Sennheiser HD 650

Design

The DT 990s say, ‘I am a pair of high-end headphones, but not stuck up about it.’ The Grado SR60s say, ‘Haha, hey guys, remember the ’80s? I’m so ironically attractive it laps regular irony and puts me into double, if not triple irony.’

Aesthetics aside, the DT 990s are far, far more durable, featuring much more metal than plastic.

Sennheiser HD 650	Grado Labs SR60

Frequency Response

The Grado SR60s have a slightly better frequency response, although it does feature a pronounced dip towards its high end.

Sennheiser HD 650	Grado Labs SR60

Distortion

The Grado SR60s don’t have the best distortion result, showing some low-end and high-end spikes. The HD 650s features smooth sailing along the zero line.

Sennheiser HD 650	Grado Labs SR60

Tracking

The HD 650s have a smoother tracking result, which was again achieved simply by not screwing up the high-end.

Sennheiser HD 650	Grado Labs SR60

Isolation

While the HD 650s are better isolators, neither set of headphones should be your first choice in this category.

Sennheiser HD 650	Grado Labs SR60

Comfort

The Grado SR60s have bad padding. Not only do they dilute the audio quality by creating a terrible seal with their user’s ears, but they also get hot and scratchy. The headphones themselves, however, fit well.

We thought the HD 650s we a better wear experience overall.

Wear
Sennheiser HD 650	Grado Labs SR60

Verdict

The SR60s aren’t a bad set of headphones for their price. If you like their looks and can get some replacement padding, then they’re a good pick-up. The DT 990s, however, are stellar right out of the box, and they’re certainly more un-ironically attractive.