Sennheiser HD650

I understand that silent revisions to the driver, baffle, and pads have taken care of that.

If you don't like a minor mid-bass hump, there is the KISS mod or the HD 600.

 

I didn't know there was another way!

 

@Vansen - Amazon Warehouse Deals "Used Like New" are about $270-$275, at the moment. HD600 is the (slightly) higher price right now compared to the HD650. In my experience these are really like new with a slight blemish on the box. Amazon makes returns about as easy as possible. That would come in handy if you don't like what you hear. Just a thought.

 

@SSL So you're saying death-grip masturbation is unnatural?

 

I'm not criticizing death-grip per se, but it could pose a problem if one decides to then have Real Secks. And yes, I'm still speaking figuratively.

 

Does anyone remember the GI Joe with the Kung Fu Grip, action figure? Seemed relevant somehow.

Edit: Adding more info for those who weren't privy to the 70's TV commercials.

"The Kung Fu Grip was a mechanism used in G.I. Joe action figures starting from the Adventure Team series. The idea behind the Kung Fu Grip is that the soft rubber hands on the figures would allow them to hold their weapons better. For added fun, it enables the player to position their G.I. Joes in action poses such as climbing up a mountain with a rope or swing from a tree. Although the concept had nothing to do with martial arts, the technology was christened as such."

Action poses... huh huh, huh. Thut-up Beavith

 

Received the HD6XXs yesterday, not much time for a proper listen (especially since I also recieved my Cardas A8s yesterday), but I mostly knew what to expect having owned the HD600s a couple year ago. I have to see how the 6XXs stack up alongside my Nighthawks going forward. I'm running them off a Fulla 2 for the time being

 

Delete

 

Received my HD6xx a couple of days ago. Don't take this as gospel or whatever but I don't think these sound like my old HD650 from a long time ago. I couldn't tell you what color screens it had. I did replace the earpads on them and it still didn't sound like these 6xx. There is just something supremely open sounding with these, I don't really know how to put it since I'm not great at describing sound quality. Like when a drummer slams a tom and he is near a wall and you hear the mic pickup the natural echo as well giving an illusion of openess.

When I put on a highly dynamic album and you're hearing the most dynamic parts like the snare or rest of the drum kit it just moves and is really well defined. With any recording with some venue information in it, it also conveys that quite nicely. Paradoxically the latter is one part where the HD800 falls flat. I'm not sure they sound that different from my current HD600 which aren't that old. I will need to compare and see. I'm using ECP T3 and Yggdrasil. I know some people say the T3 doesn't have a big soundstage, but these sound wide open on live classical that was miced well.

 

Update on the arctic cotton. Nick N's (cheers mate) batting package arrived a few days ago, so I started with a 90/10 bamboo/poly blend KISS'd and recorded the results. Sound wise, There's a lot less mid-bass, almost to the point where it blends effortlessly into the music. Sub bass and upper mid-range step forward in its place, giving recordings a crisper, brighter stripe. My preferred listening volume has decreased a hair to compensate for the change.

The hd650 gained an almost analytical tone, as the once lush, forgiving sound is now bolder and enlivened. Poorly mastered recordings suffer, sounding more brash and strained. Whereas well-mastered recordings sound lively and detailed. But because I prefer a darker sound myself, I'm considering reverting back to stock KISS. The results are different enough if anyone wanting a more lively Hd650. And there is still a lot of different materials to try, but this post was kind of a kick-in-the-pants to start measuring the rest of the materials I received.

EDIT: Not satisfied with the Bamboo/Poly batting insert because of its sharpness, I turned to drastic measures in order to correct this problem.. by placing the stock foam insert right on top of the bamboo insert. Ahhh, much better, the weird 2-5kHz hump has dropped down to enjoyable levels while retaining that magic new-found sub-bass and clarity. My volume knob has somewhat returned to regular listening levels. And a touch of that loving mid-bass bump has returned, The mod itself was super easy to perform, so it's a win-win-win for me.

RED: Stock Foam Kiss
Blue: Bamboo/Poly 90/10 Batting Halfway Inserted
Green: Bamboo/Poly 90/10 Batting Fully Inserted
Yellow: Bamboo/Poly Batting Halfway inserted + Stock Foam (Preferred tone)



RED: Stock Foam Kiss


Blue: Bamboo/Poly Batting Halfway Inserted


Green: Bamboo/Poly Batting Fully Inserted


Yellow: Bamboo/Poly Batting Halfway inserted + Stock Foam (Preferred tone)

 

Considering the number of people on HF complaining that the 6XX sounds "congested" (I suspect using lackluster amps), do you think your setup has simply improved enough since when you had a 650 to bring it to life?

 

Given the love of lower-end Violectric/Lake People, Burson, and various massdropped chi-fi on HF. there could be a bit of this afoot on there. You can't suggest it of course, as they will get insanely defensive and complain, and you'll get a good curraweeb/brooko/whatevering for spoiling the sponsors' marketing efforts.

 

I ran into similar pushback when I complained about the Beyer T1 2nd gen on head-fi. I suspect brain burn-in, if not personal preference. In the head-fi Beyer Amiron thread, for example, people are calling the HD 650 sound "hollow" and the Amiron "more balanced".

People listen and adjust to colored "hi-fi" tuned headphones, and then wonder why a properly tuned headphone sounds off.

 

I still want someone I trust further than I could throw their still-warm corpse to listen to that damned Amiron, mind you. The hype is mighty, so it'd be nice to put the question of whether or not it sucks to bed properly.

As for the HD650- it needs a decent amp and an attention span to hear what's good about it. Both are rare in the other place.

 

The primary function of that site morphing from information compendium to impulse shopping and addiction enabling is a bit sad to see. In 2007 the site was good.

Every time someone describes the HD650 as "too much of everything", a puppy dies.

 

Hmm... I'm not too sure. I had an early generation Zana Deux with high gloss front plate back then. That amp has a fairly high output Z that might not have been doing the headphones any favors. The T3 on the other hand is almost the opposite.

I didn't mean to make it sound like the HD650 has too much of everything.

edit: FWIW I use piano, violin and cello tone/timbre as one of my true benchmarks for something that should not be poorly reproduced. This might change my views compared to others, which might be why I like HD600 type of sound with borderline "SS=ish" type of amps.

 

Oh, I wasn't referring to you at all.

 

Could you post some photos? The only pic I've seen of the Arctic Cotton is of an HD650 with the spider still on. Has yours been circumcised?

How are you attaching this to the magnet?

Thanks!