Sennheiser HD650

6owners with an opinion

80%of verdicts positive

2/0positive/negative since 2024

0happy after 3+ years

Praised for comfort and value; criticized for sound.

What people wrote

Likes it

I still find it hard to justify buying Chi-Fi. My HD650 still has no competitor in terms of style and cost efficiency, I wish I could afford HD800 but they sound very different. My IE80 from 2012 is very outdated, but IEMs are technologically inferior, and even the Chinese ones are not cheap. So I just put a USB-C cable on it and use it occasionally.

Likes it

1. My motorcycle (BMW R1250GS) - Hoping on and going in any random directions you want, far away or close, on whatever road you choose, paved or not, it's the ultimate sense of freedom. 2. My Camera(s) (Fuji XT2/X-E4) - With my favorite prime lenses. I usually always carry one with me wherever I go, capturing moments with them beats any phone camera, and not just in terms of quality, but in terms of intent, it feels that there's a stronger connection with the photo. 3. My keyboard (HHKB Professional Hybrid (type-s)) - It is just so nice to type on (I've tried and have a bunch of other mechanical keyboards but I've always came back to it, 10+ years now) 4. Neovim/vim (+ tmux)- So fast and smooth and customizable (Although I think I finally stopped changing my config), I've been using it for more than 15 years now, still cannot let it go. 5. Airpods Pro - It took me a long time to press the buy button, initially I felt that they looked stupid and it was just another overpriced Apple product, but I bit the bullet and I've _always_ had them in my pocket. Just being able to pop them in when doing random chores, on quick walks, it has become a must have. 6. Sennheiser HD650 - for when I am in front of my computer, had them for so many years I don't even remember what I used before.

Neutral

My comment stands for over-ear headphones as well - it's just not going to matter for 90% of users. An Apple dongle is usually more than enough. I have several different amps, a tube pre-amp, several DACs and a Qudelix 5k DAC. I regularly switch between an HD600, HD650, HD560s, HE4xx and Audeze Maxwells. I can maybe count on one hand when I thought one combination sounded "better" than another, although I'm sure I could bump up this number if I tried. The problem is 90% of the time it just doesn't matter. There's loads of resources on the net that talk about this, e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8zAko5G6eg Most of the time the differences are not that important, unless, as the adage goes, you're using the music to listen to your equipment rather than using the equipment to listen to your music. Which... 90% of users don't do.

Doesn’t like it

As an HD600 owner, I can confirm: This is the headphone to get. Comfortable, Neutral, Accurate and Durable. And I do not like the HD650 either; it's just a worse headphone to my ear. Clearly colored to sound a certain way.

Likes it

I never really liked wearing headphones as well. I've setup my room such that I can use the big stereo speakers plus a decent mic (Samson Go Mic) for voice chats. However, Sennheiser HD650 are a pleasure to wear. Even for longer periods of time. I use them with a bluetooth+USB DAC/amp (Fiio Q5; outdated) and a short cable; so I'm pretty flexible how I can use them.

Likes it

To be fair, the reason I got the NuForce Icon HDP is for my headphones (Sennheiser HD650); the DAC is great, but the preamp for headphones is downright spectacular. Anyway, it doubles as my DAC for my speakers.

Likes itDoesn’t say they own it

I just quickly scrolled through my collection and here are some random, but fantastic instrumental albums I've used while "in the zone": - Miles Davis: In a Silent Way - Brian Eno: Ambient 4: On Land - Godspeed You! Black Emperor: F♯ A♯ ∞ (one of my favourite albums. listen with your best headphones. HD650s are good) - Aphex Twin: Selected Ambient Works Volume II - Mozart: Requiem (my first proper introduction to classical. I was absolutely blown away) - Boards of Canada - Music Has the Right to Children - Sun O))): Black One (extremely experimental doom metal. the musicality of it is questionable at times but it's fantastic to study to) - Sleep: Jerusalem (occasional vocals but trust me they're not distracting) - Tim Hecker: Harmony in Ultraviolet - Bill Evans: Sunday at the Village Vanguard The worst part about these sorts of things is that 30 seconds after posting I'll remember all the awesome albums I forgot and kick myself for it.