Sennheiser HD 580, HD 600, and HD 650 Headphone Review

[antunkatona]

I miss Tyll, his clarity and integrity. Hope he is doing well.

[HeretixAevum]

I think I'm gonna go for the 650. The street price here in Australia is only $59AU ($43US) more than the 600, and I prefer it's looks, cable and headband padding over the 600's. I also think I find the idea of having a tad extra warmth/bass and slightly better resolving sound as more appealing, even if it's at the cost of a little bit of treble presence and possibly a slight bit of speed.

[jeofthevirtuoussand]

I have the hd 600 😇, I can die in peace

[bassiclogic]

I agree that the HD600 and HD650's are great headphones. I personally like the HD650's because of the slight bass difference, and trimmed high's. I use these for serious music listening through a Lehmann Black cube headphone preamp and they sound amazing. I also use them for mixing in my recording studio for pre mixes before the studio monitor mix. I know the HD600 are more flat/neutral but I tend to mix a little heavy on the bass EQ. That's why I like them. They keep me right where I should be on my mix. I did demo both before I bought them. I also upgraded the cables on these with the Charleston Cables that have the top of the line connectors and Starquad cable. I only paid $349.00 for them NIB.Great review!

[famosguider]

I’ve had my 600’s for a decade and can get an accurate mix without ear fatigue. I’ve never used the 650’s but from what I’ve read, they have a veil as explained in this video. Great review and descriptions

[kentxx]

Ty is so good when he says that HD600 came out in the :68-69 that is a very old earphones, but i know what he ment 98-99, but it is 97, to much numbers ;)

[loen]

No word about 580 and putting in the title, XD!

[TheJullim]

Quick comparison of 650 vs 600 for you's that are torn
HD600-More forward, quicker, edgier, leaner, coarser, more neutral, slightly harsher slightly better treble energy, slightly 2-D comparatively speaking, more grounded
HD650- Slightly more laid back, images better, better resolution, bass weight, more saturated, smoother, could be "veiled" for some and boring, natural, instrument separation, width and distance, more layered ( more of a 3-D experience)
better mid range presence, "floats" more

[DICARLOPRODUCTIONS]

I have a pair of HD 580´s, and love them!!! :)

[tvfreak]

I have the HD650 for over a half year now, and they are great!
I had a HD555 before. My first impression was that they are pretty bright and a bit bass shy headphones, compared to my old HD555, but after a short time my ears adjusted to it and they sound very neutral.

The sound is really realistic. You can very easy hear every instrument apart, something I never was able to hear on cheaper phones. Also bass isn't just bass, you can hear "layers" of bass and different tones in the bass, Voices are also so real. The HD650 is a very great all-round headphone, it sounds great with every gerne, due it's neutral sound.

Also checked the HD600, but the HD650 is more natural in my ears, more allround. HD600 is al little better for monitoring because it's a but more analytical sound.

[cswann]

just cringe when I hear about the "Sennheiser veil".  I know Tyll was not intentionally perpetuating that myth, but even repeating it does make it live on.  I think this probably started because compared to the competition of the time, nothing else sounded as smooth and natural.  If you're used to hearing glaring and etched treble, and this is your standard of comparison and what you have come to consider "good" sounding headphones,  then that may have caused some to think that the Sennnheiser's sounded "wrong".

[TheSandvichTrials]

I have the 600! I think it's absolutely awesome!

[bassiclogic]

I would like to see you review the Brainwavz HM5 or the NVX NVX Audio XPT100 headphones. They are a budget priced headphone with excellent sound for studio tracking or listening. Can be purchased for $99.00/$129.00. Both are basically the same made from the Fischer Audio FA-003 design that cost $200.00. They are said to sound better than the Sennheiser HD380's.

[InnerFidelity]

Not many, that's for sure. Maybe the new Philips X1...maybe, still listening.

[shaggyfeng]

still love the HD580j, hp1000 and akg k1000. They are the legends.

[theodoro]

Got mine HD600 3 weeks ago and i them. Time to buy an amp :D

[Oberkenobi]

Can you Pretty Please do a review of the 'current' 500 Series headphones from Sennheiser, e.g 518, 558, 598. please and thankyou.. If not thankyou either way lol

[UmmCharacters]

So the BEST deal here is buying a HD580 (gently used, they are discontinued), ordering the HD600 grills ($7/each from Sennheiser) and the HD650 cable ($12.xx from Sennheiser).

[TheTechAudiophile]

I can get the 600's for £219 or the 650's for £232, which should I choose??

[manictiger]

A lot of songs do. Some producers are ridiculously lazy. Like, "why are they getting paid at all" kind of lazy.
They just compress the crap with a garage band preset and call it "mastered".
Then I have to go and EQ, reverse compress (exaggerate dynamics), and post-EQ for it to be listenable.

Older songs have a different problem. Some of them are very poorly EQ'd, not normalized and/or under-polished (and sometimes they pan stereo so bad you wonder what they smoked when they did it).