14% of 316 verified Sennheiser HD 650owners don't recommend it — based on real owner comments from Reddit, enthusiast forums, and YouTube.
For balance: 75% recommend it. This page collects the complaints so you know what you're signing up for — read the full owner report for both sides. How we score
“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”— @reallyoldcob on YouTube
“known to have weak headband. The plastic part of the headband tends to snap in half”— @seslan on YouTube
“I did not like it. Sound signature was excellent, but soundstage was way too claustrophobic for me”— @alexhofmann5844 on YouTube
“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.”— @jhonnybee0238 on YouTube
“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”— Sp12er on Reddit
“I HATE that cable. Made me return them.”— @Tomiply on YouTube
“I also have others that I don't really use or like much (hd599, hd650).”— residentatzero on Reddit
“I have the hd650 and despite being open back, I struggle to use that headphone to tell direction accurately.”— Top_Western8974 on Reddit
“I bought them to see if they could compete with what I had. They sounded horrendous to me. $360 headphones and it was awful.”— CheekMoist886 on Reddit
“so i bought them and they are so quiet, you i cant increase volume even with focusrite”— @RumandCocaine on YouTube
“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”— alyxonfire on Reddit
“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.”— sorvis on Reddit
Not complaints — practical notes from owners that didn't affect the score.
“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.”— ernestcarl on Audio Science Review
“It does sound warm, full and 'bassy' to me but not extended.”— solderdude on Audio Science Review
“I couldn't blind test which is which between 650 600 6XX”— Tks on Audio Science Review