[trident]

I'm looking to get my first set of true headphones after years of ear buds and am leaning towards the HD650s.
 
Questions:
 
1. Will the cardas audio cable provide improved audio quality?  I can get it used for $100 or less.
2. I am using a Cowon J3 as my pmp.  Any recommendations of a good amplifier to pair with these headphones (preferably portable as I will mainly use these with my J3)?
 
3. Are these a good all around headphone?  My music preferences are all over the place with jazz, classical, vocal, hip-hop / rap, rock.  I'd like the punch of the bass as well as the fidelity in the mids and highs. 
 
Thanks!

 

[FlatNine]

Quote:

I'm looking to get my first set of true headphones after years of ear buds and am leaning towards the HD650s.
 
Questions:
 
1. Will the cardas audio cable provide improved audio quality?  I can get it used for $100 or less.
2. I am using a Cowon J3 as my pmp.  Any recommendations of a good amplifier to pair with these headphones (preferably portable as I will mainly use these with my J3)?
 
3. Are these a good all around headphone?  My music preferences are all over the place with jazz, classical, vocal, hip-hop / rap, rock.  I'd like the punch of the bass as well as the fidelity in the mids and highs. 
 
Thanks!

1) Not sure.
2) I have the 650's and use them with the TTVJ Slim amp. The sound is wonderful! Slightly warm and very engaging.
3) Yes they are a great all around phone. If you wanted something specifically for classical, I might suggest Grado. My 325's were extremely clear and distinct, and really shined with classical. But I am a 95% jazz guy, (mostly 50's and 60's jazz), and I love this combo. I wouldn't classify this combo as having punchy bass though. The bass is clean and clear, but not punchy. But, with the J3 EQ, you can probably adjust that. Cowon's EQ is the best.

 
 

 

[Wapiti]

Quote:

Btw, where were you when Nick_Charles was running his quite scientific cable tests?
 

Link?
 
Thanks

 

[prtuc2]

I own both HRT Music Streamer II and II+, I don't hear much different between the two of course to my ears.  So, if you are on budget you might as well go with the HRT Music Streamer II for $150 dollars which is a great value.
 
There is improvement on the II+ version, but won't justify the extra cost in my opinion unless you are looking for the better sound and cost is not a factor.

 

[FuzzyD]

I'm thinking about ordering these on amazon soon. Does anyone know if the infamous paint chipping problem has been fixed on recent batches?

 

[Austin Morrow]

Quote:

I'm thinking about ordering these on amazon soon. Does anyone know if the infamous paint chipping problem has been fixed on recent batches?

Have had mine for almost a month and no chipping. But then again I baby my cans. 

 

[jtaylor991]

I found a PS Audio DLIII for $500
Would anyone object to this DAC at this price? I've read on how amazing it is and the fact that it's $300 off retail pulls me in

 

[cheapskateaudio]

Quote:

I found a PS Audio DLIII for $500
Would anyone object to this DAC at this price? I've read on how amazing it is and the fact that it's $300 off retail pulls me in

You know what would be cool? A CD/SACD/DVD player that also has a USB input. I'm starting to wonder if computer hi-fi is even worth it honestly, except for the convenience of listening when I am using said computer. Thing is I know from experience that fan noise can enter the system through USB regardless of it being digital or not. Especially if you plug your DAC into a USB hub with other nasty powered devices on it, like a laptop cooler. And if I'm using an amp that has a ridiculously low noise floor like the O2, plugging into a computer is probably a damn waste.
 
Then again, it probably depends heavily on the type of computer in question, this one here is a monster, I think the earth dies a little every time I turn it on.

 

[Wapiti]

Quote:

I found a PS Audio DLIII for $500
Would anyone object to this DAC at this price? I've read on how amazing it is and the fact that it's $300 off retail pulls me in

It is a nice musical competently engineered DAC.  Audio Advisor will accept returns as will other Internet retailers if you are disappointed.
 

 

[jtaylor991]

I'm not sure how this relates to my post, but I'll still reply.
 
There is such a player, the Marantz SA8004. $1k CD/SACD player with a great DAC and usb input on the front *for iDevices only* (type A so it'd only work with those anyway ) and an optical, coax and USB Type B input (hut or pentagon shaped type one) on the back to use the player as just a DAC. I was going to get one, but I decided that I buy too many things digitally for it to be worth the hassle of using both networked and physical CD playback.
 
Quote:

You know what would be cool? A CD/SACD/DVD player that also has a USB input. I'm starting to wonder if computer hi-fi is even worth it honestly, except for the convenience of listening when I am using said computer. Thing is I know from experience that fan noise can enter the system through USB regardless of it being digital or not. Especially if you plug your DAC into a USB hub with other nasty powered devices on it, like a laptop cooler. And if I'm using an amp that has a ridiculously low noise floor like the O2, plugging into a computer is probably a damn waste.
 
Then again, it probably depends heavily on the type of computer in question, this one here is a monster, I think the earth dies a little every time I turn it on.

 

 

[cheapskateaudio]

 
Quote:

I'm not sure how this relates to my post, but I'll still reply.
 
There is such a player, the Marantz SA8004. $1k CD/SACD player with a great DAC and usb input on the front *for iDevices only* (type A so it'd only work with those anyway ) and an optical, coax and USB Type B input (hut or pentagon shaped type one) on the back to use the player as just a DAC. I was going to get one, but I decided that I buy too many things digitally for it to be worth the hassle of using both networked and physical CD playback.
 


 

Sorry if i was unclear, I was trying to point out that maybe it's not worth it to spend more than the bare minimum on computer based playback, it's a flawed source with all the possibilities for noise to be introduced into the system... I've heard noise get passed into the system before, so I wonder if it's really possible to make use of our high end audio gear with the typical china made computer.  At least with a CD player like the above you could listen to the computer easily, but for more serious listening, use the CD as the source.
 

 

[ac500]

My Shure SRH940 (low impedance) plugged into my MacBook Air sounds quite good actually, just from the standard audio out. I haven't noticed any background noise, but I admit my desktop PC audio out is horrendously scratchy and noisy. Obviously with a DAC/Amp it's much better, but the point is an SRH940 will most certainly sound 10x better than some cheap headphones, even out of a (good) standard audio out.

 

[Wapiti]

Quote:

Sorry if i was unclear, I was trying to point out that maybe it's not worth it to spend more than the bare minimum on computer based playback, it's a flawed source with all the possibilities for noise to be introduced into the system... I've heard noise get passed into the system before, so I wonder if it's really possible to make use of our high end audio gear with the typical china made computer.
 

A computer is a difficult electrical environment.  Yet, there are good soundcards which are quiet and produce good sound. 
 
The best is to get the data out of the computer and to process it externally via AES/EBU, S/PDIF, ethernet (or wirelessly).  This need not be expensive.  Almost all recordings are made, mixed and mastered this way.

 

[jtaylor991]

I've been confused as to how people say "Use S/PDIF Optical, digital is better than USB" when USB *is* digital. How is noise introduced if you have an external DAC at all since it receives only digital signals anyway? I know that people seem to hear Optical is better since a lot of DACs apparently have different chips receiving the signals for USB and Optical, so there's the SS change but why does it matter for computer noise if it's digital? And I've heard about how the jitter stuff with USB is stupid too since it's not more likely in USB than Optical.
 
Quote:

A computer is a difficult electrical environment.  Yet, there are good soundcards which are quiet and produce good sound. 
 
The best is to get the data out of the computer and to process it externally via AES/EBU, S/PDIF, ethernet (or wirelessly).  This need not be expensive.  Almost all recordings are made, mixed and mastered this way.

 

 

[skeptic]

There are some great USB dacs out there, but S/PDIF is an older standard and more widely implemented.  If you search, you should be able to find quite a few head-fi threads discussing how the S/PDIF inputs on various dacs with multiple inputs sound noticeably better than the USB inputs on the same dacs.  This is why many people have resorted to using USB transports/converters upstream of their dacs - e.g. the popular Hiface, the Blue Circle Thingee, etc.
 
At the end of the day, I think you just want to be sure you aren't buying a dac where the USB input was an afterthought.  There's an interesting thread in the computer audio sub-forum you might look at regarding whether or not asynchronous designs are really an improvement or simply more audio marketing hype.