sonic wise they are pretty flawless. people that like thundering bass or bright treble might be dissapointed at first. the balance of the 650's takes some getting used to as they just don't colour the sound at all, instead they deliver every tiny detail in glorious fashon. the build, despite what some people are saying is actually not bad at all. they are VERY nice cans to handle.

comfort is not as perfect as the sound (although still very good) may want to consider forking out more for a better cable.

I think the most important point for anyone who's thinking of buying these headphones is that they are incredibely transparent. they deserve an excellent source and a hi quality amp to drive them. anything less and they won't reveal their true potential. i've ended forking out some dosh to get my system tweaked and ready to deliver the best it can. the main expense being a decent headphone amp. still need to get my hands on a replacement cable. it's been worth every penny though. the result can only be a described as a lush balance of detail and warmth that really needs to be heard to be appreciated. i paid £180 for mine from ACwholsale (watford UK) - it was an offer on ebay. my headphone setup by the way:-) Rotel 965BX with tricord2 clock upgrade VanDenHul 'The Name' interconnects Sugden Headmaster Headphone amp Senheiseer HD650's

Excellent and balanced sound reproduction regardless of type of music.

None found so far at least not from a soundwise point of view. The cord conducts contact sounds.

These are the best dynamic headphones I have ever heard, and I have owned and tested quite a few I might ad. Being an electronics engineer I have designed and build my own headphone amp (with crossfeed) but the HD650 performs just as well on CD-players and MP3 players (above 192 kb/s) that I have connected it to. No need for expensive cables and headphone amps (there goes my credibility for a lot of audiophools). With every headphone I owned and audited I could always find something wrong with it. Even the venerable Sennheiser HD600 and Beyerdynamic DT880 are close but not perfect and I could always find, however small, things to complain about. For me this is interfering with the way I enjoy my music. I have owned this headphone for a year now and get this … I haven’t found ANYTHING wrong with it !! The perfect headphone. No need to look any further for more expensive and exotic headphones.... really this is IT. The greatest compliment a headphone manufacturer can get from me is this remark. I do not fancy electrostatic headphones (listened to those too) because they need to be driven by power-amps and aren’t very portable, not so for dynamic types. I can’t afford extremely expensive headphones so $ 500 is my max price. The lack of soundstage that reviewer Gabe is talking about is not a problem caused by a headphone but is simply explained. When you listen to loudspeakers you will always hear the sound from the left speaker (direct and reflected sound) with both ears and the sound from the right speaker with both ears. The phase / time differences between the signals that reach your ears are interpreted by your brain to create the soundstage. This phenomenon can never be achieved with ‘normal’ headphones, not even the best. If you want to approximate this effect you can use Crossfeed (X-feed). Look for this word on the web if you want to know more about this. For ‘sound’ advise on buying headphones visit www.headphone.com !

Similar Products Used:

Sennheiser: HD400 HD414 HD497 HD250-II HD580 HD600, Koss: KSC19 KSC35 KSC50 KTX-pro1, Beyerdynamic: HD330, HD770, HD880, HD990. Some Stax headphones and various other dynamic headphones tested.

Unbelievable sound quality--can hear almost every instrument. You are enveloped in a soundroom--using MP3 192kps.

None--sorry I didn't record at 224 or 320.

Started out with the HD580 and I thought I went to heaven. Then added on the Headroom Total BitHead amplifier and the world was perfect. Decided to try the HD650 and all my dreams faded away--I had reached the promised land. Now I'm upgrading once more by getting the $150 high-end cable--what's beyond the promised land? S Gibson

Similar Products Used:

Many, but never spent more than $100. No comparison, particularly the HD650 which is far superior to the HD580.

Very musical, lovely upper bass to upper midrange. Excellent reproduction of female voice and strings. Transparent sound. Very comfortable. Acceptable (not great) build quality.

A bit too laid-back for my taste. Attenuated high end. Transient response a bit sluggish.

These are my first headphones since I have been listening to music seriously. The first thing that I noticed is that there is no soundstage. People talk about soundstaging with phones, but there is absolutely none that I could hear. Probably because the sound is not reflected off of room surfaces. Everything seems to come from the left side, the right side, or the middle of my head. This is probably a symptom of all headphones. When I first began listening I was bothered by the laid-back character of the sound. I found the music to be non-engaging. In fact, I used to fall asleep listening to even exciting music. But as I listened more, I realized that everything was there. Female vocals sound wonderful. Reproduction of strings and piano notes reveal fine tibral accuracy. Although there is nothing bothersome about the high end, I feel that it is a little lacking in substance. These phones did not convey a sense of air or spaciousness. I am also a bit disappointed by the impulse response. The attacks on a snare drum are a bit slow to my taste. These phones extend nicely down into the upper bass region. In fact, reproduction of the upper bass is a real strength of these phones. I cannot tell if they extend much below the upper bass because I am used to feeling this part of the spectrum as much as hearing it. Forget about any kind of bass slam, its not there. Actually, the phones do reproduce lower bass attacks, but in a rather bothersome way. I actually feel the phones jumping a bit on my head to the sound of a kick drum. It takes some getting used to. For all these negatives, I have to say that I listen to and enjoy the HD-650's almost every night after the family has gone to sleep. The sound is accurate enough to where I can instantly distinguish a SACD from an ordinary CD recording of the same cut. The phones are actually very musical. But you have to take a few steps towards the music, it does not come to you. I would not hesitate to use the HD-650's to audition different source components. By the way, I am driving them with a Creek OBH-21SE headamp.

1) Neutral, well-balanced bass and midrange up to about 3Khz. 2) Good bass extension. 3) Nicely balanced top octave (plus). 4) These headphones are gorgeous and come in a nice storage box. 5) VERY comfortable to wear.

1) Maybe not the headphones for people who like some added punch and spice. 2) A bit of a boost or spike in the upper midrange/low treble region that doesn't seem to do much harm to the music. It's almost not worth mentioning.

It took ten years, but I finally found a set of headphones good enough to unseat my beloved Grado SR 325's from their perch in my music reproduction chain. How do I describe the sound that eminates from the Sennheisers? Well, in comparison to the Grado headphones the HD 650's sound much more neutral in the bass and treble. Where the Grados sound etched and a bit tizzy from 8K on up, the Sennheisers present a more uniform frequency balance. While they do have a bit of a boost in the upper mids/low treble region, this is offset by the narrowness of the frequency range affected, and the fact that the highest frequencies are nicely balanced with the rest of the sonic spectrum. Also, the vital midrange below about 3Khz isn't disturbed. As for the bass, the Grados have a bit of a hump in the lower middle of that region. This does give rock music a bit of an extrra jolt. On the other hand, the Sennheisers are flater and more extended. While there is a bit less punch than the Grado headphones, the Sennheiser's low end sounds more detailed and nimble. And again, the Sennheisers do reach a bit lower into the frequency depths. The midrange of the HD 650 headphones is, in a word, GLORIOUS. Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull sounds robust but not tubby. Female vocals lose none of their allure, and rock guitars lose none of their crunch. Once in a while, as a result of the upper midrange/low treble spike, I sense certain high harmonics of some instruments being pushed forward thus adding a slight bite to the presentation. But this is rare in occurence, very mild in effect, and dependant upon the recording being played.

Similar Products Used:

Grado SR 325

Smooth, natural sound. Audio nirvana to say the least.

The cable hangs from both earcups. Tradition?

Well, they are definitely the best dynamic headphones Sennheiser has come up with so far. The main improvement over the widely known HD600 is totally improved linearity - no midbass hump, no veil in the highs, and stunningly natural mids. With the harmonic distortion down to under 0,05% and such amazing frequency graphs (i.e. down to 16Hz +/-1dB) they are easily the most realistic dynamic headphones available, provided they are driven by a quality headphone amp. Many people mention that they put the character back into music. Couldn't agree more. I was absolutely certain that the feeling you get during a live performance can't be reproduced. I was wrong, these cans show everything - the emotion, the passion of the musicians along with every note they play.

Similar Products Used:

HD600, HD590, HD555, HD475, AKG K501, Sony CD3000, Beyerdynamic 880 and 990.

Emotional Strong superb sound.

All sennheiser's Build quality are next to poor. Needs to be a tiny but more punchy. If your looking for build quality buy Beyerdynamic, Sennheiser sound better thoug. Should be priced around $365 USD

The HD-650’s are certainly full flavoured. As they say on the sennheiser web site the headphones don’t simply give amazing detail and clarity, The put character back in music like the way valves do into amps. Now the only foreseeable problem with this is that not every one appreciates the same styles of music (i.e. warm, cold, smooth etc…). These head phones certainly are a step up in sound from the HD-600’s in the way the HD-600’s are from the HD-590’s. I find the base reproduction is improved allot and the peaks in music no longer have a disappointing fall. The sound does have emotion I’m not personally one for really warm mushy sound but I find these cans are half way. They are punchy could be a little more in my opinion. The base is just right not to strong no to weak. All the ranges are superb going from a very low to a medium to a high nice and separated but maintains a good transition, still smooth and some what warm. Now of course being sennheiser the build quality is to be expected (crap). The cable is reasonably tough nicely packed though. I’m not sure if they would survive the stress of being sat on. But these head phones look even more beautiful in real life :) My current setup is: Teac H500i amp Teac h500c CD player X-10 D with Mullard ECC88 Fully rekitted out X-CAN V2 fitted with Black Gate caps and some Panasonic FC’s, new transistors and nearly impossible to get hold of Mullard E88CC (gold pin) valves.

Similar Products Used:

Beyerdynamic DT 990 Beyerdynamic DT 770 Sennheiser HD-590 Sennheiser HD-600