Multibit (or Gungnir Multibit) I would think? (with a note to also try the Sonarworks plug-in)

I'm trying to steer people at meets into a setup which will give them perspective and a strong point of comparison vs TOTL ($$$) gear.

 

Very strangely, I have experienced an odd phenomenon with my HD650's. After messing around with sine waves and pink noise, I attempted to neutralize any ringing, due to the driver OR my ears. It appears that there is a definite glare across the treble on my pair. Now before you lambast me as a deformed creature that simply shuns treble, be aware that my ESP-950's have more treble but are free from the glare/resonance. The treble is not elevated, it is simply prone to a glare that obscures the actual treble frequencies.

What gives?

 

Agreed. I removed the foam from the back of the driver that was stuffed in there. I get much better sound out of the HD650's after doing this mod.

 

Just bought the HD650s during a recent binge on Amazon. The binge also happened to included the "special edition" HD598.
I don't have the balls yet to mod an HD650 but wanted to try modding the HD598s. Any suggestions?

 

And by the way, the HD650 is probably THE best headphone (I have heard). Everything is spot on for me. It does music, movies...everything right.
Even my lowly iPad makes it sing. So to all you gigawatt-porkers, take that!!!!

 

Awesome. I'll post some photos soon.

 

I am surprised the iPad can drive the HD650's significantly, I can't imagine the iPad being able to provide the juice needed to get the most out of the HD650's. But I am glad you are happy. Put them with a nice amp that can properly drive them and you'll really hear them sing!

 

That's the dream setup. Dont hear it unless you have the money lying around for the setup!! But you can still get a lot of great sound from more value oriented gear while you save up

 

7k and 10k seems to be the problem spots for me. Of course, it could always be driver variation. To be honest, I never noticed it was that bad, till I got some experience with my stats. (Wow... might sound kind of snooty, though I really don't mean it to be.)

Here's an wild idea. Perhaps the overall distortion in the dynamic HD650 driver across the frequency spectrum causes the sensation of glare. We know for a fact that the behavior of bass effects how we perceive treble. Could the treble glare I hear be a side-effect of the driver limitations elsewhere in the spectrum? This would make sense in the light of "Hands" statement above, which indicates that upon the modification being applied, allowing the driver to work more efficiently, the glare disappears.

By the way, my HD650's are un-modded and I run them off of a Valhalla 2, so my amp pairing is solid. For the record the HD650 is VERY good. Had I not snagged my stats new for less than $700 they would probably still be my main cans.

 

I'm really enjoying the Valhalla2/HD650 pairing at the moment but I do understand what you mean when you say it's "a bit dry sounding". This is mitigated by tube rolling, though the stock tubes are quite good and I doubt I would've identified that "dryness" as quickly, had I not heard a better amp than the V2.

Have you heard the HD650 from a Gungnir Multibit/Mj2 stack? The Mj2 seems to be a forgotten amp. Crack, Asgard 2 and Valhalla 2 are the main recommendations at the entry level and then beyond that it's the BW before going the megabuck options. Any thoughts as to why the Mj2 is overlooked?