KVR Audio

dalor · Post by **dalor** » Thu May 03, 2012 9:10 am

tony tony chopper wrote:
I have my HD650 for 15 Years and love em to death
they only exist since 2005 so you must be talking about something else

Indeed, the HD600

sorry

twisted-space · Post by **twisted-space** » Thu May 03, 2012 10:06 am

tony tony chopper wrote:
What are you driving them with? The HD650/600 (more so the 650) scale well with good amplification from what i've been reading.
my computer's soundcard.. & at max volume they would break my ears

Using an amp isn't about how loud you can get them to play, it's about how well the amp drives and controls the headphones and things like crosstalk and noise. If you're driving them directly from a soundcard, you're not hearing anywhere near what they are capable of delivering.

If it was me, I'd be looking at sending them back to Sennheiser for a service. It'd probably be cheaper than replacing them and you're going to struggle to find anything that's significantly better or that even comes close to what you already have without spending lots of money.

The HD650 are superb headphones (just not quite as good as the HD600).

tony tony chopper · Post by **tony tony chopper** » Thu May 03, 2012 10:24 am

you're not hearing anywhere near what they are capable of delivering.

If it's about noise, I can't imagine less noise than no audible noise..
& since I'm hearing exactly what I see, I don't want it different.
(I don't believe in preamps anyway)

Because the cable's problem was a flaw in the end that attaches to the headset, I cut the attach, and rolled the 2 cables around the 2 pins which I stuck back in the headset. No damn difference in the sound, while the cables are naked.

It'd probably be cheaper than replacing them and you're going to struggle to find anything that's significantly better or that even comes close to what you already have without spending lots of money.

It's a pity if there's nothing else to match its sound, because as I wrote, I'm not happy with anything else in it. Not the design (well they LOOK good but I don't care), not the comfort.
Sennheiser had it right with the cheap-looking plastic ones, then they went for this expensive-looking design (that the HD600 has too), not realizing that you don't care when you've got them on your head.

That's why I don't wanna buy new HD650's, their design is flawed, the cups can be extended (like with any headset) but it's useless since they're curved inside. When they're new, they crush your head like a vice, whatever the size you set them to. It's only after months when they get loose that they're confortable enough, except that they're still too heavy, because of the material used.

twisted-space · Post by **twisted-space** » Thu May 03, 2012 9:36 pm

tony tony chopper wrote:I don't believe in preamps anyway

What don't you believe, that they exist or that they work?

tony tony chopper · Post by **tony tony chopper** » Thu May 03, 2012 11:11 pm

that they're any useful

musikmachine · Post by **musikmachine** » Fri May 04, 2012 12:09 am

twisted-space wrote:
tony tony chopper wrote:
What are you driving them with? The HD650/600 (more so the 650) scale well with good amplification from what i've been reading.
my computer's soundcard.. & at max volume they would break my ears
Using an amp isn't about how loud you can get them to play, it's about how well the amp drives and controls the headphones and things like crosstalk and noise. If you're driving them directly from a soundcard, you're not hearing anywhere near what they are capable of delivering.

If it was me, I'd be looking at sending them back to Sennheiser for a service. It'd probably be cheaper than replacing them and you're going to struggle to find anything that's significantly better or that even comes close to what you already have without spending lots of money.

The HD650 are superb headphones (just not quite as good as the HD600).

I'd get them serviced and look at spending the money i would've spent on an amp but if you don't believe in them...

I think some soundcards though have enough impedance to drive less sensitive cans like the senns. But proper amping can have a transformative effect on the sound quality, if you buy more high impedance headphones without amping you may not gain much improvement.

Take my reply fwiw, i've not tried an amp before, just based on what i've been reading but most say midrange cans absolutely require an amp to reveal their full potential.

meldavid · Post by **meldavid** » Fri May 04, 2012 12:35 am

Cheapest I've found for earpads. Still quite expensive for bits of velour-covered foam.

http://www.juno.co.uk/products/sennheis ... 441583-01/

If you are crafty enough you can contruct your own earpads from foam and veolour/microfibre, and cardboard for the base.

tony tony chopper · Post by **tony tony chopper** » Fri May 04, 2012 12:45 am

Still quite expensive for bits of velour-covered foam.

very

musikmachine · Post by **musikmachine** » Fri May 04, 2012 12:49 am

Slightly cheaper http://www.thomann.de/gb/basket.html

lfm · Post by **lfm** » Fri May 04, 2012 3:48 am

musikmachine wrote:Slightly cheaper http://www.thomann.de/gb/basket.html

How are we to look in your basket at Thomann's?

I see my own basket of course, and no headphones.

musikmachine · Post by **musikmachine** » Fri May 04, 2012 4:32 am

lfm wrote:
musikmachine wrote:Slightly cheaper http://www.thomann.de/gb/basket.html
How are we to look in your basket at Thomann's?

I see my own basket of course, and no headphones.

Just take my word for it!

http://www.thomann.de/gb/sennheiser_hd_ ... olster.htm

meldavid · Post by **meldavid** » Fri May 04, 2012 6:00 am

It really depends on your shipping cost. If I order from Thomann the shipping charge is 50 Euro to Australia, so that's 88.66 Euros or $116.65 US or £72.07.

If I order from Juno it's £43.91 including shipping. Quite a big difference.

twisted-space · Post by **twisted-space** » Fri May 04, 2012 10:48 am

tony tony chopper wrote:that they're any useful

So you think the output from your soundcard will be the same as the output from something like an SPL Auditor, a Lehmann Black Cube Linear or a Graham Slee Solo Ultra-Linear?

Why did you bother buying HD650's in the first place?

musikmachine · Post by **musikmachine** » Fri May 04, 2012 1:18 pm

meldavid wrote:It really depends on your shipping cost. If I order from Thomann the shipping charge is 50 Euro to Australia, so that's 88.66 Euros or $116.65 US or £72.07.

If I order from Juno it's £43.91 including shipping. Quite a big difference.

Well i wasn't thinking of Australia a the time, i think TTC lives a bit closer!

Is there nowhere closer to Oz that sells them? I washed my pads a few days ago, much better than they were but quite spongy still (the pads were squashed flat when i got them). People are making their own or refilling the existing ones with foam so i'll probably do that when the time comes.

lfm · Post by **lfm** » Fri May 04, 2012 1:24 pm

twisted-space wrote: So you think the output from your soundcard will be the same as the output from something like an SPL Auditor, a Lehmann Black Cube Linear or a Graham Slee Solo Ultra-Linear?

As far as I could see they all take analog input - meaning the D/A in soundcard are used, or digital out and then a highend D/A-converter in between.

It all ads up to pretty expensive stuff:

a) highend D/A could be $500-$2000
b) one of these headphone amps around $1000
c) highend headphones $500-$1000

I still think you can appreciate HD650 without putting up this amount of cash.

I surely hope there is a difference if doing that though.

But I think my headphone output will need preamp for HD650. 60 ohm HD280 give reasonable level at 3, 250 ohm DT880 at about 8 and I guess 300 ohm HD650 might not make it at 10 or just about.

need tips for new headphones, comming from HD650's