Sennheiser HD650 Love (Appreciation Thread)

Discussion in 'Headphone Measurements' started by purr1n, Sep 27, 2015.

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  1. a44100Hz

    a44100Hz Friend

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    I'm happy to say I can hear a noticeable difference after applying the dynamat in the same locations as in Austin's photo above in post 491 and comparing the two cups. My extremely unscientific description of the change is that if you have 5 major portions of the frequency spectrum from bass to treble, it's usual for two adjacent portions to bleed into each other a bit and create a minor fluffy-sounding overlap, but the dynamat creates more distance between each portion, making them each more distinct so you hear each individual range more clearly. Congestion: there's less of it. On an Aphex Twin track like Minipops 67 the bass is less boomy/fluffy/fills less of the space (in a good way), treble has less hiss. Someone else just described Adele's vocals as "sharper" or "clearer" or "more defined" through the cup with the dynamat. Pretty cool.
     
  2. a44100Hz

    a44100Hz Friend

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    Finished the three mods purrin lists in the OP except I used a penny rather than a quarter. The character of the headphones seems different now, the increase in clarity and crispness may have resulted in a reduction of the "fullness" that existed before but this isn't necessarily a bad thing, I just need to get used to it. Ears also feel tired today, may have a totally different listening experience tomorow.

    Edit: the above impressions may have been due to problems with tubes rather than the headphones themselves, or insanity, unsure :p
     
    Last edited: Mar 28, 2016
  3. Ash1412

    Ash1412 Friend

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    Did you feel the quater mod was an improvement? I already feel that my HD650s with the back foam and spider removed is detailed enough, if only a little bit "detail-masked" by the mid bass hump. I'm definitely going to dynamat mod these, but I don't think the quarter mod will be an improvement but rather a slight retuning of the treble.
     
  4. a44100Hz

    a44100Hz Friend

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    I don't think it was a downgrade or anything but I'll see how it sounds to me tonight after some time has passed.
     
  5. a44100Hz

    a44100Hz Friend

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    It sounds much better today. Think my ears were just tired yesterday. My interpretation of the loss of fullness is mostly gone, I think the difference was my volume was low yesterday due to ear fatigue and that some of my recordings have weird background noise that wasn't coming through as clearly before the modding, but the increased transparency has made these recording remnants audible on certain albums (like The Idler Wheel). Other than that slight loss of ability to listen quite as casually to music by being more revealing, they sound great. A bit more fatiguing at the same volume, maybe.

    Edit: and some kind of weirdness with a pair of my tubes, it seems.
     
    Last edited: Mar 28, 2016
  6. fraggler

    fraggler A Happy & Busy Life

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    Thanks for sharing your impressions. I definitely don't think the quarter mod is for me. I will try a little Dynamat to tighten things up a tad, but I definitely don't want to make my HD650s any more fatiguing.
     
  7. Kon Peki

    Kon Peki Friend

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    I don't have an HD650 but think my HD600 are a terrific pairing with the V200. Very tight and extended bass. Clear and lively sound overall.
     
  8. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    Do all the mods and pair with the right tube amp and right tubes. Best of both worlds, and rollable to reduce any signs of fatigue to your needs. ;)
     
  9. a44100Hz

    a44100Hz Friend

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    Well I was / am using '74 reflektors in my Lyr 2, I'll try some brimars and report back....
     
  10. a44100Hz

    a44100Hz Friend

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    @fraggler; Okay, with the Brimar tubes the 650m [650 with the three mods] is pretty much back to how I remember the 650 when I just removed the back foam, much warmer and full, I wonder if there's something funky going on with the reflektors because I had some trouble with the pins and crackling sounds the other day. Bleh. Anyway, don't stress too much about the modding, the changes I heard last night were more likely due to tube issues than anything else. I definitely recommend the back foam removal and the dynamat, the front quarter mod is up to you, not like you can't glue the foam circle back in if you hate it, but I don't think it makes a huge difference anyway.

    I think the bass would be way too boomy with these Brimars using a stock HD650 because it's a little boomy even after all three mods and the dynamat definitely cleaned up the bass from stock, but the sound is cozy and smothering like a warm blanket.

    I'm liking Philips Miniwatt E188CC tubes the most with this Bifrost Multibit / Lyr 2 setup in case anyone reading this has these exact components. Less boomy than the brimars but still engrossing. I also think the Lyr 2 + HD650m pair sounds fuller/warmer on low gain, and there's a bit more treble on high gain. YMMV.

    After about 45 minutes, more thoughts: I have three Brimar E88CC tubes. One is, I believe, older in terms of year manufactured than the other two and I've been using it with my Vali 2 while the other two go in the Lyr 2 for obvious reasons. Right now the sound from the 650m is [slightly] more enjoyable out of the Vali 2 + Older_Brimar than with the Lyr 2 + Miniwatts (and the Lyr 2 + Newer_Brimars was too fat just now). Life is crazy and confusing.

    I guess a takeaway from this would be that the Vali 2 is very capable amp for the money (and makes tube rolling easier since you only need one tube).
     
    Last edited: Mar 28, 2016
  11. a44100Hz

    a44100Hz Friend

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    And I just grabbed my friend's (unmodded, kinda worn out) HD600 to listen to. It immediately lacks lushness in comparison to the 650/650m, kinda reminds me of a studio monitor. Which I'm sure some people like, but is a bit boring to me in comparison; FWIW I never liked the HD600 any time I've heard it.

    The 650m is more "you're in the music" whereas the 600 stock is closer to "you're listening to music on good headphones." There's something funky about the tonality of the 600 in comparison, a sort of muffled-grainy sound to instruments and vocals, kinda like when the pressure in your ear is messed up from plane takeoff/landing. Maybe the 650 sounded closer to this kind of muffled before I modded it and I've since forgotten. But the 650m is a clear winner over the 600 for my listening pleasure, and as always YMMV.
     
  12. Jun

    Jun Friend

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    I have both and hear them side by side all the time. My comparison is HD600 is looser and vocals sound more coherent. The HD650 is tighter and music is more coherent but vocals is less coherent than the HD600. The modded HD650 is another beast it's too good of a value, it's better with vocals but has a different presentation.

    HD600 = Looser Vocalist Headphone.
    HD650 = Tighter Musical Headphone.
    HD650M = The Resolving Headphone.

    My HD650M is modded with no back spider, dynamat applied to the back but not on magnet drivers, coin hole mod optional - I swap the hole modded pads or I swap in the stock pads sometimes. I find with the pads in place you get some veil, but it also pushes the treble placement further back which can be good if you like that type of sound staging.
     
    Last edited: Mar 28, 2016
  13. a44100Hz

    a44100Hz Friend

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    What do you mean by "coherent" and "looser" in this context? Can you elaborate a bit? Want to see if I can hear the same thing.
     
  14. Jun

    Jun Friend

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    looser = less dampened, the drivers are less controlled, it sounds softer with more reverb.
    tighter = more dampened, the drivers are controlled, it sounds more impactful, opposite of loose.
    coherent = How easy it is to distinguish the sound from other sounds. for example the HD600 vocals just shine out more than the music in the background and vice versa the HD650 the music in the background becomes the star.
     
  15. a44100Hz

    a44100Hz Friend

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    That's interesting, I see what you mean when you say looser or tighter, yeah. I'm not in precise agreement on the vocals of the 600 being more coherent than in the 650m by themselves, perhaps due to the extra foam in the 600 vs the 650m, but relative to the instruments on a track, then yes. That may be a confusing sentence. What I mean is: the 600 has the vocal range slightly higher than background music [overall presentation of those cans] while in the 650 they're closer to the same. The 650 is more fun to listen to as a result of everything being about the same level of audible to my ears, it adds to that sense of fullness. What do you think? Which do you listen to more, the 650m?
     
  16. Jun

    Jun Friend

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    Yeah I mean the stock HD600 vs stock HD650, the modded HD650 just completely trumps the stock HD600.
     
  17. Prydz

    Prydz Friend

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    Whats SBAF's thoughts on Audio GD amps with HD650?
     
  18. Riotvan

    Riotvan Snoofer in the Woofer

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    @a44100Hz When i was modding the HD650 i found it sounded a bit off after doing the dynamat mod, it felt a bit forward. Not sure how to describe it. So i did like others have done and use an AKG K240 foam disc and then doing a coin mod on that. And now it's perfect to my ears.
     
  19. JoshMorr

    JoshMorr Friend

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    General consensus is that you should have a tube amp to make the HD650 purr. With solid state amps, the 650 loses the lush tonality that makes it special. Try a Valhalla 2 or Bottlehead crack and you wont look back.
     
  20. Prydz

    Prydz Friend

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    I had a Woo WA6-SE, but would like something cleaner sounding. Thats why I thought about an SS amp.
    I wont get a crack cause I cant build or have time to build it
     

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