Got my Fidelio L1 today, and after 30 mins of listening, I like it a lot so far. Of course, I have to burn it in for 10 weeks and change the cable to baby unicorn hair, but so far so good.

If I still used headphones in the office I'd strongly consider these.

I note that the cord SUCKS, but the build quality is otherwise really nice. On par with the B&W P5. Maybe better.

And compared to the HD650....

Favorable, I think, Shelly. But it's been a while since I've heard the 650.

I liked the L-1.

Sounds really good, great build quality, reasonable price and it's not built by Sennheiser.

They look neat.

They smell good. Which is important.

Do they smell like watermelon or fresh cut grass? I would pay more for that.

.

Edited April 4, 201214 yr by blessingx

They smell like Corinthian leather.

Is there anything about the L1 that makes them stand out above the other acceptable (or established) contenders? (like SRH-840, HE-300, HD600/598, or even T50RP, etc)

"The Small Chrysler"

Is there anything about the L1 that makes them stand out above the other acceptable (or established) contenders? (like SRH-840, HE-300, HD600/598, or even T50RP, etc)

They used to be a steering wheel, shift stalk and seats on a Chrysler Cordoba, and the earpads are the very same Corinthian leather that Fernando had his ass cheeks resting on. Is that stand out enough?

And compared to the HD650....

The 650 seems more refined, but more boring too.

The L1 is a little grainy, but the tonal balance is very nice, and they're fun to listen to.

I'd say the L1 is a better headphone for general uses, but if you're assembling a good rig, the 650 perform better.

"but if you're assembling a good rig, the 650 perform better. "

I should think so.....

The problem is that on mediocre rigs or ipods the HD600/HD650's sound pretty ordinary.

And that is where the T50P, L1 etc are usually used.

On a reasonable to great HiFi rig the HD's scale up well whereas the others are left wallowing in their mid-fi mediocrity.

Edited April 4, 201214 yr by wink

On a reasonable to great HiFi rig the HD's scale up well whereas the others are left wallowing in their mid-fi mediocrity.

I think the HD 650 gets a bad rap. Maybe I'm not thinking widely enough, but other than the HD800 and LCD3 (when working well), I think it's the best headphone out there.

'Course the latest Thunderpants I've hear might have beat it. Got a pair from his group buy coming in for measure nad listen. Maybe I'll sneak in a review, too.

I think the HD 650 gets a bad rap. Maybe I'm not thinking widely enough, but other than the HD800 and LCD3 (when working well), I think it's the best headphone out there.

You like em more than the HD600s?

From your graphs it appears the HD650s slightly beat the HD600s out on technical grounds. That being said I do love the little extra bit of treble energy that the 600s have.

Edited April 4, 201214 yr by TMoney

I thought the 650 was more refined, but I always preferred the 600 for its balance.

I think the HD 650 gets a bad rap. Maybe I'm not thinking widely enough, but other than the HD800 and LCD3 (when working well), I think it's the best headphone out there.

'Course the latest Thunderpants I've hear might have beat it. Got a pair from his group buy coming in for measure nad listen. Maybe I'll sneak in a review, too.

One of these days, I need to hear the HD650 out of really crappy setup. They've never sounded "boring" or "veiled" to me, but rather involving and laid-back.

I really like the HD650. Other cans have come and gone (including 600 and 580's) but the 650 are here to stay.

For me it's less about the 650 scaling well and more about its ability to sound truly wretched on bad gear. You really can't plug it into anything and expect it to perform as it should, but I'm guessing a lot of people are doing just that, and that's where the bad rap comes from.

The other issue is that the price of a new 650 gets you some very nice used 'stats that will generally blow it away.

Regardless, it's a very good headphone when driven well. One of the few that doesn't hype up the highs to give a fake impression of detail.

I think so much shit was thrown around when the fire happened that making too much of a distinction between the 600 and 650 is futile.

Also, the 600 is going out of availability, so I really can't worry about them.

I've got some 600 carcasses, and I'm keeping them for new pads and cables. That's for sure.

Also, the 600 is going out of availability

That sucks

That's a mega vacuum-inducing event in headphone annals.

Probably the plebian equivalent of the original Stax Sigma & Omega, Sony R10 & Qualia O10 going off-line.