The HD650s are pretty much what I was looking for. Basically a smoother, less-fatiguing version of the DT770-250. In fact, with these, I am thinking of selling my Beyers, as these take their spot quite nicely.
They aren’t perfect replacements; the Beyers have tighter and warmer low end which I will miss, but I guess I can go and check out other bass monster cans now like the Denon 2ks or Ultrasones (if I can find them). The HD650 fills the role of the DT770 for me.
Sound
What I really like about the HD650 is how smooth and creamy it is. I can”t help but compare it to eating some really fancy chocolate and slurping a nice, frothy, creamy milkshake or frappe. As I said in the review I submitted to Headphone Solutions:
“So when I came across the HD650, I felt that I had been moving from various cheap foil-wrapped chocolates to a really luscious chocolate fondue served for dessert at a classy restaurant. Compared to a lot of other garden-variety headphones I had been listening to, the HD650 was something special. Listening to it felt like swimming in a vast ocean of liquid dark chocolate. The HD650 at heart is a dark-sounding headphone, with a muted treble response and a very rich, oozing overflow of warm, enveloping bass.”
In many ways, I would compare the HD650 to the Senn IE8. These are the only two Sennheisers I have heard that I really enjoyed, by the way. Wasn’t a big fan of all the other models I tried and tested (and owned).
Impedance
The HD650 is 300ohm but I didn’t find it particularly hard to drive. It sounds *great* out of my PC”s Auzentech Prelude going to my HeadAmp 4. It drives really well with LD Mk II as well and sounds absolutely fantastic out of the Marantz 1090 (who said integrated stereo amps are no good as headphone amps!).
Perhaps surprising, it sounds surprisingly decent out of the iPod Nano -> LOD -> Petite combo. The resulting portable chain was rather unportable thanks to the HD650″s big fat cables and my needing to use a converter from 1/4 to 1/8 plug, but the resulting sound was very listenable and quite fun.
It actually seems I have been enjoying hard-to-drive phones portably out of not-so-ideal sources lately. I guess this is good for now when I get to hear what a really beefy desktop setup can do I will probably change my mind later.
But anyway I enjoyed taking these to the office (where some of my headphone friends also checked and loved them) and getting some weird looks at the huge “bug eyes” on my ears.
Our Verdict
Overall I am very happy with these HD650s. They sound really clear, which was the first thing I noticed. These have the most clarity out of the headphones I currently have; it”s on a whole different level. Tracks I have that usually sound muddy and dirty (Like Nino”s “Sunny Side Hill” from the Mujin Wakusei Survive anime — which has a dirty sounding bass and raunchy guitars) mysteriously gets cleaned up and pleasing to the ear with these headphones.
They are not revealing, I think that they fix up bad recordings somehow and make them nice to listen to. It”s very strange. They are also very relaxing and laid back. I get no fatigue *ever* listening to these. I could listen to them all day it seems. After adjusting the headband to my desired comfort level I can wear them all day as well.
