HD 650 vs K 701 what do you think?

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Casej18

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 23, 2005
Messages
247
Hey guys,
i was looking into these two pairs of cans after i went to the store and tried some of the HD 595 and loved them. So i thought ide go better then the 595's (best they had) to the HD650 or the AKG 701. How do these vary; In sound type,Base, Video games,soud quality, and isolation? Just some early questions from a n000b :D

Also, will these headphones connect directly into a Ipod / my mobo audio card? or do these go from 1/4 to 1/8 with a connector?
 
My boss owns the senn650, they are a wonderfull pair, beware they require a good amp to run them, no cheapo stuff, the akg's are nice, it's a tough match, I would say the akg 701 have a better overall tone, the 650 sounds nice but it discriminates, means unless u got good gear won't outperform the 595. The 650 Lacks detail other companies have like the AKG, some ppl love it because they don't hear unecessary things, some ppl hate it because they don't hear the details like how a player takes a breath as hes about to blow on the trumpet, his lips moving ect. The 650 has a laid back sound the base is not what I would call assertive, it all depends on your budget and needs. Have you considered looking into Audio-Technicas?
 
the 650 sounds nice but it discriminates, means unless u got good gear won't outperform the 595.
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uh... the 650 and the 595 have WAY different sound signatures...
 
both headphones require some serious amplification in order to sound good. Prepare to invest at least another 200$, otherwise they will not sound any better than your 595's.

The hd650 is no less detailed than the k701 nor is the k701 more detailed, the difference between these headphones lies in their tonal balance. The akg's are more balanced throughout the entire frequency range, where are senns are much more bass/low-mid focused. These are both high end headphones, so one is not better than the other, but I personally liked the senns more than the k701 as I felt the sound had more meat and more fullness to it, but even still, I am not particularly fond of the hd650 because of its lack of the upper registers. I also felt that the k701 lacked life musicality.

They both have incredibly large soundstage, and would be great for gaming, but as open headphones, neither of them isolate at all and leak tremendously. While on your head, they will sound like speakers to anyone else in the room.

Yes, they will work with your ipod, and to your ears they may be the greatest thing since the invention of the wheel, but please do not consider these unless you are willing to buy a proper amp.
 
yellafella321 said:
both headphones require some serious amplification in order to sound good. Prepare to invest at least another 200$, otherwise they will not sound any better than your 595's.
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I beg to differ... the 595 had absolutely no improvement (if at all) from a $800 GS-1 headphone amp while the 650 improved significantly under same said amp.

Also, dont expect super soundstage.... both have decent stage, but there's only so far a headphone can go.
 
Pinipig523 said:
I beg to differ... the 595 had absolutely no improvement (if at all) from a $800 GS-1 headphone amp while the 650 improved significantly under same said amp.

Also, dont expect super soundstage.... both have decent stage, but there's only so far a headphone can go.
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did you even read what I wrote? the "two" is referring to the hd650 and k701 that he was asking about. unamped, those will sound no better than the hd595. or was that just an excuse for you to brag about your 750$ gs-1?
 
What Audio-Technicas are similar? How does the amp situation work if i am using an ipod? do you use a second one like a cmoy or something? Thanks for all your input!!
 
yellafella321 said:
did you even read what I wrote? the "two" is referring to the hd650 and k701 that he was asking about. unamped, those will sound no better than the hd595. or was that just an excuse for you to brag about your 750$ gs-1?
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What he meant was that it's wrong to call a HD-650 'better' than a HD-595, since they sound so different to begin with.
 
B/w the 701 and 650 I would go with the 701 b/c the 650 needs recabling to sound right imo. Too dark and boomy with the pos stock cabling. The 701s lack the punch of the 650 but have way more soundstage and are better for spacious music. 650 are Rocking headphones but lack the 701s refined sound without a decent cable upgrade.

The cheapest route to good sound is the 595 50 Ohm version or Audio technicas A500 Closed, A700 Closed or Open(Airs) or the A900 which I believe is only closed but there might be an open model?

Otherwise the 650 or 701 needs a truly decent amp which even used will cost some $$ plus decent Interconnects(rca's) and a decent PSU

so it's like this >200 for the 595, A500,700,900

or <400-700 for the high end stuff.

the difference isn't that great especially with an Ipod for a source. I have the A700 Airs and am happy with them especially in the comfort area.
 
Dont get either unless you have a good amp. Plugging either of those directly into an ipod or onboad sound card is pointless.
 
My boss has the headroom balanced amp, and a cable upgrade kit, the stock cables arent the greatest. The first week they sounded like crap, after 1 week of burn in (he forgets to turn em on and play stuff to burn them in properly) they started to sound dam good. You need a balanced amp if you wanna get the most outta these, it's a huge amp, the size of a home receiver. Anyways either one you can't go wrong, you know whats another atternative? Grados headphones.
 
yellafella321 said:
did you even read what I wrote? the "two" is referring to the hd650 and k701 that he was asking about. unamped, those will sound no better than the hd595. or was that just an excuse for you to brag about your 750$ gs-1?
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Relax there.

You cant say that the 595 is equal to either the 701 or the 650 if no amp is available... all three sound completely different... unless you never heard any of the headphones you mentioned in person.

No need to brag about an item I sold a long time ago... what's wrong with you? I was just trying to illustrate that the 595 is completely immune to amps regardless of price (though I havent tested it on amps that are far superior to the GS1) due it's ease in drivability while the 650 needs something to drive it towards its potential.

I should have been more clear and said that the 650 is a different animal than the 595 and are NOT equal when both are unamped.
 
Well when i went to the store i liked the 595 but the 555 to me actually sounded better. The 595 sounded distant but amazing with all the new stuff i could hear compared to my $20 logitech ones :D Is there a type of sound or something that is similar to the HD555? Dont forget im a complete noob to all this :p
 
Casej18 said:
Well when i went to the store i liked the 595 but the 555 to me actually sounded better. The 595 sounded distant but amazing with all the new stuff i could hear compared to my $20 logitech ones :D Is there a type of sound or something that is similar to the HD555? Dont forget im a complete noob to all this :p
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Closest would be the 595... the 515 wouldnt be closer as it's like the black sheep of the 5x5 series.
 
the 555 doesn't suck at all but it's closer in sound quality to a normal retail stereo wheras the 595s and up are audiphile quality.
 
Plus you have to remember once the 595's burn in a week or two, they sound better.. (Mine do... :) )
 
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