Sennheiser HD650 Love (Appreciation Thread)

Probably harder than it would seem, like getting the genie back in the bottle.

Just a wild ass guess but it might be easier to remove the driver, put the foam back and then replace the driver. That's most likely how it was put there in the first place.

 

Just tried to do it that way and no dice. The cage in the back seems like it's glued onto the driver assembly and can't really be removed.

 

I never tried it. @Garns post seems the most descriptive to me.

That thick foam sounds odd. Did you get your HD650 used, @Luckbad ? If so, maybe someone substituted some other foam.

 

Nope, got them new from an authorized dealer, but they're pretty old now. The foam isn't thicker than the central area of the spider cage, it's thicker than the very thin outer post clearance. I have the foam back in now, but it looks a bit like a flower. Stock, the foam has 100% coverage over the silver circle between the cage and driver.

 

Okay, I see what you mean now.

I have an idea, but it seems kind of drastic. Carefully snip the spidercage off, place the foam and carefully glue the spidercage back. Other than being tedious, I don't know what kind of glue I would feel certain would not "melt" the spidercage feet.

[Edit] Or maybe trim the diameter of the foam and use @Garns method.

 

Even with some care, I could never quite get the foam back to stock (for the same reasons as described above). I gave up in the end, as I found I preferred it without anything behind the magnet hole.

If you do want to reinstate the foam, then in terms of sonics just sticking it back on top outside of the magnet hole a la KISS mod seems to be pretty similar, and that's really easy to do and undo for comparison. Basically I don't think there is anything particularly special about the stock foam + spider configuration, it seems like it was just a convenient way that Sennheiser found to keep it in position.

 

Love my Frankenheisers as some here have titled on this thread. They are better than ever. An EVS modded Oppo Sonica, an Ifi Galvanic 3 and Uptones PCUSB hard A/B connectors have taken them so far beyond. They do so much more than I had imagined they were capable of. Going to revisit some of my tuning in next few weeks to see if more juice can be extracted. I am living my audio dream and dancing naked in my own
Harmonic as Master Rosenberg suggested
We should do !

Happy Listening.

AHH if I could just swing enough funding for
A studio Jr. from Eddie Current!

 

I believe I can take credit for that!

 

I was wondering if you were continuing with your experiments, @James Whiting .

Edit: Hey, you used photobucket. All of your pictures are gone. Maybe you should pay them the $1000 (or whatever they are charging for pictures held hostage).

 

I believe you are correct sir!

Happy Listening,
Jgwtriode

 

Damnable thrives...I will check...haven't looked at or used drop bucket for awhile.

I want to see if I can squeeze any more resolution out if the 650s. The modded Oppo and Galvanic 3 are pulling so much more info and detail out of my files that
I have not previously heard. I may be at the limits off what is possible with them however.

I have actually started to consider what phones would take it to the next level without breaking the budget or giving up
the strengths of the 650s. The new Abyss
Would be a no brainer but are not anywhere
near affordable.

Oh well,. I am stunned by what I am hearing but....well...you know it really never ends once you start down this path!

Happy Listening,

Jgwtriode

 

So, this post will be a wall of text, not only about my impressions of the HD650, and maybe you guys will consider it noise.
I apologize for all the above, but I felt I needed to share my experience with someone, and this was the best place and thread I could think of.

A bit more than one month ago, I finally got started with my audio system upgrade, or creation rather. I took the chance and purchased a new ifi iCAN pro headphone amp, as the price was reduced by 20% for a retailers last unit. A bit overkill for someone getting their first real headphone amp, I guess. But with all the great reviews, its features, solid state and tube hybrid, all the connectivity, etc. I just thought it would be a great piece to have in my setup, to help me further explore and find what exactly my sound preference is.

I tried it for a couple of days when I got it, using the source and headphones I had available at the time. This is not an attempt to a review, just a newbie sharing his experience, so please bear with me. To keep it short; The biggest thing for me at first was just how things like cymbals could linger. No more “sudden cuts”. It was a really nice experience. But after a couple of days I put it to rest, I wanted to get more pieces of my setup to be, before using it any further.

Four days ago, my Sennheiser HD650 arrived. I’d decided to order them before the DAC purchase as I had previously ordered a custom balanced cable to be made by Impact Audio Cables. I used the excuse that I wanted to make sure the cable worked, but I’m sure there were other reasons in the back of my mind. My initial impression (using my HA-2 as source, iCAN pro amp), some instruments have a different tone, smoother, and again could linger so nicely. At times it even felt like songs were in a different tempo than I remembered them in. Another big thing was how vocalist could take a forward and center position that I’ve never experienced before, was kind of hard to get used to at first.

Then today, I purchased the DAC. I’ll keep it short, skip the whole backstory of how I decided on purchasing the intended DAC. I had decided to go for the NAD C510. But as I on Wednesday night, out of curiosity, browsed for NAD products on a Swedish website where people sell used goods, I stumbled upon a NAD M51 not too far away from me. Asking price was around 700 USD. I just had to, once again, take this chance. So, I did, and now it’s here.

Honestly, adding the DAC was the first big "wow" moment during this whole process. The music was just, brought to life. There is depth, as I finally Think I know what that means. It is dynamic, my gawd. It’s so detailed, but so smooth. It’s just, amazing… While I get that it’s a combination of my whole setup, the DAC was such an important piece, to make the rest truly sing.

That shall be the end of my experience rant. I just want to say Thank you to all the SBAF members, you have been a tremendous help in my journey towards a great music listening experience. I love my setup, I love my HD650. But my journey is not taking a halt just yet. I’m aiming for a pair of planar headphones to add to the collection. I tried a pair of he-400i once, and even on my phone they brought something special to some of my music. But which headphones I’ll get, that’s a decision for another time. I’m sure SBAF will be of help, so once again, big thank you for all the information and impressions you provide here.

As a final note to this wall of text, for real this time, I promise. I did a quick comparison between my three sources, all connected to the ican pro at the same time, and using my lovely HD650.

Asus Essence STX: Compressed/muffled shit, to think I used it for years.
Oppo HA-2: Detailed, but unbearable treble region (this wasn’t news to me though), and sounds flat.
NAD M51 (connected to my dedicated music PC with Lynx AES16): Pure enjoyment.

 

I've seen no mention of these Dekoni Premium Ear Pads for Sennheiser HD 6XX. Has anyone tried them? Done measurements?

https://www.massdrop.com/buy/dekoni-premium-ear-pads-for-sennheiser-hd-6xx?1=1&utm_placement=0&referer=ZKU5DK&mode=guest_open

 

Commenters (I know, poor source of real info) say they are brand new, so no reviews or measurements. Also, 4 styles at escalating price points make a purchase even more iffy. Though the base model @ 40 bucks is competitive price-wise w/ stock Sennheiser pads.

 

Oh, those look cool!

I'm guessing... (not sure, but this is based on my experiment with pads with similar constructions) that...

1. Velour depending on the configuration may turn out to be a slightly bassier version of the stock pads. Dunno. Could be worth it for some. Prolly easier to recommend for HD580/600 than HD650.
2. Elite Hybrid seems like cheaper Sennheiser HE60 pads, which may not be a bad thing. I have a sneaking suspicion that HD650 will sound pretty decent as from my experimentation, this type of pads will make the headphone sound a bit sharper. Not recommended for HD580/600 though.
3. Fenestrated: interesting thing. I'm not sure what effect it'll have overall but... again, based on experimentation, this will probably make things sound sharper yet again.

As a safe bet, I'd go with #1 first, but that's just me. I think Sennheiser's stock pads for the HD580/600/650/6XX are pretty dang balanced already, but these may be good for experimentation in case you want to try out a different sound signature while not losing the technicality of the driver.

Admittedly, I'm curious enough, so... I'm considering blackmailing the folks at Massdrop to lend me some samples in exchange for my moneh. Actual pads that fit HD6xx series without much more modding (glue and stuffs) have been on my wishlist for a long while to come.

 

I'm most intrigued by the fenestrated pads since I love the feel of leather, but I'm not looking for cash to burn either so I'll have to wait on measurements for those...

The velour on the other hand may be worth a shot, since I wouldn't mind a bit more bass on the HD600 and I'm willing to bet they'd play nicer with my glasses than then Sennheiser velours. Hopefully they don't heat things up though; the foam in the stock pads is probably more breathable than high-density memory foam.

 

I emailed the founder of Dekoni and asked if he could supply measurements. I'll post back if he does and allows me to share them.

 

A week left, so hopefully we can get some data to base a decision on. I've had enough of blind buys on MD, burned 2-3 times, shy forever.

 

Went with #1 cause I'm cheap and mine have some use. A fresh change. Potentially sharper #2 and #3 is an idea but I have some tubes that'll do that.

 

After around 6 months of use my HD6XX's left side has started rattling a bit when a piano's low notes are played. I have done the kiss mod to my headphone. I don't find any dirt/hair in the driver. Anyone else facing a similar issue?