Guess I'll be stuck in "mid fi" for quite a while, thankfully!

Her main vocal sounds center to me, but the backing vocal are the side

Center stage to me🤔weird..

Noticeable after tube swapping, warmer smoother sound than if I were to connect the headphones to the DX1 alone, which is a really clean solid state dac amp. Stock MT602 sounds very much like a solid state though, so gotta tube roll if you want something more tubey.

Exactly that!

Too rich for my taste currently, but not impossible to see an 800s in my future

Serious? Last I checked when I was shopping they didn't, so guess that's nice

Definitely am Interested in a 660S! Pretty dang pricey where I'm at though

I'm currently living in Singapore, so no way to have Drop ship them here direct. And MSRP for HD650 here is insane, usually $500++ USD.

He must have them GOLDEN EARS /s Or you know, just a gatekeeping snob.

Sure, dude.

So? The difference between Tidal HiFi and Spotify Premium is so tiny that I am more than willing to sacrifice that "downgrade" in quality for a user interface that I much prefer. I'm not here to pick apart tiny nuances in music 24/7, I'm here to enjoy music.

Yup, but I wouldn't trade that mid range for anything, love it too much.

I started my "proper" headphone journey only end of last year with the Sennheiser HD 58x, where previously I only had Logitech G Pro X, Razer Krakens, I thought they were good, but when I first heard the HD 58x I actually teared up from how good it sounded, it was like listening to a whole new world of music.

I fell in love with the forward and intimate mid range, as I usually listen to Scandinavian female vocalists for the most part such as AURORA, Eivør, Susanne Sundfør, where they all have angelic, soothing vocals, and the HD 58x just brings them to the next level as compared to what I had in the past. After just a couple of weeks of listening however, I still loved it, but felt like it was a little muddy, I can't explain it, but I felt like it could be better.

When I first started checking out audiophile headphones, the HD 6x0 series instantly caught my eye, I LOVED how they look, with the exposed grilles and clean design, I just thought they were really handsome headphones.

Came one fine afternoon, I saw a good deal on a brand new HD 650 for less than $250, had to snatch it up, partly because I heard from reviews and such that they were basically a better version of the HD 58x. I got home and put them on and the feelings that made me enjoy the 58x washed over me at an even higher degree. I fell in love with the HD 650 then and there.

The HD650 seemed to have a higher degree of clarity that I felt that HD 58x was lacking, and although the general knowledge is that the HD58x had more bass, I didn't really notice much of a difference, nor did I miss that one bit. The song "Winter Bird" by AURORA showed me that it still got that bass, just within the first 20 seconds.

The mid range performance is gorgeous and paired with a tube rolled Xduoo MT602 hyrbid tube amp (stock tubes sounded too solid-statey), it is honey and soooooo easy to just put on these headphones and just enjoy music, to chill and relax. The treble is pretty tame and never gets piercing (unlike the Shuoer S12 IEMs...). Yes, I'm sure there are plenty of more "exciting" headphones out there, but for vocal-heavy pop and folk music and acoustic, I am more than satisfied with these.

I've had them for 2-3 months now, and if I had to have only one headphone for the rest of my life, I would be happy with the 650, they are damn near perfect for me and most of my music tastes.

Just a small example of music that I thoroughly enjoyed on the HD650 are:

Eivør - Falling Free (Live in Torshavn)

Susanne Sundfør - Undercover

Susanne Sundfør - When the Lord

AURORA - The Devil is Human

AURORA - Exhale Inhale

An honorable mention is Elton John's Can You Feel the Love Tonight, I almost shed a tear because his voice just sounds so beautiful there.

However of course, the HD 650 isn't without drawbacks. With orchestra music like Hans Zimmer stuff, it is almost underwhelming, and the intimate sound stage that usually I like just does not do well to give a sense of grandness to the music, everything feels cramped in and almost blended together, example is the Inception soundtrack by Hans Zimmer.

As such, although the HD 650, is near perfect to me personally, I am getting a Hifiman Sundara some time next week, for the more "exciting" music. I've had the pleasure to try one at a local store, just for a few short minutes, really liked it but did not feel like it was better than the HD 650, just different, more energetic and punchy with a wider soundstage, something to pair well with the 650 I hope!

This is my first ever audio stuff write up, I'm still a total noob in the topic but trying to learn as much as possible, hope it wasn't too boring!

Gorgeous piece

Get a cheap external amp like a Topping DX1, the HD600 may get enough volume from your ipad or PC but more than likely won't sound full/sound "dead" as compared when it's amped.

Chill bruh

My phone can power my HD 650 to volumes louder than I'd like, but even as an audio noob I can tell it sounds very off as if it's kinda "dead" or missing details. Add a simple amp and it shines at similar volumes.

Get an AMP, my HD 650 sounds off when connected to my phone without one, even when the volume is high

Ovals.

Loved it

Doesn't mean it's good enough/powerful enough to drive power hungry headphones such as some planars. Most budget external DAC amps nowadays are still better that those that are built into the laptop/phone/desktop.

Loved the DLC