HD 620S - Audiophile Closed-Back Wired Headphones - Premium Stereo Sound with Speaker-Like Spatial Imaging and Optimized Surround, Black

These are hands-down incredible headphones for non-bass heavy genres. They have a way of letting you hear things in music that you've just never heard before, and might just make you cry. It's truly an experience, and I adore them for it. They're comfortable (though a bit tight-fitting at first), well-made, the cord is good and long. They feel solid but they're not too heavy. The one downside is they do have a significant bass roll-off, meaning they don't perform as well for genres like rap. Everything sounds fine; they're just a bit too 'polite' for music that's meant to have a lot of punch or heavy bass, so if you're looking for that, look elsewhere. But for most other music; rock, pop, classical, some electronic, the experience is -phenomenal-. If you've never experienced a good pair of Senns, you're in for a treat. You will need a DAC/headphone amp to power them, as they are high-impedance headphones. I went with the Topping DX3 Pro+, which works just fine, though I had to use the high gain setting to get the full power out of these. Also, although they sound great out of the box, a little EQ will really let these shine - in Windows, Peace on top of EqualizerAPO will let you choose some great AutoEQ settings that you can then tune to your liking.

These are a part of “knights of the round table” headphones. Let me get something straight — there is no one perfect pair of headphones. It’s a curse to the wallet but yet it’s a blessing in the sense that headphones are a magical journey of taking two of your senses (hearing and touch) to whole new levels you may never experience by simply just by being in it. With so many headphones out there, there’s that many ways to explore audio and more! Exciting, right? I am an audiophile and have a room dedicated to my headphones as well as listening. Audio is an incredible passion of mine and I want to share my take on these 650s! 1: So, Sennheiser is among the crem-de-la-crem (pardon the spelling) of headphone producers. 2: Sennheiser is a great brand to get into headphones when you’re new to it. It’s also got great value for performance. You honestly can’t go wrong with them. 3: If you’re on a budget and can really only afford to just have that one or two pairs of headphones. The Sennheiser 650’s are a jack of all trades with its sound profile. They are a definite buy for sure! Paired with a Khadas Tone Board and JDS Labs Atom, you can have a pretty top tier, affordable setup. For real sides! 4: These work well with so many different types of DACS and amps. I personally pair them with THX789’s from Mass/Drop, Khadas Tone Board, or my Okto Research 8’s. The THX 788 made by Monoprice is a nice combo DAC/AMP. 5. In terms of the Sennheiser line, there’s the boss tier (not necessary at all to own) like 800 and 820s. There’s the studio recording line denoted by PRO. There’s the lower end with the 598 and below. The 600 range (where these headphones sit at) is the sweet spot of excellence. If you want a bass-y emphasized performance, go with the 58X from Drop.com. They’re the resurrected Jubilees which are an updated, updated version of the HD580s. These are super solid, great for listening for long periods. You can’t go wrong. You can plug these into a device without an amp and get great volume. If you want super duper separated sound with ridiculous detail with more revealing performance in the highs and mid/highs, the 600s are your go to headphones! They’re very objective (an audiophile term generally meaning “as-is” or “unemphasized” as possible). With the wrong setup, they can sometimes even be a little sibilant. The 650s are truly the Goldilocks of the HD600 line. These emphasize the mids much more than the others. It’s often considered a sin by some audiophiles to use EQ functionality to adjust the sound. I can say that the 650s are at that point where they can be lightly EQ-ed to offer more bass and treble response. Now, onto the last thing that I think is important to mention — these have been replaced and succeeded by the Sennheiser 660s. They’re a worthy successor to replace the 650s. They are pretty close in frequency response. However, the upgrade comes with the comfort (clamp force) and the consistency of the drivers to produce frequencies. What does that translate to? - The HD660s really do a good job of sounding good with vocals, slightly less warm, and sound good without a lot of readjustment on your ears. They’re on the brighter side than the HD650. The brightness is a personal preference kind of thing. For some, they might like this for classical music. For some, they may find themselves hitting user fatigue sooner than the 650. My opinion: The HD650 are still my go despite the update with the 660s. I think that the 660s is wonderful but I prefer to stick the HD650s because of their versatility. I can listen to them for hours! It’s a great starting spot for audiophile tier headphones that will always, always be my daily headphones for all kinds of music. They’re also a great starting spot as well as a great spot to end on. Additionally, I would check out the Sundara by Hifiman if you’re wanting to explore planars. They’re very much like the 650s of planar headphones. Enjoy and happy listening! :)

If you're willing to invest in a good DAC and AMP combo to pair with these headphones, then they are highly worth it. I have mine paired with a Schiit Audio Bifrost 2/64 (DAC) and a Schiit Audio Midgard (AMP) with Mogami Gold Balanced cables between the DAC and AMP. Sounds great with acoustic/folk/rock/classical/orchestral/vocal/country music also performs well with most pop music. I would not recommend these for RAP. The clarity is great, but you'll probably find them a bit lacking in bass for Rap music.

It's easy to forget that, next year, the HD 600 will turn 20 years old. Admittedly, audio transducers have a funny way of sticking around longer than just about any other piece of electronics equipment. A line of speakers will, usually, be in production for at least several years. Even when they've been replaced, they usually aren't even close to obsolete, because even mid-fi has gotten pretty far into diminishing returns. But, even in this alternate timeline of audiophile-dom (others might call it an alternate reality, an insane asylum...) the HD 600s are freakin ancient. I can only think of a few other cans with this kind of longevity: The Sony MDR-V6; so old that it still has "for DIGITAL" emblazoned on the side. A quick trip through audio theory will reveal that this is meaningless, but in 1985 it sounded really cool. The Beyerdynamic DT770/880/990; so old that they still have shag carpet earpads. Various Grados; so old that it's too late for anybody to admit they sound like trash. Instead, they just mumble something about "sparkle" and then go buy something else. And yet, 20 years later, the HD600 is still the headphone that, within headphone circles, everybody talks about and everybody has heard. There's a reason for that: it's not just really good. Purely on the strength of its sound, it stands out as excellent. When price is considered? It might just be the best headphone in the world. THE SOUND: Inevitably, whenever anyone tries to talk about the HD600 or the HD650, someone brings up the "Sennheiser Veil." This so-called veil was a kind of muffling of the sound, and the people who complain about it would have you believe that the HD6XX sounds like Apple Earpods. I cannot state emphatically enough how much the veil does not exist. It is either a product of the imagination of people who wish the AKG K701 was a bit brighter, or the result of people trying to plug the HD6XX straight into an inadequate source, i.e. most phones, MP3 players, iPods, laptops, etc. They need an amp. More on that later. At any rate, these headphones are as veiled as Eva Green in The Dreamers. You. Will. See. erm, Hear. Everything. That's both a blessing and a curse. Lesser headphones - even my Sony MDR-V6s, for instance - can mask the flaws in a bad recording. All of those 128kbps MP3s you've pirated because you're a bad person? They're gonna sound awful. If your father-in-law-to-be hands sends you some recordings of his garage band, grab however awful a set of backup cans you need for it to sound good. Because these will tell you the truth. Yet, to a good recording, they are shockingly flattering. If you put garbage in, you'll get garbage out. Give it something good, though, and you'll get magic. I've listened to just about my entire music library with these, and there are a few recordings in particular that really demonstrate how well these shine: -In the Air Tonight (Phil Collins, Face Value, 1981): On a decent-to-good set of headphones, this song sounds ominous; it sounds cool. Whatever. On the HD600s, it's a religious experience. Sounds swirl around your head. The crescendos and diminuendos blow you away. The vocals sound perfect. Incredible. -In Your Eyes (Peter Gabriel, So, 1986): The entire album is fabulous. Listen to it over and over again. But there's a reason this song is singled out. It's a sibilance nightmare. On my MDR-V6s, it's unlistenable above a moderate volume. Enter the HD600s: there's no hiding how much sibilance there is, but they handle it as gracefully as possible. Enough ink has been spilled over how these handle classical and jazz (spoiler: fabulously), and their vocal presentation in particular is spot-on. THE STUFF YOU'LL NEED: To get all of this brilliant sound, you're going to need a few things. First and foremost is an amp. This can get crazy pretty quick, so first let's draw a distinction: solid state vs tubes. The HD600 has a high enough impedance to really get along with OTL amps (ie, most headphone tube amps). This will color the sound somewhat, get hot, be unreliable, need to warm up, etc. If you want to go down this road, you can. There's also a lot of really expensive solid state amps. Or, you could just get a Schiit Magni or a JDS Objective2, both of which sound... well... about perfect. Next, you'll need to think about a DAC. Now, a lot of people just assume they'll need one. That may not be the case. If you have a Retina Macbook Pro, for instance, skip it. You'll never hear the difference between it and whatever you get for 150 bucks. Same deal if you're plugging a (good) CD player or receiver or whatever straight into the amp. If your source is something else, like a midrange PC, you'll need to evaluate this yourself. Unfortunately, I can't help you with that. If you decide you need a DAC, there are a lot of expensive options out there. Or, you could just get a Schiit Modi or a JDS ODAC, both of which sound... well... about perfect. (Side lesson: The internet audiophile community fights back and forth all the time about whether the O2/ODAC or the Magni/Modi is the better setup. Realistically, their performance is nearly identical. Buy whichever you think looks better.) (Another side lesson: You seriously probably don't need to spend a ton of money on DACs and amps. The O2/ODAC was designed by some wacky internet crusader who wanted to prove that the performance of the Benchmark DAC2 and HPA2 could be achieved without spending thousands of dollars. From an engineering perspective, this is obviously possible. If you look into this further, you will still find people who insist that the O2/ODAC doesn't sound as good as significantly more expensive gear. Just remember that these are audiophile crazies, who think they need 192kHz recordings because Nyquist-Shannon doesn't apply to special snowflakes. The two most important things in any digital-to-analog system are the input file and the transducer.) Finally, you're going to need good recordings. iTunes is sufficient. Vinyl is pretty good (repeat after me: vinyl does not sound better than CD, it is objectively worse, a record will only sound great 25 times, and will be the equal of the CD never). CD is your best bet, particularly those mastered before the "loudness wars" started up in the late 1990s. However, the world isn't perfect; fear not, the Senns still sound good with stuff that has a compressed dynamic range (within reason). Anything beyond the Redbook CD standard is simply a ploy to get you to spend more money for things you can't hear, and that your dog can't either. SOME REALITIES: The way that the Senns achieve all this great sound is by being "open-back" headphones. This means that, on the side of the driver opposite your ear, there's just some mesh to protect it from damage. This means that you can't really use these outside a quiet environment, because you'll hear everything around you. It also means that you probably won't want to listen to them in public, because it's really difficult to look cool when everybody knows you're blasting the Bangles. Also, they're ugly as sin. But they aren't leaving your house, so who cares? A WORD ABOUT THE HD650: Released several years after the HD600, the HD650 at first glance looks like an upgrade. That... depends. The HD650 is darker and smoother at the expense of detail. That's all. I prefer its sound signature. But, it usually costs between 75 and 150 dollars more than the HD600, and so it wasn't worth it for me. It probably isn't worth it for you, either. So, yeah. These headphones sound just about dead neutral, wonderfully crisp, and yet smooth enough that you can listen at high volumes without fatigue. They can usually be had for less than 300 dollars. And for the price, they have no equal. Now we just have to hope that someday the HD800S can be such an easy decision to make.

Pros- Stellar sound quality with EQ, Perceived soundstage is vast, Super Comfortable while also being lightweight and very isolating for a non noise canceling headphone, solid build quality, replaceable pads and cable, ability to add a mic not included, quarter inch adapter included and decently priced at $299 sale price. Cons- stock sound quality is wonky but easily corrected with eq. Look up reviewer based Resolves eq adjustments and use an auto eq app to apply them. Regular price is too high I feel. The top headband should be user replaceable but it looks like it’s just glued on. Final Thoughts- While this isn’t a perfect headphone. The isolation and almost great sound quality out of the box except for certain songs is great. But my experience with this headphone with eq makes the wonkyness of the sound for certain songs disappear and just sound fantastic for the price. The isolation for this headphone if you can get a good seal is seriously impressive, I used this headphone at an event to monitor the audio and I could make out the audio coming from the headphones perfectly with the PA system at volume levels that were uncomfortable for me. If you know this is compromised headphone and can either deal with the experience or modify it so it’s perfect for your taste I see this as a good value product if you get it at the right price.

I’ve been using Audio Technica AT50’s since 2004 and MSR7’s for about 3 years. The 50’s are great for bass heavy music and the MSR7’s are (I thought) great for detailed acoustic, vocal, percussion and other 1khz and higher audio. I don’t know what my expectations were with the Sennheiser HD650’s. All I knew for sure is that I have read countless reviews and articles where they are used as reference headphones. Whether as the focus of the written material, or in passing as the gear reviewers use when auditing or reviewing other equipment and music/media. The HD650’s are universally accepted as a reference headphone. So over the last several years they have sparked my curiosity. I ordered them and received them within 2 days. I am a classic rock aficionado, and have my own set of reference tracks that I use when trying out new equipment in my home studio. I’ve played guitar and drums for 35 years (not expertly, but passable?). I have a nice Roland Kit, a couple of nice Fender and Mesa Boogie Tube Amps, Fractal Axe FX III guitar processor and run it all through various digital I/O and microphones into an RME UFX+ Audio Interface. The RME interface has an excellent ADC/DAC configuration, with a very clean sound at the headphone jack that matches the outputs on the other analog outputs on the interface, but is also amplified. They didn’t cut corners. All of this is to say that I have great reference hardware, knowledge of good source media, and the headphone amplifier and DAC section from my audio interface surpasses most high end audio AVR’s. Now generally, like most folks these days, I listen to rather low end compressed MP3 audio. It’s readily available and doesn’t take up storage space. As storage space has become less expensive, I’ve started to record and save my audio in the highest quality format my interface will allow. Generally that is a minimum of 16bit 320kbps compressed, or as high as 24bit 96khz, with maximum playback capability of 24 bit/192kHz. All the detail. The things that you didn't even know were buried in the mix. The 3 second harmonies, the double tracks that are barely distinguishable, the finite exquisite breath of the vocalist as they prepare for the next line of the verse. All laid out in stunning depth and form. Strange things that you didn’t even know were in the mix, that add depth and character to the music, that are underneath the main harmony and melody of the music. Things that only an explorative and creative genius of a producer would include in the mix and final mastering. Dark Side of the Moon takes on a new landscape. Steely Dan Aja highlights perfection of studio recording at it's finest. You can get lost for hours in old recordings and hear the things that you didn't even know made the music that you enjoy so enjoyable. Edit: As an aside, I need to include something extra ordinary. Something that I would presume that maybe 1/10th of 1% of folks who actually purchased these headphones would pursue. An opportunity to audit the HD650’s via an RME ADI-2 PRO FS BE AD/DA. The RME unit is in the Top 3, or arguably is the best, mastering quality DAC and by far the best headphone amp that money can buy. Period. No exceptions. Numbers don’t lie and RME’s audio engineering team is among the finest on the planet and can back them up. The UFX+, as I mentioned, is no slouch at all. They perform tremendously in the studio, and the quality of the gear DOES shine through during headphone testing. Blissful. But…. When you listen to anything through the ADI-2, it’s clichéd to say, but it really is not just “next level”. It’s the very “top level”. That said. You have now reached a level of clarity that some people might actually find slightly uncomfortable believe it or not. The lack of distortion is unfamiliar and with poorly recorded or or media compressed with a bad encoder, the flaws shine. Too much so occasionally. On the other hand. With good to exceptional media, and phones like the HD650 that can convey expertly produced media, you will be sitting at the control desk, where the mastering engineer was sitting. Hearing everything (and maybe more) than they were hearing as they put the final touches on the song or album. I have yet to audition what are considered to be be “better” headphones. Maybe someday I’ll get a chance to A/B the HD650’s against another premium set. Until then I remain blown away by the Sennheisers. If you’re here trying to decide if you should pull the trigger on these. It is simply a resounding YES! Keep in mind that these are 300 Ohm headphones. They will require more power than your iPhone, or Android phone to fully appreciate their capabilities. You do not need a $1000 headphone amp to enjoy them. Their are several headphone amps/Pro level DAC’s from $200 to several thousand dollars that will all do the job. I highly recommend that you are able to drive them with an output of greater than 100mW minimum. Just my opinion. Do what you will. But you will not be able drive any kind of realistic bass below that threshold. Yes, people around you will hear them. But you are buying open back headphones for a reason. Your listening enjoyment. Find a place to disappear and enjoy them and turn it up. I highly recommend these headphones. They are simply incredible.

I recently purchased a new pair of Sennheiser headphones to replace my old ones, which I had been using for several years and was always very happy with. I’m pleased to see that, unlike many other brands, Sennheiser has managed to maintain the same high level of quality despite all the changes in the market. The first thing I noticed was the signature Sennheiser sound: detailed and clear highs, balanced mids, and a tight, controlled bass. The audio quality is still impressive listening to music or working with these headphones is truly a pleasure! The build quality is also top-notch: everything feels solid, with no cheap plastic or loose parts. I really hope Sennheiser will continue to maintain these high standards and not go down the same path as other brands whose quality dropped significantly after changes in ownership. For now, I can only recommend these headphones they remain a benchmark in the headphone world!

What can I say about these headphones? These are the best cans for their price and honestly well above it. When you first put them on you're greeted by a heavy clamp. To fix this, I extended the metal piece to adjust the headband and bent them outwards. The metal is what can withstand this so don't bend the plastic headband, it'll snap! The thick velour still gives a bit on a grip as your ears will certainly be making contacting with it but because the cans are oval shaped it shouldn't be too bad. After you get over the clamp, you realize how smooth and forward the mids are. It was fun and great and all but it sounded so muffled. I was disappointed to begin with. From there, I ran some pink noise for only about 20 hours or so to burn them in. Did it change the sound significantly? No. But what it did help with is to bring out some detail and helped me get used to the sound faster. The biggest change you'll have to get used to coming from bright headphones is the clarity is not forward and sharp, but rather it's present but not the star of the show. You'll hear pretty much all the detail you'd care for but it's much quieter and subdued in the background. This leaves you with just the vocals, and boy do they sound silky smooth. You'll be able to easily hear every word and jarring treble or poorly mastered tracks will be greeted with forgiveness on these. Basically, all your music will sound good. Jazz sounds particularly good with these as do slow songs as they fit it's personality great. Pair these with a good amplifier, I recommend the Valhalla 2 for an entry level or a Ragnarok if you can afford it for solid state. Honestly, these could be your end game if you prefer the sound signature. For me, I still wasn't convinced as I knew the comfort could be improved and I wanted more detail. I ruined a good thing by doing so. The rings that hold the pads onto these cans are glued so I took some scissors and ripped them off. I replaced these cans with the HD700 pads just to try. The comfort instantly increased but the bass quantity went way down (while the quality of the bass picked up, it was much more speedy and less bloomy than with the stock pads), the detail and treble went way back up and to my surprise the mids recessed a tiny bit but not by much. This could probably be fixed with tubes. Doing this pad swap though took away everything that made the 650s magical to begin with. They really do change the sound so I recommend sticking with the stock velours or equivalent if you like the bassy/warm mid forward sound signature of the stock 650s. I certainly do so I will be buying them again (they are overpriced though, they basically are velour stitched over memory foam that you could take off some old packaging, $50 is a bit too much for pads but I guess they had to add up the costs to equal the total sum they're charging for this can). So who is the 650 for? If you can't afford $1,000 cans but want sweet vocals and impactful bass (not crazy deep but rich and heavy when necessary) then the 650s are definitely up your alley. It's super forgiving so lossy files will not be a problem here nor will poorly recorded music (which is a good thing in my books as it gives you time to build up your higher quality collection). I would not recommend these headphones if you want airyness, lots of detail or clarity. Those are best reserved for the 600s, 700s or 800s. Where's the upgrade from here? Pre-fazor LCD2 or LCD2-C or the Atticus. You'll need some beefy hybrid/SS amps for those but they are indeed a better upgrade as their soundstage, mids, and overall bass are better with a bit better clarity (not night and day). To wrap things up, the warm sound is not for analyzing your music. It's for relaxing as you go about your day, it's for enjoying lyrics, it's for sipping some coffee while writing up a paper. Details are fun but I finally have found my preferred sound signature. Bright sound signatures will fatigue your ears after a while with all the detail and glaring sharpness and as a result, I think a warm sound will fit most everyone's preferences unless you're in the camp that wants to hear every last detail in your music. I'm just glad I heard truly warm cans and not just cans outfitted with some warmth to truly get an idea of the experience you get and that is one of just fun, relaxing, shivers down your spine with well recorded music. These things will love tubes! Get some Mullards, Telefunken, Philips Milliwatts, or Gold Pin 6NPC's for some additional warmth and less of a dry sound. Pour that syrup!