Sennheiser HD650 Review (Headphone)

[isostasy]

I've been using the HD 598SR since ~July 26, 2018 and the pads are in fantastic condition. The headphone has been used ~6 to 16 hours per day for all this time. The 598SR also comes with a 3.5mm 1m long cable for use with a cel tel and yes that cable has a microphone built in for cel tel use. The model comes and goes as per inventory levels. Sometimes it is available and other times it is sold out.

Products - Sennheiser

en-ca.sennheiser.com

HD 598SR

Sennheiser’s open backed HD 598SR are around ear headphones for serious music lovers – available exclusively from Amazon or direct from Sennheiser. Powered by the audio specialist’s transducer technology, they deliver exceptional sound quality with unrivaled comfort for even the longest of...

global.sennheiser-hearing.com

https://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-HD-598-SR-Open-Back/dp/B06WRMZZ45

Thanks for the suggestion, this does look like a good headphone but veering too far from neutral towards V shaped for me.

I've probably already said in this thread that I prefer the HD560s to the HD600 (so sorry to everyone for repeating myself if I have). Better bass, lower distortion and better soundstage/imaging than the HD600. HD560s is a better headphone once EQ'd than an EQ'd HD600/650/6XX in my experience and additionally in the measurements re distortion.

Thanks, I will definitely be on the look out for an HD560S. I hope my HD6XX pads will hold up for a few months yet so I can be patient looking out for a good deal.

 

[Spyart]

Will appreciate to anyone who can test this EQ curve for hd650. If someone has a real interest I can upload this FABFILTER preset to some place.

 

[asteroth]

I've listened to a pair of HD6xx(they advertise it as a rebranded HD650) with Little Dot amp and a Meridian DAC.
I felt like the sound had a certain hardness/roughness.
My friend also had a lower spec HD5xx series, and they also gave me this impression.

Has anyone else noticed this?
Could this actually be the Sennheiser sonic signature?

 

[Marc v E]

I've listened to a pair of HD6xx(they advertise it as a rebranded HD650) with Little Dot amp and a Meridian DAC.
I felt like the sound had a certain hardness/roughness.
My friend also had a lower spec HD5xx series, and they also gave me this impression.

Has anyone else noticed this?
Could this actually be the Sennheiser sonic signature?

This is very different from my experience with the hd650.

I would characterise these as super smooth, never harsh. Very revealing of source and material. And a very slighly 'dark' tonality, as in not bright, maybe missing the ultimate sparkle that some hifi enthusiasts crave for. Either that or deeper bass than I usually experience with headphones.

 

[solderdude]

I've listened to a pair of HD6xx(they advertise it as a rebranded HD650) with Little Dot amp and a Meridian DAC.
I felt like the sound had a certain hardness/roughness.
My friend also had a lower spec HD5xx series, and they also gave me this impression.

Has anyone else noticed this?
Could this actually be the Sennheiser sonic signature?

Most likely caused by the distortion of the Little Dot which is revealed by the HD650/6XX.

 

[Marc v E]

Most likely caused by the distortion of the Little Dot which is revealed by the HD650/6XX.

I think you're right.

Review and Measurements of Little Dot MK III Tube Headphone Amplifier

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Little Dot MK III Tube Headphone amplifier. It is on kind loan from a member. It costs US $289 including Prime shipping. The unit has been sitting for a while (my apologies to its owner) so please excuse a bit of dust in the pictures below. I...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[asteroth]

Most likely caused by the distortion of the Little Dot which is revealed by the HD650/6XX.

Yes, that's what I thought too, but my friend who owns the whole system, could not disagree more. He thinks that the Little Dot is actually the thing that brings the HD6xx's to the next level.

 

[asteroth]

I think you're right.

Review and Measurements of Little Dot MK III Tube Headphone Amplifier

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Little Dot MK III Tube Headphone amplifier. It is on kind loan from a member. It costs US $289 including Prime shipping. The unit has been sitting for a while (my apologies to its owner) so please excuse a bit of dust in the pictures below. I...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Wow, that 60 and 120hz hum...it kind of makes sense now of what I heard. Thanks for posting this link.

 

[solderdude]

Yes, that's what I thought too, but my friend who owns the whole system, could not disagree more. He thinks that the Little Dot is actually the thing that brings the HD6xx's to the next level.

It is not uncommon for Little Dot owners to have that opinion...

 

[audieu]

Hello dear ASR community,
I am new here. I appreciate your (more) objective and factbased view on the value of headphones, dacs and amps. I have been interested in Hifi for a long time now considering I am just 29 years old. At least since I was 13. My first headphones were the AKG K272 HD, followed by the AKG K601, the Audeze LCD-2.2 (Pre-fazor) (loved these) and LCD-3. Also got the Fischer Amps FA3E in ear for on the go. I sold the Audeze LCDs (and the RME ADI 2 Dac) for getting a Harbeth C7ES3 (excellent speakers) exhibition unit for way less than half the price they retail now. As you can see I always prefered headphones/speakers on the slightly warm/dark side of "neutral". I got the Sennheiser HD 650 + Dragonfly USB DAC/HPA as substitute for the Audezes and loved them since. Their frequency response and timbre are just amazing. In the meantime I sold the Harbeths because I realized I enjoy hearing music more on headphones.
In the last days I got curious if there was an upgrade option for the Sennheiser HD 650 - just for a bit more subbase, "punch" and transparency. Today I visited a hifi-store and tried the DCA Noire 2, Focal Clear MG (unfortunately no OG) and Hifiman Arya. Although I enjoyed the punchier and more energetic performance of the Focals for pop, rock and metal and the clear and transparent (but also too trebleheavy for certain genres) performance of the Hifimans as well as the planarbase and soundstage of the latter for acoustic, classical and other I didn't find them better regarding overall tonality than the HD 650.
Although the HD 650 are highly regarded in some circles I do find them underrated. For example they aren't even available in the hifi-store I visited today - too cheap I gues... I wonder how much hype it would cause If Sennheiser (or some manufacture) would release a new model that exactly sounds as the HD650 (or 6XX/600) and would sell it for 1/2k but marketed as a brand new headphone.
But I do wonder if a Hifiman Arya or Audeze LCD-X equalized to sound like a HD 650 (Harman Target more or less) would sound better overall - due to deeper and tighter base response and/or bigger/more precise soundstage and/or resolution.

 

[Robbo99999]

Hello dear ASR community,
I am new here. I appreciate your (more) objective and factbased view on the value of headphones, dacs and amps. I have been interested in Hifi for a long time now considering I am just 29 years old. At least since I was 13. My first headphones were the AKG K272 HD, followed by the AKG K601, the Audeze LCD-2.2 (Pre-fazor) (loved these) and LCD-3. Also got the Fischer Amps FA3E in ear for on the go. I sold the Audeze LCDs (and the RME ADI 2 Dac) for getting a Harbeth C7ES3 (excellent speakers) exhibition unit for way less than half the price they retail now. As you can see I always prefered headphones/speakers on the slightly warm/dark side of "neutral". I got the Sennheiser HD 650 + Dragonfly USB DAC/HPA as substitute for the Audezes and loved them since. Their frequency response and timbre are just amazing. In the meantime I sold the Harbeths because I realized I enjoy hearing music more on headphones.
In the last days I got curious if there was an upgrade option for the Sennheiser HD 650 - just for a bit more subbase, "punch" and transparency. Today I visited a hifi-store and tried the DCA Noire 2, Focal Clear MG (unfortunately no OG) and Hifiman Arya. Although I enjoyed the punchier and more energetic performance of the Focals for pop, rock and metal and the clear and transparent (but also too trebleheavy for certain genres) performance of the Hifimans as well as the planarbase and soundstage of the latter for acoustic, classical and other I didn't find them better regarding overall tonality than the HD 650.
Although the HD 650 are highly regarded in some circles I do find them underrated. For example they aren't even available in the hifi-store I visited today - too cheap I gues... I wonder how much hype it would cause If Sennheiser (or some manufacture) would release a new model that exactly sounds as the HD650 (or 6XX/600) and would sell it for 1/2k but marketed as a brand new headphone.
But I do wonder if a Hifiman Arya or Audeze LCD-X equalized to sound like a HD 650 (Harman Target more or less) would sound better overall - due to deeper and tighter base response and/or bigger/more precise soundstage and/or resolution.

Sennheiser won't release a different model of headphone which sounds exactly the same (ie having the same frequency response) whilst selling it for a lot lot more - they'd get panned by measurement sites like ASR. Although, they do currently make the HD560s & HD400 Pro which are identical headphones apart from minor cosmetic paint differences (very minor) and the inclusion of a coiled cable on the HD400 Pro, but the HD400 Pro is less than 20% more expensive and they're offering that coiled cable, so they can "just about" get away with doing that without a whole lotta backlash from the community.

On topic of your other headphone adventures, I recommend you start experimenting with parametric EQ, as it's free, and it will change/improve your experience, so you could already do that with the HD650 by EQ'ing some more bass into it for example. To me it's best to compare different headphones once they've both been optimised with EQ. Experimenting with EQ whilst using a measurement as a basis will help you learn a lot in regards to what you like and how frequency response & perceived sound are related.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Hello dear ASR community,
I am new here. I appreciate your (more) objective and factbased view on the value of headphones, dacs and amps. I have been interested in Hifi for a long time now considering I am just 29 years old. At least since I was 13. My first headphones were the AKG K272 HD, followed by the AKG K601, the Audeze LCD-2.2 (Pre-fazor) (loved these) and LCD-3. Also got the Fischer Amps FA3E in ear for on the go. I sold the Audeze LCDs (and the RME ADI 2 Dac) for getting a Harbeth C7ES3 (excellent speakers) exhibition unit for way less than half the price they retail now. As you can see I always prefered headphones/speakers on the slightly warm/dark side of "neutral". I got the Sennheiser HD 650 + Dragonfly USB DAC/HPA as substitute for the Audezes and loved them since. Their frequency response and timbre are just amazing. In the meantime I sold the Harbeths because I realized I enjoy hearing music more on headphones.
In the last days I got curious if there was an upgrade option for the Sennheiser HD 650 - just for a bit more subbase, "punch" and transparency. Today I visited a hifi-store and tried the DCA Noire 2, Focal Clear MG (unfortunately no OG) and Hifiman Arya. Although I enjoyed the punchier and more energetic performance of the Focals for pop, rock and metal and the clear and transparent (but also too trebleheavy for certain genres) performance of the Hifimans as well as the planarbase and soundstage of the latter for acoustic, classical and other I didn't find them better regarding overall tonality than the HD 650.
Although the HD 650 are highly regarded in some circles I do find them underrated. For example they aren't even available in the hifi-store I visited today - too cheap I gues... I wonder how much hype it would cause If Sennheiser (or some manufacture) would release a new model that exactly sounds as the HD650 (or 6XX/600) and would sell it for 1/2k but marketed as a brand new headphone.
But I do wonder if a Hifiman Arya or Audeze LCD-X equalized to sound like a HD 650 (Harman Target more or less) would sound better overall - due to deeper and tighter base response and/or bigger/more precise soundstage and/or resolution.

Go for IEMs. Lots of them decent these days. Here a guy is arguing that HD6xx are bettered by 7HZ Salnotes (and he had HD800 as well):

Truthear Zero are liked here.
Myself I am a big fan of etymotics and imho they beat HD600 easily (I have hd600 and lots of etymotics) . ER2XR is an easy choice (if you dont mind fit). Founder of Etymotic actually shared a store that Sennheiser execs told him that target curve fo Orpheus was very close to the house curve of Etymotic (their parallele research led to similar results).

Also TWS with a parametric EQ can be used with very good results, such as Earfun Free Pro, Free Pro 2. These can be tuned using an app called AirReps156X. This is a route taken by Oluv's Gadgets.

 

[Dazerdoreal]

You just can expect a better tuning from IEMs than from Over-Ear headphones nowadays. While the tuning of the 7hz Zero is quite excellent in my opinion, it is by far not the only case. I guess IEMs are generally easier to tune because they are right in someones ear canal.

 

[audieu]

Hey, thank you all for your suggestions.
I am a mac user - is there a equalizer software that I can use, that runs in the "background" and applies my changes systemwide? I listen to music mostly with spotify.
Alternatively if this is not possible - is there an affordable dac/amp with internal eq feature that I could use and that also may be a slight upgrade to the Audioquest Dragonfly? I know that the RME ADI 2 DAC can do that. Unfortunately I did not use it when I had it back then a few years ago.
And wow, thanks for the in ear suggestions. I did not know that. I will look into it, but it is not an alternative for home use, as I want to hear what's going on, especially when I am home alone.

Edit: I would also like to write a bit more about the headphones yesterday compared to my HD650.
The Hifiman Arya sounded great at first with classical, soundtrack and film music - more spacious and precise, but I found that it's a but too harsh with a treble spike and that pianos for example sounded a bit too brilliant. Also it wasn't as good with pop, rock, metal, indie and so on, cymbals for example were too promiment. Bass response and comfort were great though.
The Dan Clark Audio Noire 2 had a better overall tonal balance. Just a tiny bit too bright, although I didn't try the more dense filters that could have helped. They did nothing wrong and sounded very inoffensive, but also a bit - boring? Polite? Especially the base response was lacking "punch" compared to all other headphones. I wasn't really able to comment on the comfort, because the headband was very loose and didn't stay in position. The ear pads were a bit squished.
The Focal Clear MG was more in your face, engaging and "fun" with a very punchy base. I found the mid base a bit too much in the long run. I tested the sub bass with the track that caused problems in amirms review (un espejo el cielo) and listened way over my normal listening level and didn't notice any clipping. I am a low level listener in general. Overall I found it a bit too muffled/warm overall and it didn't sound as natural as the HD650.
Listening to the HD 650 right now and very happy with the sound.

 

[staticV3]

I am a mac user - is there a equalizer software that I can use, that runs in the "background" and applies my changes systemwide?

eqMac and Soundsource will do that, but you'll have to pay for proper PEQ because Apple.

is there an affordable dac/amp with internal eq feature that I could use and that also may be a slight upgrade to the Audioquest Dragonfly?

Yes, the Qudelix 5K.

 

[Dazerdoreal]

Listening to the HD 650 right now and very happy with the sound.

According to its frequency response graph and your past experiences you might like the new Audeze MM-500. They are tuned differently from the classic Audezes, not as dark and closer to the Sennheisers.

That said, I fully support everything which has been said about (parametric) EQ. It is also an equalizer for the pockets you dont necessarily need to spend that much money for a headphone anymore if you dont want to. And even very good headphones still can be improved by EQ.

 

[audieu]

Thank you both.

eqMac and Soundsource will do that, but you'll have to pay for proper PEQ because Apple.

Great! What would you prefer? And can I apply for example oratorys EQ settings in those softwares? Sorry, I am very new into this.

According to its frequency response graph and your past experiences you might like the new Audeze MM-500. They are tuned differently from the classic Audezes, not as dark and closer to the Sennheisers.

Thanks, frequency response looks good. I will try to listen to it.
Edit: I read the review from Andrew Park at headphones.com. He made the 650 comparison several times as well as a comparison to the Arya I listened to yesterday and the MM-500 really looks like a headphone I should like based in measurements and impressions.
Funnily enough I am listening right now to Kendrick Lamars Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers with my HD 650 and found the album sounds just exceptionally good with the HD 650. And now I read that the album was mixed with the MM-500 - maybe a hint of the tonal resemblence.

you dont necessarily need to spend that much money for a headphone anymore if you dont want to.

Yes, I know. I realized this already after having my "dream" headphones LCD-2 and LCD-3 and the Harbeths after that. But I'm often still curious whats around.

 

[staticV3]

Great! What would you prefer? And can I apply for example oratorys EQ settings in those softwares? Sorry, I am very new into this.

I haven't tried either, so don't have a recommendation there.

Yes, you can apply oratory's EQ settings. However, a poll that I made a while ago showed that most people prefer this preset over oratory's.
So while I'd recommend you try all the presets to find out which sounds best to you, my recommendation would be to start here.

 

[gallionetech]

Question can I use the same EQ posted in the review for the HD6XX? From my understanding there is no difference between the HD6XX and HD650 other than clamping force?

 

[MayaTlab]

Question can I use the same EQ posted in the review for the HD6XX? From my understanding there is no difference between the HD6XX and HD650 other than clamping force?

Yes, but don't hesitate to look at other sources such as Oratory's EQ presets or autoEQ
Personally I prefer how Oratory designs the shelf filters at lower frequencies, it's easier to tweak them to taste.