Headphone Virgin (HD-650s) - Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio

Megalith · #1 (**permalink**) 02-19-2009, 12:24 AM

Just received my brand new pair of HD-650s (paid $320). This is my first pair of real headphones. I quickly moved my H/K AVR635 by my PC for use as a temporary DAC/amp, set to Dolby Headphone: BP. Honestly, I wasn't impressed at first. I think my mind was expecting the 3D-ish bass that you get from Sennheiser's earphones (with the little plastic cups).

Well, I've listened to a couple more tracks now, and I'm starting to believe that what I'm hearing is actually neutrality, and not the bloated, fake bass that I thought some of my tracks were mixed to sound like. I'm hearing things like little inconspicuous riffs and electronic effects that I haven't heard before.

But I think I'm still not comfortable with one quality: the bass doesn't seem to sound tight. In fact, I almost hear what may be distortion, like a woofer is hitting it's limit or something. Maybe the AVR635 is just too weak to drive the HD-650 properly?

glitch39 · #2 (**permalink**) 02-19-2009, 12:41 AM

first off, congrats. your HD650 are new, correct? you'd need to burn those in for at least 100 hours before you'd hear its strengths. play some white noise for a few days non stop through a portable player.

down the road, get an amp capable of driving it.

tintin47 · #3 (**permalink**) 02-19-2009, 12:47 AM

Congrats! Welcome to head-fi. Sorry about your wallet. It is good that you recognize the 650s as balanced and not "lacking bass" like many do the first time they hear high end phones. I hope you're enjoying them.

The bass will tighten up slightly with burn in, but the biggest improvement that you'll see is the moment you hear them amped properly. The sound you're hearing is definitely the limitations of your amp. The bass will sound much tighter and less bloated than unamped (or not well-amped).

csommers · #4 (**permalink**) 02-19-2009, 01:17 AM

+1 on picking up an amp, they REALLY make the 650s shine, especially regarding bass.
Let those puppies burn in to your favorite music or some white/pink noise(especially pink for the bass bits)

Maxvla · #5 (**permalink**) 02-19-2009, 01:41 AM

The bass sounds like that because the poor amp in your receiver can't control the driver properly. A dedicated headphone amp like a Little Dot MKIII or MKVI SE or one of the Darkvoice amps would get you a good foothold from which to experiment.

Megalith · #6 (**permalink**) 02-19-2009, 01:46 AM

Thanks, guys.

I'm browsing Audiophilechina for amps now---I'll probably be getting a Darkvoice or Little Dot, but I'm confused as to whether a tube or solid state amp is best. I really want a tube amp because of signature (okay, and novelty), but I thought I read that one type is typically better paired with high-OHM designs like the 650.

Also, how do you tell how many watts the 650 actually requires? I'm coming from home theater, where I'd look at amps with at least 150-200 watts for reference in a small room...but I don't see any specs. I'm guessing that this store I'm browsing is just missing the info...

Brighten · #7 (**permalink**) 02-19-2009, 01:49 AM

Yeah get those guys tubes... they love power.

myinitialsaredac · #8 (**permalink**) 02-19-2009, 01:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Megalith

Thanks, guys.

I'm browsing Audiophilechina for amps now---I'll probably be getting a Darkvoice or Little Dot, but I'm confused as to whether a tube or solid state amp is best. I really want a tube amp because of signature (okay, and novelty), but I thought I read that one type is typically better paired with high-OHM designs like the 650.

Also, how do you tell how many watts the 650 actually requires? I'm coming from home theater, where I'd look at amps with at least 150-200 watts for reference in a small room...but I don't see any specs. I'm guessing that this store I'm browsing is just missing the info...

Its not pure watts, it is also voltage, resistance, and overall amperes that must be considered. Typically, a lot of people tend to pair tube amps with high resistance phones because of the huge voltage swing and output impedance. Recall, impedance mismatch can cause power to be less effective, lost for laymen terms.

A lot of headphone amps dont list watts because the driver handling is so minuscule. It is more how it is able to respond to voltage swings, and control the driver overall, as well as the tonality of the parts in the signal path.
Grats on the 650s,
Dave

tintin47 · #9 (**permalink**) 02-19-2009, 02:22 AM

As far as amps go, OTL designs such as the LD mk III and IV work well for the senns because of their high impedance. You can't go wrong with one of those, but make sure to swap out the stock tubes, which were very subpar on my LD.

jc9394 · #10 (**permalink**) 02-19-2009, 02:34 AM

The new Darkvoice 3322 is a very good match with Senn 600/650. Godkin have wrote a review not too long ago. You may also consider getting a WooAudio 6 with PDPS.

olblueyez · #11 (**permalink**) 02-19-2009, 08:17 AM

You need an amp, and at some point a nice external dac would be a good idea as well. Without an amp (and being a headphone that requires one) it will sound worse than some lower end headphones using them the way you are. When you look at amps go for tubes, trust me on this one. Also make sure you have plenty of tube rolling options. Good Luck

John Willett · #12 (**permalink**) 02-19-2009, 08:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glitch39

first off, congrats. your HD650 are new, correct? you'd need to burn those in for at least 100 hours before you'd hear its strengths. play some white noise for a few days non stop through a portable player.

Agreed about burning in, but - white nose is not so good for burning in headphones.

Pink noise is much better - pink noise contains all frequencies and you do need bass frequencies to burn in headphones properly.

My method is 24-hours of pink noise at normal listening levels.

I just got a short section of pink noise, copy/pasted in an audio editing program to about an hour - burned to CD and then the CD set on repeat and left for 24-hours.

Uncle Erik · #13 (**permalink**) 02-19-2009, 09:06 AM

Congrats on the HD-650 and welcome to Head-Fi!

The bass will tighten up with a good amp. Tubes are a good pairing for the HD-650, but there are good deals to be found on solid state amps, too. If you're looking for a lot of low end, solid state is a good choice. Tubes tend to be a little slow and flabby in the low end. Not all of them, but you'll find that in a lot of amps. If you want it to hit low at a reasonable price, consider solid state.

Megalith · #14 (**permalink**) 02-20-2009, 12:50 AM

Thanks, folks.

I feel like splurging on the Darkvoice 337. Is this overkill?

I ended up switching out my AVR635 for the time being, and using my Audiophile 192...I'm surprised that this little card sounds better than the H/K receiver.

Seems like I can get a nice amp and get a separate DAC down the line.