It's rare that two Jacobs find their way into the same office, rarer yet that both have a passion for the same brand of headphones, and rarer than the rarest of rares that both of their favorite respective headphones should have hefty discounts for Prime Day 2024. What incredible times we live in when just such an occurrence has, well, occurred.
- We're curating the best right here.
Both of us (Jacob and Jacob) love our Sennheiser headsets. Senior boss-man Jacob Ridley has the senior boss-man headphones, the Sennheiser HD 650—Jacob R's note: the HD 800 S are [[link]] the boss-man headphones, let's be honest—which we reckon is the best pair of mid-range on the market. Junior Jacob Fox, on the other hand, has the entry-level pair, the HD 599.
Both headsets are on sale with 30% or [[link]] higher discounts this Prime Day. The and the also at Amazon. There's also the Massdrop x Sennheiser HD 6XX on offer for , which Jacob Ridley reckons is almost identical to the HD 650 but cheaper. Plenty for mid-range or enthusiast audiophiles to sink their teeth into for a relatively low cost, then. Let's hear what the Jacobs make of them.
Jacob F's HD 599 headphones
Jacob F: My HD 599s have been sitting on my head day-in, day-out, for a very long time. They're old as can be, but in the world of audiophile headphones this matters practically zero. Great headphones are great headphones, full-stop.
Sure, they don't have any of this new planar driver wizardry, but the dynamic drivers in the HD 599's cans sound incredibly natural and plenty punchy. Dynamic vs planar is a subjective choice anyway—both have their pros and cons.
It's hard to convey headphone sound profiles in words, but the HD 599's drivers aren't completely neutral. They accentuate mid-bass frequencies a bit, as well as the high-end, which is somewhat of a staple for Sennheiser cans. They sound simply wonderful to my ears, at least.
For open-backed headphones that offer a stellar soundscape, they're what I'd recommend to anyone in the sub-$150 price range, as I would for anyone looking to switch over from standard to audiophile headphones. I should also mention that they're comfy enough that, after all this time, I tend to wear them out of habit while I'm at my desk even when I'm not listening to anything. With this $70 Prime Day discount I can, and will, recommend them in a heartbeat..
Now, Jacob Senior, tell me about your HD 650 headphones.
Jacob R's HD 650 headphones
Jacob R: The sound of drum and bass erupting down your ear holes. This, my friends, is the HD 650 experience that I enjoy every day. A simple pair of headphones—you'll find no microphone, onboard controls, or wireless connectivity here—and yet my all-together favorite pair for day-to-day use. I don a pair of SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless headphones for chatting with mates over Discord but for everything else, it's the Sennheiser HD 650 I'm reaching for.
These headphones offer a clarity I'm yet to find in any reasonably affordable gaming headset. That's not a massive criticism of gaming headsets as much as it is a compliment to the HD 650. The open-back design paired with Sennheiser's upper-range focus deliver fantastic audio quality. While listening to high quality FLACs on Tidal I can revel in parts of the track that you can often miss with more muddled drivers—the trailing high notes or lasting sibilance in a cymbal crash.
With a pair of Sennheiser HD 650, you are also on the hook for a quality DAC and amp combo. I have the Schiit Magni and Modi combo, a classic pairing, though I've recently reviewed the and found it to be a handy two-in-one solution that looks pretty slick in all black with four tubes atop.
Speaking of Drop, here's the thing: I wouldn't buy the HD 650 right now. I'd buy the Drop HD 6XX instead. These are almost identical to the HD 650, sound profile and all, and they're usually a lot cheaper at $219. Right now, however, you can scoop a pair for .
The . That means you can get the same setup as me (near-enough) for $468.