Sennheiser HD650 Review (Headphone)

[solderdude]

You tease us. Those 2 being (especially the latter)? Is the latter a planar?

1st = HD250 Linear II
2nd = Philips X2HR (non modified)

 

[bobbooo]

Any guess, how much the HD 660s differs from this?

No need to guess, there are already professional measurements of both:

 

[restorer-john]

"Harman curve"? Seriously. It's like there is/was no other company in the world that actually bothered to test gear? Give me a break.

It's so mindnumbingly boring. They are (were) a small company. Not remotely influential in the scheme of things. Sidney, and Bernard, sure, absolute legends, but ultimate authorities they and their company were not.

 

[PuX]

Is it confirmed that the massdrop 6xx is basically the same exact thing? That one is only $200

drop raised the prices a while ago, now it's $220 + shipping.

but the sound should be the same. only disclosed differences are colour (HD650 comes in a new colour too now btw) and cable (shorter and 3.5 instead of 1/4 jack).

5: I have been told by someone that contacted Sonarworks and he claims he was told HD6XX do not measure exactly the same as HD650 from the same time period.

have they published this or any other of the 650/6XX measurements? curious.
I assumed most noticeable differences would be elsewhere, like when they changed some of the materials many years ago (silver vs white material around the driver).

 

[Helicopter]

Why ?
6: What makes it so that only Amirs setup is conclusive where there are more people around measuring with similar or the same setups ?

That isn't the issue for me. I just trust Amir's analysis and conclusions more than others, and I would rather read about stuff here on ASR then on another website. It saves time.

 

[Robin L]

1st = HD250 Linear II
2nd = Philips X2HR (non modified)

Amazing how good those Philips 'phones are. Satisfying bass from a low-power [Fiio M3K] DAP. Doesn't need EQ for decent bass. Reminds me a lot of the original Large Advent. 90% of the performance for 30% of the price. Doesn't go all the way down, but it goes more than far enough for most music. Not the cleanest, purest treble, but more than clean enough.

 

[Jimbob54]

No need to guess, there are already professional measurements of both:

View attachment 101620

So unless the 660s has significantly lower distortion once you start EQ or you really need the lower impedance (why? 150 still a bit high for phones to blast through), the smart money is on the 6xx if available to you. Certainly not worth side grading a 600/650 for

 

[Francis Vaughan]

Try this wonderful clip from Nils Frahm for example (track #2):

Interesting. He doesn't really get much below 40Hz. Amusingly you can see the individual bass notes from his bassline.

 

[Jimbob54]

I own same setup.
Curious to see Amir's (or members) Parametric EQ for Drop 6xx.
Of course few of us have the same auditory test results!

Same as his set up for 650 I would have said. Mechanically identical, no?

 

[JIW]

Yes, I think so, according to Oratory's measurements the HD600 tracks the Harman Curve more accurately than the Diffuse Field (even though they are marketed as Diffuse Field headphones):
Harman:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/dm0m6u3s3b4zqzl/Sennheiser HD600.pdf?dl=0
Diffuse:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/upib5ztmte79qpl/Sennheiser HD600 (Diffuse Field).pdf?dl=0
So as you were alluding to, it could well be that even though they were basing some elements on the Diffuse Field, that through "ear tuning" development they ended up closer to the Harman Curve.

I agree about the sub 90Hz point you made, I imagine it's hard/impossible for open-backed headphones that don't contain any active processing (EQ) to follow a flat extended low bass response, let alone a Harman bass boost......but that's the beauty of EQ!

A flat extended low bass response can be achieved by closing the front volume, i.e. the volume between the driver and the ear. This is more typical on planar magnetic headphones, e.g. Audezes.

Technically, such a headphone is semi-open (closed front, open back), while the HD600 is open (open front and back).

 

[solderdude]

They do however track the Harman Curve remarkably well.

Actually they don't. The difference between Harman and diffuse field is mainly in the lows. At 20Hz it is 10dB off from Harman (and 5dB off from my target).
Funnily enough the HD600 with Oratory EQ the 20Hz is still -5dB off from Harman.
Oratory EQ for the HD650 is following the Harman curve down to 20Hz.

 

[solderdude]

have they published this or any other of the 650/6XX measurements? curious.
.

https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/solving-the-hd650-mystery.8026/#post-263209
Not for HD6XX though... this is what someone told me that he was told. Not the most reliable source though.
Only look at the first post though ...
HD6XX is very close if not the same as HD650.

 

[Ron Texas]

Nice review @amirm. I have a pair of the Drop version, HD6xx. They are my daily drivers so to speak. I use equalizer APO on a Dell notebook and a Grace M9xx DAC. It's a great bedside setup and travels well.

It's no wonder this set of cans is so popular.

 

[hangcheng]

curious to see how amir eq the hd820. I had one but too sharp for my ear. feel a little headache...
but it feels very comfortable...

 

[Veri]

curious to see how amir eq the hd820. I had one but too sharp for my ear. feel a little headache...
but it feels very comfortable...

Haha, don't expect much. I auditioned the hd820 in store couple of times, it is very pretty, comfortable, but the sound has some serious issues.

 

[PeteL]

Nice review @amirm. I have a pair of the Drop version, HD6xx. They are my daily drivers so to speak. I use equalizer APO on a Dell notebook and a Grace M9xx DAC. It's a great bedside setup and travels well.

It's no wonder this set of cans is so popular.

How much was this little dac amp again? It was an amazing value. Grace sells it themselves now for 730$ Canadian... At this price not so much, but I just love the form factor, design, very respectable power, line outs small enough to carry in the laptop bag, I'd like to find something like that at a decent price.

 

[solderdude]

curious to see how amir eq the hd820. I had one but too sharp for my ear. feel a little headache...
but it feels very comfortable...

Amir hasn't reviewed the HD820 yet. It doesn't have the typical sharpness in the treble the HD800 and HD800S (in a lesser extend) have and is vastly different in the lows.

The EQ for HD650 is relative to Harman curve can be derived from Amir's and Oratory's measurements or you can copy Amirs EQ.
Oratory and Amir have different EQ despite both being based on Harman curve with similar but not the same setups (thus different EQ).

 

[bobbooo]

It gets smoothed to 12PPO.

Just saw this from Oratory on the frequency resolution for the preference rating formula:

It's [the formula] evaluated at the frequency range 50 Hz to 10 kHz. They [Harman] recommend evaluation of at least 100 points spaced logarithmically in that range (although normally much more points are used, I use 500 points spaced logarithmically from 10 Hz to 20 kHz).

Maybe this (partially) explains the discrepancies you're getting between yours and his calculated scores.

 

[Ron Texas]

How much was this little dac amp again? It was an amazing value. Grace sells it themselves now for 730$ Canadian... At this price not so much, but I just love the form factor, design, very respectable power, line outs small enough to carry in the laptop bag, I'd like to find something like that at a decent price.

I bought mine as a "refurb" for US$280. The power adapter was missing and the cables did not have RF chokes. To keep things simple I use it in the low power mode so the power adapter is not needed. Two RF chokes cost me $1.50 in a local electronics parts store.

 

[ZolaIII]

Amazing how good those Philips 'phones are. Satisfying bass from a low-power [Fiio M3K] DAP. Doesn't need EQ for decent bass. Reminds me a lot of the original Large Advent. 90% of the performance for 30% of the price. Doesn't go all the way down, but it goes more than far enough for most music. Not the cleanest, purest treble, but more than clean enough.

This are literally 45 years old one's.