Sennheiser HD 650s..

[LZ Holy Narwhal]

I just got them in the mail today, and I bought a Schiit Fulla 2. I'm using them, and they sound good, but I compared with my previous headphones, and maybe I didn't listen enough, but I didn't hear a huge difference. Am I just tone-deaf somewhat or what's the deal? I thought it would be a slightly bigger difference. The HD 650s are 300ohms so..

[Pomfinator]

What were you using before? GIve them a good week of solid use before trying to form your opinion on them.

[Guest]

What kind of music are you listening to?

 

I would recommend listening to nothing but the HD 650 for a week, as @Pomfinator suggested, then listen to your old headphones again. You may be surprised how different they sound at that point.

[Dackzy]

an upgrade is often less noticeable than a downgrade, so as the other people said give them at weeks time and then revisit your old headphones.

[xtroria]

Like the others said, you need to use it for some time to really understand the differences between good headphones and bad headphones. You'll probably realize it after wearing HD650 for a month

[elira]

I have a pair of HD6XX that in theory are the same as the HD650 and I personally don't like them. My suggestion, use them for a couple of weeks and if the perception doesn't improve just return them. Also I've heard that the HD650 sound better in better equipment, so if you plan to upgrade the Fulla 2 to something better you may hear some improvement.

[aithos]

There are a number of things to consider:

 

1) Source and settings matter.  What are you listening to and did you install drivers and update your sound settings?  If you didn't update it then it's likely the bit-rate on your computer is still set to 48k, and increasing that to whatever the max that your amp/dac supports (likely 192k) will make a noticeable difference.  Also, if you're listening to MP3's, iTunes or a streaming service like Pandora you won't notice as much of a difference as if you rip a CD with lossless settings.

 

2) Audio (and video) have a "learning" curve to them.  What I mean is that the difference isn't always earth shattering at first, but often is MUCH more noticeable after you've given it some time and gotten used to using the better product.  A lot of people can't tell the difference between 60hz and 120hz when they first try it out, but game on 120hz for a few months and when you try to go back to 60hz it's ridiculously obvious how bad it is.  The same applies with audio, get used to the better soundstage, the better clarity, the better balance and when you go back the old stuff will sound muddy and veiled.

 

Give it some time, the HD650s are still my go to all-around headphone and they are very good.  Treat them well and you can easily use them for the next 10 years without breaking a sweat, just make sure you get some replacement ear cups and try not to run over the cord with the vacuum (RIP Sennheiser gaming headset #1), although at least with the HD650s you can get replacement cables!  Thankfully I haven't had to do that.... yet.