[terry parr]

some good points were made here.  appreciate everybody that chimed in.

i'll have the chance in the next week or two to audition a couple of the orthodynamic phones (on loan through the cable company). 

so this will add to my first-hand experience.

i just wanted to get a few different peoples' take on what's available out there now with headphones as compared to some of the
"established" cans that have been around for more than a few years.

i just remember a review from head-fi a few years ago saying something along the lines of "possibly the worlds' best headphone"
when referring to the hd-650.  and this wasn't that long ago.   

[dB Cooper]

Regardless of whether or not the 650 is- or ever was- "the world's best headphones", for a product of any type (especially in the fickle, fad-prone audio world) to have that long a production life is remarkable in this day and age, and a good indication that Sennheiser did something right with this design. It has a lot more competition at and above its price point than it did when released, so... Let the listening begin!

[dB Cooper]

A guy selling 650s on ebay claims that the 'silver' driver is 'much better' than the clear driver fwiw. And nwavguy says there may be counterfeits around which might account for some of the differences people claim to hear.

[FullRangeMan]

A guy selling 650s on ebay claims that the 'silver' driver is 'much better' than the clear driver fwiw. And nwavguy says there may be counterfeits around which might account for some of the differences people claim to hear.

It would be the plastic cone colour or the magnet plastics chassis colour from the driver, apparently...

[Justin_Time]

with the new choices now from audez'e and hifiman and others, what place does the sennheiser hd-650 now hold?  would everyone now consider the 650 a "once-great" phone that has clearly been put in the shade by some of the newer offerings,  or is it still a great phone in it's own right?

considering how highly-praised the 650 has been, does it still "hold its own", and is it now just a matter of personal taste for what particular type
of sound characteristics that different listeners appreciate, or has this phone clearly been "bested" now?

i know i'm comparing apples to oranges, here.  comparing the newer planar magnetic phones to the 650, which has dynamic drivers, but i'm just
interested in what people think who are familiar with the 650 and the newer orthodynamic phones.

There are more choices, more competition and better quality headphones now than ever before.

Years ago, the HD600 were one of the very few "high-end" headphones I could get.  The Grado HR series were one of the few competitions near that quality and price range and you had to make a quantum leap to the Stax--which were out of the price range of most people, then and now--to find better sound.

Now the gap between the HD800 and the Stax 007/009 is narrowing and filled with a plethora of excellent headphones (Audeze, Hifiman, Byerdynamic, AKG, Denon, Audio-Technica, Fostex....) just to name a few well known ones--my apologies if I forgot your favorite.

The same is true with in-ear phones.  Years ago, Etymotic was one of the very few choices of audiophile ear-buds and they seemed ridiculously over priced at around $100  Now, we have so many in-ear phones costing fron $300 to as much a $1500 that the Etymotics seem right down cheap at 300 bucks.

To me, there is no doubt: there are more high-quality headphones (and earphones) than ever before.  As for the reason, I leave that to people much smarter than I am to elaborate on.

[dB Cooper]

Thanks fullrangeman as the 650s are on my "radar" right now (probably used).

[saisunil]

Headphone world has moved leaps and bounds since 600/650 ... Although these classic cans do have a very large following ... One can compare them with Senn 800 - the difference is not small ...

[FullRangeMan]

Left: the clear cone HD650.   Right: the HD800 driver, Ouch...

[FullRangeMan]

Maybe this help:
HD650 replacement drivers: (out of stock now)
http://www.juno.co.uk/products/sennheiser-replacement-neodymium-capsule-hd650/441639-01/

Seems the HD650 driver is the same from the HD580:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/253519/hd650-uses-hd580-drivers

[dB Cooper]

Headphone world has moved leaps and bounds since 600/650 ... Although these classic cans do have a very large following ... One can compare them with Senn 800 - the difference is not small ...

Neither is the price difference unfortunately 

Had a pair of 580 back in the day. Liked them a lot.

[Russell Dawkins]

This is interesting. I got the 650 when it came out, circa 2003? It sounded almost exactly the same as the two HD600s I had on hand then. I compared carefully with my Headroom amp and CD player, but couldn't tell any difference except just a hair more detail with the 650. So maybe Sennheiser 'evolved' the 650 since then, to suit a more modern taste in headphone sound? I've seen hundreds of posts discussing the 650, but nothing about whether the sound ever changed from the first issue circa 2003.

I know this is an old thread, but I just noticed a detail in dalethorn's reply which I hadn't addressed. The date of my auditioning the Sennheiser 650 was June 2004, so I presume these were original versions, pre - any changes on Sennheiser's part with subsequent versions (if any). I know at the time they were described as being a little brighter than the 600s. What astonished me at the time was the degree of difference between them and the Etymotic ER4Ss.
I made the comparison while recording an outdoor orchestral concert in Armenia: http://tinyurl.com/26ybt9