Sennheiser HD650 vs. HD600

On 2009-01-21 17:56, -aeon- wrote:
i have 650s... still breaking them in.

they are absolutely amazing. yes, you can 'feel' the bass... they have wonderfully responsive low-end. the bass is very dependent on your wearing position though - even a small change (moving them up or down by a few mm) does make a big difference to bass extension. the bass is perhaps slightly hyped but it's super clean... just do a freq sweep and listen to the response.

unless your room is treated and your speakers expensive, chances are the Senns will be much more accurate than your monitoring system. it's only natural... they're high-end headphones, whereas most of us use mid-range monitors (at best!)

if you're thinking about writing at 3am with your ladyfriend asleep in bed, forget it... even for open cans, they're very loud.

also, they are detailed. like, very detailed. like insanely fucking detailed, so much so that you will hate some recordings and love some others in ways you never knew possible. you may well realise that some of your favourite albums are put together horribly, and that some are absolutely mindblowing!

these headphones are entrancing, they really suck you in... but they are alsp totally unforgiving. nothing gets past them. it's about learning the difference between them and your monitoring system and being able to identify what will sound good... so (e.g.) i discovered that one of my favourite kick drums is actually quite distorted and crackly in the upper-mid frequencies - on my monitors, it just sounds 'good', the energy of the kick takes away focus. through the HD 650s, you can really hear how hard the kick is driven. is that a good thing? well yes, provided you don't get lost in detail and forget what a good mix sounds like i know people who master using these cans...

bear in mind a good headphone amp will probably be necessary to really make them sing. they're very comfortable, although they grip my head quite tightly - although this will fade with time i suspect.

a final word of warning. if, like most of us, you love music and you love the ganja, be warned - you'll find out just how deep the rabbit hole goes...

On 2009-01-21 17:56, -aeon- wrote:
i have 650s... still breaking them in.

they are absolutely amazing. yes, you can 'feel' the bass... they have wonderfully responsive low-end. the bass is very dependent on your wearing position though - even a small change (moving them up or down by a few mm) does make a big difference to bass extension. the bass is perhaps slightly hyped but it's super clean... just do a freq sweep and listen to the response.

unless your room is treated and your speakers expensive, chances are the Senns will be much more accurate than your monitoring system. it's only natural... they're high-end headphones, whereas most of us use mid-range monitors (at best!)

if you're thinking about writing at 3am with your ladyfriend asleep in bed, forget it... even for open cans, they're very loud.

also, they are detailed. like, very detailed. like insanely fucking detailed, so much so that you will hate some recordings and love some others in ways you never knew possible. you may well realise that some of your favourite albums are put together horribly, and that some are absolutely mindblowing!

these headphones are entrancing, they really suck you in... but they are alsp totally unforgiving. nothing gets past them. it's about learning the difference between them and your monitoring system and being able to identify what will sound good... so (e.g.) i discovered that one of my favourite kick drums is actually quite distorted and crackly in the upper-mid frequencies - on my monitors, it just sounds 'good', the energy of the kick takes away focus. through the HD 650s, you can really hear how hard the kick is driven. is that a good thing? well yes, provided you don't get lost in detail and forget what a good mix sounds like i know people who master using these cans...

bear in mind a good headphone amp will probably be necessary to really make them sing. they're very comfortable, although they grip my head quite tightly - although this will fade with time i suspect.

a final word of warning. if, like most of us, you love music and you love the ganja, be warned - you'll find out just how deep the rabbit hole goes...