[LazyListener]

After months of poking I finally convinced my friend to sell me his HD650 headphones. He asked me if $90 was too much

I hope you talked him down...

 

[CanadianMaestro]

 
No it doesn't. The perfect amp can only at best provide the same signal as the DAC which doesn't exist ofcourse. 
 
Headphones (even the HD 800 S) don't require that much power so an amplifier is pointless.

To each his own.
 
Amps are essential. HPs or otherwise. We're talking HD650 here (and planars too)
 
What is a "perfect" amp??

 

[CanadianMaestro]

   
BTW, how do you judge a headphone without an amplifier?  You get no sound without an amplifier.

You can't -- he's trolling.

 

[Dino2000]

I was wanting to get some HD600/HD650 grills for my HD580. Sennheiser US looks like it no longer does telephone calls. I opened a ticket asking if they had a pair of these grills for sale. Here is what I got as a response. Make of it what you will...
 
____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Good Day,

Thank you for contacting the Sennheiser Customer Service team.

The HD650 are discontinued and we no longer carry these in our warehouse or have parts available.

Sennheiser USA Customer Service Team
Mon-Fri: 8:30 a.m. - 7:30 p.m. EST
(877) 736-6434 ext 1

Kandis Shirley
Customer Support Specialist
Sennheiser Electronic Corporation
____________________________________________________________________________________________________

(The bold type and big font was done by me)

Hopefully this isn't accurate, especially about parts availability. (Imagine no new earpads!)

 

[CanadianMaestro]

  I was wanting to get some HD600/HD650 grills for my HD580. Sennheiser US looks like it no longer does telephone calls. I opened a ticket asking if they had a pair of these grills for sale. Here is what I got as a response. Make of it what you will...
 
____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Good Day,

Thank you for contacting the Sennheiser Customer Service team.

The HD650 are discontinued and we no longer carry these in our warehouse or have parts available.

Sennheiser USA Customer Service Team
Mon-Fri: 8:30 a.m. - 7:30 p.m. EST
(877) 736-6434 ext 1

Kandis Shirley
Customer Support Specialist
Sennheiser Electronic Corporation
____________________________________________________________________________________________________

(The bold type and big font was done by me)

Hopefully this isn't accurate, especially about parts availability. (Imagine no new earpads!)

Looks like an auto-reply that hasn't been fixed for a long time.
 
They're probably distracted by all the fake news that's been circulating stateside.

 

[thebluebulk]

No I didn't talk him down. They are mint and only a few years old. I thought it was a very good deal.

 

[thebluebulk]

I hope you talked him down...

No I didn't talk him down. They are mint and only a few years old. I thought it was a very good deal

 

[ubs28]

Then they would all sound the same, silent.

Use it directly straight from the DAC without an amplifier between?

 

[ubs28]

You can't -- he's trolling.

This is the wonderful world of the Hifi where many myths are kept being reinforced without poeple doing their actual tests. It's not my wallet so no problem for me.

 

[CanadianMaestro]

This is the wonderful world of the Hifi where many myths are kept being reinforced without poeple doing their actual tests. It's not my wallet so no problem for me.

Yeah, they should all keep doing the tests and measurements. I shall keep enjoying the music, stress-free.
 
No problem for me.
 
Back to the 650.

 

[jimmers]

Use it directly straight from the DAC without an amplifier between?

I see you have chord DACs, they all have headphone amps built in. Have you got an adaptor so you plug your Utopias into the DAC's rca (or XLR) outs?
 
Do you know the output impedance of the line outs of those DACs?

 

[LazyListener]

  I was wanting to get some HD600/HD650 grills for my HD580. Sennheiser US looks like it no longer does telephone calls. I opened a ticket asking if they had a pair of these grills for sale. Here is what I got as a response. Make of it what you will...
 
____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Good Day,

Thank you for contacting the Sennheiser Customer Service team.

The HD650 are discontinued and we no longer carry these in our warehouse or have parts available.

Sennheiser USA Customer Service Team
Mon-Fri: 8:30 a.m. - 7:30 p.m. EST
(877) 736-6434 ext 1

Kandis Shirley
Customer Support Specialist
Sennheiser Electronic Corporation
____________________________________________________________________________________________________

(The bold type and big font was done by me)

Hopefully this isn't accurate, especially about parts availability. (Imagine no new earpads!)

That's one way to boost sales, provided it's NOT true.  I would think that a replacement model would be released BEFORE a still popular model is discontinued.

 

[LazyListener]

No I didn't talk him down. They are mint and only a few years old. I thought it was a very good deal

 
You're a better person than I am.  If my friend asked me if X amount is too much, I'd say "hell, yeah, way too much!" 

 

[LazyListener]

Use it directly straight from the DAC without an amplifier between?

A DAC only converts digital to analog and does not have a headphone output.  A DAC by itself does not provide an amplified signal output.  You still need an amplifier to hear anything.

 

[ubs28]

 
A DAC only converts digital to analog and does not have a headphone output.  A DAC by itself does not provide an amplified signal output.  You still need an amplifier to hear anything.

If you put a headphone output directly on the line out of the DAC, that is what you get with a Chord DAC. There is no amplifier in it.
 
Other DAC's like the Auralic Vega are even louder than the Chord Hugo for example if you put the volume up (atleast the unit that I tried seemed to be able to deliver more power than the Hugo).