I have an HD650 heavily (and effectively) modded by Jupiter Audio–the JAR650. I got it before I purchased the Aeolus or Verite Open.
There’s no doubt the Aeolus & VO pushed the JAR650 aside. They’re way more fun and tonally interesting. And yet…every time I put that JAR650 on my head again (listening through the creaks of that inexpensive frame), I hear why so many people love the HD650. It has an intimate, close-up, monitoring-type view of music. It’s not the most entertaining listen, but when I calm down and stop mentally comparing, I end up going right down that Sennheiser sonic rabbit-hole again.
Except for the very lowest & highest frequencies, it’s an accurate, musically informative headphone w/a stellar midrange.
For sure. If it had that dynamic weight going in the low end like the Auteurs, it would be awesome. But I agree as the hd650 started my headphone rabbit hole for sure. Undeniably an amazing headphone but boy oh boy do zmfs trump the shit out of it.
If I never heard a Zmf I’d probably still be rocking the hd650’s no doubt. The midrange is on point for a used $200 headphone and also understand why it’s been around for so long. I’d also suggest everyone getting into headphones to own/try one.
I just listed my HD600 for sale as they have been sitting on their stand since my Aeolus arrived. I’d probably keep them around if I wasn’t a one headphone type of person, excellent headphone.
I bought the HD650 last year, mainly because I wanted to have it as a reference. But after I got my Auteur I realized that I would never use the 650 as anything more than a reference, so I sold them.
I have the VC not VO but many have said they are similar sounding…in that sense, the VC definitely slams harder than the Aeolus which you can attribute to the VO.
Thanks. The Aeolus is really fun sounding, but I have a little comfort issue. The Verite Open is the only ZMF one who has more space from the driver so my ears don’t touch. I have a good excuse to upgrade, also since its faster I can probably retire my LCD 2.
I never seem to compare them head-to-head, so this is partly sonic memory. But the slam (macro-dymamics top to bottom) is roughly equivalent.
Having said that, many people mean “bass slam” when they say “slam.” In that sense, Aeolus might be a bit ahead of VO, just because it has that mildly elevated mid-bass (progressively less as you move from stock pads to universe perf. suedes [my fave] to Verite pads).
Any little bit the VO gives up in bass slam it more than makes for in tonal/timbral resolution. VO just gets tone right on every instrument (including voice) anywhere in the FC range.
You know I was thinking about this for a while and then I realized the 6xx are one of the few cans that you can totally rock on without the fear of it popping off your head. Can’t really say that that’s the case with most high-end headphones (probably all)…lol
You know, I had some friends over last weekend listening to my setup and one of them said “I wish you had some ‘regular’ headphones that I could listen to for a reference point” and I thought to myself “hm, maybe I should pick up a HD6XX for exactly that”
Need to have cheap Koss Porta Pro as reference, I let people listen to my more expensive stuff first then try out the Koss. Usually a very fun reaction While still being good for the price, its a big jump.
Is the softer ZMF woods less likely to crack over time? The dry winters here has made a Cello crack inside the storage hard case.
Very similar to stock pads. A touch more open/wide sounding. I don’t find the frequency response to be noticeably different but I tend not to listen for micro changes in response, as long as the overall sound is agreeable.
Just got my Aeolus today, unpacked it, plugged in my cable to each earpiece, and…well, I did something stupid in plugging in the cable because I heard a sickening “plink” and had unseated the pins in the earpiece housing. Totally my fault, totally stupid.
I called ZMF in a panic and got a perfectly chill Zach on the phone who (and I think he was being kind for my benefit) assured me that things like this happen, and he’d send me out a return label right away and get this fixed ASAP.
Imagine having these in your hands after such a wait and being unable to hear them, and to put them back in the box and ship them away! But Zach and Bevin are such amazing people, and are going to make this self-inflicted wound heal as quickly as they can.
Oh man! I would probably be crying if that happened to me, and I feel your pain of wanting to hear them! I hope they have a swift delivery to and from, so you can get to hear those things asap!
That sucks to hear! Sorry that happened but as you can see Zach really is great at helping and taking care of his customers. Hopefully he fixes quickly and gets it back to you so you can listen!
I have a good excuse to upgrade, also since its faster I can probably retire my LCD 2.
While still being good for the price, its a big jump.