Sennheiser HD650 Appreciation Thread!! - Page 223

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Originally Posted by mayassa 

Well my 650's came in yesterday, burning them in now and ordered a Lyr from Jason over at Schiit, now all I need is a decent DAC, any suggestions to match my combo?

My rig looks like that, with an Audio-gd NFB-11 as my DAC.  If you've got a bigger budget, you can definitely stand to do better than that though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mayassa 

Well my 650's came in yesterday, burning them in now and ordered a Lyr from Jason over at Schiit, now all I need is a decent DAC, any suggestions to match my combo?

The V dac works for me, theres Cambridge Audio's Dacmagic and Arcam's Rdac all 3 are tried and tested. Arcam is probably the best out of the 3 by what I've read.

Just elaborate a bit further.. The V dac is punchy and fun sounding with big soundstage. My dad has got the Dacmagic and this is more refined and polite with a little less soundstage. Havent heard the Arcam but from what I have read it is smooth and analytical, but it is a third more expensive.  My next dac will probably be the Arcam, I think they are one of the best manufactuers of Mid-fi.  

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Originally Posted by sphinxvc 

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I'd go with the stock A version which they happen to have in stock.  Says they can ship that out in 4-7 days.

 

I wouldn't go with Pacific Valve tinkered version which is what they call the "upgraded" version.

 

 

I did some more research and the consensus seems to be that the FUN is better than the HDP. I just wonder why the HDP is so popular on the headphone amplifiers section. Maybe it was a flavor-of-the-month thing. It doesn't seem to say on the pacific website, but the Chinese one says that the version A supports 24-bit/96 khz now, whereas it didn't before from what I read. I just wish the FUN were as compact as the HDP.

At any rate, I won't be getting this stuff until near the end of July when I head back to civilization. Maybe something will change in those few months...

The Fun supports 24bit/96khz via usb with the TE7022 module. The default WM8805 module for coax and optical can go as high as 24bit/192khz. You can opt to go with the DIR9001 for 24bit/96khz but with lower jitter.

I'd highly recommend ordering at least 2 of the hdams (Earth/Moon) to get a taste of different signatures output by the dac. Fwiw, I greatly prefer the warm and forward presentation of the Moon hdam with the HD650. The Earth hdam has better transparency and resolve but is too polite through the Fun's neutral amp section imo (another matter if feeding the dac signal into a tube amp though).

Quote:

Originally Posted by olor1n 

The Fun supports 24bit/96khz via usb with the TE7022 module. The default WM8805 module for coax and optical can go as high as 24bit/192khz. You can opt to go with the DIR9001 for 24bit/96khz but with lower jitter.

 

I'd highly recommend ordering at least 2 of the hdams (Earth/Moon) to get a taste of different signatures output by the dac. Fwiw, I greatly prefer the warm and forward presentation of the Moon hdam with the HD650. The Earth hdam has better transparency and resolve but is too polite through the Fun's neutral amp section imo (another matter if feeding the dac signal into a tube amp though).

How do you choose the different hdams on the Pacific Valve website? I see it on the Chinese Audio-GD website, but it's not there on the former one. Am I missing something? Also, is this jitter stuff a huge issue? I want to know if it's worth getting a USB to SPDIF converter from the Pacific Valve website.

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Originally Posted by Unfie 

How do you choose the different hdams on the Pacific Valve website? I see it on the Chinese Audio-GD website, but it's not there on the former one. Am I missing something? Also, is this jitter stuff a huge issue? I want to know if it's worth getting a USB to SPDIF converter from the Pacific Valve website.

I don't think PV has those hdams (ask them) but lucky for you the best op-amp I've heard with the HD650s is the ADA4627-1B.  Get in touch with a Head-fi DIYer to solder you one cheap.  PM me if you want my contact.  Ordering those hdams from China will cost you $20+ in shipping alone.  They're worth a listen though.  

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Originally Posted by sphinxvc 

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I don't think PV has those hdams (ask them) but lucky for you the best op-amp I've heard with the HD650s is the ADA4627-1B.  Get in touch with a Head-fi DIYer to solder you one cheap.  PM me if you want my contact.  Ordering those hdams from China will cost you $20+ in shipping alone.  They're worth a listen though.  

Okay, I'll keep that in mind. But what if I use a tube amp instead? Will that have the same effect? The Audio-GD website says it sounds tube-like. I was thinking maybe something like the Maverick Audio TubeMagic A1. I realize that will cost a bit more than an opamp, but I'm just considering my options right now.

Don't want to derail the thread completely now, PM'ed.

Hi Aaron, Your Bottlehead OTL Headphone amplifier kit is ready to ship. I look forward to sending you your new amplifier and hope you have fun building and listening to your new amp. Kindest Regards, Eileen Schmalle / Bottlehead Corp.

Jeej jeej jeej, let the fun begin =)

The Bottlehead Crack is really amazing with these headphones. 

I've had the combo for some weeks now and while all music sounds really good the area where they really shine is vocal music such as gospel. blues folk and jazz. Oh my god, the sound is so nice with jazz music on a decent recording. When there is space for the instruments to breath on the recording  they really show the strong side, I can hear the small vibrations from the drums, even the slightest touch to the skins is audible and double bass is just lovely, I can almost touch the instrument. 

Just some short thoughts on the strengths, while rock sounds good it is the not same experience and I've also noticed how compressed alot of modern music is, there are no dynamics at all which is sad since the music itself is still good but the productions not.

I recently bought a pair of these, upgraded from the 595 and it was worth it.

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Originally Posted by downloader 

I recently bought a pair of these, upgraded from the 595 and it was worth it.

Same here. I had the same upgrade path. It took a bit of time to get used to the signature. Compared to the HD595 the midbass hump is very noticed and initially annoyed me a bit whilst now I really enjoy its fullness especially with acoustic stuff.  I also still laugh out spontaneously when I suddenly realise that I just listened 4 hours or more without interruption and the slightest bit of fatigue. I am not sure what it was with the HD595, either the sound or the reflectors inside that were rubbing my large ears but I usually took them off after an hour. The only thing I wished is a bit more sparkle on the top end but I guess it would add to listening fatigue. 

I loved the smell when I opened the box.