“What an incredible difference they make to everything I had before! You can listen to a track and hear subtle details that you did not even know they existed. Wow!”

75% of 316 verified owners recommend the Sennheiser HD 650, based on real owner verdicts aggregated from Reddit, enthusiast forums, and YouTube.
Affiliate blogs here say 100% recommend, while the owner-based score is 75%. They earn a commission on every sale — so we show them for transparency but never let them move the score.
The headline score reflects owners (Reddit, enthusiast forums), independent lab tests, blogs with no affiliate links, and YouTube owner-comments when they line up with owners. Affiliate blogs is shown for perspective but kept out here — hover the i for why.
Synthesized from what Sennheiser HD 650 owners say — not a spec sheet.
Retailers' own star averages, for comparison — separate from our vetted owner-verdict score above.
“What an incredible difference they make to everything I had before! You can listen to a track and hear subtle details that you did not even know they existed. Wow!”
“I find the HiFiMan Sundara & the Fiio FT1 Pro both more useful for mixing - the Sennheisers have a much more condensed/flat sound with less bass extension than either of those”
“The 650/6XX is easily the "darkest" sounding of the bunch.”
“I have used the HD650 for years now with all kinds of music, Blu-ray movies, and gaming and have always been happy with their mid and high frequencies - however, I would characterize their bass as nearly non-existent.”
“HD650 with a bum driver, but I was able to solider the voice coil back on, so they work normally again. I had a pair 15 years ago and always regreted selling them.”
“I found the tonality to be off-sounding for me, maybe because of the treble peaks? The HD600s sound more neutral/natural to me, and they retail for less too.”
“I did not like it. Sound signature was excellent, but soundstage was way too claustrophobic for me”
“Original recording vs hd650. Has coloration but it's sweet coloration”
“My 650’d still kicking ass!! Especially on a nice tube amp 👍.”
“auto eq makes them sound better than my sennheiser hd 650. clearer mids and treble and muuuuch more life. though keep in mind i have not eq'd the sennheisers, if i did they would probably be on top”
“The cans still stay on my head, but it's extremely comfortable now.”
“known to have weak headband. The plastic part of the headband tends to snap in half”
“I just recently bought the HD650 and honestly, they're everything I loved about the HD598, but improved. The bass is more refined, the soundstage and imaging are better and, the treble is brought back a little more”
“Honestly I'm not enthused with the Sennheiser hd 650 which I bought after 5 years of flagship over ears. I feel their veiled nature cap their ceiling pretty low on anything that's not music listening, it also have anemic amount of bass for me”
“Taking some time to get used to the open back style but people seem to be digging my mixes. Low end is still the trickiest.”
“I love my 650s.”
“I HATE that cable. Made me return them.”
“i own my hd 650 since release he works still flawless, but the time did show its age on the metal parts and the headband”
“Is say they’re pretty flat. I find it hard to mix bass on them. But I can definitely get mixes 95% there with them.”
“the HD650's were heavy and the foam on the top of the headset is small and has very little surface area to spread the weight causing discomfort.”
“To me, HD650 is a headphone that allows me to listen to music for long sessions without feeling fatigued, which is something HD600 just can’t do. That is not a small difference at all. In my experience, the HD650 was absolutely worth the investment.”
“Sennheiser HD 650. Amazing timbre with voice and acoustic guitar. Comfortable. Too vailed as the top though.”
“the AirPods Max and AirPods Pro are more useful to me for mixing purposes than the HD 650 or the K553, to the point that the HD650 are on loan”
“Bought my HD650s in 2016, been using them 3-4h a day since then and they are still just as comfortable. Nothing has broken, but I have switched out the headband, mesh screens and earpads. Very satisfied with my purchase!”
Practical notes owners raise — setup, quirks, and issues to watch for. They don't say whether the person likes the product, so they're not counted in the score, but they inform the pros, cons, and who it's for.
“I’ve tried applying as much as 10dB of boost in that bass region, but could only tolerate (bothers me too much) between 3-5dB max for any real long-term listening.”
“It does sound warm, full and 'bassy' to me but not extended.”
“I couldn't blind test which is which between 650 600 6XX”