Sennheiser HD 650 Open Back Professional Headphone Reviews
Sennheiser HD 650 Open Back Professional Headphone
- Specially designed acoustic silk ensures precision damping over the entire frequency range and helps to reduce THD to an incredible 0.05%
- Improved frequency response is 10 – 39,500 Hz (-10 dB)
- Hand-selected matched driver elements
- High power neodymium magnets deliver maximum efficiency
- Lightweight aluminum voice coils for very fast transient response
- Specially designed acoustic silk ensures precision damping over the entire frequency range and helps to reduce THD to an incredible 0.05%
- Improved frequency response of 10 – 39,500 Hz (-10 dB) for rich sound
- Hand-selected matched driver elements
- High-power neodymium magnets deliver maximum efficiency
- Lightweight aluminum voice coils for very fast transient response
In the HD 650, audiophiles will experience truly unique natural sound. With sound this good, long concerts in the comfort of your home are a certainty, so the HD 650 also sets standards in comfort and convenience. The HD 650 is a genuine masterpiece, which will satisfy even the most demanding listener.
List Price: $ 499.95
Price:
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Excellent, but what did you expect?,
Which leads me to my first (and probably most important) point about this headphone. They cost a lot. A whole lot. Sennheiser has many units, including the 580, 590, 595, 600, and 650 (among many others), which could be construed as ‘reference’ quality. You’ll spend about half as much on one of the 5xx models as you will on the 650. So if you were to ask me whether the 650 is *twice as good* (that is to say, it costs more in proportion to its increased capability), I’ll tell you no, probably not. I might just not buy them, given the decision again. Perhaps if the price came down a bit.
At any rate, they are really a superb headphone. The sound is really incredible. You never really realize what you’re missing in a recording until you’ve heard it through a set like this. You can hear the saliva in the back of a vocalist’s throat. I’m not kidding. Everything is reproduced clearly, accurately, crisply, and I’ve yet to find any recording (Vocal, Classical, Electronic, etc) that can tax them. I suppose I’ll stop trying to some day, but it’s just wonderful to hear the headphones doing their job.
The construction is far more solid than the 590’s are. Where there is plastic on the 590, you see metal and (no kidding) Kevlar. They are more attractive. They are also quite a bit heavier. They have a 1/4″ connector instead of the more customary 1/8″ mini connector — this doesn’t particularly bother me, I’ll get to it in a minute.
Like the 590, they are an open headphone. That is, they are not “sealed” or “isolated”. Sound from around you will seep in, and it is possible for others to hear what you are listening to (somewhat).
They are less comfortable. My guess is because of the metal band, the “spring” mechanism that keeps them round is tighter than the 590’s, and it pinches. It really feels as though somebody is compressing your head. The ear cups are fine. They are almost identical to the 590’s, but a little larger.
So, you probably wouldn’t be here if you didn’t know you needed an amplifier for these headphones (this is where the 1/4″ plug comes in). However, it bears mentioning that you should not even consider buying these cans without first buying a capable amplifier. The PPA/PIMETA amps are cheapish, and Headphone.com has some that will work fine. To demonstrate this, you’ll need another headphone and the 650. Connect the other headphone to your amplifier. Listen at a comfortable level. Then, relax a second, and attach the 650. The first thing you should notice is that the white noise is gone. The second thing — other than the sound quality, of course — is that it is much quieter. These cans need a lot of power to drive them effectively. Look at their specifications and you will understand (300 ohms of impedance!).
Buy em if you want the best and aren’t afraid to spend the $$. Buy the 590’s or 595’s if what you need is a stellar headphone and you don’t want to spend too much. Use the extra money to buy yourself an amp. You’ll need it.
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|Quite an experience – but you need some patience at first,
For years I have been very happy with the Sony CD1700, an excellent headphone which is my point of reference for evaluating the HD650. The rest of my hifi set-up consists of a Marantz cd7300 CD player, PM7200 amplifier, and Musical Fidelity X-Can v3 headphone amplifier (a mandatory commodity if you intend to spend serious money on a headphone like this one). Also, I invested in the Cardas replacement cable for the HD650.
It is often said phones like this one need a ‘break in’ period. I used to regard this merely as snobbish audiophile technobabble – but found it to be actually true. Initially, I was less than pleased with the sound of the HD650, to put it mildly. Mid-range, mezzoforte strings (which make up a VERY large part of orchestral music!) sounded grey and weirdly disembodied. Stereo separation was exaggerated while the middle part of the soundstage seemed empty. Compared to the breezy, open sound of the Sony, the Sennheiser seemed compressed and less immediately involving.
Things were not helped by the fact that the wearing comfort of these cans is markedly inferior to that of the Sony. The HD650 has fairly small shells that are not ideal if your ears aren’t quite that small. Also, they are clamped against the head rather tightly, which is not entirely pleasant. The Sony, by contrast, simply lets you forget you are wearing it.
But then, after about 50 hours of listening, things had changed rather much. Not with regard to the wearing comfort, obviously, though you do get used to the way the HD650 feels; – but soundwise. The sound had opened up completely; not only is it now as fresh and involving as that of the Sony, it is clearly superior. Everything is incredibly focused, tightly in place, resulting in a very clean sound picture. The bass is far superior to the Sony, and is noticeably warmer. Bass drum strokes or double bass pizzicati sound nothing short of sensational. Instrumental colours are marvellously defined throughout the orchestral ranges. The level of detail is quite simply stunning. I am not exagerrating when I say that I’ve heard new things in nearly every disc I played until now (in an old-time favourite, Bernstein’s DG recording of Stravinsky’s Les Noces, I was bowled over by the precision with which the four piano’s, which had always sounded as a single instrument to me, were individually separated). Interestingly, a sense of underlying energy is retained even in the softest passages; I notice that with this headphone large scale symphonic works may sound completely satisfying even when played at fairly low volume.
All in all, I am now extremely pleased with this acquisition. It is hard to imagine that headphone sound can be much better. Listening to a well-recorded disc (and beware! these cans will mercilessly reveal which discs aren’t so well recorded) you can easily imagine yourself to be sitting in the concert hall.
As a postscript: I am less sure about the cable issue. Many HD650 owners advise the replacement of Sennheiser’s stock cable with a Cardas cable. Now, I always have the feeling that in these more esoteric regions of audiophilia, there is somewhere a point where actual sound improvements become extremely minimal, and myth or even madness set in. Yet, as I was splurging anyway, for once I went the whole hog and bought myself the Cardas cable, too. Frankly; you don’t really need it. I will not go so far as to say it doesn’t make a difference; it does. There is, at times, an extra sparkle to the sound. But it certainly is not a prerequisite to fully enjoy the wonders of the HD650 (quite apart from the fact that the Cardas cable is a hideously ugly thing to behold, makes the phones far more cumbersome to wear, and unlike the thinner, more supple stock cable causes contact noise).
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|One of the best options out there,
For some strange reason, I waited a long time to buy these headphones. Silly me. We review one of Sennheiser’s top headphone options.
Originally released in 2003, the HD650 is certainly aging. In fact, the headphone market has exploded since its debut and it’s no secret that there are better headphones out there. Heck, even Sennheiser has their flagship HD800 and the soon-to-be-released HD700, $1,500 and $1,000 respectively. But just because there are more expensive options doesn’t mean those are the better options.
If you start reading into a site like Head-fi (which I love, don’t get me wrong), you’ll start to feel like the HD650 is a thing of the past. Why buy the inferior HD650 when the HD800 exists?? Well, a couple reasons actually:
(1) 99.9% of people would never, ever consider spending $1,500 on headphones. Most people couldn’t afford it. Most that could wouldn’t find the point in buying them. The HD800 is a unique headphone for unique people.
(2) The HD800 is probably the pickiest dynamic headphone ever made when it comes to powering them. Typically the rule of thumb is to spend as much on an amp as you do on the headphones. That’s upping the ante; 99.999999% of people wouldn’t spend $3,000 on a headphone setup.
The HD650 is a relative bargain in today’s headphone market. So let’s forget about all the more expensive, technically more superior options, if only just for the rest of this review.
::::: BUILD & AESTHETICS :::::
Though all plastic, they feel very sturdy and look quite sexy. I much prefer the graphite look to the HD600’s mid-90’s green marbling. Yuck. The velour pads are squishy enough, though the actual surface is a little scratchy. Doesn’t bother me. Many people find these to clamp on your head pretty tight. Also doesn’t bother me. Some people recommend stretching these out over a basketball or a stack of books and while that works nicely for most headphones, DO NOT attempt to stretch these out. There are plenty of horror stories of the headband’s hard plastic simply snapping in half. Bear the slight pressure for a while and the HD650s will slowly and safely loosen up to fit your melon better.
Detachable cable? Heck yeah! While this seems like a simple, unimportant thing, I value this feature so much. What if you snag the cable on something? What if your stupid cat chews through it? What if? In that case, you simply remove the old cable and stick in a new one. Plus, this often-overlooked feature allows you to quickly and easily upgrade the stock cable to something more worthy of these headphones. Me? I upgraded to the $300 15′ Cardas cable. Sound nuts? I am… don’t judge me. To my ears, it made a substantial difference. The nicer connections and larger gauge made the notorious “rolled-off” property disappear and I swear I can hear a more precise low-end. Definitely consider this worthwhile upgrade.
::::: THE SOUND :::::
What do they sound like, you ask? To be quite honest, I didn’t like them at first. I came from mostly listening to the Denon AH-D2000 which offer more of a WOW! experience since they have super punchy lows, scooped mids, and diamond-like highs. The HD650s simply didn’t impress me. There was no WOW!
Then I kept listening… and listening… and then I realized something. The low-end doesn’t thump my head around. I’m hearing the warm, present midrange of Norah’s sweet, sweet vocals. I also don’t get lost in a sea of bright cymbal splashes. What in the world does all this mean?! It means they are pretty darn neutral.
The HD650 is an open-backed headphone. This generally allows for a more accurate sound. When headphones have closed backs, sound gets trapped inside, bounces off your ears and muds up the sound (oh no!). Open backs allow longer frequency waves (lower notes) to escape as they should and produce a clearer sound. Open backs also means that the HD650 has terrific imaging. This is how it “places” instruments and people “around” your head. Ever notice how in-ear headphones trap the sound into this narrow beam in the center of your skull? That isn’t the case with the HD650. Yay! The only negative is that your music is very loud to those around you. These headphones are generally best suited for private listening in a secluded space.
::::: BASS :::::
While the bass doesn’t kick hard, it does exactly what it is supposed to. It establishes a solid platform for all of the other instruments to build off of. Some headphones have so much thick bass it makes me want to throw up. These simply play the notes they are supposed to. I hear the tone of the kick drum, which isn’t something I’ve ever noticed with another set of cans. The most important thing to remember is to listen to properly mixed stuff. Many sound engineers will actually mix in less bass nowadays to compensate for people’s bass-boosting tendencies. Other…
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