Sennheiser HD 650 Over-Ear Wired Headphone Without Mic (Silver)

Inimaginável a qualidade sonora. Você ouve as músicas que ouviu durante a vida inteira e as redescobre através deste fone. 5 estrelas!

This is one of the best headphones, but don’t buy it if you don’t know what this is for.
1. This is an open-back headphone. Meaning that, this headphone doesn’t have Noise cancellation (active or passive). You can hear everything that’s happening around you (you can even hear the fan or AC sounds) and everyone can hear what song you are playing. You need a quite place to perfectly enjoy this headphone. But what you get is awesome soundstage, crystal clear vocals and exact reproduction of the studio recording.

2. You don’t get wireless/Bluetooth (because we know that wireless tech is not yet at par with the bitrate that a simple cable can transfer, in fact, Wireless is too far behind). And you get a very long, very wide and very heavy cable with this headphone. But don’t take this the wrong way, the cable is strong and quite sturdy.

3. You don’t get mic to use for calls. This headphone is not meant for that.

4. You can’t use this directly with your mobile/PC/laptop (3.5mm jack or even the usb-to-3.5mm adapter). You can surely attach it, but without a proper AMP/DAC, the sound volume will be so feeble, low and lifeless that you would regret buying this ‘expensive’ headphone. You need something like a iFi AMP/DAC stack, or a Schiit Magni/Modi stack or something similar (I am suggesting budget options, of course you can opt for more expensive setup). This headphone NEEDS an AMP, and believe me when I say this, you need some powerful AMP to drive this headphone (meaning, utilize to it’s full potential).

5. This headphone is not portable (of course you can take this anywhere, but that’s not what I mean). You need a setup (desktop/laptop with a AMP/DAC setup, good Hi-Resolution files or Hi-Res streaming service like Apple lossless or Tidal and a quite place to enjoy this). This is not a headphone you take on the bus/train/flight/playground/to sleep/class etc.

So, final words, if you don’t know what the words “Studio monitors/Reference Class” on this headphone mean then it’s not for you. Studio professionals/music producers/good youtubers will appreciate this headphone. And I am none, but I am enjoying this headphone so much that I wouldn’t want to go back to anything else.
I use this with an AudioQuest Dragonfly Red and the sound is simply out of this world.

La verdad es que se podría decir que apenas voy iniciando en este camino de la “audiofilia” por lo cual no he probado una gran variedad de audifonos, sin embargo puedo decir que estos son los mejores audifonos que he probado hasta ahora, se siente bastante natural y puro el sonido, la separación de instrumentos y el sound stage es buena pero no perfecta, sin embargo para alguien como yo que va iniciando o que no es muy exigente/detallista en eso van perfecto, los bajos es de lo mejor en estos audífonos se sienten bastante bien de verdad, lo que si es que sin duda por su alta impedancia requiere de un amplificador o cuando menos un dac/amp porque por si solos no logran brindar su máxima capacidad, yo los utilizo con un zen air dac y un zen air can, van super bien para mis necesidades y gustos, pienso quedarme con esta combinación por varios años (si tienes el presupuesto medio apretado y no sabes que dac o amp comprar yo diría que si te alcanza solo para alguno entre el air dac y air can te recomendaría el zen air dac porque es amplificador también y con el power match aunque no le puedas sacar a lo mejor el 100% a los audifonos la verdad es que hace un parote y se escucha de una manera mas que decente yo diría muy buena).

What can I say about these headphones? These are the best cans for their price and honestly well above it. When you first put them on you’re greeted by a heavy clamp. To fix this, I extended the metal piece to adjust the headband and bent them outwards. The metal is what can withstand this so don’t bend the plastic headband, it’ll snap! The thick velour still gives a bit on a grip as your ears will certainly be making contacting with it but because the cans are oval shaped it shouldn’t be too bad.

After you get over the clamp, you realize how smooth and forward the mids are. It was fun and great and all but it sounded so muffled. I was disappointed to begin with. From there, I ran some pink noise for only about 20 hours or so to burn them in. Did it change the sound significantly? No. But what it did help with is to bring out some detail and helped me get used to the sound faster. The biggest change you’ll have to get used to coming from bright headphones is the clarity is not forward and sharp, but rather it’s present but not the star of the show. You’ll hear pretty much all the detail you’d care for but it’s much quieter and subdued in the background. This leaves you with just the vocals, and boy do they sound silky smooth. You’ll be able to easily hear every word and jarring treble or poorly mastered tracks will be greeted with forgiveness on these. Basically, all your music will sound good.

Jazz sounds particularly good with these as do slow songs as they fit it’s personality great. Pair these with a good amplifier, I recommend the Valhalla 2 for an entry level or a Ragnarok if you can afford it for solid state. Honestly, these could be your end game if you prefer the sound signature.

For me, I still wasn’t convinced as I knew the comfort could be improved and I wanted more detail. I ruined a good thing by doing so. The rings that hold the pads onto these cans are glued so I took some scissors and ripped them off. I replaced these cans with the HD700 pads just to try. The comfort instantly increased but the bass quantity went way down (while the quality of the bass picked up, it was much more speedy and less bloomy than with the stock pads), the detail and treble went way back up and to my surprise the mids recessed a tiny bit but not by much. This could probably be fixed with tubes. Doing this pad swap though took away everything that made the 650s magical to begin with. They really do change the sound so I recommend sticking with the stock velours or equivalent if you like the bassy/warm mid forward sound signature of the stock 650s. I certainly do so I will be buying them again (they are overpriced though, they basically are velour stitched over memory foam that you could take off some old packaging, $50 is a bit too much for pads but I guess they had to add up the costs to equal the total sum they’re charging for this can).

So who is the 650 for? If you can’t afford $1,000 cans but want sweet vocals and impactful bass (not crazy deep but rich and heavy when necessary) then the 650s are definitely up your alley. It’s super forgiving so lossy files will not be a problem here nor will poorly recorded music (which is a good thing in my books as it gives you time to build up your higher quality collection). I would not recommend these headphones if you want airyness, lots of detail or clarity. Those are best reserved for the 600s, 700s or 800s.

Where’s the upgrade from here? Pre-fazor LCD2 or LCD2-C or the Atticus. You’ll need some beefy hybrid/SS amps for those but they are indeed a better upgrade as their soundstage, mids, and overall bass are better with a bit better clarity (not night and day).

To wrap things up, the warm sound is not for analyzing your music. It’s for relaxing as you go about your day, it’s for enjoying lyrics, it’s for sipping some coffee while writing up a paper. Details are fun but I finally have found my preferred sound signature. Bright sound signatures will fatigue your ears after a while with all the detail and glaring sharpness and as a result, I think a warm sound will fit most everyone’s preferences unless you’re in the camp that wants to hear every last detail in your music. I’m just glad I heard truly warm cans and not just cans outfitted with some warmth to truly get an idea of the experience you get and that is one of just fun, relaxing, shivers down your spine with well recorded music. These things will love tubes! Get some Mullards, Telefunken, Philips Milliwatts, or Gold Pin 6NPC’s for some additional warmth and less of a dry sound. Pour that syrup!

Great headset. Sounds just like my studio monitors (HS5). I can mix without bothering anyone in the house. They are so comfy, I can wear them for hours and not get tired ears as they are transparent at low volume.