REVIEW SHOP SHARE LEARN
Sennheiser HD650
Sennheiser HD650
MSRP: $ 499.00

More Headphones from Sennheiser >>
Search AudioReview forums for the Sennheiser HD650 >>
   
Featured Merchants
Buy It Here
Brandnamez
Buy It Here
BrandToyz.com
Store Name Store Rating Price Notes Buy Now
$499.95Get free shipping on orders over $25!
$344.99New
$344.99Fantastic prices with ease & comfort of Amazon.com!
$499.99FREE Shipping when you spend $50 on selected items!
$499.99sennheiser audiophile hd 650 stereo headphone - cable connectivity - over-the-head - titanium silver
More Prices >>
Popular Headphones
more...
Top Ranked Products from Sennheiser.
PMX 40
Rated:
RS110
Rated:
MX 300 Earbud
Rated:
more...
 |  Sorted by Latest Review |  Sort by Best Rating >> |  Sort by Worst Rating >> |  View All >>
Rating
Reviewed by:

Audiophilesque

(AudioPhile)

Review Date
April 1, 2009

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
4.40 of 5, 10.00 votes

Rate this review?

Review 1 of 18

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
This site is quite funny. A lot of these "reviews" are just plain awful! (Mine could be too, depending on who you are...) The "reviews" on YouTube are even funnier, but entertaining.
I don't claim to be a recording engineer or other professional. I like music a lot and have owned a variety of different systems over the years.
The main reason I got into headphones: LOUSY LISTENING ROOM. I figure most people have one too and don't realize it. I have spent countless hours moving speakers around, trying different formulas and playing with a few acoustic treatments. No sonic bliss for me. A lousy room is a lousy room unless you want to spend muchos bucks and a lot of time. I'm getting too lazy. Enter headphones.
I just got the HD650's. I have put about 30 hrs. or so on them. I'm running them with the Benchmark DAC1 USB.
I also own the Beyerdynamic DT-880 (2003 Version)
The main reason I bought the HD650's : I have found the DT-880 too "bright" and lacking bass. They sound good with a lot of material but they can get on your nerves after a few hours. Add the fact that most cd's are "bright" and you have sonic irritation.
So, my simple observation after just 30 hrs. using varoius material is: The HD650's have more bass than the DT-880's. They also have a fuller midrange and are less fatiguing. These are exactly the sonic characters I was hoping for. I will have to do a follow - up later with more hours on the 'phones.
So that's it. I'm not going to say they are the best, or blow away this or that. Try them for yourself and YOU decide. Get to work!


Buy

Would you like to Comment?
Join audioReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.

Rating
Reviewed by:

tommybcao

(Casual Listener)

Review Date
January 29, 2009

Overall Rating
 1 of 5

Value Rating
 1 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
1.22 of 5, 58.00 votes

Rate this review?

Review 2 of 18

Price Paid:  $319.00 from J&R.com

Summary:
This head phone suck compare to my shure scl5($250.in ebay). It look like a cheap head phone. The scl5 is a lot better than hd650 in any frequence. The price is too high for such headphone like this. It should only cost $100.00 at the most. I use my zhaolu d2.5c dac with a upgrade headphone to test them both. The hd650's bass is suck. It sound like only have one kind of bass. The mid and the high is even worst than the bass. I returned it in 2days. I want to give it 0 star but the lease star I can give is 1 so I give it 1 star.

Strengths:
none

Weaknesses:
every thing.

Similar Products Used:
shure scl5


Buy

Would you like to Comment?
Join audioReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.

Rating
Reviewed by:

towert7

(AudioPhile)

Review Date
December 1, 2008

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 6.00 votes

Rate this review?

Review 3 of 18

Price Paid:  $325.00 from bhphoto.com

Summary:
The Sennheiser HD650 are a great headphones in their price range (300-700$us).
Whereas a Grado HF-1 or RS-1 will be of the same sonic quality, they have completely opposite sonic signatures.
The HD650 excel at presenting a very non fatiguing listening experience in which the high frequencies are nicely rolled off and never sibilant/bright. The bass is also nicely rolled off. The bass does not sound dry and has enough weight behind it to make instruments sound lifelike and not artificial (which I find is one of the hardest things for a headphone to accomplish). Extreme low frequency and high frequency detail is lost as a result of these being rolled off, but that is what gives it the easy to listen to quality.

Soundstage presentation on the HD650 is very impressive! It is able to present the subtle room acoustics with ease.

On top of this, I find the HD650 to be an extremely comfortable headphone. The grip never gives me pain, but is enough to keep these headphones securely in place. The Velour ear pads are very soft. Since this headphone is open, it remains relatively cool on the head. The cable is detachable which is a nice feature. Custom cables are plentiful for this headphone, so there is room to tweak the sound even further.

These have been my main headphones for over a year now, and I no longer have the urge to purchase others. I use the stock cable. These are sourced by a MHDT labs Havana NOS Tube DAC and amped by a HeadAmp GS-1 headphone amplifier.
This combination results in an extremely musical setup with not even a hint of listening fatigue.

If you are looking at headphones around this price range, you owe it to yourself to give the HD650 a try.

Strengths:
Very comfortable and remains cool
Non-Fatiguing sound
Lush Mids
Lifelike Bass
Great Price
Detachable Cable (easy to upgrade)

Weaknesses:
At this price these headphones have no major weaknesses.
In absolute terms though, these headphones are lacking the last bit of detail that your 1000$+ headphones can deliver

Similar Products Used:
Grado HF-1
Grado RS-1
Sennheiser HD580
Sennheiser HD25-1
Beyerdynamic DT770pro
AKG K701
AKG K340


Buy

Would you like to Comment?
Join audioReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.

Rating
Reviewed by:

Jorn S.

(AudioPhile)

Review Date
March 25, 2006

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
3.06 of 5, 35.00 votes

Rate this review?

Review 4 of 18

Price Paid:  $400.00 from ROIAUDIO Finland

Summary:
If you a) have read the other reviews on this site or b) have ears and have auditioned the 650s, you already know that these are probably the best headphones in the world.

So what do I have to add? How about an upgrade recommendation? Don't get me wrong: I used these headphones for a year without even thinking about upgrades. Didn't know there were any and didn't feel like I needed 'em either.

Then I read about the Cardass cable and since I am nowadays doing almost all my serious listening through my Musical Fidelity X-Can V3 and Sennheiser 650 combo (attached to a Densen 400 XS cd-player connected with a Goertz Triode silver cable), I thought, why not see where this goes.

Well, I wound up buying the Zu Cables Mobius. For 300 euros. If you have never heard of this company before (like I hadn't), here is their site: www.zucable.com. The effect is nothing short of spectacular! I got a 5m cable (long, I know...) and burned it in attaching it to my tuner and letting it play in the background for a couple of days. Then on to the listening!

As is so often the case with fine Hifi, the right cableing let's you know just how good a product actually is. Same thing with the Sennheisers. What I got was an actual soundstage - something I thought was impossible even in the finest headphones, since everything kinda happens "in your head". But here it is now. Clearly structured and amazingly wide, instruments mapped out on, well, a stage.

How is this possible in headphones? I think, the cable mainly increased detail and control. When you have that, the instruments behind the music become visible. Add the natural musicality of the 650s and you have a musical experience which is amazingly like listening to an excellent amp-speaker combo.

There are other upgrade cables around. I'm sure, many of them are good. The Cardass, though, is clearly at the lower end of things. So if you find yu have another 3-400 to spend and you listen seriously with your headphones, give the Zu a shot. It's bring out the best in your Senns!

Strengths:
Headpphones: Musicality!
Cable discussed: Detail and control.

Weaknesses:
Well, expensive for headphones and a cable - but hten, so much cheaper than and amp and speakers!

Similar Products Used:
Sennheiser 600, AKG 500 and 501. Cardass upgrade cable.


Buy

Would you like to Comment?
Join audioReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.

Rating
Reviewed by:

Fergymunster

(Audio Enthusiast)

Review Date
March 10, 2006

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
3.33 of 5, 12.00 votes

Rate this review?

Review 5 of 18

Price Paid:  $299.00 from J&R music

Summary:
Let me start by saying that these headphones are not something you plug into an ipod or any other jack that doesn't have some kind of amplfication.Once you purchuse these headphones your off into spending more money in order to make these headphones worthwhile.I've been waiting for the price of these headphones to come down because I know that there are other headphones waiting in the wing.Once I recieved them I pluged them into my mini system to burn them in.With that going on I now had to create a system which sent me on the hunt for a good CDP with a high quality DAC and of course a good headphone amplifier to go with it.Once that was accomplished I needed about 15' of cable so I got the Cardas cable to go with the headphones.Once everything was burned in I was now able to judge these headphones.What I found was that these headphones shine into what ever music I'm listening to at the time especially when playing accoustic music as it is truely an extraordinary experince.I can't find fault with anything these headphones have to offer.All in all this is a cheap short cut to get the very best in high quality music in this day and age.For about $1400 I have a system which in my opinion I can't put a price tag on.All there is to do now is decided what kind of CD I want to listen to and I'm off into another world.A great escape from the everyday insanity of the outside world.Don't believe me try searching for an upgraded power cord and you'll see what I mean.

Strengths:
Music reproduction

Weaknesses:
None

Similar Products Used:
CA azur 640c v1.Creek 21se headphyone amp.AQ king cobra RCA.AQ nrg-2 power cord.


Buy

Would you like to Comment?
Join audioReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.

Next 5 Reviews >>

Company Pages

Audio & Video company review pages. Browse product user reviews, compare prices, top ranked products, and compare specs by manufacturer.

Bowers Wilkins Reviews
Bowers & Wilkins
NAD Reviews
NAD
Marantz Reviews Marantz
Denon Reviews
Denon
Klipsch Reviews
Klipsch
Sony Reviews
Sony
Yamaha Reviews
Yamaha
Rotel Reviews
ROTEL
McIntosh Reviews
McIntosh
Bose Reviews
Bose
Polk Reviews
Polk Audio
Paradigm Reviews
Paradigm
Onkyo Reviews
Onkyo
JBL Reviews
JBL
KEF Reviews
KEF
Pioneer Lens Reviews
Pioneer
Harman Kardon Lens Reviews
Harman-Kardon
Panasonic Reviews
Panasonic
Press and News
Submit News & Press...
Audio and Video News & Press Releases.

Latest and Greatest

Best Floorstanding Speakers Under $1000

So many to choose from! Lets us boil it down. How to Choose a Floorstanding Speaker that fits you:

Marantz MA-9S2 Reference Series Power Amplifiers Review

Marantz MA-9S2 Power AmplifierThe list above has one tenet that I continue to hold true: high powered amplifiers are necessary to reproduce the full dynamic range of music with most speakers. This became apparent when I changed from the 100 Watt per channel Bella Extreme 100 to the 250 Watt.....

Lowther’s DX-65 driver in the Teresonic Magus XR Review

A new driver from Lowther is real news. A new five inch driver is even rarer news, so it was with great anticipation that I waited on this pair of speakers to arrive.

Aune Mini Headphone DAC User Review

The unit arrived from China well packed and everything seem to be in place. No external abuse by the carriers. The only problem was the power supply it came with. The box came with a cheap step-down converter.

Aural Symphonics Chrono b2 balanced interconnects Review

The Aural Symphonics Chrono b2 is more a study in contrasts than most cables. Chrono b2 refers to balanced version 2.

Three Koetsu cartridges

The Koetsu line consists of 18 different cartridges divided into four sub categories. The aluminum body Black Goldline at $1800, the Rosewood series starting at $2600 and up to $5900, the Urushi line starting at $4300 to $4900, the Stone Body Platinum series starting at $8000...

Cambridge Azur 840E and 840W Review

If this combo would surmount the challenges and rise to the same level of performance, Cambridge would have a trinity of tasty components worthy of consideration by anyone...

Audio Tekne TFM-9412 integrated 300B amplifier Review

A Dagogo featured article: In the negotiation of his wish to become the U.S. Importer of Audio Tekne, Yujean was given a set of “rules” by Mr. Kiyaoki Imai, owner of Audio Tekne.....

Reviews and Featured Articles
Expert hi-fi audio reviews, blogs, and audio articles.