I’ve just bought some Beyerdynamic DT770’s and think they’re great. They have a much more neutral tone tone than the AKG K550’s I accidentally destroyed changing the headband. They look and feel like they’re better built too.
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Suggest you look at AKG K701… available at around £130 and renown for neutrality and analytical performance for the price and comfortable.
In my experience many cheaper headphones can be overly warm or bright, and provide poor detail so relative neutrality and dynamic range become important attributes for cheaper headphones… if not to be disappointed. Regrettably my cheaper Sennheisers suffer from some of these aspects, though I do quite like my HD650s, but can’t really say they are that detailed or analytical.
…so many questions…
And I don’t understand why Sennheiser hd650 are popular at all. My take is that the hifiman Sundara are a good and relatively not-expensive pair of headphones that sounds way better than the 650. The Sennheiser sound like there is a blanket over the sound, not only in comparison to the Hifiman but overall. I must be missing something?!
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I’m not sure I’d go that far re. the HD650s; they’re a nice set of headphones but with their 300ohm impedance they do need to be properly matched with a suitable amp. For all that, I prefer the HD600s to the HD650s.
The Hifiman Sundaras are excellent headphones for the money and far more universal in what will drive them well. Also consider the HE400is (although beware as there are a few different versions that I’m told sound rather different) which are excellent for slightly less money and best I find if you reverse the angled pads.
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Ok, yeah I only tried them with 2 different amp/dacs. One was the Mojo and the other I really can’t remember. The name makes me think of something greek. It was fairly expensive and said to drive most headphones. With fairly expensive I mean somewhere in the realm of 1800£. Can you think of what that might have been? (a longshot I know).
There are a few particularly serendipitous matches; The HD600 and 650 work very well with the Bottlehead Crack and other similar valve HP amps. They’re also brilliant paired with the Ayre Codex and Ponoplayer - hardly surprising as the HD600s were used for development.
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There seem to be two versions , which did you get.
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As @Ardbeg10y said, Meze 99 should definitely be on your list with that budget. Either the Classics at the top of your budget, or the Neo near the bottom.
I’m pretty sure you can get them from Custom Cans over in Cheltenham. Lovely people to deal with and prices are very reasonable, too. They do some nice custom work on 600 and 650s…
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There are three versions actually.
32ohm for mobile devices, 80ohm for general use and 250ohm for studio use. I got the 80ohm.
If you’re US-based, check out Massdrop who do some nice gear at incredibly cheap prices. I bought a pair of their 6XXs, a slight re-design 650s, for $200 and they’ve got a range of closed back 'phones within your budget.
I saw something called the" Pro" version and one called “Edition” if I recall it. one was for home listening and and one for" studio".
Yes, think it had the Pro tag now you mention it. Just remember the differing resistance more than anything.
I prefer 650s to the 600s… there are some rather horrid or at least disappointing treble artefacts I seem to hear with the 600s. Yes the 650s can be slightly warm … but they are attractive with many voices including Bob Dylan… and they have a tendency because of their response curve to suppress sibilances, useful on cheaper wide band electronics like iphones and tablets.
My iPhone drives the 650s ok, but because of the higher 300 ohm impedance you simply need to turn the volume up a bit.
However the lack of analytical detail means things like sound staging (stereo imaging) is not great. The 600s are similar.
However if one’s electronics are overly warm the 650s will not be a good match.
Yes and I think the hifiman Sundara are a bit cold or hard sounding sometimes but still prefer them over 650. I seem to have very difficult enjoying listening when it seems like there is a veil over the sound and possibly prefer ”colder, harder” sound. I prefered the 82 over the 282 because I thought the 282 sounded less direct or with a bit of a veil. Maybe the 82 is colder sounding?
Superlux hd681 evo are a grat headphones for the money
I am a very big fan of the Sennheiser/Massdrop 58x’s. I have compared them to both the 600s and 650s and prefer them. Plus, they’re cheaper, and in my mind look better (just a nice clean black gloss).
I have a pair of these Drop HD58x lying around for use later.
HD600/650 was never my cup really, even good amplified I preferred my Beyer & AKG cans.
HD58x should be an easier driven headphone priced fair.