Sennheiser HD650 Love (Appreciation Thread)

Is this copper loading with the HD600s? I am quite curious about this.

 

Yep! Like so https://customcans.co.uk/s/s/index.php/headphone-modding-service/hd600-mass-loading-mod.html

 

So I've spent a few hours trying to find out about the Golden Era HD650 and I thought I'd share I've found.



Based on the information found from http://www.erji.net/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=2208100 it appears that there are three different SS versions. The middle version is what I think would be considered the "Golden Era" based on what @Lasollor had mentioned on his post.

I've checked all the Japanese websites I could find that mentioned "golden era" or the DMaa mod but it didn't give much information about serial numbers. One thing is certain though is that all the "golden era" DMaa photos are HD650 with SS and not BS.

According to the chart, Final classic started with a S/N of ~20k and ends around ~150k. However, based on a local friend's HD650, they have a black silk baffle with the S/N of ~45k. @Azimuth has a Black silk with a SN of ~17k which makes sense. And lastly, I have a friend who has a Silver screen with a S/N of ~50k. I have a SS coming that includes a Gray box/gray cover with a S/N of ~100k. Based on those, I would think it is reasonable to conclude that Final classic starts at ~50k rather than 20k and the "Golden Era" is S/N ~50k to ~ 150k. Unfortunately not all samples still have the box so until proven otherwise, the Golden Era 650s should be in a Gray box/ Gray cover.

If the S/N is not available, one way to distinguish between the two would be how the mesh looks. To me, the "golden era" 650 has lines that look rounder that fan around the driver compared to the later models. The lines look a little sharper or leaf-like . The material also looks a little different but it might be difficult of see based on lighting. IMO the pattern will be the easiest way to know which version it is.

Another point of data would be that black boxes started showing up around 2014 with also a slight change in pads. I believe that would be considered the "current model" until 2019 when they started making the 6xx with the HD650's from Romania.

If anyone has additional data points to add, that would be great.

 

My 650's with 17k serial, did come with Grey box w/ Gray cover and serials do match. They are black slick screen and not the paper screen, so does that mean the change from paper so silk screen likely happened around 17k and not really 20k?

I also think that the BS is slightly more laid back than the sliver screen and that SS 650's do have a bit more clarity and likely why that site feels that the "Golden Era" is the non-Romanian SS 650. I actually like mine and on FR shows a bit more lower end extension than other 650 FR's I have seen. This is both on my EARS and a flat plane. It still slopes downward, it is just at a few db or shallower angle.

 

Since BS and BP are under 50k and the fact that your BS is ~17k, it'll be very difficult to know where exactly the BP/BS change happened since that would mean there's less than 17k to find. It's already very difficult to find BS and based on what I'm speculating, there's only ~30k of those. To the chart author's credit though, he just said it was around 20k so 17k is pretty reasonable.

 

It took me a long time but finally I reached the level of "love and appreciation" for HD650 but only because I found a very specific type of music for which IMHO HD650 are just perfect. Bach cantatas. HD650 brings this deeply spiritual music to the human level, takes the edge of the worst excesses of soprano, Difficult to explain but listening to Bach cantatas is either deeply engaging or just fatiguing and a waste of time. And HD650 does it to me. Have no idea why.

 

Is Tungsten tape easy to conform into a donut shape for the magnet, or would lead tape be better for that?

 

Dynamat (or similar) for the magnet rear. The tungsten tape is for mass loading the enclosure (empty areas under the pads on the front side)

 

Why can’t Tungsten tape be used on the magnet, If I may ask? Because it’s heavier than Dynamat, shouldn’t it have a better effect than Dynamat for mass loading the magnet? Or does the Dynamat have a benefit over Tungsten tape?

Trying to learn about the different effects of those 2 materials for the magnet.

 

The magnet doesn't need mass loading, the point of the dynamat is to reduce any extraneous vibrations or resonances caused by the shape of the magnet itself since it's a hard reflective surface that's not always held well in place once the spider is removed. Normally when the spider is removed it'll bloat the midbass - the dynamat will help mitigate that difference somewhat and reduce distortion as well. Of course you don't have to take my word for it - try both ways and see what you prefer!

 

Oh, I didn't know this was going on. I have an unhealthy amount of 6x0s passing through my hands, so should have many opportunities to contribute each SN I come across. I need to check the SNs on the black pair stockpiles I have...

I'll check the early direct-headband printing 580 pairs I have, that should be a tell..

I would say there are no paper pairs of 600 and 650, though. Has anyone seen them?
Because era-wise it doesn't make sense as well. The reason why early 580s have paper is because they came from the previous version, the Ovation. And then they went on to be silk.
580 Jubilee is paper, and 580J was released in 1995. 580 was released in 1993, so we should have paper at least from 1993-1995. 1997 the 600 comes out, so sometime inbetween 1995-1997 the change to silk happened. Unless I can see an one-owner 600 paper pair..

Can confirm. Just quickly in my room there's a 81k 650 silver and 30k 650 silk. Also a 110k silver. (also a 97k silk 600) 17k looks really low, I'll see if I have anything lower.
I also remember having a boxed silk 650 in storage elsewhere that had the SN and a sticker that says "60 years of Sennheiser", which puts that at 2005. Since the 650 was released at 2003, it means we have silk from at least 2003-2005.

And there's that news that the Ireland plant is making 600 and 650. But also 800S, so I guess the headbands will say "Made in Ireland" on the headband below the serial of the 800S?
Does it mean that we're gonna get Ireland pairs again for 6x0? I really hope so.

 

Thanks a lot. I’m actually trying this for another headphone I have laying around, where I want to increase the bass impact.

With the copper kit that I bought from customcans, my HD650 got more bass impact and the uppermids and highs smoothed out in texture vs stock - I loved it.

So I’m basically trying to have the same effect on this headphone, but since it has a 30mm driver, I can’t glue the copper kit on.

Instead of the copper kit, do you know which tape would be best suited for this purpose?

 

Appreciation post: thank you Sennheiser. My HD600s are now 22 years old, and still going strong. I can't imagine paying 5-10 times the price for a product that will be discontinued and without spare parts after two or three years. A big factor with the tidal wave of super expensive phones in the last decade.

Maybe I'll buy these newfangled HD650s some day.

 

Does anyone know where I can buy the original HD650/600 earpad foam, or equivalent of it with the same low density? The official HD650 foam piece replacement is denser than the ones who come with the original pads and headphone.

 

We had one pair at our office that was almost as old. These cans were built to withstand a lot indeed.

 

Anyone know what would be the first thing to check / fix if one side cuts out if the 2 pin mini connector into the headphone is bumped?

 

try with different cable or plug the cable from the side that does not cut off to the side that has a problem, of course turn the little connector around so the L or R letters are on the side of your head.

 

When I switch the cable it's still the right one that has the problem.

 

It still can be something with the cable or TRS socket. The only way would be to try different source and different cable.

 

Longtime lurker to this forum, so I decided to sign up specifically to make a contribution to this thread...and to become a bit more active on the forum of course! So, a 'hi' from me and hopefully a worthwhile introductory post...

Really wonderful to see so much enthusiasm for these Sennheiser models and my admiration for the HD650 in stock form is absolute. In my opinion it is and will always be an alltime classic, along with it's sibling the HD600 as well as the entire HD series going back to the 'Made in Ireland' period.

My journey began back around '95-'96 with the purchase of a lovely HD565 set. My first 'proper' headphones and those cans served me well until about 5 years later when I started to get intermittency in the left channel and the foams had also started to wither and die.
'What a shame' I thought as I consigned them to a drawer to be forgotten about until a few years later when I was having a clear-out as part of a house-move and decided if I could refurbish them.

To my surprise after contacting Sennheiser UK directly, I was informed that all the necessary parts were available to purchase as user-serviceable parts and it may even be advantageous to replace the driver capsules with ones for the HD600 or HD650! Wow. 'Ok, I'll take some 650 drivers, some earpads and a headband and a new cable please!
Parts received I set about refurbing them. On completion, I was immensely happy with the result and this started a 25 year and ongoing obsession with the Sennheiser HD*** series.

In the collection now are totally refurbished/functioning sets including the HD265, HD525, HD535, HD545, HD565 (x7!), HD600 and HD650.
I also have 2x HD565 chassis re-drivered with new HD600 and HD650 drivers respectively. 'The Frankenheisers!' as I refer to them

I recently purchased a Tascam MH-8 and built 8 identical SE cables in order to compare all the models side by side which was super interesting!
The plan is to compare my original (SS) HD600 and HD650's with the HD565-600 and HD565-650 Frankenheisers but after recently commercialising my hobby into a full-blown business 'Chris Cables' I'm currently short on time with a huge backlog of orders. So it will have to go on the backburner for now.
I can already attest to the fact that HD650 drivers in a HD565 chassis DO sound different and I assume this is due to the partially obscured outer baffle of the chassis driver nacelle. There are also a couple of voids in the nacelle for each driver which can be 'tuned' with different sizes and densities of foam, which also yields interesting results.

In any case, I intend to explore and experiment further using the HD565 chassis and different driver configurations in the future. Lots of fun!

I posted about my collection on head-fi in the HD565 appreciation thread but thought it may be appropriate or interesting for some to read about here.


The current line-up. Plus, there are another 4 pairs of HD565's not included in the photo!


The Tascam MH-8 has been a worthwhile investment in order to compare various models




Fun with the HD265. HD650 drivers in the closed-back environment of the HD265 nacelle is .....interesting.


The 'Frankenheisers' and the pukka versions.
From L-R:
HD565-650, HD565-600, HD650, HD600.