Sennheiser HD650

Discussion in 'Headphones' started by Jeangenie, Sep 27, 2015.

  1. The Alchemist

    The Alchemist MOT: Schiit - Here to help!

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2015
    Likes Received:
    1,189
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    The SchiitR
    Home Page:
  2. sorrodje

    sorrodje Carla Bruni's other lover - Friend

    Staff Member Pyrate MZR
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    2,812
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Dijon / Burgundy / France / EU
    Geek Out V2 ;)

    My 3,5mm TRRS Jack to Female XLR adapter is coming. Eager to try how it makes difference for both HD650 and 800 :)
     
  3. riker1384

    riker1384 Acquaintance

    Joined:
    Oct 1, 2015
    Likes Received:
    32
    Trophy Points:
    18
    I have a pair of HD580's that I put 650 drivers and grilles into.

    I bought the 580's maybe a year ago from someone who said they'd been refurbished. They had silver baffles, and new pads all around. I decided to try 650 drivers. I honestly had trouble telling the difference. It took several minutes to switch the drivers and compare. Any differences were small compared to the differences with other headphones (Paradox, HP50 etc) I kept the 650's mainly because the HD600 drivers would sell for more.

    I haven't used them as much as a should, partially because they're not as comfortable as older 580's I had, and they've been slow to break in. Harder clamp and harder pads. I see in other threads that they've changed the pads. Do these new, firmer pads ever break in and get as comfortable as the old ones? Or is there any way to softer ones, such as new-old-stock pads or the perhaps the Chinese eBay pads are softer?
     
  4. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

    Staff Member Pyrate MZR
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    12,285
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Colorado
    Home Page:
    Not having to fix the FR in the first place is even more trivial. ;)
     
  5. Psalmanazar

    Psalmanazar Most improved member; A+

    Pyrate Slaytanic Cliff Clavin
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    5,345
    Trophy Points:
    113
    The new HD 6XX pads will break in like all pads but are firmer than the older ones. That's the trade off for more neutral sound.

    http://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/sennheiser-hd650-love.44/page-2#post-1478 The first image shows the current production headphones are more similar than different. The rest show the effects of new pads vs old pads on black driver 650s (different from the current silver driver, black box ones). The 580s sound very close to the 600s.
     
  6. Bill-P

    Bill-P Level 42 Mad Wizard

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 25, 2015
    Likes Received:
    4,801
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    Heard a HD650 with Marv mod today. ;) (except the dynamat piece)

    I can totally understand why you and Marv like that. It's indeed a very easy sound to listen to, especially on a more detailed amp/DAC system.
     
  7. The Alchemist

    The Alchemist MOT: Schiit - Here to help!

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2015
    Likes Received:
    1,189
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    The SchiitR
    Home Page:
    Yeah i really like Marv's mod as well. I want to try the dynamat mod as well, but do not know how to install it, I would probably screw it up or break my HD650's trying to mod it.
     
  8. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

    Staff Member Pyrate MZR
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    12,285
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Colorado
    Home Page:
    What you mean by that is it has the better response and a possibly more refined driver. 650 is the king's headphone. HD600 for peasants. Clearly you don't understand that 650 is empirically greater than 600. Do you know how to numbers? (Obviously I'm just being an ass at this point. Both are great and are going to be split as to who likes more which.)
     
  9. Psalmanazar

    Psalmanazar Most improved member; A+

    Pyrate Slaytanic Cliff Clavin
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    5,345
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Honestly it's recording to recording but sometimes I wish the HD 650 was even darker!
     
  10. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    14,134
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    India
    The HD600 is blue! |\/|

    ;)
     
  11. Bill-P

    Bill-P Level 42 Mad Wizard

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 25, 2015
    Likes Received:
    4,801
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    I think I know the differences between HD600 and HD650 pretty well by now. Will tell you in person if you ever come down to SoCal for the next CanJam or something. We're all looking forward to meeting you in person, dude.

    And yeah, I admit... HD600 is for peasants. Hahaha. It really is at least about $50 - $100 cheaper than HD650 in general, and I think... that makes it more disposable. I can throw it around with less consideration for its safety, whereas I'd care for the HD650 like I care for my newborn son!
     
  12. Psalmanazar

    Psalmanazar Most improved member; A+

    Pyrate Slaytanic Cliff Clavin
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    5,345
    Trophy Points:
    113
    The HD 600 has a more disposable cable.
     
  13. Bill-P

    Bill-P Level 42 Mad Wizard

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 25, 2015
    Likes Received:
    4,801
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    That is true as well. I was shocked to learn that plugging in a thicker cable does at least make it... more solid on my head. Sound quality be damned. The stock cable of the HD600 is just soooooooo very cheap. Urg...
     
  14. lm4der

    lm4der A very good sport - Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 26, 2015
    Likes Received:
    1,461
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Seattle, WA
    I think you make a very fine point, sir.
     
  15. TheFighter

    TheFighter New

    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2015
    Likes Received:
    6
    Trophy Points:
    8
    Can you post your opinion here? I'm very interesting.
     
  16. Bill-P

    Bill-P Level 42 Mad Wizard

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 25, 2015
    Likes Received:
    4,801
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    Well, the older HD650 (with black velvet/cloth/filter material around the driver was somewhat softer-sounding, more veiled to me. I heard it a few years ago, and since then, I always thought the HD650 was kinda veiled and soft sounding, with "boom boom" bass.

    Then fast-forward until today, the HD600 and HD650 got a material change, and they are now using a solid metal grid instead of the cloth material like before. This material is much more solid, so it makes the baffle more rigid. The HD650 has a denser mesh, which means its baffle was more solid than the HD600. As a result, it has more bass, but the bass is cleaner and better-controlled thanks to the extra rigidity of the baffle.

    How do you check this? Well, just hold the new silver-mesh HD600 up to a light, and you'll find that you can see right through the mesh to the grill in the back. With the HD650, it's harder to do so.

    So that's one way to check. I've tried this, of course.

    Is the HD600 more airy because its mesh is almost see-through? I don't think so. Overall, both the HD600 and HD650 sound about the same to my ears now, with the 650 having just a tad more bass, but its bass was also cleaner due to the reason above.

    So if you're getting a newer production HD650 unit, I think... all you're really getting is essentially a HD600 with more bass, and slightly better bass control. But that can be a good thing, too, and it's well worth the extra expense IMO.
     
  17. TheFighter

    TheFighter New

    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2015
    Likes Received:
    6
    Trophy Points:
    8
    Thank you so much Bill, now the hard part for me is to find the new silver hd650
     
  18. Psalmanazar

    Psalmanazar Most improved member; A+

    Pyrate Slaytanic Cliff Clavin
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    5,345
    Trophy Points:
    113
    I do not even think the current HD 650 has more bass, it just has less highs due to being better damped which gives the sound of more bass (and actually better bass control) due to being a slightly darker headphone.

    Another possibility is the HD 650 has better bass as it clamps harder. The black driver HD 650 clamped slightly harder than the black driver HD 600 but I don't think anyone has done a comparison of the clamping force of brand new fresh from the black box silver driver HD 650s to brand new current production HD 600s. Sennheiser might have standardized it to cut costs.

    The Sonarworks averaged measurements comparison screenshot I posted in the HD 650 measurements thread is useful too.
     
    Last edited: Oct 12, 2015
  19. Psalmanazar

    Psalmanazar Most improved member; A+

    Pyrate Slaytanic Cliff Clavin
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    5,345
    Trophy Points:
    113
    The black box HD 650 is the current production, silver driver model (from December 2014 onward). The older black and silver drivered ones came in a grey box. Amazon's stock is the black box. I am not sure about the cheaper Amazon marketplace sellers or Adorama.
     
  20. insidious meme

    insidious meme Ambivalent Kumquat

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Sep 26, 2015
    Likes Received:
    4,999
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Sector 8023 of the Third Quadrant
    Ah, so all the sales from end of last year were to clear out the grey box ones to make way for the new ones. Makes sense. Also makes sense that there won't be any sales like that this year. I've been looking to get a HD650, and I would prefer the newer ones... but they'll most likely stay at that higher price. Decisions, decisions...
     

Share This Page