Sennheiser HD650 Review (Headphone)

[Somafunk]

I’m considering the HD 650/HD 600 or perhaps the Audeze MM 100, the bass response looks quite anaemic on the HD’s so how well do they take to eq as I pretty much listen to electronic music 90% of the time?

 

[staticV3]

I’m considering the HD 650/HD 600 or perhaps the Audeze MM 100, the bass response looks quite anaemic on the HD’s so how well do they take to eq as I pretty much listen to electronic music 90% of the time?

HD600 takes OE2018 bass without audible distortion, but IEMs are way more fun in that regard, imo.

 

[A Surfer]

HD600 takes OE2018 bass without audible distortion, but IEMs are way more fun in that regard, imo.

Unless you're like me and cannot ever get anything to fit (it is impossible for me it seems). As well, IEMs can cause problems associated with tightly sealing a space that is designed to allow airflow, and for me, more importantly, if I remember correctly, hearing damage is more likely when using IEMs.

 

[Somafunk]

but IEMs are way more fun in that regard, imo.

Yeah that’s what held me off buying something so far, just bought a Hiby R6 Gen 3 Dap to play with around the house along with my 7Hz Zero 2 iem’s and I have the new Kiwi Ears Singolo colab with Crinacle that should be here by the end of the week, I guess iem’s are always going to give more vfm but sometimes a headphone would be nice to plonk on and have good soundstage, and it’s a different listening experience but I do like good bass response.

 

[staticV3]

but sometimes a headphone would be nice to plonk on and have good soundstage

HD600/650 is the wrong address if you're looking for good soundstage.

 

[Robin L]

HD600/650 is the wrong address if you're looking for good soundstage.

Headphones are the wrong addresses if you're looking for good soundstage. I've never heard any headphones that produced a realistic soundstage. The closest I've experienced were Stax "Earspeakers" but they were quite limited, with no real depth. Other than that, headphones are mostly in the head as regards soundstage.

 

[Somafunk]

Ahh……well. I guess I’ll stick to my iem’s when I want an audible change from my Dynaudio setup

 

[Robbo99999]

I’m considering the HD 650/HD 600 or perhaps the Audeze MM 100, the bass response looks quite anaemic on the HD’s so how well do they take to eq as I pretty much listen to electronic music 90% of the time?

HD600 bass EQ to Harman didn't really work well for me - I found the bass really quite woolly & lacking detail, I put it down to the distortion issues. It certainly wasn't well-defined bass.

 

[WhereTheTimeWent]

@amirm Do you still use the same EQ preset from the review with the HD 650? If not, could we get a screenshot of your current EQ profile? Thank you!

 

[Angel II]

I attach the mapping of my HD650. Slider resolution 2.5 dB (e.g. 7.5dB at 25Hz). I'm still working on this curve.. reat to hear with the Violectric V200 and DAC schiit.

 

[SATB]

I got an HD650 a week before I got a Salnotes Zero and they nearly sounded identical to me outside of the better bass of the Salnotes. I've made my case for keeping the HD650 because they are infinitely more comfortable to me for longer use than the Salnotes, but I am enjoying how similar they are to me and having the option to use each for when the situation is right.

 

[Robbo99999]

I got an HD650 a week before I got a Salnotes Zero and they nearly sounded identical to me outside of the better bass of the Salnotes. I've made my case for keeping the HD650 because they are infinitely more comfortable to me for longer use than the Salnotes, but I am enjoying how similar they are to me and having the option to use each for when the situation is right.

You can't deny the bass though! Fortunately you can EQ the HD650 and get a bit of that bass back. My experience with HD600 though is that doesn't respond great to greatly increased bass EQ, as in I don't find it very detailed/defined bass after EQ. Your HD650 will be a bit different to my HD600 but there are similarities, but HD600 was very nice tonally after putting in something like a +3dB Low Shelf at 70Hz, it didn't seem to like an Oratory EQ. For the HD600 I liked the pure unadulterated nature of it with only that little bass shelf attached, which is contrary to my normal way of laying on EQ to my other headphones where I modify everything. HD650 is different though, but quite similar, so you might benefit by just putting on a little bass shelf, probably just very slightly less bass EQ than I suggest given the differences between the two headphones in frequency response. I just feel that way about the HD600, I don't think much should be done to it, albeit it's not my favourite headphone.

 

[Sal1950]

I got an HD650 a week before I got a Salnotes Zero and they nearly sounded identical to me outside of the better bass of the Salnotes. I've made my case for keeping the HD650 because they are infinitely more comfortable to me for longer use than the Salnotes, but I am enjoying how similar they are to me and having the option to use each for when the situation is right.

I always recommend that folks "never ever sell" their HD650s.
Back in the day I did some hanging out at HeadFi I found it amusing how many would post
to the HD650 thread that they sold their 650s after getting the latest, greatest new release.
Only to dump the new cans and repurchase a set of 650s some time later when the shine wore
off the new ones.
I'll readily admit I'm no longer a headphones guy and have found the 650s sufficient for my needs for the
last 10 years now.
YMMV

 

[Curupira]

I always recommend that folks "never ever sell" their HD650s.
Back in the day I did some hanging out at HeadFi I found it amusing how many would post
to the HD650 thread that they sold their 650s after getting the latest, greatest new release.
Only to dump the new cans and repurchase a set of 650s some time later when the shine wore
off the new ones.
I'll readily admit I'm no longer a headphones guy and have found the 650s sufficient for my needs for the
last 10 years now.
YMMV

I can attest to that. Sold my marble hd 600s to buy a shiny new Fostex collab with Drop. Bought a 6xx a few years later and sold it last year, just to feel the itch to buy another set again now.

 

[JanesJr1]

I’m considering the HD 650/HD 600 or perhaps the Audeze MM 100, the bass response looks quite anaemic on the HD’s so how well do they take to eq as I pretty much listen to electronic music 90% of the time?

The HD 650 does not take bass EQ to anywhere near Harman levels, without very audible, and non-euphonic distortion. Others have experienced this, too. My DCA planars and Sundara handle bass EQ with grace, and other dynamic phones have been reported here as more amenable to bass EQ.

 

[SATB]

You can't deny the bass though! Fortunately you can EQ the HD650 and get a bit of that bass back. My experience with HD600 though is that doesn't respond great to greatly increased bass EQ, as in I don't find it very detailed/defined bass after EQ. Your HD650 will be a bit different to my HD600 but there are similarities, but HD600 was very nice tonally after putting in something like a +3dB Low Shelf at 70Hz, it didn't seem to like an Oratory EQ. For the HD600 I liked the pure unadulterated nature of it with only that little bass shelf attached, which is contrary to my normal way of laying on EQ to my other headphones where I modify everything. HD650 is different though, but quite similar, so you might benefit by just putting on a little bass shelf, probably just very slightly less bass EQ than I suggest given the differences between the two headphones in frequency response. I just feel that way about the HD600, I don't think much should be done to it, albeit it's not my favourite headphone.

I like that minimalist approach. I had given up on digital EQ a couple months ago. I'm trying to have the approach of having multiple headphones and understanding the character and response of each as they are, so I am cool with these having less bass, but as a result I'm not using these very often so that is a problem I guess.

 

[SATB]

I always recommend that folks "never ever sell" their HD650s.
Back in the day I did some hanging out at HeadFi I found it amusing how many would post
to the HD650 thread that they sold their 650s after getting the latest, greatest new release.
Only to dump the new cans and repurchase a set of 650s some time later when the shine wore
off the new ones.
I'll readily admit I'm no longer a headphones guy and have found the 650s sufficient for my needs for the
last 10 years now.
YMMV

I do have to admit I've reached an age where using headphones makes me feel too disconnected from the world for whatever reason, so not sure I'm much of a headphone guy these days either. I'm usually just playing whatever I'm listening to from the speaker of the phone in my pocket as I'm wandering around, surely making everyone else's day.

 

[Somafunk]

The HD 650 does not take bass EQ to anywhere near Harman levels, without very audible, and non-euphonic distortion. Others have experienced this, too. My DCA planars and Sundara handle bass EQ with grace, and other dynamic phones have been reported here as more amenable to bass EQ.

Thanks for replying but I’ve sorta gone off the idea of buying a headphone as I can get more bass response from my iem’s in signature so going to explore that further, I’ve previously owned the Sundaras, edition xs (sent back twice for driver fault) and whilst I did use peq on the bass and to reduce the sundara treble they were far too big/clunky on my head.

I have a small pair of sennheiser momentum 2 on ear that fold up pocket sized and have decent enough bass and sound surprisingly decent for the £40 that they cost, perfectly useable for those rare scenarios when I want/need a headphone.

 

[Robbo99999]

I like that minimalist approach. I had given up on digital EQ a couple months ago. I'm trying to have the approach of having multiple headphones and understanding the character and response of each as they are, so I am cool with these having less bass, but as a result I'm not using these very often so that is a problem I guess.

Yes, but that's the only headphone that I have that minimalist approach on. Proper detailed EQ helps out my other headphones more.

 

[IXOYE]

I owned the HD 650 in 2009 and I thought they were great, but today I own the HD600 and I doubt the HD650 is better, but I could be wrong, when I owned the 650 I didn't have as good dac's and amps as today, so I I'm a little curious about them, but it's just a waste of money from what I understand?