Sennheiser HD 650 - Too much impedance?

Valgua

Valgua

Inspired
Hi!

I've read many posts about the Senneiser HD 650 headphones and I am inclined to upgrade from my AKG K240. However, I've read about several people (but not everybody!) for whom the Senneiser, with their 300 ohm impedance, were hard to drive on the FM3, resulting in low volume. Have someone been able to solve the problem or at least understand why some FM3 owners' experience differed from that of others?
 
Valgua said:
Hi!

I've read many posts about the Senneiser HD 650 headphones and I am inclined to upgrade from my AKG K240. However, I've read about several people (but not everybody!) for whom the Senneiser, with their 300 ohm impedance, were hard to drive on the FM3, resulting in low volume. Have someone been able to solve the problem or at least understand why some FM3 owners' experience differed from that of others?
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I have the Sennheiser HD6XX (supposedly the same as the 650?) and I have no issues whatsoever with low volume.
 
The HD650's are fantastic headphones. I run mine through a headphone amp I have hooked up to my audio interface running my FM3 through SPDIF.
 
Hi there i am using dt770 with 250 Ohm Impedance works with enough volume upside possible.
so 50 Ohm more should work also fine.
 
Valgua said:
Hi!

I've read many posts about the Senneiser HD 650 headphones and I am inclined to upgrade from my AKG K240. However, I've read about several people (but not everybody!) for whom the Senneiser, with their 300 ohm impedance, were hard to drive on the FM3, resulting in low volume. Have someone been able to solve the problem or at least understand why some FM3 owners' experience differed from that of others?
Click to expand...
I have the 650’s and the volume on the FM3 and FX3 can get loud enough to be uncomfortable, so low volume isn’t a problem to be fixed.

Perhaps others don’t level their presets to 0db, or they are using cheap extension cables to stand a long way from the unit, or they have earwax issues? Without knowing their configuration or settings it’s a guess, but the headphone out in the current series is plenty capable.
 
The FM3 headphone amp has absolutely zero issues driving the Sennheiser HD6XX I have. It would be able to go to volumes that would be painful. I don't do anything special on my presets.
 
I have owned a pair of HD600's for over 20 years. They do take a bit of power to drive as do my BD 990 Pro which are 250 ohms. The Focusrite Scarlett has a hard time driving both pair of headphones, but not the FM3. The FM3 has a very well powered headphone amp built in.
 
Thanks for all the replies! I feel much more confident. While, I’m at it: has any if you compared the AKG K240 with the Sennheiser HD 600 or HD 650? Is there a significant boost in audio quality?
 
The AKG's are pretty cheap in comparison to the Sen's I find that the 600's are lacking in the bass department, but they are so clean and transparent. I have balanced cables on mine that I use with my Hiby R6 2020 Hi-Res player. They sound amazing. You will need a beefy Headphone amp to drive them. Again The FM3 has no trouble driving either pair.

If you don't want to spend that much, check out the Beyerdynamic 990 Pro 250's. I use them for recording and a bit of mixing. They sound really nice and they have a bit better bass response. Please let us know what you decide to do.

By the way there is a great program that flattens frequency response of headphones and measuring your room with an omni directional microphone called sonarworks if you want to check that out as well.
 
I've had multiple 250-300 ohm headphones and they all have plenty of volume with the FM3.

Right now I'm using the Beyer DT 770 Pro in 80 ohm as they have plenty of volume for all devices and are very flat outside a boost in the high treble. The Sennheiser HD 280 Pro are a good closed back for the money too.

From AKG I would look at the K371 or K553 over the K240. Better quality.

If you're specifically looking for the DT 990 Pro shoot me a PM...I have a set of 250 ohm in mint condition I'm being lazy about posting on Reverb.
 
I can't recommend the Beyerdynamic DT series for guitar. They have such a huge high end boost and a dip in the mids that they need a lot of correction to sound right. You can use the FM3 graphic or parametric EQ for that but the Sennheiser HD6XX are much closer to flat out of the box (even though they are not flat either) so I feel they sound good without corrections as well.
 
I've personally stopped using open back headphones for guitar because the attack of the strings bleeds into the headphones and you have to crank them up louder. It seems to mess with the sound making you think it's brighter than it actually is. So as much as I really like my HD6xx headphones, I don't use them for guitar anymore.

I think with the Beyer headphones, you can use the treble boost to your advantage. If you play out live, you'll likely want presets that are a little darker/warmer with more midrange, because if you crank up the volume, the high end will sound louder. So if you dial in something decent with the Beyer it could stand a good chance to translate.

But for more of a flat response, the AKG K371 are pretty close to the Harmon tuning target. They have a bit more midrange and a flatter high end. And for more of a warmer response, that's where I like the Sennheiser HD 300 Pro. The high end is rolled off and there's a little more of a boost in the midrange.
 
Wouldn't it be great if a headphone manufacturer came out with a pair that said "Designed For Amp Modelers" right on the box. And they actually were.
 
Jarick said:
I've had multiple 250-300 ohm headphones and they all have plenty of volume with the FM3.

Right now I'm using the Beyer DT 770 Pro in 80 ohm as they have plenty of volume for all devices and are very flat outside a boost in the high treble. The Sennheiser HD 280 Pro are a good closed back for the money too.

From AKG I would look at the K371 or K553 over the K240. Better quality.

If you're specifically looking for the DT 990 Pro shoot me a PM...I have a set of 250 ohm in mint condition I'm being lazy about posting on Reverb.
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I just ordered DT 770 Pro 250 ohm after doing the research (upgrading from AKG K240 that I have had since the 90s). Closed back for tracking and will most likely do a lot of listening on the FM3. How do you like the sound with the 80 Ohm thru FM3? Will most likely get some new open backs soon for mixing but I heard that the 770s are pretty good for mixing too.
 
RobbyDeeMusic said:
I just ordered DT 770 Pro 250 ohm after doing the research (upgrading from AKG K240 that I have had since the 90s). Closed back for tracking and will most likely do a lot of listening on the FM3. How do you like the sound with the 80 Ohm thru FM3? Will most likely get some new open backs soon for mixing but I heard that the 770s are pretty good for mixing too.
Click to expand...

The 80 ohm models sound just fine through the FM3 to me. I've tried the 250 and 80 ohm models and they are pretty similar with obviously the 80 ohm being louder. The 770's generally measure pretty flat outside of the boost in the high treble. I consider them neutral leaning clear and bright, maybe a little less midrange than you'd want for listening to music, and of course the boost in the high end.

I'm listening to music on my Macbook right now with them, volume around 20%. I switched over to my 250 ohm DT 990's and I had to increase the volume up to about 40%. So it roughly seems like the 250 ohm models are about half the volume of the 80 ohms. And to round it out, my 300 ohm Sennheiser HD6xx are about just a bit louder than the 250 ohm Beyers.

For open backs I think the HD6xx are a great value as they are like HD650's at 60% of the cost. Everyone seems to like or love them. If you end up really liking the Beyer signature sound, the DT 880 are a really good open back alternative that is in the same ballpark tonally although with a roll off in the bass. The 990 are similar to the 770's but a little brighter which is over the top. In contrast, the Sennheiser 6xx has a much bigger focus on the midrange all the way from the low mids up to the high mids, with a rolled off high end.
 
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