Consumer Audio HD 650 - Audiophile Hi-Res Open Back Dynamic Headphone, Titan

I was retiring my HD 595s after they cracked at the temples (just like I was warned they would). The Senns fit like a dream and had unbelievable sound, but the cheap build came back to bite me and made me regret spending the money. So, thinking the grass might be greener, I bought the Grado HD325is and was really excited to get them, at first. The "Grado Sound" is highly subjective, you either like it or you don't. I found it to be "tinny" and overly bright to the point of distraction from the music I was listening to. So, I sent the Grados back on the same day I got them. Which brings me to the Sennheiser HD 650s. I had really wanted the 650s, but the high price was a point of contention for me. After being underwhelmed by the build quality of the 595s, I was hesitant to take the plunge. I knew I would need a decent amplifier to push the 650s which have a high impedance, and that meant even more cash layout. But, I wanted to own the best cans I could get for my money, so I ordered the 650s and the FiiO E9 amp along with the E7 DAC, which fits right into the E9. From the first moment I listened to the 650s I knew I'd made the right choice. I really loved the sound of the 595s, but even their great sound is just a mere shadow of the crisp clarity and detail you get from the 650s. And the build quality of the 650s has renewed my faith in Sennheiser as well. Where the 595s had plastic parts, the 650s are metal and I'm not worried a bit about them cracking. The 650s are really bright and not at all muddled. Some people talk about the "Sennheiser Veil" which is supposed to be a damping of the high end, but I don't find that at all in the 650s. I'm utterly impressed with the sound presentation. I've listened to all types of music with theses cans, from jazz to rock to classical and I've enjoyed the nuances of each thanks to these incredible headphones. I don't feel like I'm sitting in front of the musicians. The soundstage makes me feel as though I'm surrounded by the music. I can hear every single instrument clearly. The brushes against the cymbals are just as clear as the warm, rich bass. These cans really shine on pieces where the musical instruments are layered. You become completely immersed in the performance. Comfort is never an issue with Sennheiser. The Grado cups were made of some horrible, scratchy plastic that instantly irritated the ears. The 650s fit over the ear instead of sitting against them, as the Grados do. You can listen to the 650s for hours on end and never miss a beat. Velour padding ensures a comfortable fit. So, are there any drawbacks to the 650s? Well, yes. The price is the single biggest drawback. These are not cheap. But with build quality like the 650s have, you won't be replacing them for a long time. These are "open" headphones, which means that they're not ideal for airplanes, cubicles or anywhere else that you don't want people to hear what you're listening to. But they're absolutely perfect for home use, which is exactly what I bought them for. So, my overall opinion of the Sennheiser 650s is that they're the standard of what headphones should be. They are absolutely superb in their sound presentation and their build. These headphones, like all cans, need a break-in period. I have heard it might be as much as 300 hours for the 650s. This allows the diaphragms to "loosen" a bit and makes the sound even more incredible. I'm looking forward to many years of heavenly sound from my 650s and I'd recommend them to anyone who doesn't want to settle for less than the best. *Disclaimer - I've never got to listen to the Sennheiser HD 800s, they are WAY out of my price range, so I'll be content with the 650s as the best sub-$1000 cans on the market

Simply amazing. I have been a headphone guy for years. I almost always exclusively use open back headphones. I have had some closed back headphones in the past that cost multiple times as much as these do and there has always been a sense of claustrophobia in the music making it unrealistically difficult to get a grasp on the spacial qualities of the songs. Out of the box these changed my perception on closed back headphones and the more I use them the better they get. Also, there's nothing wring with that claustrophobic right-next-to-your-head sound, its what I get and expect from Bluetooth wireless headphones, even the nicer ones. The way those create spacial qualities in music is usually with DSP, digital signal processing. That makes the fun happen for sure but its not realistic. The wireless headphones spend much more time on tech in the digital realm than good old sound quality. What the Sennheiser HD620s do, to my ears, is a revelation in the closed back headphone market. Are there others that sound better, I'm sure there are, the HIFI world is vast and insane. What these do is give me everything I want in a closed back headphone at a price anyone can either afford or save up to. I mean that across the board, it's everything I want. Clarity is nice, mids are Sennheiser's specialty so they are realistic and nice, bass is there when needed but not too deep. The highs are not to pingy and insane and the bass is not so deep that it distracts from the music. The Sennheiser HD600, as many people know, is possibly the best all around headphone on the market. This is why they have bene unchanged for decades and continue to sell super well. Again, there are many that are better but at the price point the HD600 does everything so well that it is often one of the price point benchmarks that other headphone manufacturers try to beat. Nothing sounds bad on it. It's my go to swiss army knife ol reliable and it scales incredibly well sounding better and better the more the listener invests in their chain. I reach to it often and I have many headphones that are MUCH more expensive. Tons of people feel the same. The Sennheiser HD620s does not sound like the HD600 so don't expect that. What the HD620s represents to me is the same idea as the HD600, the headphone that will sound great all the time no matter what it connect it to, just this time as a closed back. It's wonderful. It is easier to drive than the HD600, I would assume you could use it from the iphone dongle or the headphone out on a laptop, I have not tried this, but I would HIGHLY recommend using an external dac, amp, or dac/amp. The HD620s, much like the HD600, scales very well and sound better and better higher quality the chain is.

Updated (6/20/21) - HD600's are still a great pair of headphones, and here's what I've learned since I bought mine. You get out what you put in; these headphones like better quality recordings, so if you have live-recorded and properly made music, you can crank that music up and it will sound phenomenal. With poor quality recordings, you'll find yourself steering away from those songs pretty quickly with how badly they sound. These are good to listen to records with, too, as long as you have a decent record player. I've had my HD600's for 4 years now, and they're still going strong. You may need to replace the cable, earcups, and headband over time, but these will last you a very long time. TL:DR - These headphones are great, especially for the price. The sound is neutral, but the quality is far from lacking. FULL REVIEW Despite an issue with my first pair of HD 600's, I liked the sound so much I got a second pair once the first was returned. Here's what I've found out about the HD 600's in the 6 months I've had them. Comfort - These headphones are very lightweight, so it's easy to forget you're wearing them. However, when you first get them, these headphones clamp your head hard. Keep on using them and let the headband stretch out, and over time you'll be able to wear them for literally all-day use without any soreness. W/O Amp and DAC - The bass is very recessed on anything you listen to without a proper amp. Mids and highs are still good, but the sound isn't as full or realistic without a proper amp. The sound is still good enough to outperform everything else I've tried and blew me away when I first tried them out, which was with this set up. W/ Amp and DAC (Magni 2 and Modi 2) - The music really seemed to come to life. From classical remixes of songs to Slash's performance in Paradise City, these headphones still leave me impressed. Bass, mids, and highs all sound good with none over powering the other. There is a lot of detail with these, which has led me to picking up background sounds I couldn't hear or overlooked before. Hearing a lot of extra details in music I already knew took a bit of getting used to, but I very quickly started to like certain songs more because I realize they had more sounds than I realized. This has been very helpful when comparing the sound between my HD 600's and other speakers and headphones I've tried. The only real problem with the HD 600's is that if there are any imperfections in your music, such as problems with sound mastering or just being an MP3 you converted from YouTube, you will hear every imperfection. Keep that in mind when getting these or other audiophile grade headphones; you will need to get CD's or, at the barest minimum, 320 kbps MP3's for listening to music. The static and distortion in anything lower quality will be really annoying. Not to mention their open-back design and 300 ohms of impedance mean you shouldn't be using them while traveling, though this doesn't bother me as I use the at home. Overall, if you want to get a pair of audiophile grade headphones for under $300 and you can afford these, do not hesitate. There are definitely other and better options out there, but not for the same price as these (unless these go back up $385 again for a short period). Sure, they aren't the best sounding headphones in the world and the $270 I spent when I got these is still a lot of money, but I haven't regretted these since I got them. These changed my perspective on listening to music for the better and you'd be hard pressed to go wrong with buying a pair of HD 600's.

It's easy to forget that, next year, the HD 600 will turn 20 years old. Admittedly, audio transducers have a funny way of sticking around longer than just about any other piece of electronics equipment. A line of speakers will, usually, be in production for at least several years. Even when they've been replaced, they usually aren't even close to obsolete, because even mid-fi has gotten pretty far into diminishing returns. But, even in this alternate timeline of audiophile-dom (others might call it an alternate reality, an insane asylum...) the HD 600s are freakin ancient. I can only think of a few other cans with this kind of longevity: The Sony MDR-V6; so old that it still has "for DIGITAL" emblazoned on the side. A quick trip through audio theory will reveal that this is meaningless, but in 1985 it sounded really cool. The Beyerdynamic DT770/880/990; so old that they still have shag carpet earpads. Various Grados; so old that it's too late for anybody to admit they sound like trash. Instead, they just mumble something about "sparkle" and then go buy something else. And yet, 20 years later, the HD600 is still the headphone that, within headphone circles, everybody talks about and everybody has heard. There's a reason for that: it's not just really good. Purely on the strength of its sound, it stands out as excellent. When price is considered? It might just be the best headphone in the world. THE SOUND: Inevitably, whenever anyone tries to talk about the HD600 or the HD650, someone brings up the "Sennheiser Veil." This so-called veil was a kind of muffling of the sound, and the people who complain about it would have you believe that the HD6XX sounds like Apple Earpods. I cannot state emphatically enough how much the veil does not exist. It is either a product of the imagination of people who wish the AKG K701 was a bit brighter, or the result of people trying to plug the HD6XX straight into an inadequate source, i.e. most phones, MP3 players, iPods, laptops, etc. They need an amp. More on that later. At any rate, these headphones are as veiled as Eva Green in The Dreamers. You. Will. See. erm, Hear. Everything. That's both a blessing and a curse. Lesser headphones - even my Sony MDR-V6s, for instance - can mask the flaws in a bad recording. All of those 128kbps MP3s you've pirated because you're a bad person? They're gonna sound awful. If your father-in-law-to-be hands sends you some recordings of his garage band, grab however awful a set of backup cans you need for it to sound good. Because these will tell you the truth. Yet, to a good recording, they are shockingly flattering. If you put garbage in, you'll get garbage out. Give it something good, though, and you'll get magic. I've listened to just about my entire music library with these, and there are a few recordings in particular that really demonstrate how well these shine: -In the Air Tonight (Phil Collins, Face Value, 1981): On a decent-to-good set of headphones, this song sounds ominous; it sounds cool. Whatever. On the HD600s, it's a religious experience. Sounds swirl around your head. The crescendos and diminuendos blow you away. The vocals sound perfect. Incredible. -In Your Eyes (Peter Gabriel, So, 1986): The entire album is fabulous. Listen to it over and over again. But there's a reason this song is singled out. It's a sibilance nightmare. On my MDR-V6s, it's unlistenable above a moderate volume. Enter the HD600s: there's no hiding how much sibilance there is, but they handle it as gracefully as possible. Enough ink has been spilled over how these handle classical and jazz (spoiler: fabulously), and their vocal presentation in particular is spot-on. THE STUFF YOU'LL NEED: To get all of this brilliant sound, you're going to need a few things. First and foremost is an amp. This can get crazy pretty quick, so first let's draw a distinction: solid state vs tubes. The HD600 has a high enough impedance to really get along with OTL amps (ie, most headphone tube amps). This will color the sound somewhat, get hot, be unreliable, need to warm up, etc. If you want to go down this road, you can. There's also a lot of really expensive solid state amps. Or, you could just get a Schiit Magni or a JDS Objective2, both of which sound... well... about perfect. Next, you'll need to think about a DAC. Now, a lot of people just assume they'll need one. That may not be the case. If you have a Retina Macbook Pro, for instance, skip it. You'll never hear the difference between it and whatever you get for 150 bucks. Same deal if you're plugging a (good) CD player or receiver or whatever straight into the amp. If your source is something else, like a midrange PC, you'll need to evaluate this yourself. Unfortunately, I can't help you with that. If you decide you need a DAC, there are a lot of expensive options out there. Or, you could just get a Schiit Modi or a JDS ODAC, both of which sound... well... about perfect. (Side lesson: The internet audiophile community fights back and forth all the time about whether the O2/ODAC or the Magni/Modi is the better setup. Realistically, their performance is nearly identical. Buy whichever you think looks better.) (Another side lesson: You seriously probably don't need to spend a ton of money on DACs and amps. The O2/ODAC was designed by some wacky internet crusader who wanted to prove that the performance of the Benchmark DAC2 and HPA2 could be achieved without spending thousands of dollars. From an engineering perspective, this is obviously possible. If you look into this further, you will still find people who insist that the O2/ODAC doesn't sound as good as significantly more expensive gear. Just remember that these are audiophile crazies, who think they need 192kHz recordings because Nyquist-Shannon doesn't apply to special snowflakes. The two most important things in any digital-to-analog system are the input file and the transducer.) Finally, you're going to need good recordings. iTunes is sufficient. Vinyl is pretty good (repeat after me: vinyl does not sound better than CD, it is objectively worse, a record will only sound great 25 times, and will be the equal of the CD never). CD is your best bet, particularly those mastered before the "loudness wars" started up in the late 1990s. However, the world isn't perfect; fear not, the Senns still sound good with stuff that has a compressed dynamic range (within reason). Anything beyond the Redbook CD standard is simply a ploy to get you to spend more money for things you can't hear, and that your dog can't either. SOME REALITIES: The way that the Senns achieve all this great sound is by being "open-back" headphones. This means that, on the side of the driver opposite your ear, there's just some mesh to protect it from damage. This means that you can't really use these outside a quiet environment, because you'll hear everything around you. It also means that you probably won't want to listen to them in public, because it's really difficult to look cool when everybody knows you're blasting the Bangles. Also, they're ugly as sin. But they aren't leaving your house, so who cares? A WORD ABOUT THE HD650: Released several years after the HD600, the HD650 at first glance looks like an upgrade. That... depends. The HD650 is darker and smoother at the expense of detail. That's all. I prefer its sound signature. But, it usually costs between 75 and 150 dollars more than the HD600, and so it wasn't worth it for me. It probably isn't worth it for you, either. So, yeah. These headphones sound just about dead neutral, wonderfully crisp, and yet smooth enough that you can listen at high volumes without fatigue. They can usually be had for less than 300 dollars. And for the price, they have no equal. Now we just have to hope that someday the HD800S can be such an easy decision to make.

Pros- Stellar sound quality with EQ, Perceived soundstage is vast, Super Comfortable while also being lightweight and very isolating for a non noise canceling headphone, solid build quality, replaceable pads and cable, ability to add a mic not included, quarter inch adapter included and decently priced at $299 sale price. Cons- stock sound quality is wonky but easily corrected with eq. Look up reviewer based Resolves eq adjustments and use an auto eq app to apply them. Regular price is too high I feel. The top headband should be user replaceable but it looks like it’s just glued on. Final Thoughts- While this isn’t a perfect headphone. The isolation and almost great sound quality out of the box except for certain songs is great. But my experience with this headphone with eq makes the wonkyness of the sound for certain songs disappear and just sound fantastic for the price. The isolation for this headphone if you can get a good seal is seriously impressive, I used this headphone at an event to monitor the audio and I could make out the audio coming from the headphones perfectly with the PA system at volume levels that were uncomfortable for me. If you know this is compromised headphone and can either deal with the experience or modify it so it’s perfect for your taste I see this as a good value product if you get it at the right price.

I recently purchased a new pair of Sennheiser headphones to replace my old ones, which I had been using for several years and was always very happy with. I’m pleased to see that, unlike many other brands, Sennheiser has managed to maintain the same high level of quality despite all the changes in the market. The first thing I noticed was the signature Sennheiser sound: detailed and clear highs, balanced mids, and a tight, controlled bass. The audio quality is still impressive listening to music or working with these headphones is truly a pleasure! The build quality is also top-notch: everything feels solid, with no cheap plastic or loose parts. I really hope Sennheiser will continue to maintain these high standards and not go down the same path as other brands whose quality dropped significantly after changes in ownership. For now, I can only recommend these headphones they remain a benchmark in the headphone world!

What can I say about these headphones? These are the best cans for their price and honestly well above it. When you first put them on you're greeted by a heavy clamp. To fix this, I extended the metal piece to adjust the headband and bent them outwards. The metal is what can withstand this so don't bend the plastic headband, it'll snap! The thick velour still gives a bit on a grip as your ears will certainly be making contacting with it but because the cans are oval shaped it shouldn't be too bad. After you get over the clamp, you realize how smooth and forward the mids are. It was fun and great and all but it sounded so muffled. I was disappointed to begin with. From there, I ran some pink noise for only about 20 hours or so to burn them in. Did it change the sound significantly? No. But what it did help with is to bring out some detail and helped me get used to the sound faster. The biggest change you'll have to get used to coming from bright headphones is the clarity is not forward and sharp, but rather it's present but not the star of the show. You'll hear pretty much all the detail you'd care for but it's much quieter and subdued in the background. This leaves you with just the vocals, and boy do they sound silky smooth. You'll be able to easily hear every word and jarring treble or poorly mastered tracks will be greeted with forgiveness on these. Basically, all your music will sound good. Jazz sounds particularly good with these as do slow songs as they fit it's personality great. Pair these with a good amplifier, I recommend the Valhalla 2 for an entry level or a Ragnarok if you can afford it for solid state. Honestly, these could be your end game if you prefer the sound signature. For me, I still wasn't convinced as I knew the comfort could be improved and I wanted more detail. I ruined a good thing by doing so. The rings that hold the pads onto these cans are glued so I took some scissors and ripped them off. I replaced these cans with the HD700 pads just to try. The comfort instantly increased but the bass quantity went way down (while the quality of the bass picked up, it was much more speedy and less bloomy than with the stock pads), the detail and treble went way back up and to my surprise the mids recessed a tiny bit but not by much. This could probably be fixed with tubes. Doing this pad swap though took away everything that made the 650s magical to begin with. They really do change the sound so I recommend sticking with the stock velours or equivalent if you like the bassy/warm mid forward sound signature of the stock 650s. I certainly do so I will be buying them again (they are overpriced though, they basically are velour stitched over memory foam that you could take off some old packaging, $50 is a bit too much for pads but I guess they had to add up the costs to equal the total sum they're charging for this can). So who is the 650 for? If you can't afford $1,000 cans but want sweet vocals and impactful bass (not crazy deep but rich and heavy when necessary) then the 650s are definitely up your alley. It's super forgiving so lossy files will not be a problem here nor will poorly recorded music (which is a good thing in my books as it gives you time to build up your higher quality collection). I would not recommend these headphones if you want airyness, lots of detail or clarity. Those are best reserved for the 600s, 700s or 800s. Where's the upgrade from here? Pre-fazor LCD2 or LCD2-C or the Atticus. You'll need some beefy hybrid/SS amps for those but they are indeed a better upgrade as their soundstage, mids, and overall bass are better with a bit better clarity (not night and day). To wrap things up, the warm sound is not for analyzing your music. It's for relaxing as you go about your day, it's for enjoying lyrics, it's for sipping some coffee while writing up a paper. Details are fun but I finally have found my preferred sound signature. Bright sound signatures will fatigue your ears after a while with all the detail and glaring sharpness and as a result, I think a warm sound will fit most everyone's preferences unless you're in the camp that wants to hear every last detail in your music. I'm just glad I heard truly warm cans and not just cans outfitted with some warmth to truly get an idea of the experience you get and that is one of just fun, relaxing, shivers down your spine with well recorded music. These things will love tubes! Get some Mullards, Telefunken, Philips Milliwatts, or Gold Pin 6NPC's for some additional warmth and less of a dry sound. Pour that syrup!

I had high expectations for the HD620S and it exceeded all of them. I own the HD6XX and they're incredible open back headphones, but I personally need closed back headphones most of the time. The HD620S is the answer! This headphone has a neural response like all HD6-series headphones, but it has a little more low end and high end because it's a closed back. So more bass, more treble... But it's not bass heavy, and it's not overly bright. It's balanced. It's just right. Music sounds "the way it should" -- but with more detail than what you would hear in the HD650 or HD6XX. However, it's not the kind of detail some headphones add, where the treble is boosted to an absurd degree. Rather, it's just there. It's present. The bass is the same. It gives you what you need without overshadowing the low mids. This 6-series headphone uses a 5-series case, because Sennheiser found that the 5-series casing works better for closed back headphones... But it sounds like a 6-series. No worries about the case, though -- it's very comfortable. I look like Alfred E. Neumann and yet my ears don't touch the drivers at all! One thing I noticed about this headphone was the sense of space. Usually closed-back headphones sound "in your head", which is fine... But open back headphones have that 'wide sound stage'. The HD620S is a little closer to open backs in that regard, but without the room noise. As far as blocking external sound -- the HD620S is about average in that regard, which is fine. The cord comes out of only the left side (unlike the HD6XX which comes out of both sides.) This is a welcome upgrade. The cord is durable enough, but lightweight so there's no sense of imbalance. It is slightly "microphonic" though, which is the wrong word but it's what headphone people use. I'm talking about physical transfer of noise. If the headphone cable is tapping or moving, and nothing is playing in the headphones -- you can hear it a little. Moreso than most professional quality/audiophile headphones... But not nearly as bad as the HD280Pro. It's not a problem at all, but just something to be aware of. I don't notice it at all during regular use, and I move my head a lot. This isn't a headphone you would want to use outdoors. The drivers have a very thin netting over them, which keeps out large debris but you wouldn't want to use these in a dusty area. Think of these as home & studio headphones. Speaking of studio -- these are phenomenal for music production. They sound like studio monitors, basically, in the best possible way... Meaning they won't make a poorly mixed song sound good -- but a properly mixed song sounds detailed and amazing... With no noticeable peaks or valleys to make mixing confusing. I would recommend these headphones for anyone who wants a reasonably affordable high end audio experience, or for audio engineers who need closed back headphones but want open back sound and quality. In short, between the HD6XX and HD620S -- these are the only headphones I need, and I've purchased (too) many before this. I love these headphones, and the HD620S in particular is my favorite.