Sennheiser Faithfuls

[kratu]

Another Sennheiser fan here. I've owned HD650 for nearly a decade now. It has been through this long even when I changed amplifiers and when other IEMs fell apart. (It tends to scale well with amps). I find it to be quite balanced and the soft roll off on the highs is non-fatiguing for longer listening sessions. With a R2R DAC the sound is organic, smooth yet detailed in its presentation.

Fortunate to have found something that works for me. Which makes me wonder if Sennheiser HD650 were a speaker what that would be? I'm on an exploration for that.

 

[MIOM]

I'm still running my pair of Sennheiser HD 700 cans I bought in 2016. For me it's the soundstage and bass response that's got me hooked. The bass is true and deep without any distortion or muddying. The open back produces a great soundstage that's clear, and clean. Simply love their sound.

I should add I'm running these through a Teac UD-503 DAC with built-in headphone amp....

 

[shibashis]

Fortunate to have found something that works for me. Which makes me wonder if Sennheiser HD650 were a speaker what that would be? I'm on an exploration for that.

Then keep exploring and expand your scope of exploration quite a bit. My Spendors sound very nice and perhaps come close to the 650s in terms of warmth and tonality but that is in ideal condition...and that is near impossible to achieve in a regular home environment where other requirements and constraints will come into play.
That is why you will have to add the amp, DAC/analogue source, cables, room, positioning, acoustic treatment to the equation....the headphone game is so much easier. I am at peace with my HD650/580/HIfiman Edition XS with the Chord Mojo 2 and Xduo XA10 on my work-desk.

 

[fLUX]

Hi Arjun,
I replaced my 6xx cables to a balanced one with 4.4 mm connector made by Niranjan from Ear Audio (no affiliation). I found that the clarity of hp did improve with the replacement cable. They don't cost big moolah as well.

+1
The cables made by Niranjan are really good. Had got one made for Hifiman Ananda, the OG cables are known to be quiet bad there and Niranjans cable brought a very good change. I think he now has a registered business front called as EarAudio , you can try reaching out to him. On the cost side I was given two options for a normal copper cable and better quality higher core count copper cable , so I believe he would do the same for other cables.

 

[Kannan]

@fLUX Can you share Niranjan's number. I wanted a couple custom cables that is not available out of the box.

i am not an headphone guy, but in that last few years have procured 4 different ones including a Sennheiser 598. Pretty easy load, but sounds livelier with my EarStudio amp. Very comfortable, open back, very good mids and highs, bass lacks a bit. Being open back the stage is also a bit wider. Imaging is excellent, but needs a quiet ambiance.
The other cans I have are the Philips SHP9500, ATH-M50X (with the FiiO BT dongle)-my walking companion and the Hifiman Deva Pro (with the Himalaya BT/USB R2R DAC dongle).
Since this is a Senn dedicated thread I leave out the qualities of the rest of the cans. All have their pros and cons.

 

[fLUX]

@fLUX Can you share Niranjan's number. I wanted a couple custom cables that is not available out of the box.

PM'ed you Kannan

 

[captainsubtext]

Sennheiser user here for many years.

Started out with the HD202 years ago.

Moved up to a HD 6xx in 2015 along with a schiit magni and Modi. And it’s been deep in the rabbit hole since.

Currently have the 650, 600 and the 800 (sdr mod). What I love about the 650/600 is their potential to really scale up. One can happily enjoy them with a budget amp set up and be totally blown away by a totl setup (me being one of the people whose end game setup maxes out the 650 with an apex Teton tube amp)

They’ve been my constant companions for many years now.

 

[manek]

I am at peace with my HD650/580/HIfiman Edition XS with the Chord Mojo 2 and Xduo XA10 on my work-desk.

Ditto !

 

[arj]

Hi Arjun,
I replaced my 6xx cables to a balanced one with 4.4 mm connector made by Niranjan from Ear Audio (no affiliation). I found that the clarity of hp did improve with the replacement cable. They don't cost big moolah as well.

+1
The cables made by Niranjan are really good. Had got one made for Hifiman Ananda, the OG cables are known to be quiet bad there and Niranjans cable brought a very good change. I think he now has a registered business front called as EarAudio , you can try reaching out to him. On the cost side I was given two options for a normal copper cable and better quality higher core count copper cable , so I believe he would do the same for other cables.

I got a cable and tried it as well with both 650 and a borrowed 660S the clarity and transparency increase was very apparent and not very subtle. its almost like an upgrade of a headphone to a higher model ! this is even better than the stock Balanced headphone cable by Senn

 

[fLUX]

I got a cable and tried it as well with both 650 and a borrowed 660S the clarity and transparency increase was very apparent and not very subtle. its almost like an upgrade of a headphone to a higher model ! this is even better than the stock Balanced headphone cable by Senn

Indeed, Sennheiser HD series and Hifiman any series definitely benefit immensely from a change in cable.

 

[kratu]

I got a cable and tried it as well with both 650 and a borrowed 660S the clarity and transparency increase was very apparent and not very subtle. its almost like an upgrade of a headphone to a higher model ! this is even better than the stock Balanced headphone cable by Senn

Could you point to the specific cable and information about this?

 

[arj]

same as above ie Niranjan from Ear Audio
i got in touch with him on FB..

 

[manek]

That makes so much sense. I use it to watch Movies

Any recommended cable ? have been wondering on changing it for the HD650....

Arj

No need to use the Beyers only for movies now.

I have eq’ed my dt770 pair and they are doing really well. After studying the freq response curve from various sources, I used a shelf to boost 3 db at around 3khz and cut 2db using another shelf filter at 100hz. This was done with the mojo2.

Bingo ! It worked like a charm. Cleaner more prominent midrange. Bass is controlled yet extended. Since my model comes in 3 impedance choices, the freq response charts used by me were for my 32 ohm version only. Since Beyers are built well and for studio a few tweaks did wonders. No upgrades needed for now.

I suggest you try this out with your specific version. You may end up pleasantly pleased with the original cables and pads.

Did you swap cables eventually ?

 

[arj]

Arj

No need to use the Beyers only for movies now.

I have eq’ed my dt770 pair and they are doing really well. After studying the freq response curve from various sources, I used a shelf to boost 3 db at around 3khz and cut 2db using another shelf filter at 100hz. This was done with the mojo2.

Bingo ! It worked like a charm. Cleaner more prominent midrange. Bass is controlled yet extended. Since my model comes in 3 impedance choices, the freq response charts used by me were for my 32 ohm version only. Since Beyers are built well and for studio a few tweaks did wonders. No upgrades needed for now.

I suggest you try this out with your specific version. You may end up pleasantly pleased with the original cables and pads.

Did you swap cables eventually ?

i gave it to my son who is in college hoping he develops an ear for music without the addiction
I use the Senn once in a while but on the road use an IEM by 1Custom either via cable or via the Shure Aionic Bluetooth .. else its all stereo

 

[manek]

That was a smooth move ! . Beyers will serve as an initiation to our common hobby/passion.

Unfortunately I cant use IEM’s or any of those bluetooth earbuds. My ear canal gets inflamed for some reason. In a way thats a good thing as it keeps me on course with over the ear headphones.

 

[Prateek-Epitome]

In my opinion, HD600 & HD800S are good headphones but they have been surpassed by quite a few. People think HD800S has high treble, its not just the amount of it, its also the quality & timbre of it. Something like a Focal Stellia or heaven forbid Susvara are leagues ahead.

As for amplifier, you need one with enough current. Even for dynamics because proper bass production requires that. Voltage gain is just how loud the treble will go but the lower frequencies require actual juice. A DAC usually only has a gain stage and no real current drive.