Sennheiser HD650

Well I don't have a modded 650 so I can't really rebuke that. The stock 650 though definitely seems less resolving to me. The 800 was my daily driver for over a year so I'm intimately familiar with it.

I'm hesitant to mod the 650, as I really enjoy the sound as it is.

 

I got curious and removed the back foam as a starter. Initially I liked the change but put them back, realizing the inherent darkness of the 650 is completely gone on the T3 and doesn't need to be modded for my taste and I prefer the warmer more midrange focus of stock.

I am still going to borrow famish's kiss modded 6xx to do an A/B comparison before I decide for sure.

 

You have to try dynamat as well. If you don't like it it's completely reversible. Experiment and find the right balance for you. At first I did the standard mod and felt the bass had less impact than expected so I removed random bits until I found my sweet spot.

 

Turns out the Auto store down the street had some big sheets of dynamat for $20 so I snagged some. I am going to attempt the dynamat mod.

My question is, what is the difference in applying the material directly to the magnet (in which you must remove the spidercage), vs. non spider removal and just dampening the surrounding areas? I am hesitant to do something irreversible on the HPs just now. But would like to have some informed opinions on if the difference is substantial enough to warrant removing the cage.

 

I still have the spider-cage on mine. Don't plan to remove it.

 

I don't have a hd650, but I removed the spider cage in my hd580 and it definitely sounds smoother now in the upper mids. I always thought my hd580 was a bit harsh and grainy. I think it has something to do with the spider cage reflections. I put some thin foam on the magnet to damp the sound too.

 

Still evaluating but it sounds like an Uber650 now after applying the dampening, no spider removal.

Tighter more hard hitting bass. Considerably more clear (leading to more obvious plankon and microdetail). Bigger more separated stage. An elevated sense of euphony, increased dynamics. And it retains the warmth and smoothness.

Hard to find something wrong with it so far.

 

For my mods I went the doughnut route.. thicker on the outside, declining towards the inner circle so it'd help hold the foam into the back of the magnet. I used a 1/4 adapter to press the foam in while I pressed it into the dynomat ring. Haven't had to mess with it since.

Pic: https://imgur.com/a/OXpUqfG

A few people have hit me up already but if anyone else is needing dynomat I've still got plenty left, just PM me.

 

Not the prettiest but not a total hackjob.

 

Looks good to me. How is the bass without any foam? I figured it may be a little too punchy for me without any rear dampening. I've got a bedroom system pair of 6XX's I've not yet modded so I may have to dabble a bit more on that front.

 

Well it's a combination of no foam and dynamat that is recommended. Without foam and no dynamat the bass is less controlled and wooly.

 

Ah I see. I started my mods with KISS and kept having to adjust the foam as it would puff back out. That is when I tried the dynomat doughnut bowl which worked out. I'll give the no foam approach a shot. Though, I'll probably just remove the spider as I doubt I'll revert it back to stock.

 

Kiss mod is different. I didn't do that.

 

Could it be? How could the 650 scale better than the 800?

So basically I bought joshvar's modi multibit after being forced to use the DAC in my onkyo cd player for a while after selling Gungnir Multibit. It's a good internal DAC, but it's little more than a placeholder.

While the 800 certainly scaled appropriately with the switch in DACs and I was impressed . The 650 on the other hand seemed to leapfrog into another dimension.

It's possible I am so used to the 800 and have owned it with so many different sources and amps that I'm not as impressed with it's rise. I am still getting to know the 650... Maybe the 800 has so much inherent resolution that it never truly goes away. The 650 seemed to gain a fuckton more resolution with the switch.

It's as if the 650 is a sleepy giant that needs super high quality nourishment (source/DAC) before it gets up and starts throwing it's weight around.

While I'm delighted, I'm nevertheless confused.

 

My long term reference had been the HE-560 - which at first when I had a weaker chain I thought was far above the 6 series. With what I'm using now the 6XX excels rather easily. It is far more enjoyable, detailed and while not being the best in the sub bass department it still doesn't leave me missing anything.

While different headphones I've had have their own flavor the 6 series has been that long term relationship that I've been gravitating back to every time. So yes, I can definitely understand your newfound enjoyment of the 650. Good news though, the enjoyment continues.. and disappoints other headphones costing much more.

I believe when you get a gungnir MB back in your inventory you'll be amazed even more. I'm the odd duck and prefer the DX7s over the Gungnir and Modi Multibit - though I'm sure this is down to presentation preference rather than technical ability. Regardless, the 6XX was pretty dang welcoming of chain upgrades.

 

Messing around a bit more tonight...

So far the only dissatisfaction has been the pad foam inserts . With them in, the sound is too mid bassy. Very thump thump. It kind of masks the entire frequency response and is annoying. I even added a bit more dynamat to try and tighten things up but then things started sounding over-damped so I removed it.

Next, did the coin mod (using a dime) to see if that would help and did not like the result. Strangely uneven to me. Weird upper mid/lower treble shoutiness.

Oddly removing the foam entirely sounds just right. Especially if I place my ears outside the pads rather than inside (backing the drivers off a bit). Slightly more neutral/bright, but still got the 650 organic warmth going on. And I can hear alot more micro detail. And that mid bass hump is gone, or at least drastically reduced to the point where everything sounds way more balanced now.

I think this could be the final form for me. Still curious about spider cage removal but I'm gonna wait until famish is back from Europe to try his version and see if I wanna take the same plunge.

 

So, you've removed the foam insert on the 650 entirely and kind of set the pads on your earlobes? oi - hows the comfort? My 6XX has a decent amount of clamp not sure I'd go stuffing ears in there. I've got some ears though...

Your tastes sound like you might like the HD600 a bit more than the 650? It's got a more present treble IMO, though not like the Beyer's you used to have and not as much bass thump as the 650.

 

I've owned the 600. Not really interested. I picked the 650 because it is further away from my 800 than the 600. I wanted a ying to my yang. I am fine with the 650 in it's current form so far.

 

(sorry for late reply...just seeing this). Several months ago I did a lot of listening to a stock HD650 vs one extensively modified by Jupiter Audio Research (JAR650). I tried both on 5 SS amps on hand, listed below. Both headphones sounded very good on all 5, though the modded pair was better overall. There were minor differences in line w/the known sonic profile of each amp, but no outright fails. For example, the V281 produced the most dynamic sound and the best bass (as it does with many headphones. In some ways the best, most pleasing sound came from my least powerful & expensive amp, the M Stage Matrix HPA-1 w/my favorite opamp (2 OPA827AID opamps on a browndog adapter).

The Woo WA3 OTL produced a fascinating sound with both stock & modded HD650s: very even, balanced, clear, euphonic. It's subtle, but the entire FC range sounds more level and calm. With SS amps I'm more aware of bass vs mids vs treble, but w/OTL, it all seems connected and very even. Imaging is the usual pinpoint/intimate for this design, but slightly more precise and slightly larger.

Net/net: The stock & modded HD650 never sounded less than wonderful on 6 different amps.

• Violectric V281
• Audio GD SA-31SE
• Lake People G109-A
• Cavalli Liquid Carbon v2
• M Stage Matrix HPA-1
• Woo WA3 OTL