Review Sennheiser HD650 Reference Headphones – Is Sennheiser’s Prize Gem still Gleaming?

Sennheiser has been developing some of the best headphones available for over 60 years. The German brand has a legacy for audio engineering excellence that makes certain other celebrity endorsed headphones brands seem life adolescents in comparison. The crown jewel of the Sennheiser range are the HD650s reference headphones.

Appearance

The Sennheiser HD650 headphones might not have the ‘cool’ lines and aesthetics of Beats by Dr Dre headphones. The outer grills on the headphones might not be to be to everyone’s tastes and they’re certainly heavy.

But on the other hand, these aren’t designed for the commute to work. These are audiophile headphones for enjoying music as artists intended it to be heard in the peaceful surroundings of home.

They are certainly comfortable to wear, with a solid plastic and metallic construction and padded headband that grips your head without feeling as thought it’s in a vice. The cushioned ear pads are also shaped to cup the ear rather than be placed on top of it, enabling you to wear these for hours comfortably.

Performance

Many people buy Sennheiser headphones based on the brand name alone, taking confidence in the reputation that a 60 year history and the HD650s have earned it. These headphones feature lightweight aluminium voice coils and high power neodymium magnets, but I’m sure what you really want to know is how they sound.

If these are your first hi-end headphones then you will be amazed at how you hear things in music you never knew were there. The mids are clear and well presented, while the treble is tight, precise and clear as crystal. You will undoubtably notice a leap in depth and detail when listening to even the best mid-range headphones. In particular, the Sennheiser HD650 headphones score top marks for their range of powerful and highly textured bass, which doesn’t intrude on other frequencies while making its presence known (which has been a complaint of Dr Dre Beats’ bass heavy headphones).

What people say

As with any high end headphones, to get the best headphones performance you will need to burn these in first by leaving them plugged into the radio. You will also need the right setup to get the most out of these headphones. Plugging the Sennheiser HD650 headphones simply wont do. If you don’t have a high quality amplifier then the best alternative is buy a USB audio amplifier (e.g. TonePort or FiiO E17) to drive the sound.

The Sennheiser HD650 headphones offer amazing treble and mid range sounds, but where they really score highly with reviewers is the awesome bass and accurate soundstage that surpasses most headphones in the high end market.

On the downside, being open backed these leak sound like a sieve. So it’s not advisable to take these on the train or bus, unless you want to get looks for all the wrong reasons. But that’s not what they’re for. The Sennheiser HD650 headphones are for enjoying music as though you are there in the studio, to be savoured and submerged in without background noise to disturb you.

Music you’ll turn up

These are simply perfect for classic rock thanks to their magical bass, which will provide a lush texture to string and woodwind instruments. These are also among the best headphones for dub, reggae, classical and progressive rock.

Music you’ll switch off

The Sennheiser HD650 headphones may struggle to keep up the pace with fast rock or high tempo dance tracks. While their bass performance is exceptional, it might not be heavy enough for those looking for something to rattle their eyeballs.

Originally posted 2012-11-09 14:32:34. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Parrot Philippe Starck Zik Wireless Headphones Review – Great for Gadget Fans

 

Choosing the perfect pair of headphones is a tough decision. Do you want to impress people at the gym with celebrity endorsed cans, like Dr Dre’s Beats? Do you want the best sound quality possible? Or is noise cancellation, wireless control and over techie features top of your wishlist? Well, if you’re looking for headphones packing in all the latest headphones technology along with comfort and demure design, then the Parrot Philippe Starck Zik wireless headphones might be the cans for you.

The result of four years of design and engineering between the renowned French architect and product designer Philippe Starck and Henri Seydoux, Parrot’s CEO, these headphones aspire to be the pinnacle of wireless headphones technology. As you’d expect, their design is in indeed striking. But do they deliver sound performance to match the price tag?

Appearance

As befitting the price tag, the Parrot Philippe Starck Zik wireless headphones are made from high end materials. Cheap plastic cans these are not. The headband is made from synthetic leather with an embossed Parrot logo while the metal head rails curve round elegantly onto the ear cups which can be flattened for ease of storage. The ear cups are very plush and exceptionally comfortable, with the memory foam providing soft and supple cushioning along with padding in front of the headphones’ powerful drivers.

As you’d expect for a pair of headphones that have emerged from Phillippe Starck’s drawing board, these headphones look high end and uber modern, and will certainly attract some admiring looks from other commuters. Their jealousy would no doubt go up a notch if they were also aware of the sound cancelling technology used in the Parrot Philippe Starck Zik headphones. And its in terms of its number of technology features where these headphones really shine:

Touch sensitive control – Swipe the right ear cup vertically to adjust the volume, horizontally to skip tracks. This functionality gets nods of approval from many reviewers for being responsive and one of these headphones’ outstanding features.

DSP (Digital Sound Processor) – this powerful drivers reconstruct the sound to create the ‘Parrot Concert Hall’ effect that’s designed to give the impression that music comes from in front of you.

Active Noise Control System – its claimed that these headphones can eliminate up to 98 percent of ambient sound. This is achieved through four microphones, instead of two, which analyse ambient noise and then cancel it out with opposing sound waves.

Double microphone –  the  Parrot Philippe Starck Zik are designed to be used in conjunction with a smartphone and enable calls to be taken with a standard microphone and a bone conduction sensor that detects and analyses the vibrations of the jaw to work out what you are saying.

Parrot smartphone app – The app for these headphones enables you to play around with the equalizer, the room type and the speaker angle to fine tune the audio performance to suit the music you’re listening to.

These features will delight gadget fans and commuters who like to block out the world around them. But what about the audiophiles out there?

Performance

The Parrot Philippe Starck Zik wireless headphones certainly pack in a lot of features, and their noise cancelling technology makes worthy of serious consideration by commuters and those that take a lot of flights. However, there’s often a payoff with noise cancelling technology in terms of the authenticity of the sound. These headphones have excellent performance that will delight anybody stepping up from a sub $100 pair of cans. The sound is responsive, crisp and bassy without sounding distorted. But existing owners of high end headphones, such as those by Sennheiser or Grado, might find the sound lacks the pure audio experience.

Active noise cancelling requires a lot of sound processing, which in turn leads to a not altogether natural sound. Adjusting the Concert Hall settings can also have a big effect on the sound performance. So you can do a lot to improve the sound through playing around with the Parrot app’s settings.

In conclusion, the Parrot Philippe Starck Zik headphones offer smart design, a wealth of features and great noise cancellation, making them a great choice for gadget fans and commuters. But the pay off in authentic sound quality from all the techie features may put off audiophiles looking for headphones that deliver as close to an authentic sound as is possible.

Originally posted 2013-01-21 15:01:57. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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