Sennheiser HD650 Love (Appreciation Thread)

The Sennator?
Gotta link?

JJ

 

https://diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com/schematics/amplifier/

Somewhere on that list are the specs.

 

Just caught this over at HF..

HD650 for $300 at Adorama.

NICE!

 

Ah I see now.
An amp with a selectable EQ compensation curve built in.

Nice idea.

Still a $66 s/w plugin is mighty attractive, especially since it allows for adjustability to suit the users specific needs.
I foresee using the DSP approach becoming much more popular, due to its flexibility and universality.

Imagine if the HP manufacturers started including specific compensation curves in a DSP compatible format, for each headphone…

Just a thought.

EQ can make a HUGE difference, assuming it is done properly.

JJ

 

I'm trialling the SonarWorks Ref 3 plugins at the moment and must echo JJ's praise of it.

I'm a luddite when it comes to EQ but loading a headphone profile and adjusting basic custom reference parameters to preference is a simple process that yields striking results.

Don't think I've heard the HD650 this captivating. Sometimes you encounter an ensemble whose sum is much greater than its parts. I've struck that with my current setup and this plugin is icing that brings it all together.

 

I got to experiment with sonarworks and that compensation curve. OMFG. It makes a tremendous difference. The 650 (and especially modded) isn't bass light by any definition, but that <20Hz boost sonarworks provides is insane.


The idea of building a sennator gets more tempting every day...

 

I didn't notice that big of a difference with the HD 600/650 and Sonarworks. They're already that good. It makes cheaper closed headphones and some Beyers actually listenable though.

 

I really like what Sonarworks does to the low bass response on my 650s. I have Equilibrium, but for 90% of what I listen to Sonarworks is in the Goldilox Zone of EQ for me. The bass boost & tilt controls provide usable overall tonal balance adjustments while the compensation curve makes the base sound of my 650s even better and the limited control prevents me from getting into trouble. This plugin is a great value at $70.

I emailed Sonarworks support and got the "average no limits" curve--haven't noticed a huge difference yet but it certainly didn't make anything worse.

 

For those who are using the 'no limits' curve and want to have the bass have even more impact, try this…

In a separate parametric EQ plugin (which is usually available within the DSP) add these settings.
15Hz, 4dB, and a Q of 1.4
then after you've listened for a while play with the settings a bit with lowering the frequency down to 10Hz and raising the gain to 6 and changing the Q to 1.9 as starter numbers.
Or other combinations of added gain and/or the center frequency etc.

See if this doesn't add some more punch.

JJ

 

I'm curious and if you don't mind, could you answer a question or 2?

You say you didn't hear much change from the sonarworks EQ.

Does it make ANY difference as you adjust the bass boost and tilt sliders?

And what kind of music do you listen to?

Thanks JJ

 

I just broke down and did both foam mods on my HD650. I wasn't expecting such a drastic change, but they are definitely brighter. The immediate change is a bit jarring, so I'll have to give this some time and see if I regret the changes.

 

The Apuresound mod is already 6 years old, it took quite long for it to become popular here.
Same for the coin mod which was already done about 8 years ago.

 

Everyone doing on the foam mods on the current HD 650 is nuts to me. The slight darkness that grants the ability to continuously listen to recordings with haphazardly miced percussion without fatigue is what makes them awesome. If I wanted a less damped HD 650 for listening to less forward recordings, I would just get an HD 600. There's only so much slightly emphasized lower treble high hat bashing and noodly shred leads I can take though so I never convinced myself to pick up a pair of 600s despite many extended auditions with them. I hope the HD 800S is at least as dark with maybe a little more air in the upper treble than the 650.

 

The rear foam mod is nice, but I'm afraid of the coin mod.

 

I think I regret doing the mods. Having the driver so exposed on both sides makes me nervous. I'm trying to decide if I want to sell my modded pair and buy a new stock pair, or replace the drivers on this one. My concern with replacing the drivers is that they won't be matched like new pairs come from the factory. Is Sennheiser's QC good enough that I don't need to worry about that?

 

I don't see why you would need to replace the drivers. You should be able to reinsert the foam disks in back. If you did the quarter mod you can purchase new pads that come with the foam piece.

 

I'll fiddle with the rear foam some more, but I had a difficult time getting both layers spread out correctly. The bottom layer tended to remain bunched up beneath the top one once I got it spread out.

Also don't underestimate how anal I am about having the rear foam exactly as stock, which I don't think is possible at this point.

 

Ahh, yeah, well I can relate to that. We want these babies to be perfect, dammit!

 

This is something I have wondered about. Do the two mods, the rear foam disk removal plus the coin mod, work together such that they each work better if both are done, or can they be done independently such that you might just choose one or the other? If the latter, is the rear foam disk the most important?